We were done with prayer time. We had been through several songs and I had perhaps one more tune before departing her bedside when she made a peep. I was one breath away from issuing the line in my sternest Mommy voice, “No more talking. It’s time to go to sleep,” when I heard this from my daughter:

Dear Jesus, thank you for the tent. It’s beautiful. Amen.

The tent is a frothy princess mosquito net device that we hung in Liv’s room today. It came all the way from the Free Store at seminary (where Jeremy and I used to shop in our basement after he had locked up the campus) via Brook who brought it to the Welsteads’ white elephant party last weekend. I was the only one in the room who even wanted the thing. And I’ll admit Brook told me, this is verbatim, that Liv would pee herself with excitement at this particular gift. So I picked it up, put it in the backseat of the car, and Livia found it today.

Brook was right. My kiddo LOVES it so much it merited an extra shout out to Jesus tonight at bedtime.

My heart is full.