When Drew Prays

Drew LOVES to pray these days.  He expects daddy to choose him to say the prayer every time we kneel.  It was fine at first because his prayers were short and sweet as he'd thank Heavenly Father for blessing then bless each of us: Daddy, Momma, Ala, Beanie, Drew and Koloi.  Amen.  Done.  Sweet and simple. 

From that point, he would catch on to our prayers, where we are blessing others like Grandma and Grandpa, Sister Toree Tuaone serving her mission, Aunty Brenda, Uni and Deedee etc.  So, Drew started doing the same...he'd bless everyone he could think of. 

Lately, the prayers have gotten longer to where he will thank Heavenly Father for every little thing he sees around the house like shoes, the pictures on the wall, the piano, his toys, the scriptures, the books on the book shelf, sometimes he'll even name each book from the shelf that he knows of.  I'm sure many other families experience the same thing with their lil' ones.  Many times while Drew is praying, I have to whisper to him to finish up the prayer.  He then turns to me and says, "I'm almost done mommy."  Then he continues blessing every little thing for maybe another minute and then he's done.  My older two get a bit frustrated with it, especially on mornings when they are rushing to get to school.  Sometimes when we are at the dinner table, the kids mumble under their breath and roll their eyes when Drew is chosen to say the prayer because they know it's going to be about 5 minutes long. 

We are currently tryin' to teach Drew that he only needs to bless the food when he's at the table and not every single person we know, but he isn't understanding the difference and continues his normal routine. 

Tonight's dinner prayer was quite memorable and I had to jot it down to ensure it isn't forgotten.  =)

Daddy made his famous chicken alfredo, a family favorite!  We were all settled at the table, anxious and ready to eat.  Ala quickly offers to give the prayer, but gives into lil' Drew who gives the 'puppy dog eyes' because he wants to say it.  Drew starts off giving thanks, then the blessing of the food and then blesses every one of us in the house along with some of our belongings, he blesses some of his cousins, his aunties and some of their friends.  I whisper to Drew to end his prayer, yet his eyes continue to wander around the house and he blesses all the things in sight.  After another minute, I whisper to him again and he shushes me and says, "Mommy, I'm almost done!"  He prays...and prays...then FINALLY says, "Amen." We smile, tell Drew thankyou and quickly pick up our forks....just as we're about to dig in...Drew drops his fork and yells, "STOP!  I forgot to bless my Bampa (Grandpa)."  Before I can tell Drew that it's okay...he folds his arms, closes his eyes and starts up again, "Heavenly Father, please bless my Bampa. Amen."

We all got quite a laugh out of it, and mimicked Drew's actions as he stopped us all from eating because he forgot his Bampa...but as we laughed about it, I noticed lil' Drew who continued eating his food and didn't see anything funny about it at all.  It was pure innocense of a little child who sincerely forgot to bless his grandpa and wanted to be sure he blessed him.  I then kissed his forehead and told him he did a good job remembering his grandpa.

Tonight, I realized that this kid really cares about everything and everyone around him.  He realizes their worth and wants to be sure that Heavenly Father knows he thankful as well.  Mommy will no longer be asking Drew to end his prayers before he is ready to.   

FEBRUARY ROCKS!!