A family that prays together....

2013.
This year will be incredible.
Mark my words.

I have made resolutions.
None of the "normal" ones. No weight loss resolutions. No workout resolutions.
No money or success resolutions.

I resolve to enjoy life.
I resolve to make 2013 a year worth remembering.

Over the holidays, our family made a commitment to a nightly Bible study and prayer time. We started with the purpose of advent preparations. Every night we looked up a different name of Jesus in the Bible and read a page from the Jesus Storybook Bible. Following our prayer time we prayed, popcorn style. Which means everyone gets a chance to pray and the coolest thing happened. They all prayed. From the youngest to the oldest, even little Alena would get down on the ground and babble from the floor. It became such an impactful time in that month that we knew it would continue into the new year. We are not trying to meet some Bible study quota or even to paint the little Christian family picture. We truly are finding ourselves blessed from the time in the Word and prayer. Well, I know that at least I am. And when the kids come running from all areas of the house to the living room for "Bible study" time... well, you can't help but smile.

Tonight, my husband led us in our time of prayer and Bible study using a children's devotional giving to us by my best friend Sundi Jordan, called "Jesus Calling". And following that time, Michael felt the guidance for us to write our own version of the Lord's Prayer. Granted, the littlest of the chaos weren't particularly interested, as they rolled on the floor and giggled and one another. But Tyler and Sierra contributed to the process and the prayer that we came up with (with the Lord's Prayer as our model) is perfect for our family. Dean said, "I like that prayer". Which means a lot if you ask me.

Life is busy folks.
And 2013 will prove to be just as busy as any other year. There will be birthdays, holidays, sicknesses, celebrations, sadness, pain, schoolwork, housework, relationship issues, death, new life, and the list goes on and on and on. Often we find ourselves caught in the vicious cycle of life so much so that we forget that taking small moments to stop and pray with our families is much more important than any and all of the other life events. In December when we started our advent readings, there was at least one week when Michael was out of town. So our crew gathered around my cell phone and we called him on speakerphone as we read the Bible and prayed as a family. And somehow it helped connect us across the miles. Later when Christmas approached and our house exploded with the visits of family members, we gathered around the Bible and all prayed as a family. And it was wonderful and reminded me that these are the moments that matter. I know my kids will look back and be thankful for the gifts they received, for the trips we made, for the special events we planned. But I hope that the moments that we are making now, the moments gathered around the Bible praying as a family. I hope those are the moments that bring smiles to their faces as they grow and mature.

A family that prays together.... does more than stay together, it grows together, learns togethers, serves together, loves together.

2013 is going to be amazing.
I resolve to spend more time in prayer with my chaos.
Chaos needs prayer. ;)