Bedtime

It is always fun for me when I find a new bedtime "activity" that I enjoy and my kids enjoy (and actually learn something from). Usually, I am so tired and ready for them to go to bed that I rush through the whole process, close the door and release a big sigh of relief. "It is finished" is what I am thinking! Usually our bedtime routine goes down like this: dinner, bath time/teeth brushing (that way they cant beg for any more food before bed- sorry, teeth are brushed!), with whatever time they haven't wasted during bath time they can play until 8:00pm when it is bedtime. Izzy (2 yrs) gets 2 songs, a prayer and hits the sack, Ellie (4 yrs) is a little more complex. She wants a book, to read the Bible, prayer time, potty time...you name it! We have been looking scripture up (from my prayer journals) for a while now and discussing the virtues and what they mean to her- like obedience or love, etc.. She loves to look the passage up in her darling pink Bible and then prays for everything under the moon (recently she has started asking her daddy to pray that Jesus gives her hot chocolate with breakfast..and of course He delivers if her daddy has anything to say about it). It is such a sweet time with her, she is starting to get the virtues and understand that the Bible is a good place to go to find "wisdom". The past few nights, I have started journaling in the books WITH her. I have always journaled for my kids or about my kids, but not with them. Izzy is still young to get this activity, but Ellie loves it. We talk about the daily prayer, read the scripture and then write down all of her prayer requests and what she is grateful for that day. I have only been doing it for a few days, but I already have the greatest treasure- she says the best stuff and I am so glad I am jotting it down as it comes. I never want to forget that innocent heart and how simple her needs/wants/desires are. I cant wait until Izzy is old enough to join us and I can document the whole thing. You could do this in any journal- I of course like my format (!) but anything would work- I think you will be blessed by this time and the memories you can look back on and pass down to your kids. My website is www.prayerwithpurpose.com and the book is PrayerWithPurpose: Passionate Prayers for Children.

While I am at it, the reason why Ellie loves looking up the scripture so much is that we have 2 albums that have made learning the books of the bible (and other scripture) so much fun: Deliberate Kids is the name of it, they have 2 records out and they are awesome. Phil Joel (formerly of the Newsboys) did these with his wife and kids and they are the best. My girls both know their books of the bible all thanks to these- make sure to check them out www.deliberatekids.com.