Dear God

One of the most amazing parts of being a mom is teaching Bella about Jesus. Curtis and I do this is many different ways but one of my favorites is teaching her to pray. I want her to know that God is always with her and she can talk to him at anytime so our prayers are very personal and fairly informal. For most of her life, her bedtime prayers have consisted of us saying little prayers over her or for her. Then, we moved on to modeling them and her echoing. We kind of use the formula of saying sorry for something (forgiveness of sins), thanking Him for things, and then asking for help for others and self. Well, now that she is about as articulate as a 2nd grader, I've asked her if she wants to start saying her own prayers. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't. Here's are a few of her first attempts.

Day 1
M- Bella, do you want to say your own prayers tonight?
B- Yes, momma, but will you start?
M- Sure, okay, Dear God,
B- Dear God,
M- Thank you for ...... is there something you want to thank him for?
B- (long pause) Thank you for.......(long pause)...the black I-PAD. Amen.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Okay, well, that's a good start, right? Ha!

Day 2
M- Ready to say your prayers.
B- uh-huh. Dear God,
M- I'm sorry for.....
B- I'm sorry for hitting mommy. (which she did)
M- Thank you for.......
B- Thank you for pickles, chips, yeah, ya know how I really, really like chips and strawberries. Amen.

Getting better. Now, just so you know, when we model praying we usually say things like "Thank you for my parents, teachers and friends. Thank you for loving me. Or other things He might have done from the Bible story we just read.....not food items or electronics. But, at least she is thankful. Rome was not built in a day!