35 Minutes with Jesus

I am blessed to have four grandsons. The youngest one is Ben and he is quite precocious. He is seven. He has the gift of gab much like many who come before him in this family. I love conversing with him. Maybe because his scope of life is so narrow since his years are so few, thus he sees things around him in a very simple way. Simple by our grown up standards but quite deep when you consider this little guy is seven.

Anyway back in early December I had a weekend with Ben and his two brothers. Their parents were stealing a weekend with friends, a group of grownups, at a time when the chaos of fall sports had ended and the chaos of the holidays had not yet begun. A weekend of no parenting. Mac and I used to do the same. It’s a special stolen moment.

Ben loves to “swim” in our oversized tub in our Destin condo. Having filled the tub and added his bubbles I poured myself a wine and settled onto the “throne” to watch him swim and soak. Our conversation turned to Jesus. Now Ben is in first grade and rides the bus to school. He begins by telling me about his friend Mathew. “We’ve been knowing each other since we were about one years old”, he tells me. He doesn’t ride the same bus. Mathew rides number 722 and Ben rides number 704. After sharing a few more tidbits about buses that come late and buses that come early Ben tell me he spends 35 minutes on his bus ride. He has decided this is a good time to say his prayers. “I just like to talk to Jesus at this time since I dont have distractions.” When I ask him what he and Jesus talk about he tells me he asks Jesus to help him to get all his math right and remember how to spell “chase”. A particularly tough spelling word that is heavy on his mind today. Ben tells me that sometimes his friends distract him from his prayers. Sometimes they say “Ben! Ben!” And that annoys him and makes him lose his place in his prayers.

This simple little conversion hasn’t left my mind. I cherish its message. We all have 35 minutes at some point in our day. driving, working out, walking, tossing on a sleepless night…all good times to have a chat with Jesus. It’s a new year and we all have our personal resolutions lined up. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone put on the mind and heart of this seven year old and added 35 minutes with Jesus to their “bus ride”? It just might change the world.