My kids and I have a nightly routine. It usually looks something like this: we take turns in my son's and daughter's room. We read a book or a chapter from a book (although, I admit, we haven't been reading lately. Note to self: start reading every night again). We visit for a bit or talk about the story. We take turns each night saying prayers. Hugs, kisses, snuggles, and off to dream land for the night.
Lately, Jackson, my 8 year old, hasn't wanted to say prayers. After his sister left the room tonight, I asked him what was going on and why he didn't want to say prayers. He buried his face in his pillow and started to cry. After some coaxing he told me he didn't like church. He didn't believe in church (which he attends every other week when he is at his Dad's). I wanted to find where the disconnect was so I started at the top; do you believe in God? That Jesus is God's son? That Jesus came to earth to teach about God? Each question followed by a "yes".
The road block came when we started talking about the stories. Bible stories. Stories from the Book of Mormon. He told me, "no one in the world has that much power". I told him he was right. No one in the
world has that much power, but God is not in this world.. he is in heaven.
He then asked about people dying and how much we miss them. I'm holding back tears at this point, as I watch my sweet little baby cry because he misses his grandma oh so bad. I told him, that's another wonderful thing about believing in God, that when people die, it's not goodbye forever since will see them again someday.
I went on to tell him that we can pray for anything. We can pray to tell God how grateful we are, to ask to protect us, ask for forgiveness, or ask for him to comfort us. We can pray alone, or in a group, you can even ask someone to help you or for them to pray for you, if you aren't quite sure what to say, but God will always answer your prayers. He might not answer right away, but he always answers. Jackson said something about having to wait a long time, even a whole year. I told him (still choking back tears and trying not to let my voice crack),
"What if you handed me a Band-Aid right now? I would probably look at you like you are crazy! I would wonder why you are giving me a Band-Aid when I don't need one. But what if, next week, I fall and scrape my knee and it's bleeding.. and you hand me a Band-Aid. I would say thank you! I need this Band-Aid." I explained that sometimes our body or our mind isn't ready for God's answer just like it wasn't the right time to give me a Band-Aid. We might need to learn a lesson along the way, or meet a new person or new people will be brought into our lives, there are any number of reasons and we just need to have faith.
I'm not sure where that analogy came from. I'm sure it was
divine intervention because it rolled of my tongue as if I've said it a hundred times before, and Jackson felt reassured and understood why we should be patient.
After that we prayed together. He asked for comfort for all the people that are sad because someone they love has died (I finally broke down).
I grabbed a blanket out of the living room, that his grandma had made. I had him sit up in his bed and I wrapped the blanket around him, telling him, "think of this as grandma wrapping her arms around you and giving you a great big hug." I tucked him in with more hugs and kisses and he was asleep within minutes.
I'm thankful that I had the right words to say tonight. I want him to grow up close to God, no matter what religion he chooses. Whether he chooses the Mormon faith like his Father, basic Christian believes like myself or something completely different, I hope that he, and my daughter, have a strong faith to lean on for those hard times that we all know are bound to happen throughout their lives.
Jackson found his pumpkin first but it was huge and he couldn't lift it so he got creative. Him and Ashleigh worked together by tipping the wheelbarrow all the way to the ground and rolling the pumpkin inside. It took quite a few attempts and was hilarious to watch. About 10 min later, Jackson was pushing the wheelbarrow and it dumped over then he hit a bump... and the process started all over again. Haha.
I knew my mom would be driving home from work soon so I let her know where we were and she stopped by for a while to visit while we walked through the patch.
This is, hopefully, the last year of my tiny container deck garden. I'm wishful of a huge backyard garden next year! In the meantime, I do want to get as much as I can out of my humble little garden. Last week, I took a folding table in my sun room and set it up in front of a huge window inside. I didn't want to have to run out and spend money on drip trays to put under each pot to catch overflow from watering.. so I started brainstorming!
Be thankful for what you have;
Sunday night, the four of us hiked up Ensign Peak. It was a surprise for the kids since they had been wanting to go for a while. The trail head is in the hills up above the Utah capitol building and it's a wonderful hike, especially once you get to the top and can see the entire valley below. We timed it to hike up at dusk, enjoy the sunset from the top and watch all the valley lights come to life. Beautiful.
