Praise comes naturally to children who are accustomed to hearing it.

Yesterday I saw my little granddaughter running around my almost barren garden. Her arms were in the air and her face grinned at the sky.

“Thank you! Thank you, rain!” she said, “You made the little flowers open! Thank you, rain!”

She showed me that the two tiny crocuses we had seen beside the house in the morning were indeed opening.

“Spring is coming! Spring is coming!” she said, dancing her silly happy dance (and refusing to come in out of the rain.)

The day before we had driven to a town about half an hour away.  She insisted on hearing “her” song -on repeat- the whole way there and back. Her mom told me that the night before when they arrived at our house she would not get out of the car, as excited as she was to visit Nana and Boppa’s house, until the song had finished.

I asked her why she liked it so much. She said, “Cuz it’s a song to Jesus.”

As part of their bedtime ritual her parents have a time of saying “nice words” to the children, in which they bless the kids by telling them the positive things they see in them  – things like kindness, gentleness, enthusiasm,  patience, beauty, intelligence, helpfulness, joyfulness. I wish I had known about the benefits of blessing with nice words when my children were growing. The difference in my grandchildren is that they also know how to bless and encourage others. It melts my heart when my little grandson cuddles up and says, “Thank you for the milk, Nana. You are kind and gentle.”

A lot of times when kids want songs to be repeated on the car sound system they are hard-on-the-nerves songs. The song “Daisy” wanted was very gentle. She told me it sounded a little sad at first, but it got happier. We talked about it and she made the connection to “nice words.”

“The song sings nice words to Jesus!” she said.

It thrilled my heart to be in such a holy atmosphere as we rode quietly and were led in worship by a child, not yet four years old, singing along with Misty in the back seat.

“Lord, you have my song…..I’m so in love with you, I’m so in love with you,  Jeeeesus.”

They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’” (Matthew 21:16)