Tuesday, 12 August 2008
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The Spiritual Life of a Toddler
One of my favorite things about R right now is watching him experience the world and figure things out. My family and I attend church and our faith is a part of our daily lives. Lately, R has been trying to figure out God, and it has been quite a humorous and thought-provoking time! I thought I'd share some recent "God" encounters... A few nights ago I was working on the computer and a picture of our Pastor was on the screen. R was sitting on my lap having his bed time snack and glanced up at the computer. He gasped, and said, "Mom, look! look!" I asked him what he was looking at and he pointed to Pastor's picture and said in awe, "It's God!" I laughed and responded "Close, honey, that's Pastor D." He nodded knowingly and said, "Oh yeah... he talks to God." Smart little guy...
We pray with him as we tuck him into bed each night. It's a special time of reflecting on our day, and we usually remember to pray for someone that is going through a tough time, particularly any kids we know that aren't feeling well, etc. R has been really into wanting to say his own prayers lately, and they usually begin "Dear God..." and then he proceeds to ramble on about anything that pops into his head. Tonight he began as usual, and this was his complete prayer... "Dear God, thank you for my head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes. Amen". I was trying my hardest not to burst out laughing, because he wasn't actually singing the song, his eyes were closed and he was praying quite fervently. It was just the cutest thing. Well, at least he's thankful...
And this last little story touched my heart so much! A few months ago, we had been reading the Bible story about Daniel and the Lions Den quite often. He was really into lions at the time, so he was really fascinated by this story. My grandparents live right down the road on a farm, which is R's favorite place in the world. We had spent the day there and he had a "scary" encounter with a chicken, which he thought was going to bite him (it wasn't really, but in his mind, the chicken looked pretty big). That night after he was in bed, he started crying and when I went into his room he said "scared... chickens bite me". I talked with him for awhile and then told him that God was watching over him and would protect him from the chickens. He was quiet for a moment and then said in a very thoughful voice, "Lions no bite Daniel, chickens no bite me, too". (he wasn't talking quite as well as he is now). I was just amazed at how he correlated the story about Daniel being saved from the lions and him being saved from the chickens, without me even mentioning it. If only we could all have such simple faith! It's no wonder God has a special place in his heart for children!
Do you incorporate faith into your family's life? How do you explain spiritual things to your children?
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Comments (14)
that is so precious! what a good mommy to put time in every day to teach your little ones about God.
i love it how they get it at that age.that is really sweet you have a very special boy there
How cute!
We are a somewhat strange family when it comes to religion. My husband says he's Christian but does not practice at all. I am still searching for my place in faith but am mostly Pagan. We've had many discussions on religion and what do we tell the children?! In the end, they learn about aspects of Paganism through me but as they get older we will be teaching them about all the world's religions. I feel they will get a heavy dose of Christianity from my in laws, my father in law is a baptist minister. That doesn't bother me. My kids are free to explore religion and find the place that is right for them. That's what we both feel is right for our family.
We work things in throughout the day (you'd be surprised how many questions can lead to a discussion about something God does or a promise He has made), as well as praying at dinner and bedtime and having a weekly family devotional. Even my nearly 2 year old folds his hands and says 'amen'.
we attend church with our children 2-3 times a week. My kids love to pray at the dinner table. If I am the one praying and forget to pray for someone we've had on our list, my 5 yr old will remind me to pray for them.
My daughter asks a lot of questions about God, prayer, etc. My son not so much yet, but he is getting there. They are both learning Scripture verses and I'm amazed at how well my daughter remembers verses learned long ago.
Child being brainwashed. Unless, of course, you're talking to him about other faiths, and about atheism.
I just love people who randomly leave comments to intentionally stir up trouble. Nice. By the way, children don't need to be told about other religions or atheism at home because it gets force fed down their throats at school and in society in general, along with casual sex, and a whole host of other junk.
Anyway, we take our daughter to church and we hold her little hands when we say our blessings at meal time and I read at her from the Bible each night. When she's older (11 mo now) we'll find more ways to work God and our religion in.
We incorporate our faith throughout the day. We pray, we talk about the Bible, we talk about Jesus...it's actually very natural for us. We also attend church and our oldest has her class there on Sunday mornings. I love watching her and I love hearing her talk to strangers about Jesus. It's a wonderful thing to see. I don't plan on teaching her about other religions until she is old enough to discern the truth. And, since they are given to us by God, then I'm going to play it by His rules. I don't think that's brainwashing. I'd like to think of that as being intelligent and honoring the God who saved me.
We are Christians and my daughter loves learning about God. I talk about it with her every chance I get. However, I talk to her about how other people believe different things and how that is OKAY.
One of my sons first words was AMEN! A few months ago he was going through a stage where he was scared of pengins and I was trying to explain that God was in heaven watching out for him and that nothing would harm him. So, I asked him where God was, thinking he would say heaven or up there or something like that but his answer was "In PawPaw's Bible." That is what he calls our Pastor. I love it! If you are a true believer you will live it in front of your children everyday and that is how they will learn. Sounds like that is just what you are doing!
That is such a sweet, precious story, thanks for sharing!
I love hearing about kids and their faith because it always seems to lead to a great point: faith really can be that simple.
I don't have kids or anything but I had to laugh when I read this because I remember when I was little my mom told me to be thankful that I have both arms and legs, all my fingers and toes, both eyes/ears, etc. (I have an uncle who lost one arm) so for the longest time every single night I would thank God for each individual limb lol.
@Punk_Rock_Mommy@xanga -
Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
You and your husband should be praised for taking an active roll in the rearing of your children... It is not exactly popular these days.
I think it's ridiculous for people to call it brainwashing... when really your teaching your children the truth. Jesus/God the Father/God the Holy spirit is our creator and we owe Him our lives and especially our children which he gave to us in the first place.
Thank-you for being godly parents and thank God for giving you grace to turn to Him and raise your children to do the same.
stephen.k
How sweet. My daughter (18 months) always clasp her hands to pray. Sometimes she reminds us to pray at mealtimes. When she hears "in Jesus' name we pray" she says "men men" (Amen). haha We found some slow worship songs that she likes to listen to as she falls asleep at night. One time she heard the words, "I will praise You" and she said, "pray pray". We have a Good Night Bible Stories book, and a few others like that so we read a verse before bedtime as well.