My kids make up sayings a lot. “House pants” is my favorite and stands for the most comfortable pants my 8-year-old son owns. “Double read” is when we read our own books side-by-side before bed. And they say “search it up” instead of “Google it,” which makes sense. I’ll send texts of what they’ve said to myself and my wife, then take a picture of the text so I won’t ever lose it.

Here’s one from the other night from my almost 6-year-old son: “God we like how you never lie to us. We like how you put blessings in our hearts and our brains. And how you make us grow up from babies to kids to teenagers. Please help the baby in mommy’s tummy not to die.”

My son goes from the abstract to the concrete really quick. You see, my wife is pregnant, healthy, and in her third trimester right now. The little baby girl is also healthy. We are thankful, but my son remembers back two Christmases ago when my wife suffered a miscarriage. That’s why I’m extra thankful for his prayers. He’s asking God for things in ways I would never think of, and I’m learning from him in his childlike faith.

This got me thinking of an idea my wife and I had heard of and plan on doing this Christmas. We want to encourage our kids to grow in their prayer life, but a lot of times we can’t think of all the people we need to pray for. So there’s this idea where you take a Christmas photo card you’ve gotten in the mail and pray for the people on the card, either as a family or one-on-one with your kids.

This could be a great way to have my boys pray for not only mom, dad, brother, little sister, grandma, and grandpa, but also for those we leave out. I hope it sparks some good questions and conversations. (But just enough questions, not too many, right? Just kidding). Anyhow, here’s to seeing how it goes!