Sunday's Child
Sometimes I let myself sit back and bask in the glory of having a toddler who knows who God is. I like to think about how good of a Christian mama I am, how wholesome our household is, and how God must be smiling down upon me as I'm doing the work that I was called upon to do. Ollie reminds us to pray before eating; he prays every night:
Last Night's Prayer:
"Dear God, Please bless me and my family. Thank you for sandwiches and dinner. Glory and forever, Amen.";
He always adds this request for the Lord's blessing:
"WhoshouldweaskGodtobless? BlessGagaaaaandPapaMickeyyy, NanaandPapaaaa, MyAuntsandUnclesandcousinsandKenzieandJax, ChrisandBellaand
MamaandDaddyandOllie, Amen. Oh,andmyfriendsandteachers, Amen.";
And lately he's been asking me to sing him songs from church before bed. I mean, I'm totally doing this whole Christian thing right, amirite? Pat on the back, Mama. Good job, Lord, for giving Oliver such a God-loving mother.
And then...
A few weeks ago, our church held an outside worship service. It was a beautiful, hot day, and a country threesome were singing old hymns. Ollie rushed to find Pastor Ben and give him a high five, and Doug and I greeted friends with hugs and smiles. It was one of those country revival kinds of mornings, and we were all going to have a BBQ picnic following the service. I was in Heaven because this was what I always dreamed for my little family. Am I setting the stage for you? The morning could basically be viewed through the Instagram Reyes filter. It was lovely.
Halfway through the service, all the children were called up for the Children's Sermon. Pastor Ben started talking about the commandments, particularly "Love your neighbor as yourself." He gave a little ditty about sharing, and then took out a giant 5 lb pack of Twizzlers. He opened them and put one in his mouth, teasing the salivating kids and talking about how good his little treat was. He asked if anyone liked Twizzlers and Ollie shot up his hand. Pastor Ben gave him the entire pack and Ollie took one out and started eating it in front of everyone. Pastor Ben said, "Alright, Ollie. You have two choices. You can either keep that bag of Twizzlers to yourself, or you can share it with everyone."
Ollie looked at him and said, "I'm going to keep it." And went right on eating his Twizzlers.
The congregation laughed, Doug and I winced and Pastor Ben, without missing a beat, continued his little sermon. Then, "Alright Ollie. You have two choices again. You can either keep the bag to yourself, or you can share it."
Ollie: "I'm going to keep it."
Pastor Ben threw up his hands and laughed, "Well, that's the sermon!" And he sent all the kids back to their seats. The children started walking back with hungry eyes and empty stomachs, and Ollie was prancing back holding his giant bag of candy.
We were mortified.
Everyone in front of us, to the side of us and to the back of us starting patting our backs, laughing and saying things like, "That's a four-year-old for ya!" Or, "I would've said the same thing!" But as soon as Ollie got back to our seat, Doug turned to me and hissed in my ear, "You're going to make him share it, right?!?" Of course!
I grabbed Ollie before he had a chance to sit down and told him that we were going to share. He started whining, but I made him give the two little girls behind us some Twizzlers, and took him to the back. While Pastor Ben gave his sermon, I crawled down the main drag on my knees, making Ollie pass around the 5 lb bag. He begrudged a little, but enjoyed it when everyone gave him high-fives. I was sweating and trying to keep my dress from riding up and showing my bits. At one point Pastor Ben looked up and called out, "Well, it looks like Oliver had a change of heart!"
Good for frigging Oliver.
In the end, I'm happy to say that everyone who wanted a Twizzler got one, and maybe Ollie learned an important lesson about sharing. We also became more visible members to the church because a) now everyone sees me and says, "Oh! The licorice mom!" and b) one of the congregants told a radio executive about the story and the guy said he'd air it on the station.
