simple prayers

Last night when we got home from the Gathering we were all piled in our bed--talking and laughing. It was such a great time. For some reason during this time I thought about some friends of ours who live in Ecuador. Years ago these friends felt God calling them to move their family to be missionaries in Ecuador. I remember asking their oldest daughter about that process for them as kids. She said that it was a family decision. They were all encouraged to pray and seek God for his direction and leading. The youngest of the kids may have been about Zach's age--perhaps even a little younger. I'm sure that was hard and yet a profound experience for that little guy.

During our cuddle time I told the kids about these friends and their story. We are in another time of transition as a family. Todd recently lost his job--this is the third time in two years. We are praying. We are asking God to lead us. We desire to hear His voice. We talked to the kids about this. We asked them to pray. Not to put a pressure on them to produce something but to hopefully teach them about prayer, about hearing from God and how He desires to speak and move in our lives. We aren't sure where God is leading us. We are pursuing a few different leads and waiting.

At the end of our conversation Todd said that he thought we should pray. Lia prayed quietly--in her head, then Zach, I followed and then Todd. Zach's prayer was simple and yet moved my heart and I'm sure the heart of Jesus.

"Jesus, thank you for our family. Thank you for being with us. Give Dad a job. If you want us to move to the place that You know I don't want to move, I will go and know You are with us. Amen."