Sunday, July 28, 2013

Sacred Almonds.

Bedtime can be nutty.

Attempting to get the little birds three bathed and pajama-clad with brushed teeth is sometimes the equivalent to herding blind cats. Add in the fact that this occurs at the end of the day when we're all tired anyway, the bedtime routine can be downright exhausting.

However, after the books have been read (by me), the tall tales have been told (by Dad), the songs have been sung (by all of us) and everyone is tucked in for the night (assuming at least one of those things has actually happened as planned), I begin my favorite occurrence of the day: I go to each of the kids' beds and sing The Doxology over them before they fall asleep. 

If you aren't familiar with its words, here they are:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.

No matter how tired I am, or, honestly, how much I might not feel like singing it, the kids are eager to remind me (Naomi: "Sing The Soxology, Mom!") and I'm always glad that I do. Regardless if the day was a good one or a not-so-good one, this poignant moment stirs my heart to be thankful that, above all else, I had one more day with the people I love. Praise God for that!

We spent last week at the lake and we all shared a room. One night as I finished The Doxology, with Cub and Naomi tucked in their beds, my heart swelled at the beauty of this sacred closing to the day... when suddenly Cub piped up:

"Mom, why do you praise God for an 'almond'"?

"Wait, what?"

"We praise God for things that flow and then we end it with almonds! It's cool."

Oh my word, I busted a gut when I realized that he meant the "Amen" ("Ah-men") at the end of the song. 

This whole time he thought I was praising God for almonds. That as I tuck them in and stroke their hair and kiss their cheeks, I sing a song of praise to God for the beauty of a healthy nut that we use as a spread on our sourdough bread. Fantastic. 

I explained that the word "Amen" is usually sung as "Ah-men" and that it was simply the end to the prayer I was singing. "Ohhhhh," he nodded before he snuggled back into his pillow. 

It was so funny to imagine this moment from his perspective. He knows nothing of the word "sacred" or "reverent", he just knows that Mom is thankful to God for stuff and she sings about it at the end of the day. 

And, really, that's all he needs to know.

Have a lovely day. :)

4 comments:

  1. Mom is thankful for almonds. So funny. Kids are so great.

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  2. I read this in bed last night and Andrew thought I was crazy, I was laughing so hard. So funny.

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  3. Amen ("let it be so"). I'm thankful for almonds too!

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  4. So cute. Love your heart for God and how you are shepherding your precious crew.

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