Little Boy Spirituality

I've been wanting to write a post about this for some time now as the boys come up with new things all the time. For starters, for some time now, one of Micah's favorite words has been "amen". He especially likes to say it when we are praying before we eat a meal. Of course, sometimes he's so hungry that he will start saying it while the person is still praying. It sounds kind of like, "aaaa-muh" - very cute. Sometimes when I sit down next to his chair he will say amen because he knows he doesn't get to eat until after we pray. He's a hungry boy pretty much all the time.

Now Luke seems to be more spiritually sensitive to things than the other two. Sometimes when we're praying, whether before a meal or during devotions or at house church, he will murmur, "Yes, Lord" or "hmmm-mmm, yes". It's so cute! The interesting thing is that he seems to do it at the proper time. He's not just making noise or mimicking others, he seems to be making his own comments on the prayer at hand. So sweet, really. Also, recently we were praying for the people of Indonesia because of an earthquake they experienced. Ever since the first night we mentioned it Luke has asked about the people of Indonesia and wanted to pray for them. His prayers are something like, "Lord, please, please, please make the earthquakes and mudslides in Indonesia stop and please help the people know Jesus there." Though Luke is my hyper one, he is also very tender-hearted.

Yesterday, I gave Joshua something and he asked me why I gave it to him. I explained that it was "grace" which is when you receive something you don't deserve. You know, you never know if your kids are listening to anything you say. But then last night I asked Joshua to put his toys away and go put his pajamas on. He politely asked if he could have a few more minutes and I told him 2 more minutes, but then he needed to put everything away. He ran over to me and said, "Thank you, Mommy. You gave me grace! I didn't deserve to play longer, but you let me! Thank you!" It was very sweet. Oh that I could always exhibit grace to them!

Finally, we have recently been stepping up the scripture memory in our home, so we've made some charts and have stars (you know, the colored foil stars we used in VBS growing up) and everything. The boys love the charts and they love getting stars next to their names. Anyway, both boys have started making up their own verses - it's so funny! Luke today said, "Mommy, my list says, 'Brothers should be kind to each other and work together to get the job done.'" (Yes, it's Bob the Builder that works together to get the job done.) Then he told me where it was found, Proverbs 20:3,4,8,9,24. Joshua then said his verse was, "Brothers and sisters should always help each other." Proverbs 52:20,8,9,34. At least their "verses" are good things for them to be doing! But the references are the funniest part. We'll keep working on learning actual proverbs along with other verses. :o) I love my boys!