Precious Gems

2008:
During a recent visit with our daughter and her family, our son-in-law, Aaron, was saying a heart felt grace. When the prayer went on too long to suit the hunger pangs of our two year old grandson, Austin tried to conclude his daddy's prayer with his own loud, "Amen!"  A few days before the prayer incident, Aaron was explaining something at length to Austin. Finally Austin said tiredly, "Amen, Daddy, Amen." ~ Linda in Pennsylvania

I always enjoy your newsletters!  I thought the article on a happy heart was very interesting, because when our son was about 2 (he's almost 14 now) he had a real problem with anger when told to do something or not do something.  So I told him that his face wasn't happy because his heart wasn't happy.  Everytime this would happen I would tell him to sit on his bed, calm down, think about what he had done or hadn't done, talk to Jesus about it, ask for forgiveness or do what he needed to do and that I was waiting to see a Happy Face which meant a Happy Heart.  He understood this so well that one day when he was only about 3 years old, he had been on his bed for a long time and I called him to come to lunch, and he said, "I'm not ready yet to have a happy face and a happy heart!"   So I let him sit there until he was ready.  This is the best thing that worked with our strong willed boy, because he learned to control himself and let God work in his life. ~ Robyn in Chile, South America

Thought I would pass on a quote that our 3 year old Jacqueline just said.  Remember as you read this that she loves to drink milk and here in Chile, SA, we put chocolate or strawberry flavor in the milk, but I try to have her drink white milk as often as possible.  We were praying just a couple of nights ago and she prayed for everyone in our immediate and extended family when she got to Uncle Alonzo (who is African/American) she asked, "Mommy, is he pink or chocolate?  She then preceded to tell me what color all of the other family members are, most being white (the South American relatives) or pink ( my very pale North American relatives).  ~  Robyn in Chile, South America

I wanted to tell you about a sweet prayer from Daniel, my 5 year old grandson.  "Jesus," he prayed, "thank you for giving us this earth to walk on." ~ Madeline in Virginia

My sister, a huge Ohio State University football fan, has been teaching my two children to say "Go Bucks" since they were born.  The other day, I was making Buckeyes (the candy) and my 4 1/2 year old daughter was watching.   Among other questions, she asked at least 3 times what the name of the candy was that I was making and I told her "Buckeyes."  She then trapsed off to play.  About 5 minutes later, she came back and asked, "Mommy, are you still making Go Bucks?"  I guess my sister's training has started to sink in! ~ Teresa in OH

Our five year old grandson, Justin, is so excited about going to the beach with "His Family" (the whole gang) again this summer, as he refers to us all ,pertaining to our week at the beach.  He calls the house we rent, "The Party House!"  He came up with these titles completely on his own when he was three, and it's stuck with him! ~ Lois