Mark and I are always looking for ways to be better parents to our kids. He came up with an idea to pray with the kids each night before they went to bed. They actually are digging it!
Well last night Mark was not home when the kids got into bed. Lincoln wanted me to fix his blanket and he told me that daddy wasn't here to pray with him tonight. I asked him if I could and in his sweet little voice said, "Sure". Well it was a neat experience for me. Don't get me wrong, I have prayed with my kids before but somehow last night was different. While Lincoln lay on his pillow, I asked him what daddy usually does and he said, "daddy prays and I close my eyes and he asks me if anything hurt my heart today." So I started our conversation. Lincoln said a friend of his at school made him feel sad. He was trying to tell his friend to shhhh and he quickly told Lincoln he wasn't the boss. I commended my sweet boy on trying to help his friend not get in trouble and told him that he was being a good leader and making a wise choice. As I started to pray, Lincoln began rubbing my hand and continued until I was done! That is something I will cherish from now on. That my sweet 5 year old was listening to my prayer for him and our family and that God was watching down on us at that moment.
Then it was the girls turn. They didn't have any thing to talk about except Kennedy wanted me to pray for her class not to get in trouble this week so they could have their Valentines party on Friday! So I started my prayer with them and asked God to watch over them at school, give them courage to do the right things and thanked God for giving me such sweet, precious kids! All the while Kennedy was hugging me tighter and tighter.
There are times with raising 4 kids that I just get tired and frustrated but last night was so worth all of that. I feel like I was able to connect with them and they could see more of my love for them as I prayed for them individually. As I dropped them off at school, this morning, I reminded them about what we prayed about last night and they said we remember!!
You want to connect with your kids, pray with them and don't hold back how grateful and blessed you are to watch them grow and do things that make you proud.
What a beautiful account this is of praying with your children. You will treasure these moments, but this is something those sweet kids will always hold in their hearts and memories as well. You and Mark are great parents instilling into your children the knowledge and love for Christ. You are also awesome Christians.
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