And When She Prays

Serena has the most profound belief in God.  Don't get me wrong - she has not actually placed her faith in Him and become His child - but she assumes His existence as a matter of fact.  She also believes in Heaven, loves to talk about it, make up songs about it, and often wonders when that Special Day will come when God comes back to take His people to Heaven with Him.  We have not experienced any 'close' deaths in Serena's little lifetime, but we do talk about her Grandpa Rabe and Great Grandpa Rabe and why God already brought them to Heaven.  So much for a little 3-yr-old mind to comprehend!!  God as Creator was the first concept Serena really grasped about God.  I remember her being barely 2 years old and commenting on things that we passed, "God made the grass.  Thank You, God."  You know that little phrase you see floating around on Pinterest sometimes that says something like, "If today you only had the things you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have"?  Well, Serena went through a phase where she certainly would have had every little thing...right down to the doorknobs!  ;)  God is one of her favorite topics of conversation, and she often has me at a loss because of the things she asks me about Him!

And when she prays, we get a little glimpse into Serena's World.

We have not "taught" our kids to pray, or ever asked them to pray.  When they are God's children, they will surely desire to pray to Him; but right now, they need to see their Mommy & Daddy pray.  But, in the last couple of months, Serena has developed a great desire to pray herself.  And so begins the priceless diaries of Serena's prayers:

Serena's current prayer format always opens with, "Dear God, Thank you for a goooood day." and always ends with, "Dear Jesus, Amen."  In the middle, are things like this:

• Thank You that we could be doggies.  And play with the blanket and eat some dog food.
• Thank You that I could vacuum with Daddy.
• Thank You that we could eat...[insert furtive glance at Mommy and a whispered, "What is this?"]...Oh!  Pineapple Chicken.
• Thank you for letting me be Bret's Mommy.