Come Lord Jesus

I'm trying - trying so hard! - to get in the habit of saying the Come Lord Jesus. It is something we did before eating when I was growing up and it has such a calming, grounding effect. I remember crazy Christmases at my Grandma Vernie's house, everyone scrambling to set the table, play, open stockings, talking above each other, laughing, having a good ol' time. But when we said the prayer, we all calmed down and were united.

Come Lord Jesus

Be Our Guest

Let These Gifts

To Us Be Blessed

Amen

There are times I remember fighting over who got to say the prayer; there are times I remember fighting over NOT wanting to say the prayer. There are times it seemed like a chore and times I didn't really understand what we were saying.

But you know what? Whenever I hear the Come Lord Jesus, I think of my Grandma and my aunts and my dad and my cousins an the wonderful times we had when I was a child. I also think of the strife and difficult times when we had to come together for illnesses and funerals. The Come Lord Jesus is such a part of my upbringing. I'm sad I let it slip away for the past 10 years. But I want my kids to have the same connection to our family that I have through a simple dinner prayer.

So, we've started saying it before meals. We haven't really gotten into who Jesus was and why we are praying and being thankful for our food. We're just saying it. And sometimes we say it before the meal. But most of the time I forget and we end up stopping eating and saying it in the middle.

Oh well.

Ben and Hannah like saying the Come Lord Jesus, though. They fold their hands and say amen at the end. Maybe they can feel Grandma Vernie watching them from heaven with approval. Or maybe there is something calming about the text. Or maybe it's just something new they are learning and they take pride in doing it.

For what ever the reason they like it, we are going to keep doing it. And we'll keep doing it even when they DON'T like it. Those are the most important times to pray, aren't they?

Maybe once we master the Come Lord Jesus, we'll practice my Grandpa Cal's prayer, which everyone has a different version of what we thought he was saying. I remember it as: "Bless this food for thy youth and thy service. In Jesus name we pray, Amen." Of course, I don't think that's what the prayer actually is. Grandpa Cal mumbled so much during the prayer I could never understand him. In fact, the mumbling became more legendary than the prayer itself!

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What is/was your family prayer?