I Say A Little Prayer

On our way out of the pool today the kids spotted a playground. Even after three hours of swimming and a heat index over 100, they begged for a few minutes to play.

After a few trips down the slide, Aiden spotted a child's bucket-type seated swing. He ran at it full force screaming, "Mama, pretty please, you put me in this swing. Please you push me."

After several minutes of running back and forth between pushing Aiden, spinning Mackenzie and making sure Dawson didn't fall from the top of the slide, I had had enough. It was hot. I was tired. It was definitely nap time.

When I tried to get Aiden out of the swing, he got stuck. First I struggled to get his knees out then each foot. It seemed as though he was trying to make it difficult and I was frustrated. "Come on Aiden," I said. "Get your foot out."

As I was tugging with my arms wrapped around him I heard him say, "Please Jesus, help me get my foot out. Amen." Sure enough, the foot came loose and he was out.

The more I think about this, the more encouraged I am. All too often I see the bad impact I have on the kids. I hear them repeat something I shouldn't have said. I see them display my short temper. I feel their pain as they struggle with their own frustrations with each other and me. A lot of times I beg God to forgive my short comings and plead with Him not to let my mistakes hurt my kids.

Today, however, I saw something good. It was short. It was sweet. It was totally spontaneous. It was straight from the heart. I have offered up these little prayers of desperation many times myself. Sadly, they often come as a last resort after long moments of frustration, but they do come. And, when they do, they come out loud so the kids can see who I turn to in times of need.

Today I saw a tiny piece of evidence that something positive is rubbing off. I’m not perfect, and neither is Aiden. But in that moment, stuck in that little rubber swing, I saw perfection. An innocent heart was calling out in total purity to God. And God, being God of course, heard him and answered his prayer.

On days like today it requires a bit of reflection to take away something positive. It was a trying day. Everyone got sent to their room, disciplined and seriously talked to several times. But that’s not what I’m going to focus on. Instead what I choose to see is that a difficult moment that would usually turn to yelling and tears, turned into a prayer.

Have you noticed that more times than not, it’s our children teaching us and not the other way around? Today I chose to listen and I loved what I heard.