A Brighter Sunshine: Surprise Prayers

I'm ashamed to admit it but we don't go to church very often. We have a lovely church with a great Sunday school program but by the time Sunday morning comes, I just need a day that doesn't require me to get girls ready and rush them out the door. So I get lazy, but I am promising myself that I’ll do better in 2012. We do however say a simple grace at dinner most nights and do a bedtime prayer with the girls every night. Cate usually says our prayer at dinner. In anticipation of grandma asking her to say grace before Christmas dinner, we really worked on her enunciation of the God is Great prayer and she had it down pretty well. Then at Christmas Eve dinner at my aunt's house, Aunt Mary asked my cousin Jon to say grace. Cate piped up that she wanted to do it. We asked her to do God is Great but instead she starts singing. I waited for these unintelligible two lines at the end of this particular prayer song but this time she sings as clearly as can be "God we thank you, God we thank you, For our food, For our food, and our many blessing, and our many blessings, Amen, Amen." Everyone said good job and she was so proud - and so was I.
So as expected before Christmas dinner my mom asks Cate to say her ‘God is Great’ prayer. I sat there waiting for her to sing instead but after a long pause to make sure everyone is listening Cate starts and once again she surprised me. She did not say one of the prayers we do together instead she made up her own. I was shocked, she has never done that before and it was as natural as can be. She was looking down and speaking quietly so not everyone could hear but as best as we can piece together she said something to the effect of -
"God is great, god is good, thank you god for our food and my family and all of my family coming to my grandma’s house for dinner. Thank you for our food and I love all my family. Amen"

I have to admit to moist eyes. I was just trying to teach her a simple prayer but instead she learned to say a truly thankful prayer. Cate is always the first one to thank me or daddy or grandma for dinner, or a gift, or any kindness and it always comes from her heart so I'm not surprise at her thankfulness but at her grasp of the concept of prayer and her ability to verbalize it with everyone watching. That is one of the many reasons I am thankful, she always surprises me and teaches me to never underestimate her because she is only five, I mean six (still having trouble believing that, give me another year or so to get used to it) or for any other reason. My girl is just amazing!
Hope your family had some good surprises this Christmas too!