A couple of mornings ago, my four and a half year old came into my room, climbed into bed, and cuddled me into wakefulness. By the way, I highly recommend this method of starting your day– getting as many hugs from as many people who love you as possible. Puts things in perspective.
After several minutes, I said it was time to get up, but she wasn’t quite ready.
“No, Mama. We can pray first if we want to. Diadel said.”
Diadel is our director of Christian Education. As both a mom and a pastor, I’m curious to hear what Arianna has learned about prayer from her and from her experiences at church. I have not overtly ‘taught’ her to pray. “Okay,” I said, “you can pray whatever you like.”
She clasped her little hands together and looked straight up at the ceiling.
“Thank you, God, for playing with me and that you love me. I love you too. Bye.”
It may not be systematic theology, but it’s as good a prayer as I’ve ever heard.
We Your People, Ours the Journey 