A Lesson from Laura

I was driving with the girls this week, listening to the news to find out just how much snow was expected (a foot, it turns out), when a report came over the airwaves regarding an explosion at a gas plant in Connecticut.  As I reached for the dial I glanced in the rear view mirror, hoping to see Laura spaced out or tuned into to something other than the words streaming over the radio.   “What does it mean that two people were killed, Mommy?” Of course.

I try to be straight forward and simple in my answers about the tough things: honest, but age appropriate.  After a fairly simple explanation, only slightly complicated by 37 “Why, Mommy-ies” I asked if she wanted to pray for the families of the men who had died.  I often pray about things as they come up throughout my day, and recently I’ve been making it a practice to do so aloud, and inviting Laura to join me if she wants. It seems like a simple way to show her my faith lived out. And as she usually does, Laura said she wanted to pray with me, “but with just [me] talking.”  So I prayed a simple prayer, asking God to comfort the families of those men, and with amen, thought I had ended our little conversation.

“So what did God say?” Laura asked after a few seconds. It hit me like a ton of bricks.  All this time I’ve been praying with her, she expects that I am hearing answers back, that prayer is a two way street. And she was right! Scripture says that God’s Word, written throughout history, is living and active (Hebrews 4:12)- it applies to our little lives and questions and requests.  And it also says that Jesus’ sheep know His voice (John 10:4). Perhaps the question is if we’re listening.

That moment, those words, that brutal innocence, is exactly why when some of Jesus’ followers tried to prevent a bunch of kids from bothering their master teacher, he chided them:

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” Luke 18.16-18

Perhaps the single, greatest gift of motherhood is the opportunity to see life through the eyes of your child.  For me, rediscovering faith, through Laura’s perspective has caused me to confront the places in my faith that have become routine or stale, instead of the beautiful, life giving relationship He offers. So today, I am praying, and I’m listening.  Thanks, kiddo.