Caleb's prayer

Caleb took me by surprise tonight at dinner. Out of the blue he asked to say the prayer, and I thought he meant to sing the song we usually sing. But no, he launched off into a very solemn series of thanks for various things--the toys that Oma and Opa had given him for his birthday (two months ago!), the sunshine, swimming that afternoon, Daddy coming home on the train later that night. At the end of his list he punctuated his prayer with a sweet "ah-men", very professional. When I asked him who he was praying to, though, he said "Oma and Opa", so we had to clarify a few details during the meal!

This might not be news for many kids Caleb's age but I had never heard him pray before. We have prayed together a few times, but it was me doing the praying and not him. I know that Caleb is a listener, and this was a sweet and profound example of what he's been picking up. I wish all his examples were that sweet! :)

At any rate, he could also have thanked God for the sun and wind down at the beach today, and for not getting wet when that big wave rolled in! He could have thanked God that Mommy kept her temper (for the most part) when he and brother were a right handful in church. He could have thanked God for the car that drives us all over town to do fun things. But I do like that those things are just part of his happy life and don't always need special recognition. I like that God is in the details naturally...that is a great thing for anyone to learn.