A lesson in prayer from a 3 yr old

Callie is so good at remembering to pray for people who are sick or in need. Over a month ago, my parents neighbor (Bill) had a brain aneurysm. They explained it to her that he was bleeding in his brain and was in the hospital so the doctors could fix it. For the next couple days she would tell people about "Bill bleeding in his head" and would pray for him, or ask someone else to, every time we prayed (whether it was at lunch, dinner or at bedtime). A few days later our nephew Taylor had a slight dirt biking accident and hurt his leg. As soon as we told her, she asked to pray for him that night. So literally every night at dinner (which is really the only time the girls are comfortable praying out loud), Callie says "Dear God, thank you for this food, thank you for Biww and Taywor". At first, I thought maybe she would want to pray that they get better, heal, etc. but she always just thanked God for them. Then, I realized how appropriate that is. God doesn't promise us any amount of days in this life, He knows His plans and how they will follow out. All we know is that we should be thankful for each day we have. And although Callie maybe does not realize what she is exactly praying, I think it's neat how she knows just to be thankful that they are here for today and that when we pray, we don't always need to 'ask' for something or someone but to be praising God just because.

Then the other day Madeleine got sick and went to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia. I told Callie that night at dinner, in case she wanted to pray for her too. That night her prayer was this, "Dear God, thank you for this food, thank for Biww (l's are w's right now), Taywor, and Ms. Madeweine - Grammy, Katie Sue's grammy. Amen" Joe & I were grinning ear to ear as we watched Callie praying for those she knew who were sick and in need, and as she sat there explaining to God her relation to them. So cute that she felt the need to explain to God that Madeleine is Katie Sue's grammy and not her's. In the midst of this wonderful 3 yr old stage ;), she is such a sweet spirit and so sensitive to many many things! And it has been almost a month now that she continues EVERY day to pray for Bill & Taylor, and now Ms. Madeleine too. I'm thinking we could all learn a lesson or two from Callie's faithful prayers :)

We'll save the fact that she does not want to go to heaven for another time...she is not ready to leave here and be away from everyone she knows :)