The Things That Children Say

You can always count on a child for honesty. Not that children are honest all of the time mind you. They are human too. But when a child is being sincere, they will be totally sincere. Since we have found out about our date, the realization that we will be gone for about a month I think has begun to sit in with the kids. I can tell it in their bedtime prayers. For almost the last two years, we have knelt down beside their beds and prayed for the children in Ukraine and especially for those that don't have mommy's and daddy's. We also prayed for the children that He has already chosen for us. We still pray for those things. But the last few nights have been different. For instance, Katie last night prayed "That Mommy and Daddy would be safe while they are gone." To hear those words coming straight from your little one is indescribable. While we were at a gathering over the weekend, we were discussing our trip with some friends and they asked us how long we would be gone. Caleb chimed in with, "Probably four weeks but we are praying for three." Stacey has been taking care of going around and letting folks know at places where we volunteer that we will be gone (i.e. church nursery, school, etc.). When she told Caleb's school teacher that we were going to be gone, she said that she already knew. She said that Caleb had told her that morning. She said that he had held back tears (he is a big guy at school) as he said that he was going to miss us while we were gone but then he picked back up and said that he was looking forward to getting a new member of the family.
Stacey and I were talking about things and we know that God's timing is perfect. We weren't ready for this a year ago. I don't think the kids were ready a year ago. They have matured so much in the last year. I used to think that they were only excited about the possibility of getting bunk beds, but I think it is more than that to them now. I think that they truly are looking forward to getting a sibling. However, we still get some silliness. Caleb, of course, prayed a couple of weeks ago for "A sister that knows how to play football." While God's answer to every prayer may not be exactly what we asked for, we know that God does answer prayers. Even those of a five year old that only wants her parents to be safe while they are gone. That is one of the reasons why Stacey and I will be able to make this journey with less fear than we would expect. Because we know that we have a 6 year old boy and a 5 year old girl at home that are sincerely praying their hearts out to a God that they know that they can trust to answer their prayers to keep us safe while we are gone.