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Waffles with Peanut Butter and Advent

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My prayer before breakfast and lunch often goes something like this:

Dear God, Thank you for our family, our friends, our food, and all the good things You've given us.  We love you very much.  Amen.

I figure simplicity is the way to go, since a one-year-old's attention span is limited -- particularly when food is waiting to be devoured.  A few days ago, however, Josiah kept holding my hand after I said Amen and started calling out random people that he wanted inserted in the prayer: Papa! Nana! Poppa! Beckies (Ethan's Mom)!

So I repeated the prayer, inserting the person's name after "Dear God, Thank you for ---".  Today, after we went through Papa-Nana-Poppa-Beckies, Josiah moved on to, "Books!"  I kept a mostly-straight face as I thanked God for books.  But then...

"Bum-bum!"

Bum-bum is how Josiah refers to The Little Drummer Boy, his favorite Christmas song (much to my chagrin, since it is the carol with the least accurate theological basis!).

Just try to thank God for bum-bum out loud.  I dare you.  I pretty much lost it.

Thinking back on this interaction, in all seriousness, Josiah was so sincere in listing all the things his little heart loves.  Prayers like this must make God smile.  Child-like transparency is an excellent goal in our approach to prayer, and one that I hope to implement promptly.  Today, I plan to thank God for all the things I love as they come into my mind: Waffles with peanut butter! Moments quiet enough to hear the clock tick! Good neighbors! Advent!

He has blessed us so richly, and a grateful heart is a small way to bless Him in return. 

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