Savoring Sixlets

Having finished a trip of trick-or-treating at the zoo, Jovey wanted to hold her bag of candy in the back seat. That sounded innocent enough, and for sure, she couldn't break into the candy in the complete dark with little mobility, due to her car seat restraints. While driving along, we hear a sneaky, yet loud little girl exclaim ". . .mmmm. . .the green one is good!!!!" We looked at each other confused, then glanced toward the backseat where sure enough, Jovey was enjoying a green sixlet from a package she had sneakily opened during our return trip home. Now, we know that she was being sneaky, because there was complete quiet before the exclamation (as a friend of mine has said, never a good sign), but in her childish enthusiasm, she could express her pleasure no other way but to share it out loud with the rest of the car, therefore blowing her cover. We smiled, trying not to laugh too hard, and took the candy away, afraid she would choke on a gumball next. Oh, to be so excited over something as simple as a piece of candy again!

I Love You God, Amen!!!

Joshua and I have been trying to help Jovey learn to pray her whole life, praying out loud with her different times during the day, but especially at bedtime. We have been praying "call and response" prayers with her since she could communicate using words, evn though she still couldn't formulate the words or even know what they meant on her own, until tonight!

Tonight, as I rocked with Jovey and sang the old stand-bys, "God is So Good" and "Everybody ought to know who Jesus Is," I told her it was time to talk to God. I started my usual call, "Dear God," and she responded by rote. Then, we got to the first section of our prayers, thanksgiving. I started with "Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Jovey," to which she responded, "and my Yellow school bus (yes, still quite an obsession as this blog progresses, especially since her favorite friend, Parker, has lent his to her for a while)." Taken aback, I took a different turn from my caller role and asked her what else she wanted to thank God for to which she replied, "for my Parker, my Lillie, my Nicole, and my Trebis (really Trevis, but hey, she's only 23 months old!)" We continued the prayer as usual, with Jovey finishing with her most animated phrase, "I wuv wu God, AAAAMMEENN!" She closed her nightly routine by saying, "I wanna go to Gigi's (what she calls herself, to my bewilderment) bed, momma, you sit?" I then placed her in her crib and stood outside her bedroom door until she settled.

Is it true? Is she starting to grasp the concepts of thankfulness, knowing that there is so much to love about who God is and what He has given us, even at this young age? OK, Maybe not totally, but what an awesome beginning! Wow, I know that it may have been a one time deal of lifting what she loves up in prayer without being prompted, but oh, what a sweet look right into the face of God and who he creates us to be: thankful, loving creatures that desire to recognize and acknowledge with sincere innocence and gratitude all of the blessings in our lives. . .even yellow school buses!

Thanks for all the gentle reminders, through the beautiful eyes of my daughter, that You are so awesome, that You are so in control of everything and that you are so good to me! I love You God, AAAAMMEEENNN!!!

Busy Mouth. . . Busy Ears

So Jovey is becoming more and more verbal by the second. She is learning to put words together and make sentences that really make sense, which is scary for us, but helpful in understanding what she needs or wants. The questions have now begun, the two top ones being, "How are you, Mommy?" The next one that is always exciting is, "What are you doing, Mommy?" Not bad, but heard about 100 times over the course of a day can be a bit tiring! Of course, it is not half as funny reading it as it is hearing it with her little girl voice and very dramatic inflection.

Joshua thought he had his hands full with my constant babble, but now, there are 2 women in the house and I have a feeling that his ears will be very tired at the end of the day from now on!

Buses and Tunnels and God. . .

While we were driving down to Myrtle Beach for a much needed family vacation in the sun, Jovey decided that she was the official bacl seat announcer for our trip. So, she was then, by default, also the school bus spotter for our area of the highway. If you have read my other blog entry regarding "Yellow School Buses," this makes a bit more sense in her small obsession with the large mode of transportation. Both days of the trip were speckled with her yells from the back seat, "I see a yellow school bus, mommy!!!!" Of course, the next phrase out of her mouth was, "I wanna see 'nother yellow school bus, daddy!" It's amazing how much more colorful a car trip can be with an almost 2 year old yelling out random comments the bulk of the trip.

That being said, we got an opportunity to drive through the mountains of TN and NC on the way to and from the beach. On the way there, we knew we would go through 2 tunnels, of which we let Jovey know about before hand and then commenced in holding up our hands, screaming and beeping the horns like mad people! Of course, Jovey said, "I wanna 'nother tunnel, daddy!" We went through the last one and just went on with our car ride. Last night, we were going through the same mountains coming home, and didn't even think about the tunnel that would be ahead about 30 minutes, as it was getting late and the car ride had already been mega tiring. Before any signs for the tunnel even came into sight, Jovey said from the back seat, "I wanna go through a tunnel, mommy!" Joshua and I looked at each other in amazement, thinking how she could have remembered that 8 days ago, we had gone through 2 tunnels on the very same road.

I still don't know how she knew anything about a tunnel, but we do know that we will never underestimate the impact that one small thing like a moutain tunnel can have on a toddler. If she remembers those details, we are confident that she hears God whisper through Sunday School songs, Bible stories, and her simple prayers to God each day. We pray that she will take a hold of each word she hears from Him each day and store them in her head and her heart so that when the day comes, she can have the precious relationship that Christians are so privileged to have with their Father.