Bed time Prayers

The following is a "guest blog post" by my dear friend and former Back2Back intern Meg Weaver who helped me tuck some Douglas boys into bed this past Mother's Day. 


   I love being in Mexico. Probably the thing I love most about being here is spending time with the boys that my friends Caroline and Sammy take care of on a regular basis. Part of this includes putting the boys to bed. Each time they do this, Caroline and Sammy make sure each boy has bathed and brushed their teeth and then the boys get into bed. The best part of their nighttime routine is that either Sammy or Caroline tucks each boy in and prays with them. This has become something the kids really look forward to, and it’s hard not to love it; it’s an opportunity to speak truth into and over their sweet lives and the lives of their families. Over the past couple years I have witnessed and played small roles in this routine: helping the kids pick out their pajamas, making sure the right blankets are on the right beds or reading a bedtime story.

    I believe that bedtime should be a predictable time for kids so I’ve never assumed it was my role to be a super important part of their routine since, unfortunately, I am not a constant in their lives.

   Last night, however, one sweet child asked me to tuck him in and pray with him. I was honored and immediately went to his bedside. I speak enough Spanish to get through a typical day, but during my prayer, I was struggling to find some of the words I was looking for. Picking up on my struggle, the precious child put his hand on my arm, looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said, “It’s okay, you can pray in English…it’s the same God.”

   I was blown away. I think I responded something along the lines of, “that’s exactly right, buddy” but in my mind I was thinking, “he gets it.” I truly believe that this boy is not praying every night because it’s routine, he’s praying because he believes that the God of the universe is listening, regardless of what language the prayer happens to be in. I am grateful for this opportunity to witness the faith of a child and I’m grateful for the reminder that our prayers don’t need to be eloquent to be heard—it’s the same God.