Last Sunday our pastor challenged the congregation to pray more this week. He said that the average person prays only 5 minutes a day. It made me think about how much I pray (not much, really). I mean, there's the minute or two before a meal, a few minutes (if that) before bedtime, and that's about it. I'm actually ashamed to admit that. I took his challenge to heart and decided to pray during the chunks of time that I never considered as prayerful time: during my commute, while cooking dinner, even while (sorry, G) on the potty.
Yesterday was the first day of the challenge and unfortunately, I did not take one minute during those times to pray. Shame on me. It was almost time for bed when I remembered! I dressed Lauren for bed and thought, ahh, I will pray while I'm putting her down to sleep.
So I gave her a bedtime bottle and put her down in our bed (I've been putting her down to sleep in her crib more and more, but last night I wanted to snuggle and wanted her near me). I sang to her while stroking her hair. We were in an inverted "L" position, the tops of our heads touching. I watched her eyelids grow heavy as she drank her milk. Twice, she noticed me watching her and turned her face towards me, waiting for a kiss. Twice, I bent my face towards her and planted some kisses on her cheek, her nose, her forehead. She smelled of milk and graham crackers.
It wasnt long before she fell asleep, her empty bottle tossed aside, her fingers on my cheek. I synchronized my breathing to her baby snores and started to pray. I got as far as "Thank You for my baby girl..." before joining her in dreamland.
It didn't have the length, but it was as heartfelt a prayer as I could have said.
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