For Mommy

With a single click, the lamp on Noah’s bedside table is extinguished, and the darkness envelops us.

Noah and I are lying on our backs, side-by-side in his twin bed. He's under the covers, clutching his two nigh-nighs and his puppy dog. We just finished reading two stories—Lady and the Tramp and The Berenstein Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone--and now it’s time to pray.

I begin as I always do with…

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit -- making the sign of the cross as I utter these words.

Dear God,

Thank you for a wonderful day. (Noah chimes in as I say "for a wonderful day” because that's how we start every evening prayer.) 

Thank you for the chance to swim in Lake of the Pines. 

Thank you for the chance to spend time with friends and play with a boogie board and soak up the sunshine. (Noah: Boogie boards are fuuuun!)

Thank you for sunscreen and a life jacket and cold water and yummy, nutritious food to eat.

Lord, please be with those who are hungry and thirsty tonight.

Please watch over Daddy at the fire station. Keep him safe and bring him home to us the day after tomorrow.

Noah, is there anything that you want to thank God for?

Then, I give him some wait time—a technique I learned in my teacher training and find particularly helpful as an introvert.

Sometimes Noah simply says, “No,” and that's okay with me.  

Other times, he says "for my puppy" or "for my new boats” or “for the splash pad.”

But on this night, his prayer of gratitude took me by complete surprise.

"For mommy," Noah said.

This two-word utterance sent my lips smiling, my heart swelling. I could feel the warmth, the love, the gratitude. 

You see, it hadn’t been the easiest of days.

I was awakened by Mr. Rooster’s crowing at 6—freakin’—15. (Mr. Rooster and I need to have a talk.)

A few hours later, I discovered that one of our hens had flown the coop, and I had to chase her back inside the fenced enclosure with a broom.

The chickens weren’t the only animals driving me bananas. The dogs were driving me batty, too—going in and out, in and out. All I could think was: Could you please make up your minds, pups? It’s currently 100 degrees outside and 82 degrees inside. Isn’t this a no-brainer?!

It was the kind of day when I just wanted to put a bag over my head. Literally. So I didn’t have to see the acne on my face.

And our satellite internet was moving sooooooo slowly that I seriously thought I’d time traveled back to the late 1990s.

My mind had been swirling with these annoyances for hours.  

But Noah's prayerful words brought all those negative thoughts to a complete. and. utter. halt.

That sweet prayer from the mouth of my 3 1/2-year-old son was a gift.

A present with impeccable timing. So needed, so appreciated. 

Balm for my mama soul.