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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.