Pray Without Ceasing

From Matthew: 

Pray Matt-Matt, pray Papa, pray Stink-Stink, pray Matt-too, pray Daddy, pray Angie, pray Mama, pray food, pray Matt-Matt, pray ice tea, pray noo-noos, pray John-john, pray Matt-matt, pray Angie, pray Stink-Stink, pray Mama, pray Papa, pray Nana, pray Matt-Matt, pray meat, pray Grandma, pray Grandpa, pray Stink-Stink, pray John-john, pray Angie, pray Daddy, pray ice tea, pray appets, pray Matt-matt....

Once Was Lost But Now Am Found

Things are a bit livelier and noiser today. Our visit to Virginia for Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, and the boys are in detox this week. Not only did they have a plethora of snacks, sweets, and soda, Stephen also told me, "I didn't have to make my bed at Nana's house."

Here's another one for the label "religion." The boys were playing in the basement while I worked on the computer. Andrew came over and said, "Momma, I hear a voice from upstairs." Without missing a beat, Stephen declared, "It's God speaking." Andrew quickly agreed to the idea of "The Man Upstairs." What's more, Stephen thought he was saying, "Children obey your Mom & Dad."

I made the mistake of telling Andrew that we would decorate the Christmas tree on Sunday, and he assumed it would be first thing. Well, he had to endure both church and rest time, but eventually we dragged out all the decorations and got to work.

I love the freedom the children have in decorating the tree; no concern for what's "right" or "proper" - just what's most easily reached. Doug did offer a little help for those hard-to-reach-places.

Thankfully Matthew was asleep during all of this, but once he arose, he quickly inspected their handiwork.It didn't take long for us to realize this was not going to work (when Andrew was this age, we had a small table top tree so it wasn't an issue). It was too much trouble to move the assembled tree behind the couch so we settled for a barricade of miscellaneous furniture from the living room. It's hardly fit for a spread in Southern Living, but it serves the purpose.

The title of this post refers to two strange happenings today. It seems that Thomas the Tank Engine's friend Skarloey who has been MIA for quite a while was found in the toe of Andrew's stocking. Last week before we headed to Virginia I spent a tremendous amount of time searching for a brand new pair of leather slippers for Matthew that he had worn just a few times. I searched high and low but they were MIA as well. Today I discovered them in an empty coffee can on the back porch (go figure).

More Religious Conversations

Stephen: I am Peter and you should pray to idols.

Andrew: No, I am not praying to idols; I pray to God.

Stephen: You should pray to idols.

Andrew (very defiantly): No, we should not pray to idols. I only pray to God.

Stephen (in his most cheery voice): Okay, you can pray to God.


This conversation took place while Stephen was in his "boat" (the couch). Jesus (Andrew) then proceeded to "walk across the mountains and the water" to get in the boat. They set sail and talked with the dolphins until Peter fell out of the boat. Jesus sailed on to a new city with his disciples.

False Religion

I have posted before about the ways in which Bible stories tend to get twisted during the boys' play. They have rewritten David & Goliath, Jesus calming the storm, Jonah and the big fish along with many other stories; I have also seen evidence of the boys' applying these truths of Scripture and the catechism to their everyday lives.

Yesterday Stephen asked if God could see us? I replied, "Yes, God is everywhere and sees us at all times. He can see Nana & Papa in Virginia, Colin and Ms. Suzy in Switzerland, and Grandpa & Grandma in Mississippi." Without skipping a beat, Andrew added, "And He can see the model toy tow truck and cherry picker at Grandma & Grandpa's house."

Then there are other instances that leave me shaking my head.

Today I was praying with Andrew over some inappropriate behavior when Stephen snuck into the room to sit on a hamper. After we were done he declared, "I was sitting here pretending to be an idol."

The Gospel According to Andrew

Though often misinterpreted and taken out of context, the Lord promises that His Word will not return void - I can't wait to see how He uses this. I was attending to Matthew earlier when Andrew entered bearing his large red & white striped candy cane and we had a conversation that played out as follows:

"And so it was that Jesus traveled along the roads fixing wonky washing machines. And he had a mother named Mary but he was a grown up man. And he took a wrecking ball and knocked down all of the crosses. And then the policeman came along and unscrewed the screws from his hands and feet and then let him ride in the police car and they went zooming away with the lights flashing and the siren going RRRRRRR!"

More sobering was the conversation about the story of Samuel confronting David about his sin. We talked about how David was sorry for his sin and God forgave David, but he was still punished. Stephen asked how David was punished, and I told him that he had a baby that died. He paused and said, "But when we do bad things and get punished, does Matthew get dead?" Thankfully not.