Prayer and Other Stuff

I just finished reading Praying Circles around Your Children by Mark Batterson, and while his writing style is not my favorite (hello clichés!), I really liked some of the stuff he had to say about prayer. This was especially true when I got to the section about forming prayer circles. He talks about the importance of not just praying for your kids, but also teaching them how to pray by letting them pray alongside you. I love this! I'm not the best at praying in general (translation: I'm really bad at it), but this section of the book inspired me to want to get better at it.

He talks about praying with his children, about having his kids lay their hands on him to pray, and about experiencing the full force of their child-like faith when he listens to them pray. I want this for my family. I want us to be a family that feels comfortable laying our hands on one another when prayers are needed. Heck, I want us to be a family that prays when prayers are needed. Out loud. Together. I imagine that would be life-changing. Let me rephrase...that would be life-changing. Partly because I don't pray often, and when I do, it's always in my head (with the exception being when I pray with Levi before bed). But also because that is a seriously deep level of intimacy that's full of God's power and faith in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

On a completely unrelated note, the boys and I did a new activity outside today. This one isn't from a book, like most of our other fun things, but instead came up in conversation with a friend, and I thought it was genius in its simplicity and level of fun. Basically, you just put out a container of water and a big paint brush and let your kiddos paint the sidewalk with water. I added chalk to the mix so we could draw and then smudge and erase. Levi had the most fun with the water. I had the most fun with the chalk (heh-heh...the best activities are fun for mom too!), and Lincoln had the most fun with some leaves that he was sure were edible, if only I would let him prove it. Here are some pics:

And yes, it's February and my kids are wearing shorts/no pants. This weather is crazy and awesome.