In this book, Amanda chronicled a year of bedtime prayers with her young daughter Chloe. She shared openly her struggles and many of the same I face. One being, not rushing your children through things just so you can get to the outcome you want. As parents we often fail to be there to listen to our children. I love how she described it this way, "We all really just want someone to listen to us, and that's why we pray." Isn't that truth? I fail at this daily and yet I'm willing to work on it. I want my child to know I'm always there to hear what he has to say.
What's so neat about this book is the connection she made with her daughter and now I'm making with my son, by making prayer a priority for our family. It is teaching me to listen and love more wholly, in a way that was so necessary .
Like God's love for us, parents give love wholly without expectations of getting anything in return - no thanks, no accolades, just giving as much as you can and then more because God's love is the template and the source. - Amanda Lamb
This book inspired me to follow through with a project from this spring I did with a local mom's group. We made prayer pails for our children, where we wrote on popsicle sticks people and things to pray for (ie. family, friends, homeless, our president, church...etc.). It's been several months now of doing this every night with my son. He doesn't always have the desire to do it himself, but will ask us every night who we are praying for tonight. I can't stress the importance of teaching your children about prayer when they are young. They are going to rely on it when they are older and facing difficult situations and decisions.
If you want to find out more of this craft you can check it out here. And if you'd like to find Amanda's book you can check it out here.
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