I also learned an important lesson. My son can be cute, and we can talk all we want about God and doing the right thing, but if we can't practice it, we're screwed. Okay, so maybe my patting on the back is a little early. And also, pride before the fall is embarrassing, especially when it includes accidentally giving all the old people a peep at your undies.
Last Night's Prayer:
"Dear God, Please bless me and my family. Thank you for sandwiches and dinner. Glory and forever, Amen.";
He always adds this request for the Lord's blessing:
"WhoshouldweaskGodtobless? BlessGagaaaaandPapaMickeyyy, NanaandPapaaaa, MyAuntsandUnclesandcousinsandKenzieandJax, ChrisandBellaand
MamaandDaddyandOllie, Amen. Oh,andmyfriendsandteachers, Amen.";
And lately he's been asking me to sing him songs from church before bed. I mean, I'm totally doing this whole Christian thing right, amirite? Pat on the back, Mama. Good job, Lord, for giving Oliver such a God-loving mother.
And then...
A few weeks ago, our church held an outside worship service. It was a beautiful, hot day, and a country threesome were singing old hymns. Ollie rushed to find Pastor Ben and give him a high five, and Doug and I greeted friends with hugs and smiles. It was one of those country revival kinds of mornings, and we were all going to have a BBQ picnic following the service. I was in Heaven because this was what I always dreamed for my little family. Am I setting the stage for you? The morning could basically be viewed through the Instagram Reyes filter. It was lovely.
Halfway through the service, all the children were called up for the Children's Sermon. Pastor Ben started talking about the commandments, particularly "Love your neighbor as yourself." He gave a little ditty about sharing, and then took out a giant 5 lb pack of Twizzlers. He opened them and put one in his mouth, teasing the salivating kids and talking about how good his little treat was. He asked if anyone liked Twizzlers and Ollie shot up his hand. Pastor Ben gave him the entire pack and Ollie took one out and started eating it in front of everyone. Pastor Ben said, "Alright, Ollie. You have two choices. You can either keep that bag of Twizzlers to yourself, or you can share it with everyone."
Ollie looked at him and said, "I'm going to keep it." And went right on eating his Twizzlers.
The congregation laughed, Doug and I winced and Pastor Ben, without missing a beat, continued his little sermon. Then, "Alright Ollie. You have two choices again. You can either keep the bag to yourself, or you can share it."
Ollie: "I'm going to keep it."
Pastor Ben threw up his hands and laughed, "Well, that's the sermon!" And he sent all the kids back to their seats. The children started walking back with hungry eyes and empty stomachs, and Ollie was prancing back holding his giant bag of candy.
We were mortified.
Everyone in front of us, to the side of us and to the back of us starting patting our backs, laughing and saying things like, "That's a four-year-old for ya!" Or, "I would've said the same thing!" But as soon as Ollie got back to our seat, Doug turned to me and hissed in my ear, "You're going to make him share it, right?!?" Of course!
I grabbed Ollie before he had a chance to sit down and told him that we were going to share. He started whining, but I made him give the two little girls behind us some Twizzlers, and took him to the back. While Pastor Ben gave his sermon, I crawled down the main drag on my knees, making Ollie pass around the 5 lb bag. He begrudged a little, but enjoyed it when everyone gave him high-fives. I was sweating and trying to keep my dress from riding up and showing my bits. At one point Pastor Ben looked up and called out, "Well, it looks like Oliver had a change of heart!"
Good for frigging Oliver.
In the end, I'm happy to say that everyone who wanted a Twizzler got one, and maybe Ollie learned an important lesson about sharing. We also became more visible members to the church because a) now everyone sees me and says, "Oh! The licorice mom!" and b) one of the congregants told a radio executive about the story and the guy said he'd air it on the station.
I also learned an important lesson. My son can be cute, and we can talk all we want about God and doing the right thing, but if we can't practice it, we're screwed. Okay, so maybe my patting on the back is a little early. And also, pride before the fall is embarrassing, especially when it includes accidentally giving all the old people a peep at your undies.
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