What are you doing? With a title like that you should not be reading this! The directions were clear! Why didn't you follow them? Are you a snoop? Nosy? Just curious? Well, I don't know about you, but I am. And that is why when I found this folded note on the kitchen counter, I couldn't help my self.
I walked past it several times. I picked it up and started to unfold it, but then I put it back down. Finally, when my curiosity could take no more...I opened it and read it...and my heart melted.
This is what it said...
Dear Lord,
I was wondering off and on this year in school how you answer when I pray. I pray, but I don't know when you answer. Do you answer by word or a miracle. I don't know, but can you show me a sign please and tell me soon.
Bye
The note was written by my middle daughter. She was 8 when she wrote it. I came to find out later that it had fallen out of her diary. As I read that letter and started to realize that I missed something important. As seasoned Christian parents, sometimes we take for granted that our next generation Christian children understand the things that we tell them.
We tell them - God answers prayers.
We tell them - God does miracles.
We tell them - God will show you what to do.
We tell them - Have faith in God.
But we never show them how.
After reading my daughters note I came up with a plan. I decided that our family was going to start a prayer journal. We were going to start writing down our prayer requests in a book and writing down when and how God answered them. I wanted to show my girls that God hears our prayers and cares about even the little things in our lives. Sometimes we are just to busy to give Him the credit.
We have 2 entries of answered prayer in our book right now (we just started it last week).
-The first was about minion hats. Yes, God even cares about minion hats! The girls had Spirit week and had to dress up like Minions. I was in charge of costumes and we were on the hunt for yellow ski caps. NO ONE had them. After 12 stores we were about to give up. My daughter was almost in tears. I pulled the car into a parking lot and we prayed that the Lord would help us find them in the only store left in town. We needed four of them. After praying, we entered the last store and fro the door I could see what looked like yellow hats in the very back of the store. We raced back and wouldn't you know there were exactly 4 yellow ski caps and they were even ON SALE!!!!! You should have seen the cashier as my girls talked over one another telling her that God had answered our prayer. It was priceless. We wrote it in our book.
-The next entry is from last night. I redid our basement for my husband into an Ohio State Mancave. I found a really good deal on Craigslist for reclining theater seats. My youngest was playing with the buttons on one of the chairs making it go up and down and it stopped working. Hubby is away for a few days and I dreaded telling him that his new chair is broken and stuck in a fully reclined position. I know nothing about motors and electricity so there was nothing I could do but pray. All 4 of us girls held hands and prayed that that silly chair would start working again. I sent the grls upstairs to eat lunch and told them we would try it again after lunch. In my heart I was praying that God would show Himself real to my kids again. Not because of the silly chair, but to make an impact on them. Wouldn't you know, we all went downstairs after lunch, I pushed the button, and the chair worked! We wrote it in our book.
I am just determined to not only tell my kids what the Lord can do but to show them as well. I want to realize when the Lord is working and point it out to my children. They deserve that.
P.S. I did get my daughters permission to share this :)
So Blessed,
Rachel
