dear pratt.

dear pratt,

last night you stayed with your nana and papa randy. nana offered to keep you so daddy and i could have a "date night".

what is a date night? well, it looks like this. dad and mom go out to eat. we can eat at fancy restaurants. and eat with two hands. and eat slowly. and digest the food. and take sips of our drink just because. and take lots of sips...just for no good reason sips. not sips that are forcing a gigantic bolus of food down so that we can chase a small child around the restaurant, looking at fish, looking out the windows, etc. this may sound weird, but when you have a baby of your own, you will understand. sometimes on date nights we go to the movies. other times we go to barnes & noble. or maybe even downtown to hear bands play.

but wherever we go, we constantly talk about you. and wonder what you're doing. we know you're always having a good time, as you're an incredibly easy child. it doesn't take much to make you happy. you're simple like that. and i love you for it.

this morning we were in big church and the preacher talked to the kids about something i thought you might enjoy. it was about prayer. and the importance of prayer.

and he said that he often had a hard time remembering everyone he should pray for. and so he was told of a way to remember. and i want to share it with you.

think of your hands. either one. your right or your left.

your thumb. it's closest to you. so pray for the people closest to you. maybe your daddy. and me. and your grandparents. and your aunts and uncles. your great-grandparents. your best friends. etc. when i was little, i'd say my prayers, and every night it started something like this...

now i lay me down to sleep

i pray the lord my soul to keep

if i should die before i wake

i pray the lord, my soul to take

god bless mimi and poppy,
granny and marvin,

mom and dad and spencer

"mimi and poppy, granny and marvin, mom and dad and spencer" would definately have qualified as my "thumb people".

your pointer finger. these are the people who "point" you in the right direction. maybe your teachers at school. your sunday school teachers. our preacher. the people working in the church. all those who help you to teach you the right way. hopefully me and daddy would count as "pointer people" as well.

your tallman finger. these are the tallest people in our world. maybe the people in the highest positions. think of these people as our mayor. and the governor. maybe policemen you know. and the president of the united states. the people that work for/with him/her. pray for the senators and congressmen.

your ring finger. which happens to be your weakest finger. these are people who are weak in spirit or body. maybe those sick. or those dealing with personal crisis. maybe those who have lost their jobs. or those who are struggling with death of loved ones. or divorce. those suffering from mental illness. anyone who you consider weak and broken. they need prayer.

finally, your pinky. the person farthest out. this is yourself. brother bill reminded us that we should always put others before ourselves. i remember in bible school hearing, "god first, others second, me third." so finally, pray for pratt. and don't for a second think that God doesn't hear prayers about ourselves. He does.

also, when you finish praying, remember what you are able to do with your two hands. how you can help others with your two hands. because as my daddy told me long ago, happiness is found in helping others. true happiness. trust me on this. this is one thing i am sure of.

one more thing. prayer isn't something you only do at night when you're about to go to sleep. you can pray at anytime. while you're playing with friends. while you're eating. even while you're in the bathtub. just wherever, whenever.

i love you little man. and i'm so happy to have you home.

thank you to nana and papa randy for taking such good care of you. what a blessed little boy you are.

ps. here are some pictures i took of you last week. we had a playdate with tucker and allie. i'll post more pictures later.

i love you.

mommy.