And thank you for....

There's nothing like hearing a prayer exit the mouth of your child for the first time. I've been praying with her a little bit here and there, but being our first, I just wasn't sure what age to start really teaching her how to pray. Whenever we'd pray with her, she would watch intently, but never repeat what we'd say. She'd fold her hands, but that's about it. Apparently today she was telling me she's ready for more.

Today at lunch, she was finishing up her meal. At times, she's a 20-30 minute eater whereas her dad and I are fairly quick eaters. I was clearing the table off and watched her as she abruptly stopped what she was doing, folded her little hands, bowed her head, squinted her eyes, and said, "Thank you Jesus for Mommy, and Daddy, and Efan (Ethan), and Jedi, and apple juice.....

So at that point in the prayer, I had to exit the room so as not to laugh. She was so genuine about praying for her apple juice! So precious!

She noticed at some point that I was watching her and stopped, so I sat down with her to help her finish her prayer. I asked her who else she wanted to thank Jesus for. She began naming off names....Sef (Seth) and Jared, Befany (Bethany), Jorja, Silas (her 2 yr old cousin), Kelsey, Zoe....pause....Amen.

Wow - regardless of the fact that she was praying for a million different people and random things, she was praying to Jesus. I can hardly wait for the day when she truly grasps who her Jesus is and embraces Him as her heavenly Father. But for now, we will continue to pray for those 20 people she knows and her apple juice. It's those small steps that are going to one day lead her to her Father.