It was past midnight around 1:30 am, our son woke up crying and rubbing his hands real hard, "My hands are dirty. I want to bath." He kept repeating in between sobs, I was feeding the younger brother, dad had to give in for his wish of a bath at 2 am! I could hear his little bathtub being filled up with water and he went straight into it. I thought to myself, this is rather unusual, I know my kids love to bath and its play time for them but why at 2 am? Our son was enjoying his bath and I thought it might be the start of another episode of you-ain't-see-nothing-yet phase a.k.a. from now on, he is going to ask for midnight bath as when he fancies a midnight bath !
I got out of bed and checked on him, he was still washing and rubbing his hands as if they were dirty. I asked him, "You wanna to bath now because your hands are dirty?". "Yes", he replied me. "Why are they dirty?" I need to hear from him his explanation. His reply gave me a chill, "Because I touched those cups!"
My mind went back to that very Sunday morning.
Every Sunday morning after church, we would have our breakfast with another family, it was the favourite time of the week for both adults and kids, they got to meet with their buddies once a week and its food and play time for them. One of our favourite place to dine was the Tom Yam Noodles place at Iramanis, a place of warehouses and shops. In between the two rows of shops, there was a pavement and in the middle, was a little red altar house. The boys were really curious when they first saw it, "Mummy, there is a little red house over there." "There are little cups lined up there with food and sweets." We explained what those are, told them never to touch it or eat anything there. The boys stood in a row, nodded indicating they understood but their eyes were filled with questions. They went away and jumping around. Then came that very Sunday, one of the boys came telling us, "Wallace touched the cups, he removed them." We came running and reprimanded them or being over curious. We asked him why and what did he do and I remembered saying a little prayer of protection over him and the boys. The boys were asking "Will the gods be angry now since he touched the cups?"
I motioned him to get out of the bathtub, dried him and dressed him up in his PJ. "Next time, when we tell you not to do something, you must obey. OK ?" He nodded and promised me to be so. I handed him a bottle of milk as surely he would be hungry after a midnight bath. He was drinking from the bottle on the bed while I was praying that this would be it and no more issue from this. I even braced myself for him to develop a little fever arising from this ordeal (logically as he showered head to toe in the early morning and spiritually as I knew he has touched something of the spiritual realm). In the quietness of the night at 2:30 am, our boy softly recited,
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever."
With that, I just knew in my heart that all is well.
Some parents told me they do not think kids can understand spiritual things and even some say they let them choose when they get older. Our son was just 3 years old then, clearly, he knew what he did was wrong and something was bothering him that night. He seemed to figure out how a bath could help and I had to seal it with a prayer to make sure there be no more issue arising from his curiosity of disturbing a worship altar.
Life for young families are full of daily fresh challenges, our kids are like little antennas ready to receive and broadcast what are in their hearts. They can be such "teachers" for their parents with their child-like faith. In our son’s mind, he thought a cleansing bath will get rid of the dirtiness. I am still amazed where did that come from.
As to how our 3 years old could recite Bible verses, that itself is another story. I read somewhere that reciting the Bible is a good way to boost speech and memory. So I was teaching our eldest 5 years old Bible Verses during bedtime every night, starting with Psalm 23. I was not really teaching the 3 years old, it came as a bonus as he was listening in the whole time and one night he broke out reciting with the 5 years old brother.
Psalm 8:2
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Matthew 21:16
Jesus answered, "have you never read: 'From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise?"
This incident happened in the year 2001 at J10 Taman Likas Jaya, our first house, after Malcolm was born (8 Nov 2000) and before Oct 2001 as we moved out of the old house at J10 Taman Likas Jaya. Wallace was about 3 years plus, so that could well be between April to October of 2001.
