Josiah's Prayer

Man, Oh, Man! Josiah has been so stinkin' cute when he has been praying as of late. Multiple times Michael and I can hardly contain our laughter because it is just so sweet and cute with what comes out of his mouth.

We, especially Michael, has been trying to teach him that when He prays he is actually talking to God and shouldn't just hurry through a prayer. He has been doing awesome (except at meal time) and we have praised him and told him that God is very pleased when we take time to really talk with Him.

I threw that 'except at meal time' in there because this is his normal meal time prayer.

Jesus, thank you for my food. Amen.

Sometimes he varies from the norm and says...

Jesus, thank you for my food and my cup. Amen

Or,

Jesus, thank you for my food and Daddy's food and Mommy's food and the blinds. Amen.

But my favorite time to hear him pray is during our family devotions/prayer time. Michael used to ask each of us what/who we are going to pray for that night but Josiah has taken over that job. "Mommy/Daddy, who you gonna pray for tonight?" Then Josiah tells us who He is going to pray for- we never know what he is going to say. Especially when he actually starts to pray. This week alone he has come up with some cute little things.

My favorite so far was-

Thank you for all my peoples at Church!

We totally cracked up when he said that! My second favorite was when he asked Jesus for a new couch. lol Mommy said a very loud Amen! :) One night he prayed for 'all the princesses'. (He thinks any girl who is dressed up nice is a princess.)

We've been praying for several people who are suffering with illness or injuries for a while now and I love it when I hear him pray for them because he has his own way of saying their name. It just makes me smile to hear the various pronunciations he comes up with. Dr. Herring is now Mr. Herin. Alesha is Miss Awesha. Joanna is Miss Jo-Nanna. Sometimes he'll stop and say "What's their name again?"

A few weeks back some of our dear friends who are family who are also Josiah's Godparents were really sick. We had been praying for them every night and finally one night Josiah tells me that we don't have to pray for Michael anymore because he is better, we just have to pray for Jennifer because she is still sick. He was quite serious when he said that too. :)

He also prays when its bedtime. This time can also be kinda cute. His favorite things to pray are-

Thank you that my room is painted, and for my curtains, and my bed, and my pictures.

It melts our hearts when he prays for Michael and I. He always follows it with a sweet little kiss to our cheek during praying. I love that little guy!

Josiah has been sitting with me in Church for the last two months and Sunday was the WORST NIGHT EVER!!! I was a bit frustrated by the end of that night to say the least. So Wednesday night before Michael sent him downstairs to me, they prayed together and asked Jesus to help Josiah to sit still and be quiet during the service. It was such a drastic change! He sat so still most of the time! I was so pleased. We thanked Jesus that night for helping Josiah to obey.

This morning while I was praying for our breakfast Josiah interrupts me and whispers "Pray for Daddy to go to the bank for my candy!" :) So I prayed that the nice bank lady will be working today and will remember Josiah's lollipop. 

Josiah has taught us so much about child like faith and about praying for and thanking God for little things like the rooms we've been able to paint or our neighbor's cute little puppy. Having children really is a blessing, he teaches us new things all the time.

Good Advice

As I was going through my blogs last night one caught my eye from The Happy Housewife. It was a little bit of a long post so I just skimmed over the post and came across a gem of wisdom. The article was about how a homeschooling mom deals with negative reactions from people who thought she was crazy for choosing to homeschool.

Here is the portion that really caught my eye.

Morals of the story:

• Show, don’t tell.  We let our families and friends interact with our kids rather than try and prove they were doing well.
• Listen, don’t argue.  We heard the complaints, but didn’t try to counter them with arguments of our own.
• Don’t criticize back.  We didn’t tear down anyone else’s educational choices, just went on with our own.
• Wait.  Let critics see results over time.
• Answer questions about homeschooling without trying to ‘convert’ anyone.                                                                                     

To me this is just great advice for LIFE! I have had so many Bible verses running through my head since reading this and just wanted to share in case it might be of some encouragement to someone else.

There will always be someone who doesn't agree with the choices you make. I know I've not always responded well when someone criticized me for a choice I've made but this is an area that I want to work on. I am responsible to God for my actions/reactions even when I feel provoked.

And while I'm telling on myself, I have come to the conclusion that even when someone asks my opinion I need to say "Let me get back with you on that". I've really felt like I've stuck my foot in my mouth just by being too hasty and not really thinking about my words before I say whatever is on my mind.

It might be a good idea for me to sing "Oh, be careful little mouth what you say" about ten times through as well. :)

~Joy

Thankful

 Psalm 68:19

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah."

 

This verse came to my mind last night, and then this morning as

I looked at this cute little face covered in yogurt.

He asked for yogurt so I got it out and opened it and got him a spoon. Then he decides that he didn't want it anymore. I explained to him that it wasn't nice to ask for something then turn it down when it was in front of him. I then told him that he WAS going to eat the yogurt and NOT put it on the floor. I made sure he understood that it was not to be found on the floor, then I went and did the dishes.

When he told me it was all gone, I came over and tried my best to keep a serious face. 

He looks at me and says "Mommy, yogurt not on floor! YAY!"

Then he turns on his serious face and says, "On face, made mess, sticky."

 

So do I really believe that God DAILY loadeth us with benefits? 

The answer is YES!!!!!

If I can't find a blessing from God each day than perhaps I am focusing too much on the sticky mess and not on the fact that for the first time yogurt was not on the floor, or that those same little hands that make a mess from time to time also brings me flowers and rocks.

Maybe this isn't a really good explanation or illustration but to me it blessed my heart and reminded me of how much God loves us and how much he gives to us!

Has the Lord given you something to be thankful for today?