Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. This means that in much of the Christian world there was a lot of bead wearing, King Cake eating and general binging of worldly appetites. Today is the beginning of Lent, wherein at least one of those appetites will be "sacrificed" in preparation to receive the glorious wonder of Easter(our babysitter is giving up texting. Lots of our friends are giving up diet coke. or smoking; get the idea?)
I brought home a king cake to introduce the tradition and explain the christian culture of it all. You see, we are Christians too
but for us, its kind of lent all the time...
Porter spent the entire afternoon deciding what he'd give up for lent. His first idea was to give up vegatables. Then we explained that he was supposed to give up something he liked but that wasn't good for him. Like playing the wii all weekend. Or teasing Molly.
Trying to tell him he didn't have to give up anything for lent because we try hard to give up bad habits and sins all the time was hard, because we've done a really good job of helping Porter see that because everything we believe is centered in the reality and grace of Jesus Christ we are also Christian.
in the end, he decided he'd just "do lent", so his friends and teacher wouldn't be confused or wonder if he was Christian. The wii was just too much, so he gave up something less dear to his heart; picking his nose and eating it (o.k., I made that part up, but it would be the perfect lent offering for Porter, let me tell you...)
Just before bed I got to hear Porter say his prayers. Sounded something like this;
Dear Heavenly Father
I thank thee for this day
I thank thee that this was a good day
I thank thee for helping me remember to be good at school so i didn't lose my sticker
I thank thee for my family that loves me
and for my clothes and food
I thank thee that I could be my mom's son
and I want to be a good missionary someday. Please help me be a good one.
And please help me to be good in the morning
and please bless my dad
in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Lent? The kid doesn't need lent. Wings and a halo were sprouting from him even as he closed his prayer. I don't think his friends or teacher will have a hard time knowing the this little guy is definitely a Christian.
7 comments:
What a beautiful prayer! What a sweet boy!
sweet. oh, I miss your kids!
Tears, lots of tears! What a sweet heart
He is so sweet. At least his prayers don't consist of comments like our little Meg's do " Oh yeah Heavenly Father, My mom and dad have i-pods, I thought you want to know". At least we all chuckle at the innocence of the little ones at our house.
Not eating his boogers would be a very welcome respite.
I would take the nose picking and eating lent offering for Claire as well. Perhaps it is the age. Hopefully that age passes very, very quickly.
My sister and I have "done lent" the past couple of years and given up sugar. Maybe I'll try vegetables next year... That was so funny. What a sweet boy.
And Katie, I love the new settees. I was admiring them at Wisteria yesterday.
Katie, what struck me most about Porter's prayer was his thankfulness for being your son. I imagine it is because he has heard YOU express your thankfulness in prayer at being his mother.
So now I want to remember to express that in our family prayers.
Thanks for being such a great Katie.
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