Love your neighbor

I was inspired today by a friend's blog to write down some of the things my kids pray about.  I encourage them to say thank-yous, and it is cute seeing what the relevant thank-yous are for 5- and 3-yr olds:  Otter pops, water parks, swimming pools, Breakaway, etc.
The other night Oliver just said, "Dear God, thank you for Jesus.  Amen".  Perfect.  :)

It is wonderful seeing them learn and start to understand what they are hearing from church, home, school etc.  It would be nice if they applied the "do unto others as you would have done unto you" more often instead of fighting and yelling at each other.  (But then it would be nice if I remembered that more often too.) 

One of my favorite interpretations of the bible from Oliver has been, "... and love your neighbor as yourself."  (Matt 19:19)  As luck would have it, we have neighbors that are friends.  Their son and Hannah were at school together, and there is an older brother and an older sister.  So their kids hang over our wall yelling for us, and Hannah and Oliver do the same.  Many games and conversations have taken place over the fence (and in each others yards, too).  And of course neighbors wouldn't be neighbors without super-soaker fights!  One day we talked about loving your neighbor and we were explaining that neighbor referred to all other people on earth no matter where or what they come from or look like or act like.  But he has decided that it specifically refers to OUR neighbor.  Our literal neighbor.  And so the family next door always get extra prayers from Oliver.  It's as good a place to start as any, I suppose!!