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.

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.’

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!