Friday, May 18, 2012

Moments to Remember: Bedtime Devotions

For as long as I can remember, Hannah and I have said bedtime prayers as she’s having her ‘bobble.’  (Please save yourself the keystrokes if you feel led to criticize my choice to do what is best for us as I continue to give Hannah a bedtime bottle.)  Anyway, this is a precious time for both of us as we begin with,

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Angels watch me through the night and wake me with the morning light.

God Bless, Grandma and Grandpa, Mommy and XiaoFen….

and so on through 30 family and close friends.  (I’m pretty sure Hannah could go through most of the list if asked) and then thank God for different parts of our day, pray for a family we chose from the gift bag, praise Him, pray for the following day as well as many other things depending on what’s happening.  I love that prayer is already a spontaneous thing for Hannah and part of her daily life.

Recently we’ve added something new to her bedtime routine in the form of a Preschooler’s Devotional book.One Year Devotions for Preschoolers

Over the past year I’ve tried a variety of times in our day to have a devotion and find that just before bed is the time that works best for us.  It’s a sweet way to end the day and easy to be consistent.  Mornings are so busy and suppertime can be too on the nights when we have activities to get to or grocery shopping to be done.  Bedtime works perfectly for us!

If you’re looking for a devotional book for your preschooler I highly recommend, ‘The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers’ and I plan to purchase Book 2 before next year.

Tonight was bath night for Hannah since she’d had a ton of fun playing in the sand at the park with Noah and Molly today.  After getting her pj’s on she was all about standing on the counter, brushing her hair (something she’s getting much better at) and posing.  Oh so cute!  After much posing and some brushing, I was able to convince her it was time for bed.  She climbed in and immediately scooted across the bed and picked up our devotional book.  We were both excited when tonight’s devotion began, ‘Zoe is happy that she is growing up.  She is learning to comb her hair and to do many other things, just like you are.’

Preschool Devotional sample

How fun that immediately following this activity her devotion talked about that.  Cool!!

The part that touched my Mommy heart the most though was when the last sentence asked, ‘What are some things you want God to help you learn?’ and without hesitation she said, ‘Help me to listen.’ 

Wow!!!  That is something we’re working on a lot right now and I believe Ange is working on it with the kiddos too.  3 is an age of great independence and listening can be tough at times.  The fact that she so quickly knew that it’s something she’s working on and more importantly, understands that God can help her with it, was astounding to me!  She is such a clever little girl and impresses me with her knowledge every single day. 

I love this newer addition to our bedtime routine.  Precious moments with my precious little girl!

12 comments:

  1. SO sweet. You two are just perfect for each other :)
    I can't see why anyone would choose to criticize your choice to give Hannah a bottle. The stigma attached to certain things in parenting really just baffle me! I'm glad you are confident in your parenting choices, you should be!

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  2. I love it! You are so wise to take time at bedtime with Hannah. I am too impatient at bedtime. I need to follow your example and spend more time on our prayers and chatting.

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  3. Is the picture of the little girl in the book an Asian girl? Just wondering as to find books with Asian pictures can be so hard to find. Oh btw my miss two and a half still has bottles and we don't intend giving up on them any time soon xx

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    1. Yes! :o) Zoe is an Asian little girl. That is one of the other bonus features of the book is that it contains an Asian character which is always a bonus for us too!

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    2. :-) Now I have to have a copy too...

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  4. What a cool book! I've seen many Childrens' Prayers book but this one looks great. I will definitely be adding it to my "wish list" for when I finally join the Mommy Club!

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  5. It baffles me that people would come to your personal blog and criticise the way you choose to raise your daughter. From what I've read, you and I have very different philosophies about a lot of things, but it is very clear that you love Hannah very much, and that is the most important thing. She is clearly healthy, happy and loved. Why would anyone object?

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    1. Sadly I've learned the hard way Cayt that a rare few 'Anonymous' readers feel they have the right to criticize my parenting and choices. I exercise my right to not publish their comments. :o)

      I'm glad that you enjoy the blog even though we have different parenting styles. I read many blogs of those who have different philosophies from myself but it's still my choice to read....not criticize them on their blog. Sadly not all are as understanding as you.

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  6. Hey Catherine,
    Molly still has a night time and nap time bottle (of water now) and that works for us. Funny enough, Molly also prays each night that she "listens the first time to Mommy and Daddy." lol
    We pray it right along with her! lol
    Jules

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  7. Oh we need that book! I am going to check Amazon for it now. By the way Jadalyn was adopted at 17 months old and still getting a bottle every four hours. We had her done to one bottle fairly quickly. Around her second birthday I stopped giving her a night time bottle. If I could go back and change anything...that would be it. I so wish I had gave her more time to bond while rocking her and giving her a bottle. Don't listen to anyone else, and do what feels right to you.


    Stacey

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  8. How much they can do at three! How much they grow and learn and know :)

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