Evening Prayers

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

Guide me safely through the night

and wake me with the morning light"

Those are the prayers that our kids have said since they were old enough to speak.  Through the years the annunciation, emphasis and alliteration have changed.  The overall message, however, was the same and, frankly, I think that the heartfelt mis-speaks make God smile.

For years Brianna would end her prayers with:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nafan, madeline and ben-german."

When Jackie was pregnant with Grace, Bri's prayers changed to:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nathan, madeline, benjamin, kameron 

and help the baby in Aunt Jackie's tummy to grow big and strong"

When it looked like Grace was going to be a "large" baby (Thanks to ultrasound technology) Jackie kindly asked Brianna to remove the "Big" from her prayers.

 Tonight Jeff was saying prayers with Nate and he was correcting some "mistakes" that Nate made.  I know that all too soon Nate will have mastered the prayer and I just know I need to capture the way he said them tonight:

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the morning light

God Bless Mommy and Daddy

Grandmas and Grandpas

Aunts and Uncles

Breezy, Maddie, Benny and Kam

Help Gracie to Grow Big and Strong and

help the babies in Aunt Sara's tummy to grow big and strong

and help me not to have any bad dreams like lions or tigers

Amen"