Blessings - Eli

"Dear God, help this food bless us and nourish us so that we can have a good life and be healthy and strong. Amen."

S & L usually get pretty thoughtful and creative when they have the opportunity to ask God's blessings on our evening meal. But the youngest -- E -- always... ALWAYS says the same prayer. That's it above. He literally can be quoted every meal with the exact same prayer.

So it's occurred to me more than once that I kind of get left out of this prayer. E is praying for himself and his sisters, no doubt. And I'm grown up. Healthy and strong, no doubt. When I've thought this before, I've been cool with it, cause I'm just glad the little guy's cool with praying.

I was thinking about it the other day though... Of course, if you're reading this, you're all, 'Oh, Leebo, how blind you are! Of course E is praying for you, too!' Well, thanks, but I was a little slow on the uptake.

So, OF COURSE E WAS PRAYING FOR ME!

Of course, God doesn't help the food bless us. He just blesses us with the food. Other than that, though, what an outstanding prayer! Because I have so much growing up to do! And hopefully, when God is finished with me, I will be healthy and strong.

When I grow up, I want to be HEALTHY!
+I want my body to be fit. I want my mind to be sharp. I want to be witty and quick, sensitive and intuitive. I want to be spiritually vibrant! I want to have the Word in my heart and on my lips and in my mind. I want the Temple that I am to be a Temple God is proud of. I want to be so healthy that people are drawn to me.
+I want to be a healthy husband! I want my wife to know at all times and in all places that she is my one true love and my life's anointed partner. I want her to know exactly that because I want to never say or do things which betray that.
+I want to be a healthy dad! I want my kids to know what it is to be healthy Christians because I model it for them. I want my kids to know that I'm going to be there for them for a long time. I want my kids to have in me a role model of courtesy and grace and generosity ... and I want to be healthy enough to make it look so good that they don't consider any other path than following that.

When I grow up, I want to be STRONG!
+I want to have strong character! I want to be rock solid when it comes to values and morals. I try to be a model of integrity, of genuine appreciation for God's creation, of generosity, of faithfulness, of stewardship. I want my values to be so strong that they resonate in my every action and word.
+I want to have strong faith! So close, yet so far away. It seems that when I make great strides in faith, I then one day catch myself failing miserably to live my faith. I pass an opportunity to share it, or fail to be generous with someone more needy than I, or fail to love my brother or my sister as Jesus would have me love. I know that my faith has so much room to grow; I want my faith to be so strong one day that my decision-making is easy and clear. I want a faith so strong that discernment becomes easier and stresses are minimal because I let go and let God.
+I want to be a strong leader! I want to be GREAT in my interpersonal relationships. I want people to be so engaged with me that it becomes SO EASY to get things done. I want to be strong enough in my leadership that it becomes natural for leaders to develop under my leadership. I want people I work with and live with and lead to be rock-solid-sure that I have their back. I want them to have absolute confidence that I'm going to be trustworthy and consistent from day to day.
+I want to be a strong friend. I want those who accept or ask for my friendship to just feel great about our relationship. I want to be supportive, honest, and uplifting as a friend.

Thank you, God, for E, whose wisdom far surpasses his years, and thank you for this food -- help it bless me and nourish me so that I can have a good life and be healthy and strong. Amen.