Periodically we wonder how our kids are doing in developing their relationships with God. It’s a private thing. And we want them to know we respect that privacy. Their relationships with God are between them and God. And that’s it. Nonetheless, we sometimes wonder how they’re doing. Hoping that they are taking this part of their development seriously. Hoping that they do visit with God about whatever troubles them, about their hopes, about their everyday thoughts. Knowing that God is God of the universe, creator of all things, and also the God who wants to sit and visit with them.
The young son of a close friend of our family’s had had a sudden seizure. The parents were worried, understandably. They had contacted us and asked us to keep their son in our prayers.
Our kids knew the boy well, having often played together when our families were together. We discussed with the kids what had happened with the boy. We talked about what a seizure was. What might cause it. Whether we thought the boy would or would not be okay. We discussed the need for brain tests to find out what’s happening. And we prayed.
The kids prayed that night, and every night after, for the boy to be okay. They didn’t really understand what it was to have a seizure. Or what it might mean. But they understood that this was not a good thing, and that his parents were worried. So they prayed at bedtime. Please God, help him to be okay.
Sunday morning at church, there was stirring in our pew. Which is not a notable thing by any means. I saw our son Ben, then 10 years old, whispering intently to his sister Kathryn, then 15. I saw her reach for a prayer request form.
In our church, we have a time for prayers from the congregation. These can be said aloud from the pew. They can also be written on a sheet of paper and passed to the front to be read aloud by someone else. It was one of these prayer sheets that Kathryn wrote on, while her brother whispered intently to her.
After a few moments, she passed the sheet over to him. He read it over and handed it to me. I took the sheet and read the prayer, dictated by Ben, transcribed by his sister.
“Dear Father, please be with our friend. He had a seizure. Help him to be okay.”
I handed the sheet back to Ben and nodded. He held a serious look on his face and shook his head slightly when I handed the sheet back to him. I looked at him, puzzling for a moment.
Then he whispered hoarsely to me. “No. Not okay. Ex-cellent! God can make him excellent!”
I nodded my head. Fighting a smile and tears at the same time. I understood.
The prayer sheet got passed along to the end of the pew to be picked up and carried to the front of the church. I shrugged to him that this would have to be good enough. And he seemed to understand that there wasn’t time now to re-write the prayer.
A few minutes later Ben’s prayer was read aloud from the front of the church.
“Dear Father,” the reader said into the microphone, “please be with our friend. He had a seizure. Help him to be okay.”
Ben, who at age 10, was usually bored during most of the church service, was following along seriously that morning. And in that moment, when his prayer was read our loud, he corrected it quietly. Under his breath.
“No, not okay. Make him be ex-cellent!”
The tears came to me again then. As I pictured God sitting or standing in church with us that morning. Hearing our hearts’ desires, our burdens, our worries. And hearing Ben, who’s heart’s desire that morning was for his friend to be well. Not just okay. But perfect.
I think God smiled then. Maybe even teared up. Nodding encouragement to Ben for his faith. For Ben’s unwillingness to settle for just okay when, as a child of God, he knew he should ask for nothing less than everything. Opening His arms to Ben and thanking Ben for entrusting his worries to God. And at the same time, reaching out and touching our young friend’s brain. Making it once again perfect.
I glanced over at Ben as we stood while the rest of the prayers were read. Ben still held his hands folded, eyes closed, mind intently focused. Definitely not his normal attention level in church. I knew he was talking with God. And I knew God was listening to him.
Periodically we do wonder how our kids are doing in developing their own personal relationships with God. It’s a private thing. So we try to encourage them, without intruding. But every once in a while, we are thankful for the little glimmers we receive that let us know that all is well. That God is real to them. That their faiths are alive. And that they trust God not only to take their burdens and worries. But to fix things. Not just to make things okay. But to restore them to excellence.
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