Robyn.Bowles.es

It’s late, but I can’t sleep. Samuel and I were able to go out on a date tonight, thanks to my mom who stayed home with Josiah. It was really nice to be able to get out, and to have a reason to take a shower and put on makeup. Looking nice always makes me feel better about myself and life in general. We went to Foster’s Hollywood for some good American Food and free refills on soda. I had several Diet Pepsis and I think the caffeine is keeping me awake. So I poured a glass of Vermouth and soda (decaf) hoping to counteract the effects of the caffeine …

If you read the last entry about my birth story, you might be wondering if I’m “ok” yet. Yes, I’m ok now. The memories of that awful week still haunt me and talking about it still often brings me to tears, but I’m ready to move on and start looking forward.

So, looking forward: The other day I read on Babycenter.com about the importance of rituals in family. I’ve thought about that in the past: what kind of practices and traditions do I/we want to start and sustain in our family? One thing that came to mind is having a song. Couples often talk about having “our song.” I want an “our song” with Josiah – one that I sing to him regularly and he will learn to sing with me and always remember it as “our song.” So as I was trying to think of appropriate songs I think I’ve settled on Your Song, by Bernie Taupin. I especially like the lines …yours are the sweetest eyes, I’ve ever seen . . . and . . . how wonderful life is, now you’re in the world.

So unless I come across another one I like better, Your Song is our song for now.

Samuel and I also had a good conversation about rituals tonight. We talked about how we’d like to incorporate prayer into our family – making it something fun, creative, expressive and unceasing. Samuel recently read a book about 24/7 Prayer that has inspired some ideas on the subject. About a year ago we participated in a 24/7 prayer room with our church. Basically it is a room in which there is always someone praying throughout an entire week. People usually sign up for one or two hours at a time. We had a great experience and wished we had done it for longer. The prayers are expressed in many unique forms including art, singing, playing music, dancing, writing a letter to God, meditating – however the participant desires to connect with God.

Tonight we dreamed about the different ways we could do it in our family, to demonstrate that in all we do we should be giving thanks to God, and to offer our bodies, our lives and everything we do in worship. We could color, sing, dance, write songs, sculpt with playdough . . . it will be fun to learn how to pray in many different ways and probably to even learn from Josiah.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10:14.

What special traditions or rituals do you remember from your childhood?

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