Cookie Prayers … in due respect

~ an Adalyn Grace essay ~

written by

Jeannette Zink

January 1, 2016

My nineteen-month-old phenomenally terrific great-niece, Adalyn Grace, insists that her cookies receive a proper blessing before she will take so much as one morsel of a bite.  So, heads are bowed, hands are linked and prayers are offered in respect to the gracious God who has seen fit to provide today’s selection of savory cookies at the table of this most earnest child and her loving family. 

  

One may expect that there be only one prayer voiced for the entire spread of the cookie platter.  However, one would be underestimating this child’s intention to pay homage to our dear Lord of all things great and small.  Thus, each cookie is blessed before the sugary delectable may be consumed by the parents and grandparents of this extraordinary and … I am just going to say it … brilliant child.

On the surface, this gesture of blessing the revered cookies may appear to be nothing more than a really cute emulation of “like mommy and daddy so goes the child” minute.  But, then my mind begins to meander through the fields of “but wait a minute” where I find myself in a land of “wake-up calls.” It is at this precise intersection of pause and reflection that I have a V-8 moment, and take respectful note of this beautiful child’s unassuming grace and loving spirit.  A clarion chime is heard and an understanding of the importance in thanking God for the trivial gifts that make our lives just a little more sweetly bearable … like Adalyn Grace’s sacred cookies … is chiseled into my conscious.  Thank you, Adalyn Grace, for putting life in perspective – you are the mentor to lead us in conducting our life as God intended.

Today just happens to be the start of a brand new clean canvas of a New Year.  A whole new plate of cookies await our consumption, but only after we take an Adalyn Grace moment to say our sincere prayers in due respect for this delicious life of God’s grace and shining light of love.

Blessings and Happy New Year … my dear family, friends and kindred spirits!!!