children
Have no fear
As I mentioned earlier, my in-laws were in BMore hanging out with our family this weekend and we had a great time. Like most grandparents, especially those who live far away, they have a strong desire to know that the grandkids are well taken care of in terms of health (emotional, physical), in terms of education (learning what they need to know), in terms of relationships (how they deal with their siblings, parents, friends). So, they got some answers to many of their questions and I’m sure left with a lot of new questions. One of the most striking insights into who our children are becoming was observed by my father-in-law the first night of their stay.
I was sick that night and I went to bed before everyone else (which is rare in mama land). My father-in-law slept in the boys’ room and my mother-in-law slept in the girls’ room. Now PaPa (which is what we like to call him) is a big man in stature and in presentation. The boys are real careful around him because he is all about correction and making sure they get it together. When I woke up the next morning, PaPa was trying to get my younger son (I don’t like saying middle son because of a litany of middle child issues that I’ve studied and observed in my life, but for sake of explaining here, he is my middle son and middle child. Ugggh!) to repeat his prayer from last night. He couldn’t recall it, so he left the room. My mother-in-law, Mimi, (Now the origin of this name is so funny, I gotta save that for a different post) is surprised that he didn’t recite the default prayer:
Now I lay me/Down to sleep/I pray to the Lord/My soul he’ll keep/If I should die/Before I wake/I pray to the Lord/My soul he’ll take
We all did it growing up. My son is newly 6. In the minds of his grandparents, he just needed to break off the basic prayer and take his tail to bed. Well, Kiserian is different and maybe that’s my fault. Ok, it is mostly my fault. See I believe in the power of prayer and I also believe that the heart of a child, the innocence of a child is how God wants all of us to come to Him. So I want my children to pray prayers that mean something to them, mean something to those who love them, and mean something to those in the world. I also didn’t want them to pray just for the sake of praying. So many times we as adults say what we want people to hear, but it’s not what’s really on our heart. I’ve taught my children (Philippians 4:6) and my son Kiserian has taken this teaching to heart. He volunteers to pray in every setting where prayer is requested. It doesn’t matter the size or the age of the audience. My man is going to pray and it ain’t a short “Jesus wept” type prayer either.
PaPa said he couldn’t recall it all, but he did remember that he said “I pray we have no stress and that we make it everywhere safe and on time.” Now that’s the kinda praying we all need. Now before yall go to thinkin’ that he was putting on a show, this is no surprise to me. Almost a year ago, while my mother was in the basement folding clothes, this same son, with no prompting/no catalyst whatsoever went to my mother.
“Nanny, I have something for you.”
“Honey, I’m doing the laundry. I’ll get it later.”
“No, you need this now.”
“What is it?” Nanny’s irritated. She likes to work alone.
“Here.”
“What is this? (Investigates, then in shock) Why are you giving me this?” Nanny stops cold.
“it’s a Bible. You need to know about Jesus. You do want to know about Jesus, right?”
There you have it. Your children are watching, listening. What you say and do daily matters. And we haven’t been members of a church his whole life, but that’s changed recently. He keeps a sistah on her toes. He reminds me if I forget to pray before we start school (yeah, I forget sometimes. Trying not to start too late. Got tons of material to cover. Yall been there, I know). I’m amazed every day by his openness and his willingness to share.
He loves action figures/super heroes. I need to model one after him. Have no fear. Young Prayer Warrior is here.
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[...] I am feeling a little better, but still some discomfort. Had to take YPW birthday gifts shopping for two of his friends and he went to a b-day party. I watch him as his friends (it’s about 7 of them that are tight) and I think man, if he could have this forever or better yet, if he could feel the love like he’s feeling now when he’s 35, he’d truly be a blessed man. My DH’s best friend was murdered some years back and I get choked up when I think about how long they had been friends and how, even though their lives were very different, they still connected on the level of 6 year old boys. Just like YPW and his friends. I wish them a long time of that friendship and that they will look back on the good times and not take it for granted. [...]
[...] I’ve given him some nicknames that really match his personality like Old Soul, Love Machine, YPW (young prayer warrior), or the latest is Lil Man (remember earlier this week, he’s the one [...]