Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Tonight was my turn to do the bedtime routine with Teddy. I was busy brushing my teeth and apparently taking too much time doing so because Teddy came in and inquired how much longer I was going to take. He explained that we needed to pray so he could go to sleep. I agreed, rinsed and was by his side in bed within a second. This is what Teddy prayed tonight, completely spontaneously:

"Dear Jesus, thank you for such a wonderful day, for all the food, for playing outside. Please, please, please help Nina get better. Help me get good sleep and for not companicking about homework, for having a good day at school, please give me a sign that Nina will be normal...probably, thank you for everything, help us have a good time and for everything. Amen."
"Companicking" is one of Teddy's made-up words. We think he combined "complaining" and "panicking". We've always thought it was a brilliant word and love it! We've never had the heart to correct it because it's so precious. 

His prayer was so pure, so genuine, it moved me to tears. I kissed his sweet head. He smelled like Irish Spring soap with a dash of sweaty head because he'd been doing somersaults on the mattress downstairs. I squeezed him tight and kissed the top of his head again. He rolled over so he was facing me and said, "Alright, alright. I gotta go to sleep now!"  Then he rolled back over to the other side and closed his eyes. 

I pray that God sends throngs of angels to protect Teddy's heart! He is such a tender boy and he has been nothing but sweetness to Nina since we returned from Cedars. On Monday morning as he was getting ready for school, he sat next to Nina and said to her, "Nina, you're the bravest girl I know in the whole wide world!" She smiled the most radiant of smiles. To Nina, her brother's love is like oxygen! For Teddy right now, Nina's illness is like a slow and gnawing pain. It subsides at times but never completely goes away. It is always there, lurking, reaching for the surface. My prayer tonight is for more oxygen, more radiant smiles, less gnawing pain!!! My children deserve this, they need it, we need it!


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