The Lost Butterfly

The last few months I have been thinking a lot about Elizabeth’s spiritual welfare. Maybe it’s because she’s old enough to understand many things, or maybe because I’m actually not depressed or anxious all the time anymore. Whatever the reason, we’ve been reading “scriptures” (stories from the Book of Mormon) and talking about them. I shared my testimony of the Book of Mormon with her and we had a little adventure on Friday with prayer.

A girl from Elizabeth’s dance class gave her a little fabric butterfly about 1-1/2 inches across. She was so happy and treasured the butterfly all through the rest of the afternoon. Later that day she asked me if I knew where the butterfly was. We looked in her room and in the car and through the downstairs, but we didn’t find it. She was getting increasingly upset.

Then it occurred to me that this would be a good time to teach her about prayers and how Heavenly Father answers them. I told her that Heavenly Father knew where her butterfly was and that we should ask him. I could tell that she was a little skeptical because she wanted me to say the prayer. So I prayed that he would help us know where it was (and silently added a little “Please let this work!” at the end.) Then I asked Elizabeth where she thought we should look. She was very certain when she said, “I think we should look in the car again.” So out we went and I opened the door and the Spirit lead my eyes to the car door where the butterfly was sitting in the door handle.

Then Elizabeth and I talked about how God sent His Spirit to tell her to look in the car and we said a prayer of thanks. Then a few hours later, she lost the butterfly again and I helped her search again, wondering if God would help us find it a second time, but we never had to find out because I spied it on the kitchen counter. Then I made her put it in a secure location where it will stay because she has forgotten about it.

So Elizabeth wasn’t the only one who learned a lesson that day. I learned that God is VERY interested in the spiritual training of children. We say prayers every day at home and at church, but they seem to be very abstract prayers, like we’re praying for “safety” and “blessings” which aren’t readily apparent to children. It was cool to help her experience a different kind of prayer; one that requires faith and action and immediate answers.