"T" is for TULIP, two cousins, and a prophecy

The other night I was in my room listening to an amazing sermon about prayer, a perfect Father, the earnest love of evil fathers, and the unbelievably gracious gifts given to evil children.

No. 6 came in and was playing on the floor with the little Vans. A couple of times when she tried starting a conversation, I told her that we needed "to be quiet while Pastor John Piper is talking."

But I couldn't help but stop the audio and listen when she said, "Your baby will be a sender."

Wondering at the capacity of a four-year-old to understand and so quickly yet accurately relate the doctrine of total depravity to the sermon, I corrected her pronunciation and said, "You mean -- a sinner?"

"Yeah. . . . NO -- I mean a sender."

"A sender? What's that?"

"Someone who sends letters to people."

"Oh."

"And my baby will be a stayer."

"A stayer?"

"Yes. Someone who stays at people's houses. Our house, or other people's."

So . . . she may not have total depravity down yet. But so far a composite of these two cousins sounds a lot like the Apostle Paul.

And that's not a bad start.