"Lord, teach us to pray...' Luke 11:1

As a momma, it is my job to teach Bennett things- how to count, his ABC's, his colors, numbers, shapes, animals, how to get along with others, how to share, manners... all the things toddlers and preschoolers should be learning. BUT, my MOST important job as his momma is to lead him to Jesus. It's the responsibility I take the most serious and one that fills my heart to the brim. I want Bennett to LOVE Jesus and want to follow him. I want him to seek HIS will for his life and to seek a mate that feels the same. Every night, we pray. Each day on our way to Ju Ju's house, we pray. We also pray before meals but I feel it's important for him to learn that we can pray for anything, anywhere. At night, we don't really do a "kid's" prayer. We say a prayer thanking God for our blessings and we pray for specific people and specific needs. We have had the same five people we have been praying for for several months by name and we add in a few more as needed :) In the mornings, we pray that B will be a good friend and that he will listen and be kind to others. He then will help me say his friends' names and we pray for each of them. On Sundays at Granddaddy's, he will say the blessing and then name every person in the room to pray for them. It makes my heart smile... every.single.time. He has also started standing in his crib with his arms around my neck as we pray at night. 

Last year, B got a Fisher Price nativity for Christmas. We started pulling out our Christmas stuff and I got it out and explained it to him. He played with it all day Saturday. On Sunday morning, we were all laying in bed and I said, "B, what are you thankful for?" His reply?? "Baby Jesus". I wasn't sure I heard him correctly but Jonathan confirmed what he said. B then jumped off the bed and went to his room to get his nativity and his Baby Jesus. It melted this Momma's heart!

On Sunday, I pulled out my Willow Tree Nativity and set it up in our den. B was intrigued... a little too intrigued. I was in another room and came back to find all of my nativity pieces face down in a line on the floor. According to B, they were "Night Night!" I decided to go ahead and give him his own nativity scene that I was going to wait to give him this weekend. I set it up for him and he LOVES it! 

 

Tonight after dinner, B helped me decorate one of our trees. He was so careful and deliberate about where to put each ornament. He would hang the hooks on the very edge of each branch. He was a great helper!

In other news... B is continuing to talk up a storm! His favorite phrase is, "What's this, Mommy?" and "Here 'tis!" 

Stay tuned for updates from Thanksgiving Break 2013