Advent

Disclaimer: What follows is not a typical night in our home. Usually bedtime is all-too rushed. Prayers are said but they are nothing spectacular. I vowed to try to make bedtime during Advent a bit different, but the kids beat me to it. What happened on the first night of Advent had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the Spirit living and moving in my kids' lives. Thanks be to God and to our wonderful church home that nurtures even the youngest members. I can guarantee that what happened tonight will not under any circumstances happen every night, and that's what made it so special.

The First Sunday of Advent 2013
I didn't have high hopes for Advent this year. I'm a realist. My kids are 6 and 4. Trying to have a meaningful, contemplative Advent time before bed is...well...not realistic. But tonight they both surprised me.

Before we even got to the Advent bedtime rituals that I had planned, Anna wanted to do anointing.  Out of no where at bath time she said she wanted to anoint our hands like she had experienced in church this morning. Tenderly, deliberately she took the bubble bath and made the mark of the cross on my hands over and over while saying different blessings each time:
"Jesus is with you."
"Jesus loves you."
"Jesus will always be with you."
"God is with you now and always."

Dear, sweet, heavens.

Then at bedtime I lit our Advent candle for today and had a short reading. I got ready to snuff out the candle, but before I could do it, Noah said, "Wait a minute. I want to pray a bit." Good grief, I forgot to have prayer time on the first Sunday of Advent. Nice, Pastor Mommy. So Noah took his spot on the floor, legs crossed, hands folded in his lap, and prayed. Anna joined him. I joined him. Jon joined him. Thank you Noah for reminding us to pray.

The prayer time ended when Anna said, "Amen" and then mentioned that she wanted to give us some questions to think about but not actually answer. This is exactly what the children's time leader did at church this morning.  So, as we continued to sit in the circle on the floor with or heads bowed, Anna walked around us slowly and reverently and posed these "wondering" questions.
"I wonder how God is everywhere in the world when the world is so big."
"I wonder where I missed seeing God today."
"What if it was the day before Christmas but you thought it was really Christmas day."

Sweet mercy, oh my.

Then Noah pipes up again. "When I was praying," he says, "I was picturing what God looks like." Sweet, sweet mercy. "What did you see, Noah?" I managed to ask in response. He answered, and we had a conversation about Noah's image for God like we had never had before. Thanks be to God.

That was enough. The blessings had been many. But it wasn't over yet. Believe it or not. I make none of this up. Next, was Anna again. She said she wanted to lead in a spoken prayer. The prayer Noah had initiated had been silent. "Sounds good, Anna." So we all bowed our heads again, and Anna prayed. She thanked God for her family, her warm house, for her grandparents, and then she melted my heart again and said, "and thank you, God, for my nice church where I can go to learn about you more and worship you." Oh Belmont, I can't thank you enough for how you welcome, nurture, and love your children. What a gift. 

Finally to close the prayer Anna said, "And all God's people said AMEN." This is how I sometimes close the congregational prayer time at church, but Anna has never spoken those words in that way before. It was so sweet, but what came next was the kicker. After she said "Amen" she said, with joy and pride in her eyes and a beaming face, "I just said my first prayer as a pastor." She felt that putting that ending on made her a pastor. Melt. My. Heart. I was done. Finished. A virtual puddle on the floor.

But there was more. She wanted to pray again. Well, we weren't about to stop her. "This one," she said, "will be another prayer as a pastor. It will have three pauses." This was just too sweet. I often leave times of silence in the prayers that I lead at church. So Anna prayed again and left three deliberate spaces of silence within the prayer before one again closing, "Amen."

Jon and I just looked at each other. Wow. What. In. The. World?  How unexpected. What gifts. Jon gave Noah a big hug. I gave Anna a hug. Of course then Anna wanted to lead in prayer again. We didn't let her this time because it was getting late. There was a squabble over who would snuff out the candle. There was negotiating about the possibility of lighting the candle again so the other one could snuff it out, too. Back to life. Back to reality. God in the ordinary and the extraordinary. Amen.