Hand it to God!
Jonah learns how to talk to God
by
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Mom tucked Jonah in and said: “Now, close your eyes and picture God, what do you see?” Jonah Giggled and answered, “I see a giant hand, God is BIG!” Mom smiled and said, “God’s Hand- that’s a great thing to imagine! OK, God’s hand- why don’t you imagine crawling up into His Big hand, like it is a Giant fluffy bed, and make yourself cozy so you can talk to God about your day.”
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About the Book
Jonah is like many children his age, sometimes he has trouble falling asleep at night in his own bed and feels lonely. One night, his mom helps Jonah learn that he is never really alone because God is always there, just waiting for us to talk to Him. Teaching our children how to pray using The Lord’s Prayer format- adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, is important, but helping them understand that God wants to be in constant relationship with us is even more. In this story, children learn that because God is always with us, when we are in relationship with Him all we need to do is “talk to Him” about anything at any time- this form of prayer helps us grow closer to God, naturally go to Him for comfort and guidance, and learn to include Him even more in our daily lives.
About the Author
Shaunna is married with two grown children and has been a pediatric occupational therapist and graduate professor of occupational therapy for over 20 years. She was inspired to write this book after a prompting by God during prayer; Jonah and his family came clearly to mind, and she knew this story was meant to be shared. The storyline was formed from her own experience teaching her children how to pray while also encouraging them to build a relationship with God by frequently saying- “don’t forget to talk to God!”. The imagery of God’s hand was added from her personal use of this visual during prayer; over the years, imagining curling up in God’s hand helped her to find extra comfort or feel closer to her heavenly Father when praying. Shaunna continues to remind her grown children (and others) to not forget to talk to God and she is always happy to lead a prayer, pray over someone directly, or include others in her prayers.