"Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are his child. His love now surrounds you. He hears your prayers. He loves the children. Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven."
It's almost as if her little spirit knows the truth of these words and it gives her comfort. These words, from the song "A Child's Prayer", represent a lesson that I've always tried to instill in my children. God hears your prayers and loves you. It's as simple as that. If they learn nothing else from me, they will still be okay. No matter what the trial, situation, problem, question, sadness, or sin, we can seek help, guidance, comfort, peace, and forgiveness from our Heavenly Father and he will bless us because he loves us. It's very comforting to know and truly believe that truth. So, today it made my heart glad to see one of my children truly believing that and putting it into action.
Seth asked me if he could ride his bike around a nearby subdivision's neighborhood. The subdivision is connected to ours and gets very little traffic during the day, so I knew it would probably be okay. After getting all the details of his plan and setting a few ground rules, I gave him my watch and a time limit. I explained that if he was not back in that time we would come looking for him. He has done this before in our own neighborhood and I was confident that he could manage it.
As he got ready to go, Josh began to panic. "No, Mom. Don't let him go. What if he gets lost? What if something happens to him? What if someone tries to take him?" I reassured him that Seth would be okay. Josh insisted on hugging his brother and telling him to be safe before he left. When he came inside, the worry resumed. "What if he doesn't get back in time?"
"I'm sure he'll be okay, Josh," I tried to reassure again.
"But what if he's not?" he pushed.
"If he's not back in time, then we'll go looking for him."
"But what if we can't find him?" he countered.
"Then we'll call the police and they'll look for him."
"But what if they can't find him either and someone kidnapped him and wants to cut him into pieces?"
"Then, we will fast and pray that he will be returned home to us safely. You know, Josh. If you are really worried about him, you can always pray to Heavenly Father to keep him safe." He quickly left and went to his bedroom. About 5 minutes later, he came back.
"Wasn't that a long prayer? I just kept asking Heavenly Father to keep Seth safe and that he would be okay, over and over and over again," he informed me. He then went to the kitchen to finish one of his chores. A few minutes later, he shared, "You know, Mom. I just got this feeling that Seth will be okay. I think Heavenly Father and Jesus will protect him."
I helped him to understand that he was feeling the Holy Ghost giving him comfort and peace and letting him know that Heavenly Father would protect Seth. Soon after, Seth arrived home right as his time ended. You could see the relief on Josh's face. "Mom! Heavenly Father answered my prayer! Seth is safe and at home. It worked!" he beamed as he hugged Seth.
I encouraged him to say a quick prayer to thank Heavenly Father for keeping Seth safe and answering his prayer. Then, I related to Seth the story of his brother worrying for him. When Josh returned to the room, Seth thanked him. "It's a good thing you prayed for me. There was one part where I was confused. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to go left or right and then I just knew I was suppose to go right."
What a great faith building experience for all of us! Later in the day, I saw this quote on Facebook. It seems to sum up what I'm feeling today...
No comments:
Post a Comment