Out of the Mouth of Ally

The hymn books were neatly stacked on the table.  My little two year old walked in behind me carrying another hymnal and bouncing, as she always does, with each step.  She smiled at me and handed me the hymn book. "Werrr-shup, Mommy," she said sweetly.  She had gone into Andy's office and grabbed everything to sit down for family worship.
There's nothing that makes my heart skip a beat like my kids' desire to love and serve their God.  I never want to forget the way Ally looks on Sunday morning, her feet hanging straight off the pew because they are too small to bend and reach toward the floor.  The way she lays the hymn book on her lap between her knees and toes because it's too heavy to hold and how it's sometimes upside down.  And the beautiful noises she makes as she sings to Jesus.  She "sings" at the top of her lungs through every verse and doesn't stop until the music stops.  It's always the same words to every song, "Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!" but she tries to keep a certain melody.  Every week, as we pull up to church she exclaims, "My church!"
Yesterday, Ally surprised us and melted our hearts a little more.  We say the Lord's prayer almost everyday with the kids.  Ally has never said any part of it but yesterday, as we began to say it as a family, Ally said the first few lines, "Our Father, art in Heaven...name."  She continued saying the last word of every phrase and trying to repeat the parts she couldn't say.  Her little hands were clasped together and Andy and I just looked at one another and smiled.
Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of children and the immeasurable joy of these precious moments!