Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Her tiny voice

Dear God,
Thank you so much for Carolines tiny little voice. Thank you for her sweet chit chat that she keeps up all day, and for all of the wonderful things that must be going on inside her brain inspiring her to try to talk. Please let her voice, and her words, stay sweet as she grows. Please give her compassion and goodness so that she learns to use her words and her voice to build people up rather than tear them down. Also, please give me and Dan self control over the things we say around her - so that we are good role models for her.

Lord thank you for her tiny little voice that we hear in her coughs, sneezes, shouts, chats and coos. We love her endlessly and are so grateful that you've given her to us.

Amen.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Generosity

We had a last minute cancellation with our babysitter, and a good friend is willing to keep Caroline for us while I go to my first night back at Valencia. Our friends generosity in keeping Caroline inspires today's prayer.

Dear God,
Thank you for giving us friends who are so willing to help when we're in a bind. Thank you for their generosity that helps relieve stress in my life. God today I ask you to grow generosity in Caroline. Please give her a generous nature and make her want to help others. Please show her how it's through giving that she'll be able to receive. Please also give Caroline the foresight to see where she's needed and where she can help.

Thank you God for your gifts, for our friends, and for our sweet baby.

Amen.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

CJC

We have a couple good friends who do beautiful monogramming, and have done several things for Caroline that are just precious. Just yesterday we got a shipment of new monogrammed bibs from one of our friends, and they are perfect! Caroline wore one today, and it made me think of this prayer.

Dear God,
Thank you for our friends and the gifts of creativity and creation that you've given them. When I look at Caroline in her monogrammed things it makes me think that others can look at her, and know who she is. I ask you today to always make Caroline sure of who she is. Please let her grow deep roots into her loving family and friends, and let those roots give her courage to explore but depth to know herself through the trials of this life. Please always remind Caroline that she was created in your image, a beautiful girl (and one day, woman) who is loved and cherished.

Thank you for making Caroline unique and giving her all of the things that make her our CJC!

Amen.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Happiness

God,
Today I want to thank you for the happy spirit you've given to Caroline. She spends so much of her day with smiles and laughter, and I can see you in her joy. Thank you for making her this way. Please bless her with happiness each day of her life. Please let her be joy in our life and in the lives of her friends and other family as well. Thank you for our baby, for the gift of laughter and joy and for Carolines happiness thats making life so worth living.

Amen.

Friday, August 19, 2011

All their bags are packed....

My grandparents, Caroline's great-grandparents, have been in town for 2 weeks, and are leaving tomorrow. All their bags are packed, and in just 15 hours they'll be gone. That's the inspirsation for today's prayer.

Dear God,
Tomorrow morning we have to say goodbye to GG and Tom. Thank you so much for our time together, thank you for their love, their friendship, their helpfulness and their wisdom. God so many times goodbyes are hard, and its hard for us that our family lives out of town. Please protect our hearts tomorrow as we say goodbye, and protect Caroline through her life from painful goodbyes. Please make us grateful for the time we have and not sorrowful for the time we don't. God lead Caroline toward hope and gratitude.

Amen.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Swimming

Dear God,
Thank you for the community where we live, and for the opportunities we have to be together on the trail and in the pool. It's been so much fun to introduce swimming to Caroline, and I'm thankful for the time you're giving us with her. God please allow Caroline to enjoy swimming and being in the water. Please let her be a child who likes to swim and isn't afraid of swimming. Let her enjoy the ocean, lakes and swimming pools. Please keep her safe as she swims. God let Caroline be grateful to you for the glory of nature, for the beauty of the water you've put here on Earth. Please let swimming in the pool in our neighborhood be a joy for our family, and let it continue to be a way we can unplug and enjoy spending time outside together.

Thank you for the gift of nature, and for the gift of our little water baby!
Amen.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Garden

Today my grandmother and I worked in the garden with Caroline. She sat in her bumbo and watched.

Dear God,
Thank you for grandma being here to visit. Thank you for all the things she's teaching Caroline, and for the time we are spending together. Please give Caroline the gift of a green thumb. Give her the ability to grow beautiful things in her garden so that she's surrounded with beauty through her life. Let gardening be an activity that Caroline and I can enjoy together, and work on together as she grows. Please God let Caroline grow beautifully as well, into the child that you've created her to be.

Amen.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Daddy

This weekend Caroline and her dad have spent a lot of good time together. It's so sweet to watch them enjoy one another, and it inspired today's prayer.

Dear God,
Thank you for my family, for Dan and Caroline who make up so much of who i am. Thank you for their special bond with one another, a bond that I've so enjoyed watching grow over the last three months. God please bind Caroline to Dan and Dan to Caroline for their entire lives. Please give them the special closeness that you reserve only for daddies and their daughters. Please let Caroline learn from Dan all of the things he loves like the outdoors, tools and building and bike riding.

God please protect these two, please help us grow each day into a stronger family.
Amen.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Gratitude

Dear God,
It was just about a year ago that Dan and I found out that You were blessing us with a baby, that it was Your plan for us to be parents. Now that we have Caroline here with us we couldn't be more grateful that You've chosen to give her to us. Thank you God. God today I pray that Caroline grows up with a sense of gratitude to You - for her life, her family, and all the gifts that she's sure to have. I pray that she gives thanks to You daily, and doesn't take for granted all of the wonderful things you've provided for her. Please give Caroline the words to thank You. Please give her a spirit of gratitude towards others, so that she is able to appreciate those around her.

Thank you God for this miracle, our angel baby.
Amen.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Kindness

Dear God,
Thank you for our sweet Caroline, thank you for her noises, for her gentle touches, and for the sweet angel face she makes when she's sleeping. Today I ask for you to give Caroline another of the fruits of Your spirit, Kindness. I ask that you wrap her with Your love and kindness, and that it seeps through to her own spirit. I pray that she grows as a child who is kind - to herself and to others. I pray that she has tenderness, compassion and concern for others, and a charitable disposition. Please guide me and Dan to raise Caroline with kindness so that we're good role models for this virtue.

Thank you for Your kindness, for Your love, and for the spiritual gifts You've given us.
Amen.