Bedtime prayers

Every night without fail we say bedtime prayers.  Usually I go from one room to another beginning with Olivia, then Hannah, then Sarah.  I love bedtime prayers for so many reasons and I'm not looking forward to the day my children decide that they are too old for me to kneel beside their bed and pray.  Having said that, maintaining such a routine can also be frustrating at times.  At this stage in life, the girls refuse to go to sleep without their prayer.  It's those days when I'm so tired that I just wish they would put themselves to sleep and say their own prayers, but somehow I manage to pick myself up and follow through.

Bedtime prayers are different with each child.  With Olivia I kneel beside her as she lays.  She melts my heart every night!  Her prayers always begin the same - word for word.  She says:

"Dear Jesus,
Thank you for wonderdul world and
Thank you for this wonderdul day."

She will then pray for her cousin Lachlan and his family, for preschool and anything else that has been on her mind.  When she's finished I say "Jesus loves you, Olivia" and she will look up with the cutest, melt-your-heart smile and voice and say "I love you too Jesus."  This often leads on to a little conversation about Jesus and that he's watching over her as she sleeps.  It's such a beautiful moment.

Next is Hannah.  Hannah is my super routine girl.  She has to be laying in her bed while I hug her in a particular way as I kneel beside her.  I pray first and must pray for at least 5 things or it's too short (Hannah will say). I always begin by praying out loud and thanking him for something specific she has done that day or something to do with her character.  For example, thank you Jesus for sending me this angel.  Thank you that she was so willing to help set the table and is such a hard worker.  She always squeezes me a bit tighter right then!  I love it!  It's such a beautiful way of showing Hannah how much I'm thankful for her.  After I finish Hannah will say her prayer.  We then have about 3 big hugs, a few kisses each and she will go off to sleep quickly.

Next on to Sarah!  Sarah is changing at the moment and is so keen to grow up, but I still see glimpses of the little girl in her.  I pray for Sarah much the same as Hannah but Sarah will say a quick prayer.  Sarah's will always include, "put the angels at the doors, the windows and every entrance" and will finish with "oh, and forgive me for my sins."  Sarah will then want me to linger beside her as she tells me how lucky she is to have me.  She always asks for a song and sometimes I sing her a lullaby (with funny little inserst about her) or a church song like 'flow through me'.

Bedtime prayers can very often be a near-perfect ending to a much less than perfect day.  It's such a good time to thank God for them while they're listening and to pray for some of the things we're working on.  I'll often ask God to give them strength not to lie or not to follow the wrong crowd.  This is also a perfect time where the girls will open up and talk about things that are bothering them.  I know this a time the girls will never forget and will then go on to do with their children.

And just to include some photos, I found these on my iphone.  I think they're very clever!  

I'd love to hear if you have a bedtime routine.