I was raised in a Christian home where my parents showed their faith in very obvious ways like taking us to church, praying before a meal, saying prayers with us kids before bed, etc.
But they also gave examples of their faith in less obvious ways. I remember waking up too early some mornings and hearing my parents praying together. I remember my dad telling a story about how he got upset with someone at work and had to go back and apologize.
I remember the year we went to public school for the 1st time (otherwise K-8th was at a christian school) and my mom would do devotions with my sister and I each morning before school. Now these were not the most spiritual times for a 9 and 11 year old - my mom had a habit of falling asleep while praying. You see she had just gotten off of a 12 hour night shift. My sister and I would be as quiet as we could be as my mom started to pray and soon she would be dozing off. . . .we off course being the mature girls we were, would hold in our laughter for about. . . . . 30 seconds. Then we would wake up my mom, who would smile, laugh and say, "Oh did I fall asleep again?!" and we would start prayers over.
Most of all I remember prayer being something that was a regular, normal, everyday part of our lives as kids. My parents would pray for us when we were hurt (physically or emotionally), they would pray for us for an upcoming test or sporting event. We would pray in the car (eyes open of course!), we would pray at home, at school, etc. And no we were not those weird Christians. . . my parents were (and are) just very sincere in their faith and their belief in God who hears and answers prayer.
This legacy is one I hope to pass on to our kids. We pray with the kids each night and are getting better at remembering to pray at meals - which Isaac loves because we sing "Johnny Apple Seed" as loud as possible and he is so sincere and earnest in this prayer.
I have also started praying for the kids whenever they get an owie or say something hurts. I keep it simple. Isaac says, "My head hurts." I say, "Should Mommy pray for you?" He says, "Yes." I then pray something to the effect of, "Dear Jesus, I pray for Isaac's head that it wouldn't hurt anymore. I pray that You would heal him and he would have a wonderful day. In Jesus' name, Amen."
I keep it simple for a few reasons. One, I am not an eloquent person - I say what I mean or at least try to and usually it comes out sounding pretty, well, simple. Just my nature. Secondly, I want Isaac and Piper to know that they can talk to Jesus whenever, wherever, and they can talk to Him like they talk to a friend or Mommy & Daddy.
The other night, I was not feeling the best - my back among other things really hurt. In the past when Isaac hears that my back hurts he comes over and rubs it till I say it feels better (melt my heart). But the other night when I told him my back hurt, he started to pray for me. It sounded something like this:
"Dear Jesus, asdfkjksdjf Mommy's back aklsdjfkj have good akjdasdjkf better, Jesus name AMEN!"
I have never heard or been as blessed by a prayer in my entire life.
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