A few weeks ago I was at my friend May's house. She had two little girls staying with her for the weekend in addition to her own two boys because she had offered to watch them while the girls' parents attendend a marriage retreat. May had invited me over as another pair of dult eyes and for some adult conversation. As bedtime grew close the kids stalled trying to delay the end to their fun. May read them two bedtime stories and asked them if they wanted to pray. She offered each child a chance to pray on his or her own if they wanted to. I was curious to hear what the kids would pray for. I really wasn't sure what to expect but I thought they might say something along the lines of blessing their family members since that is what my parents did with me when I was young.
The oldest of the children began. I think she is only slightly older than Alex who is six but what came out of her mouth really touched me. " Dear God she began, please bless my mama and my papa and please watch over their (Alex and Spain) papa and please make sure that he comes home soon and safe. Pease give me good dreams not bad ones and..." My heart squeezed. Alex had told the girls earlier that his papa had just left on deployment. At six he understands a lot of what that means for him and his family and I think he has been feeling his dad's absence. I could not believe that this little girl had prayed for Alex's dad without any prompting. She had done it of her own volition and you could tell she meant every word. Alex prayed next and he too asked for the same things, micing the girl's prayer almost exactly.
In that moment I not only thanked God for the understand of Alex's friend and for the support she showed him but wished that Alex and his baby brother did not have to be in the position of missing their father at all. Deployment is hard on everyone but it breaks my heart to see a child missing a parent.
No comments:
Post a Comment