A backyard prayer for "Lola"

Some of my favorite moments with my children are the ones I have spent with them in prayer:  whether it's sitting down at the table before we eat, snuggled under the covers at bedtime, driving along the road in our car, or any one of a million random moments when the words of a 30-something year old mother just aren't enough. 

We had one of those moments on Sunday when our dog, Black Pearl, caught a rabbit in the backyard.  Although it escaped, my three animal-loving children were distraught over it's future.  My feeble words did little to comfort as I tried to suggest that the rabbit was probably back home being cared for by its rabbit family.  "But Lola was just a baby, Mom, how do you know she's going to be okay?"  (Somewhere in there, the rabbit found a name, taking this event to a whole new level of injustice)

Over the years I've learned that when I find myself struggling for words, the best thing to do is stop talking and let God take over.  I suggested to the kids that we pray for "Lola".  So there we were, in the yard, in a circle, heads bowed, asking for God to help a rabbit...and best of all, for Evie, Kate, and Briggs, this seemed like the most perfectly natural thing in the world to do (that should tell you something about how many times I find that my words are not enough).

I want my children to know that God wants to be a part of their everyday lives.  He wants to hear their voices and listen to their concerns, their fears, their joys: no matter how small they may seem.  What a gift we give our children when we help them discover the peace that comes through prayer and what a gift we give ourselves when we give attention to our children's heart felt conversations with God.  I never leave prayer time with my kids without my heart feeling encouraged and my faith being strengthened.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."  Philippians 4:6-7

There was no flash of light from heaven and the rabbit didn't suddenly dart across the yard in a miraculous display of restored health, but my kids (and I) were comforted after simply talking to God about what happened.  We don't know the fate of "Lola" but we did remind ourselves that God our Father is in control and that when He is involved, ultimately, (in the words of the Shunammite woman, 2 Kings 4:8-37)..."it will be well".