Faith Like A Child

And so it has been a year.

***

The other night, as I went back and forth between zoning out to the TV and wrestling with this blue funk I am in, my friend Mandy sent me an email. After I read it, I just sat on the couch and cried. It is definitely something worth sharing.

"Sarah - I wanted to share this story with you:
We were praying for you and your Dad tonight and we usually just pray that Miss Sarah's Dad can come home soon.  Tonight James really wanted to know more of a back story.  So, I thought I'd explain it based on the movie "The Ballad of Little Joe", so I said, "Remember how in that movie people said mean things that weren't true about Larry and he had to go to jail?" James said yes, so I said, "That's what happened with Miss Sarah's Daddy and so we're just praying he can come home soon." 

That's when James' little lower lip started to quiver.  "You mean he's in jail?"  I could tell he was about to cry, so I said, "Yes, but not like in the movie,"  I explained how he has an apartment but just can't move home.  By this point my son is totally crying in my arms while Katie and I tried to comfort him.  I reminded him that even in the movie God had a plan and part of his plan was for Larry to be in jail and in the end he got to be with his family again.  And that we know Sarah's Dad will get to go home, we're just praying that it'll be soon. 

He was still pretty upset, so I told him that you got to see [your dad] and I showed him your family pictures, by the time we got to the pictures of Noah and Sam he finally perked up :)  I forget how sensitive kids can be, especially James, and maybe I told him too much, but his reaction reminded me of why we're supposed to come to Jesus like little children.  I know that if this situation broke James' heart, which it did, it breaks God's heart too.  And I know that God is listening to all our prayers for your family, even the ones from the littlest hearts."

Amen, sweet friend. Amen.