This is going to be one lengthy post. Every now and then, my 8-year old Eve and I engage in fights and arguments. But this post is not about those times. I will write about such, some other time. Now, I want to detail some of my fond memories of Eve, which I had been wanting to write down in a journal so I will never forget. Now that I can do so through blogging, I resolve, that from this day forward, I will write about Eve and Anne, so that someday, when they will ask me to tell stories about them, I will just say to them, "Just read it all in my blog." (lol, just kidding). Seriously though, kids will not be kids forever. And as they say, we only got one shot at parenting for each child. It's not like a project that if you messed it up, you can start all over again. So parents really need all the heavenly help they can get. Anyway, as I said, here are some stories about Eve....
How She Learned to Pray
I taught Eve how to pray as soon as she was able to talk and understand. The easiest prayer for us then is one which involved praying for members of the family whom she was already familiar with. So I taught her to copy me or follow me, word for word. For many nights, our prayer went like this, "Jesus, please bless papa, bless mama, bless tita, bless lolo, bless lola, bless mommy, bless daddy, and bless me." And now, this is how Anne prays.
Her First Prayer by Herself
It was dinner time. I, Alvin and Eve were gathered at the table. We asked Eve to pray. She obliged and went on to pray with no help from me, "Jesus, please bless papa, bless mama...(and so on)". It was just natural for her to pray like that. But we were happy about it, so we taught her a simple thanksgiving prayer.
Her Thanksgiving Prayer
Ever since we taught her how to pray at mealtimes, she will always pray like this: "Jesus, please bless our food. Thank you for the rice, thank you for the fish, thank you for the water...(and so on)" Good thing though, for a family of 3, we only have 1 or 2 viands on the table so her prayer doesn't take long. But whenever we go home to the province and she is asked to pray during mealtimes, she will go on thanking Jesus for every item she sees on the table, which is quite a lot. As simple as it is, it is also quite profound because it makes us realize that most often than not, we fail to appreciate God for most of the little things that He provides and do for us.
Her First Prayer in PreSchool
She was 4 years old when we let her attend a preschool. It is a Christian school. Every Monday is the general assembly for all preschoolers in all 3 levels, around 70 students, more or less. They would gather at the school grounds for the singing of the national anthem, prayer, announcements and so on. A teacher will usually ask for a volunteer to lead the students in prayer. One time, Eve raised her hand. I was glad and at the same nervous for her. I didn't know how and what she will pray about. Although she was using a microphone, her voice was soft, and I heard her start her prayer by saying "Jesus, please bless our food..." And then the teacher behind her, helped her out and whispered to her what to say next. I told this story to a parent-friend in the school, who arrived late that day and missed the whole thing. And she told me, that it's ok. And yeah, I realized that it was indeed alright. What matters most is that Eve was not scared to pray at all. Eventually, as Eve grew up, her prayers also grew with her.
Her First Memory Verse(s)
She was 3 years old then, and she was able to memorize the whole Psalm 23. Alvin was working then in Malaysia. Everynight, I let Eve memorize 1 verse. And everytime, Alvin calls, Eve recited the verses she already memorized. We did this until she was able to recite the whole chapter from memory. Over time, she had forgotten some verses, but I still let her recite it from time to time.
Her Most-Loved Bible Story
It's the story of Jesus when He healed a lame or paralytic man. This is in Mark 2 and Luke 5. For many nights, this is what she wanted me to read to her before going to sleep. I'm not really sure why Eve liked this particular story. Maybe because of the illustration of the man being brought down to Jesus by way of an opening on the roof. Maybe it was intriguing to her. That was when she was 3 years old. Now, whenever I mention it to her, she doesn't remember it anymore. Time flies really fast, and so does our memory.
One Time She was Sick
This is my all time favorite, so far. She was 5 years old then. They had just finished last quarter exams in school, and then she got sick. Her fever went on and off for several days, visited the doctor several times, although the doctor said, there's nothing serious about it. As a mother, it breaks me to see her sick, frail and helpless. She wasn't attending school then, although they were only practicing for recognition day. And we thought, that she won't get well in time for that day. Anyway, one afternoon, I was so sad and frustrated of her condition. She was lying down on my lap, I told her that we should pray again. So I closed my yes, I was praying aloud, crying to Jesus to make her well now and telling Him that we are not going back to the hospital again, and so on. When I finished praying and opened my eyes, she was looking at me and said "What did He say?" I was taken aback. I was not expecting her to ask me such question. But I smiled at her and said, "He said yes. Jesus will make you well."
One Time Her Sister is Sick
She was 7 years old. It was sometime November. She was having piano lessons every weekend, and we had plans to attend a birthday party one Saturday and attend the church's anniversary that Sunday. Anne, who was then 1 year and 6 months old, was sick. I was attending to Anne then I didn't know what I was thinking but I said something like, "Anne, give your fever to achi (elder sister)." Then Eve reacted right away by blurting out to me, "How can I go to my piano lessons, to the party, to the PICC?" (this is where the church will hold the anniversary celebration). Again, I was surprised, so I immediately took it back and said, "Ok, give it to Mama then." And then Eve reacted so strongly by saying, "Why to you? Give it to Jesus!". So I then simply said, "Please Jesus, take away Anne's sickness, amen." It was a very simple and innocent statement coming from her, but it greatly moved me because for us adults, it is already a declaration of faith in our Lord Jesus.
