A heart of compassion

Every night as I put Lily to bed I pray over her.  She has a little prayer bear that and we pray along with, "now I lay me down to sleep..."

By the way, I guess thinking of possible death before sleep was considered tramatic for this generation, the ending has changed now to, "your love be with me through the night and wake me with the morning light." I actually really like the new version, but it is funny that toy-makers would change the prayer.

Anyway, after we pray with the bear I pray, "God bless Lily. Give her sweet dreams, and a heart that loves you and cares for others."  Nothing eloquent about it and, of course, in my personal prayer time I pray many things over my baby girls heart. But, this morning she was carrying around her little baby doll which was unusual.  Lately, all she wants to carry around is "dog." (she has several dogs and doesn't care which one, but she will walk around the house calling "dog, dog, dog" until she finds one.

Again, I'm babbling.  I want to tell you that I burst into tears when she set her baby down and stuck her cereal up to its mouth to feed her.  I know that developmentally she is beginning to interact more with her toys and playmates, but it was so sweet to see her caring for her baby doll- I couldn't help it. 

I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I tell her every morning that she must have grown over night - I have to be careful not to catch her feet on the railing as I lift her out of bed. So, part of my tears were, like every mother, sorrowful that my baby is growing up so fast.  But, it was more than that.  They were also tears of gratitude, that God is at work teaching her to care for others- answering my prayer.

You may think I'm very silly to put so much thought into a simple and very
normal gesture.  But, I am going to claim it as a little sign God's faithfulness to answer prayer and I will be persistent and specific with my prayers over Lily.  I hope you will be encouraged to pray with persistence, speak goodness over your loved ones, and be watchful for little signs of God's faithfulness.