Dear Lord, I Pray...

I (Emily) have the privilege to work with the 7-10 year old group of kids at Kid's Club.  Two of my nephews are currently in this group and we have fun with it because they aren't in the stage of life where they are too cool for me just yet.

Last night at Kid's Club, we broke the kids up into small groups of about 5 kids each and we had them write out a prayer to Jesus.  Trish has been teaching on the miracles of Jesus and she told the kids that when they need a miracle in life there is only one place to go - to Jesus.  

Dante (age 10), one of our nephews, wrote this prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray...

for my mom because she has cancer.  I'm just asking for you to heal her and let her hair grow.  

and for you to help my friend.  I want you to help him stop bullying people and help him to come to church and to let him love you more.

  

and my dad's girlfriend, she's having a baby boy or girl.  I want you to tell her that everything's going to be alright.

  

and what happened in Japan, I want you to heal them and help them pay for their stuff.  

Amen.  And God bless the people.

I realize this is a personal thing to be putting on our blog, but I was deeply moved by his genuine heart for other people.  He wasn't prompted to write these things, they were weighing heavy on his heart.  His behavior has been up and down in school, but over all he really tries and is proud when gets high marks.  He is very smart and I am humbled to see how God is moving in his little heart.

To all of you who pray for us and support/encourage us in one way or another, you have impacted Dante's life indirectly.  You make it possible for us to push through the hard times and invest in these children because we believe in a big God who can break cycles and bring radical transformation.

I don't know where Dante is headed in life, but I do know a small piece of what he will be up against in fighting what the culture is telling him, what his father is telling him, and what the Enemy is whispering to him.  I am humbled that God has placed us where we are to help show him that there is a different way to live, and that Jesus really can transform people.  We are not going to change Dante's life or path, but Jesus Christ can and he has a plan for him.  A plan that is good.  

There is nothing as humbling as the faith of a child...