When Prayer Works

I know prayer works. I have seen it, and felt it's power touch my life time and time again through the years.

But I have had a problem: convincing Sheriff that God answers his prayers. It started when Sheriff was younger and he lost a game that was very precious to him. To an adult a lost game probably doesn't sound too important, but to a child ... the loss of a favorite item is heart-breaking. He turned to God and prayed for help to find it. He didn't just pray once, he prayed for several days. I confess that I prayed too - that my son might find this game and know as I do that prayers are answered. This might sound trivial to some, but for my son it was important.

He never found it.

Fast forward a few years and Sheriff saved up to buy an iPad. He was so excited to have his own iPad (not brand new of course - but new to him.) But while on a trip out of town he lost it (possibly during the rush of getting off of a flight and packing belongings up). We tried to track it, tried to contact lost and found, tried everything we could think of. We even search my parents' home in case the iPad made it as far as their home. But nothing. So Sheriff again turned to prayer - maybe whoever found would return it - show some integrity. He prayed and prayed for weeks.

He never got it back.

Fast forward a few months when he saved again- this time to buy an iPod touch. On a trip to Lake Powell it went missing. (I know...you are probably thinking that at this point Sheriff should keep better track of his stuff... remember... ADD -Attention Deficit Disorder.) Again he turned to prayer with the same results. No help. This was back in the summer.

On Sunday night Sheriff said to me, "Heavenly Father doesn't answer my prayers." I had been dreading to hear this from my son for I feared that this was exactly what he was learning from his experiences (instead of - learn how to better keep track of your stuff.) It broke my heart.

Imagine how I felt when I received a call from Brett's mom Monday morning saying that Sheriff's iPod had been found! It had fallen behind the couch on the houseboat. They had moved the couch and lo and behold ... the iPod was there. They surprised him with the found iPod during his birthday dinner.

I am so grateful for grandparents who listen to promptings for they have shown my son that although not every prayer is answered, some are.

Putting my Audience to Sleep

My sister asked me recently when I became funny. I told her that I have always been funny but she has only recently come to appreciate my sense of humor. But really, I don't know if it because as I am aging I'm loosening up a little, or as she is aging her humor is expanding from just looking for opportunities to publicly humiliate me and laughing AT me, to listening to me and laughing WITH me.

That being said, I learned last night that I have a long way to go in learning how to capture the attention of an audience. At the end of every day Brett and I talk in bed about various things. I was relating to him what I thought was a particularly funny event that occurred on our local radio station when a listener texted in and wrote to one of the hosts, "You are the duh. The hosts were laughing about the text and the context. But, being the end of the day, I could feel my brain shutting down and what should have been a short story became much longer as the neural pathways in my brain rerouted again and again. Young people will have no idea what I'm talking about but if you have ever forgotten a word you know what I mean. And late last night ... well ... it happened several times.

Finally, I made it to the end of the story - and to the punch line, "You are the duh". Nothing. No laughter. No comment. Just silence in the room and the wind whistling outside. That was when I realized that my husband was asleep. Fast asleep. And for how long? Through the whole thing. All of that storytelling had been wasted!

A good slap on the arm roused him. I know. I'm mean that way. I mean - why didn't I just roll over and let him sleep? Because he HAD to know that he fell asleep while I was talking to him! (And because as a life-long insomniac I think it unfair that any human being should be able to fall asleep within 10 seconds of their head hitting the pillow.) Of course he woke up disoriented and had NO IDEA what I had even said.

But because he fell asleep while I was talking I say Brett, "You are the duh." If only he had stayed awake he would be laughing right now.