A Window Prayer

Tonight Judd was out of town. I put on a movie for Charlotte while I put Max to bed. It was Veggie Tales - the one about being a Snoodle. To give a brief synopsis - a new Snoodle is "born" from a tower on every 4th Tuesday (or something like that). Each Snoodle has a pack on their back that holds things they can use. One little Snoodle is born and he is told he's not good at things in his pack, so he leaves Snoodleville to climb a mountain. At the top of the mountain he meets the person that made him. That person tells him he is wonderful and paints him a picture of how HE sees the little Snoodle - big, brave,awesome.

It is actually a great little story, all told in rhyme. (Is it sad that I get more out of a Veggie Tales than bible study sometimes?) The stories are simple and to the point. I was done putting Max to bed and was able to watch most of it with Charlotte.

She turned to me as the person that made the Snoodle is talking and says, "That's really God, you know." I thought, Wow, I'm really impressed that she got that. She understood that God makes you. God thinks you are wonderful.

We went upstairs after the movie to do the regular routine - teeth brushed, books picked out, snuggle in bed and read. Tonight she happened to pick two Golden Books - one about prayers and the other about God.

We finished reading them and she said, "Just a minute Mommy", and got out of bed. She went to her window and pulled back the curtain and blinds so she had her face pressed right up against the glass. All I could see was her little hand sticking out from behind the blinds. I heard her say, "Thank you God for everything. Thank you for my sweetest brother. Thank you for the birds and for worms. Thank you for the water of the world. Thank you God for everything." Then, she came back to her bed and climbed in. I tucked her in tightly and told her what a sweet girl she was. I kissed her good night.

There is something in this child that I can't quite explain. Some days I really feel that she is closer to God than most of us. I know it sounds strange, but she'll just say things, out of the blue, and I know that she just knows things. Just the other day we were riding in the car. Judd was driving. We were talking about something or other and she said, "Well, the more you talk to God the more you hear him." No lie. Those words came out of an almost 4 year old's mouth. It made me want to pray more. She just seems to get it.

I learn a lot from her. My faith grows through her. I wonder how normal it is for a parent's faith to grow with their children. Is it because children really are closer to God because it hasn't been that long since He held them? I'll never forget when my mom said to me, after she held Charlotte for the first time - "There's nothing quite like holding a newborn, so fresh from God."

It is these thoughts I wish I could hold more tightly through the day. When they are both screaming and crying, wanting this or that. Or, I am cleaning up the floor under the high chair for the 4th time that day. Or I'm being kicked and screamed at when I'm changing a diaper. Sometimes they are so demanding and selfish. Tonight God gave me the reminder that I needed - that these are His children that He has entrusted me with. Isn't it amazing what a little prayer from a little girl can make you think about?