Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Out of the Mouths of Babes

With so many negative things bombarding our children today I love when I see good habits taking hold. Prayer has become one of those habits I am grateful to see my children enjoying.

Prior to our move to SA, almost 3 years ago (gosh, it has gone by so quickly), when we would pray for the transition Skyler always prayed 2 things. One, that her new house would have a swimming pool and two, that she would get (her wording) a baby sister. We weren’t sure where either of those requests came from as we never talked about our house having a pool nor were there any plans to have a baby in the near future (thus my life verse Prov. 19:21). You can imagine the excitement when Rich announced that the house he found to rent just happened to have a swimming pool. It is very common for the houses here to have a pool (kind of like Florida)….but I am not settled on the fact that it is a coincidence.

Four weeks after our move to SA, I found out I was pregnant. And 20 weeks after that we received the ultrasound confirming it was a girl. It was then Rich and I decided that Skyler would be included in any matters of prayer. :-)

Blake has taken to praying as well. His recent prayers include baby Noah (Michelle and Beth’s blog brought him to our attention), Uncle Ronnie (he hurt his back), and the Crocodile Hunter. It was a sad day at the Franzen household when we learned that Steve Irwin died. I tried to explain to Blake that instead of praying for the Croc Hunter rather we should pray for his family. It did not work; he is pretty insistent that “God will bring him back to life”. Oh boy! Although these prayers bring me much delight my favorite is when he prays, “and Jesus I am soooo sorry you had to die on the cross”. It just melts me.

Even Tori is getting in on it. We find most anything she does at this age adorable. She is at the “adorable-edible” age. But we all coo at the supper table when she buries her head in her hands and mumbles gibberish along with whoever is praying.

I am truly grateful that my children are taking to heart such a wonderful practice. So if you have any prayer requests, send them our way.

6 comments:

Beth said...

Oh my goodness, that really did me in. So cute and precious—especially Blake's prayer about being so sorry Jesus had to die on the cross.

Your kids are so beautiful! So funny how Skyler is so dark and the other two so light . . . just like Ashley in contrast to her three brothers.

Anonymous said...

This is the cutest post ever! Your kids are so precious. I have never heard a child pray that he is so sorry Jesus had to die on the cross. Oh my gosh, I'm tearing up over that one! I haven't gotten the privledge to know Blake, but that comment right there showed me his precious little heart. And I'm going to remember to send my prayer requests to Skyler, too!

What a beautiful family you have Michelle.

Shanygne said...

You can have them pray for our upcoming move... starting a church, selling our house, finding a new one...friends, job (possible starting a business...and that comes with it's own list!)

Now I feel so selfish, for adding my prayer requests, rather than talk about how wonderful it is that they understand the power of prayer... and it is so wonderful... now, if Steve Irwin comes back to life, wow....

Charlene said...

Michelle-
I was so happy to find your blog. I am excited to say that (though it is a long story) I will be living much closer to the Franzen clan soon, as I am moving to South Africa! To make a long story short I will be coming to work with Neil and Alece at Thrive. So, when I am in the city sometime we will have to have "tea" together...in person!

Blessings,
Charlene

Anonymous said...

I love that your kids love to pray. Caleb is struggling with it--maybe you could pray for that : ). He's too embarassed to pray out loud. Anyway, I hope you are starting a prayer journal for Skylar so she can see how God has answered her prayers. And, I can't believe it's been 3 years! Wow.

Anonymous said...

I almost lost it reading this one, Michelle! I miss them and you so much. I can't stand it that I've yet to meet little Tori. Could Sky pray that Grace, Will, and Ethan get to come see her soon? Grace, Ethan, and Will are joining her in that one. You tell her I'm so proud of her!!!
-Candi (sorry, since I upgraded to BetaBlogger it won't let me sign in under normal blogger. It says that i will be able to soon.)