"Words are the fabric of the universe."

I was reminded today of a phrase that one of Ben and my marriage counselors, Rob Shelton, used to describe the importance of the vows we were going to make. I'm not sure if he coined the phrase or borrowed it, but either way, we'll never forget what he said,

"Words are the fabric of the universe." 

He told us that  it was with words that God created the world and with His Word, that He is holding the world together. And it was with our own words that we were to promise to love and cherish each other. With words we can either build each other up, or tear each other down. Build bridges or burn them.

That concept of words being the very fabric that knits our lives together has really stuck with both of us. When we first had the boys and were talking through what we wanted to do with them for a nightly routine, we decided we wanted to say blessings for them each night. I grew up with parents who prayed with me every night before bed, and I think Ben had a similar experience. We wanted to take some of what we loved about our childhoods and give it a Ben & Amber Warner twist, so we now routinely say blessings for our kids every night before bed. We have each developed our own flavor of blessing so to speak, or specific things we cover.

My version of a bedtime blessing usually incorporates sleeping "all through the night, having sweet dreams, waking up cheerful" (the sweet dreams and cheerful aspects I stole from my mom who always prayed that for me), and then I add:

May you love the Lord your God 

with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,

And your neighbor as yourself

May you look not only to your own interest

But to the needs of others

And follow Jesus,

Leading others to follow Him.

Clearly I have meshed together a few different scriptures... and I'm sure more will be added as we go. Each time I repeat this blessing, I purposefully pray each word as I say it, I look into their eyes, touch their hearts, their foreheads, and make muscle arms. Sometimes I pause to see if the boys will fill in the blanks, and sometimes they do. 

Ben has his own routine with them in which he asks them questions, almost like a toddler catechism, but it is something he made up to do with them. I haven't memorized his questions yet, but I believe they are something like this:

Who made you? God 

Why did He make you? To be His friend and to bring Him glory

Does God love you? Very much

How do we know that God loves you? The Bible 

Do you know a song about that? ... and then we sing Jesus Loves Me

Lord, please use our words - those spoken in blessings, and throughout the day - 

to knit our children's lives according to your will.