First of all, a few pictures of God's most precious gift to us.
Today, he's 2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days old.
We are in a stage of "I want to do it all by myself," so as much as possible, we allow Owen to do things (wash his hands, open the door, sweep the back porch, pull up his underwear and shorts, put on his shoes, etc) all by himself with nearby supervision. The most recent action to add to the list is PRAYING! Yesterday and today, at mealtime and at bedtime, Owen has said, "I want to say the prayer all by myself." We normally hold hands for prayers, but these Owen-driven times of praying include him linking his hands together in front of his bowed head and closed eyes. (So incredibly cute, in case you need that confirmation!!) Last night in bed while Grammy was here and this evening while sitting in the living room with us and Gramommy, Owen prayed this prayer...all alone...and the only prompt was the word "Now."
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels guard me through the night,
and wake me with the morning light.
God bless Mommy, Daddy, and Owen,
Grammy and Papa,
Gramommy,
Grandpa,
Olive and Shelby,
and all of our other family and friends.
Amen.
(This has been our nightly prayer for a LONG time, so he hears it exactly this way over and over again. Afterwards, we add specific prayers from that day's events, a person or people that need prayers, and just prayers for us to be good parents doing what's right and best.)
I kid you not, this child of God did not miss one word.
Not.
One.
Word.
If you can even imagine the power and beauty behind a 2-year-old's prayer, you will know how heartwarming and genuine it is. It would have been easy to cry from being so proud of him, but it is so much easier to smile and watch the peace of God radiating from the grin of a precious toddler. I could not be more amazed at what this little boy has given/shown to us and to the world around him. Kindness. Manners. Love. Respect. Humor. Curiosity. How can a 2-year-old have so much to offer already?
Our prayer for him is that he is raised knowing and loving God, relying on God to guide him, and setting his heart on Godly things. If this is the beginning of something bigger...a seed, if you will...then Austin and I are doing something right.
As if the aforementioned prayer wasn't enough, tonight, he wanted an 'encore' prayer. We linked our respective pairs of hands and listened. It went something like this:
Dear God,
Thank you for this day.
We love you Lord.
Amen.
That pretty much sums it up. Thank you for this day. We love you, Lord.
Amen.
