Prayers

Bret and I were raised Catholic. Both of us had grandmothers that were vigilant prayer warriors. Over the years I have relied on their examples and lifted up my prayers. Here lately it seems like my prayers are going something like "thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of the blessings in our lives".

One of the areas with our kids that I kind of feel like hasn't been as strong has been praying with our kids and trying to teach them how to pray. No one ever taught us. As Catholics there are standard prayers that everyone is expected to know and repeat. We pray as a family before every meal and during most bedtime routines.

Palmer made a comment the other day when we were at church that really surprised me. He asked me what people were doing when they were kneeling and when I told him that they were praying he replied "oh, yeah I pray and talk to God at night before I go to sleep".

I asked him what he and God talked about and he said "I tell him thanks for my toys and my new room. Sometimes I ask him to help me listen better". As a mom it felt grate to see my 4 year old building a relationship with God. I think it was about this time that I felt like I wanted to do more than just go to church on Sundays. I think sometimes I avoid talking about God with my kids because of the tough questions that come. The questions are not easy ones to answer and something that I really don't feel confident in knowing all of the answers to.

So I have done what I always do when I feel unequipped. I bought a book and I started attending a mom's bible study group at our church. I LOVE it and even though sometimes I feel way over my head (the first book was all about the mass and why we do what we do in a Catholic mass) it is really fascinating and makes me really happy to be Catholic. I have been going to church for 30 years and I had my first tour of the church (I am sure I had this when I was in CCD as a kid but I don't remember anything about it) and again I am in awe.

Here is the biggest kicker, Bret started going to the men's group too. They meet once a week and have lunch. The read the chapter during lunch and discuss as they go. No prep work needed and it fits into his schedule. It feels right starting this new chapter with the Church and God as a bigger part of it. We are forever grateful for everything we have been blessed with and feel like this closeness is just one more blessing.