Robyn.Bowles.es

Every night we have the same bedtime ritual with Josiah. Samuel helps him brush his teeth and wash up, then we get him into his pajamas and Samuel reads him a story. Then Josiah calls for me and we say prayers together. We always start with the question “What should we thank Jesus for today?” Then Josiah lists everyone in our community here (Jim and Jonah often get several mentions), and then other people and things that come to his mind.

At about 4 a.m. this morning the power went out. It got hot and stuffy inside pretty quickly without the air conditioning on. We also smelled the annoyingly familiar odor of diesel, which we have concluded is coming up through our vents from the emergency generator of the grocery store below us. So we opened the windows and Josiah awoke in the process.

We ended up bringing him into our bed with us, and just as Samuel and I were about to drift back to sleep, he was wide awake and chatty! We tried to ignore him at first, then kept reminding him it was “night-night” time. He was quiet for a minute then started repeating “pray, pray” over and over. I assumed he was saying “play, play” as it sounds just like his “pray,” and continued to try to ignore him.

Then he started praying!
“Jim, Jonah, A-drew, Heh-rer (Heather), Aggi (his name for Sophia), Steve . . .” He stopped there, probably distracted by a noise outside; but Samuel and I were amazed and delighted to hear him initiate these prayers all on his own. It’s so fun to see what he learns and remembers, and to experience the joy he brings to our lives every day.

« A Fun Week     Keeping Cool »