A Child's Prayer

Saturday morning I was taking Elizabeth and Lexa to the Baby Rebel Lab at UNLV and I left with just enough time to get there.  Unfortunately we ran into some traffic, the kind where you can walk faster than you are driving.  I hate to be late and I started getting anxious.  I mentioned to Elizabeth that we were going to be late and she said that we should pray.  Okay, sure.  Won't hurt anything.  I wasn't really expecting anything to happen.

She prayed that the traffic would stop (which was funny because we actually wanted the traffic to go) and that we could be on time.  With 5 minutes to go and us in the middle of the traffic, I wasn't expecting any miracles.  I thought about calling the lab, but didn't have their phone number and I hadn't written it down anywhere. 

Elizabeth said, "Mom, give me your phone!"  I asked why.  "Just give it to me!"  She had decided that we should call the lab and tell them that we were late.  I told her that I didn't have their number.  Then she decided to call Cliff.  I told her that he didn't have it either, but she wanted to call so I let her.

She told Cliff that we were stuck in traffic and the cars were moving over there, but not right here and we were going to be late and we weren't coming back for a while and did she mention that the cars weren't moving and mom had tried to get her to look and see what was going on ahead of us but she couldn't see and we were going to be late.  Then Cliff asked to talk to me because he was confused about what she was trying to tell him.

When I explained it, he asked if I had written down the number and then he remembered that they had called the day before to remind us and wouldn't that number still be in the caller ID history on the phone?  So he gave me the number and I called to tell them we would be late and then we got past the accident that was blocking 3 lanes.

There was really no miracle, only a little less stress, but the cool (and humbling) thing is that Elizabeth and I were both inspired, but she acted on hers and I didn't.  I made sure to tell her how her prayer was answered in a way we didn't expect and that she was right to listen to the ideas that the Spirit was telling her.

It's awesome that she has made the leap from rote prayers (like at meals and bedtime) to praying because we need help.  I swear this kid teaches herself, because usually there's not much for me to do but sit back and watch her apply her knowledge.

So we both learned a lesson that day.  Or at least I did.  Nothing is too small to pray about.