A friend loves you all the time.
- Proverbs 17:17
Teaching the Littles in my life to think of others and pray for their happiness was by far the easiest lesson I have ever worked with them on. It also proved to be one of the funniest. I taught the two older Littles already and I am currently working on the middle Little. Channing will be a bit of a challenge, mostly because he is a little loner in life and likes to just be left alone until he is ready to interact with the rest of the Littles. The two littlest Littles are just too young yet to teach about friendships and respect.
It was probably about three months ago when I started teaching Olivia the Blessing For My Friends prayers. It is easy enough to read to and easy enough to explain each line in the prayer. Since she could talk she has been praying by name for those she loves at night, on her knees, palm to palm forming a steeple with her hands, elbows on her bed. It took forever for her to list each and every name she could think of to ask God each night to keep her friends safe. Now she is OK with reading the prayer knowing it includes all her friends and cousins and misfits in her life. Each night she gets to choose one name to say a special prayer for. A Blessing for My Friends prayer is the prayer Olivia likes to recite to her mommy at random times during the day. When she gets to the "joyful song" line she will burst into random songs that have nothing to do with the prayer itself, but at least she is sending blessing to a friend through her prayer and song. Last week I witnessed her random prayer blessing and as soon as she said "joyful song" she burst in an old classic she learned from a movie 'Footloose' that our friend Gracie (RIP) left in her possession. When she was done singing and dancing she finished the prayer as if there were no interruption at all. The innocence of the littles in our world make my heart happy.
A Blessing for My Friends
Dear Lord, please bless my friends today,
While at school and while at play.
Keep them safe both day and night,
Lead them towards the way that's right.
Help them to remember You,
And trust in You with all they do.
Give their hearts a joyful song,
To keep them happy all day long.
Showing our littles of the world how friendships are formed and bonded is certain to help them understand the importance of praying for them as we enjoy life on earth with them. Treating our friends as well as everyone we meet with respect will teach our littles how to be respectful towards others. Letting them see how you interact with others, friends and strangers, will instill in them the importance of people in their lives.
Often we as adults take our friendships for granted. We become complacent in those relationships and forget they need to be nurtured and that it takes two to build that friendship into what we would like it to be. We do not stop to say a simple blessing prayer for those in our lives that choose to be there, and stay there. The friends that support us not matter what, through good and bad. The friends that give more then they take, speak the honest truth, reach out a hand to support us and thank God for the crossing our paths.
What better way to teach our littles of the world how to surround themselves with a posse of friends to the end, then to set the example for them in our own journey on earth.
