Thank You God for Milk + A Prayer for Boston

The things that go through kids minds are amazing and complex and funny and sometimes just make you go 'huh?'. Well this little where-did-that-come-from moment has continued to be apart of our daily lives. During the month of January, when John was in Africa, Ellington and I would pray for his safe travels before eating our meals together. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but I started asking Ellington what she wanted to pray about at some point. Her answer: milk. Milk? I was a little perplexed, but I went along with it and we prayed for milk. Not just 'Thank you God for milk'. No, we had to go through everybody in our family and thank God for giving them milk… sometimes twice before Ellington was satisfied and ready to eat.

Not wanting to discourage prayer, I let this little scene play out and repeat for the next few months. Eventually, I grew tired of the back and forth and pushed Ellington to choose to pray about something else. Nope. Wasn't going to happen. So we continue to pray for milk daily and I guess maybe the world needs a little prayer for milk. Who doesn't need more calcium in their life?

NOTE: This is where this particular post was going to end. In fact, I was still editing this and was planning to put up something else today. Then, I found out about the tragedy in Boston and a super sweet moment happened.

We had just had an incredibly fantastic morning and headed to our neighborhood playground to get out a little more energy before we called it a day. On our walk to the playground, I casually checked Facebook on my phone while repeatedly answering Ellington's favorite question of the moment 'Why?'. That's when I read numerous things about something happening in Boston.

The playground was still wet from the early morning rain, so I asked Ellington if we could go home real quick to check the news. Surprisingly, she obliged and followed me back to the house. The images on our TV screen brought me to tears and Ellington quickly noticed. Soon I felt her little body leaning against my knees and her tiny voice asking 'Mommy Otay? What happen Mommy?'. I explained to her that some people got hurt & doctors were now trying to make them feel better. After a few more questions she said 'I pray' and folded her hands / put her head down. It made my heart melt. I immediately turned off the TV and we prayed for all the people in Boston. I don't know where she came up with this because we only pray at meals - and usually for milk (as you read above). As soon as we finished praying, Ellington hopped off my lap and started making me dinner in her play kitchen because she said it would make me feel better. In her world, a chef can heal people just like a doctor.

I hope that her kind heart never changes.