Establish

I had tucked the children in, said prayers, and gotten them water (for the fourth time). I came out to the living room, and sat at the piano to work on a song.

Twenty minutes into the song (which had turned into a time of worship), Ellie came stumbling out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey," I answered, sure that it was going to be another request for water.

"What does establish mean?"

"Establish?" I asked, wondering why on earth my nine year old would randomly ask such a question at ten o'clock in the evening.

"Yes. I don't know what it means, and I've been trying and trying to think of something else, but I can't stop thinking about that word," Ellie explained, looking up at me in such a serious manner that I suddenly felt the weight of responsibility as a parent to seize the moment of teachability.

So we went to my computer, got on my dictionary, and looked it up.
establish (verb)
1 set up, start, initiate, institute, form, found, create, inaugurate; build, construct, install.
2 prove, demonstrate, show, indicate, signal, exhibit, manifest, attest to, evidence, determine, confirm, verify, certify, substantiate.

We talked about being established by God, how in the Bible He would establish His covenant with Israel, and how Jesus established a covenant with those who accepted Him as their Lord.

Then I found the Scripture I knew God wanted me to show her.
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.

"What does it mean, to silence the foe and the avenger, Mom?"
"Well, it means, that when you praise and worship God, He uses your praise to set up a stronghold against the devil and whatever the devil tries to bring against you."
"Wow."
"So, it specifically says, 'children'. I think that's pretty important, or it wouldn't be in the Bible, right? He uses your praise, as a child."

So Ellie is back in bed now. Well, in my bed, actually. We're going to be praying about that word, establish. Maybe God has some more stuff in store for us if we listen.