Teaching

I have been praying lately with a friend. I usually pray at night after my kids are in bed and last night my friend had to do something else, but forgot to tell me. So, she called today to let me know that she forgot and boy did she call at a good time. I shared with her some struggles that I am going thru right now. It was not a good time to pray because my kids were running around, but she told me that she would call me back while Katie was napping. When she called, I told Stephanie that I was going into my room to pray. This set her off with the questions..."Why are you praying? What are you praying about?" I tried to explain the best I could for a four year old. (I should have just left her alone and she would never have noticed I was gone!). Anyway, I went into my closet(yes, literally the closet so that she couldn't find me). In the middle of our prayer time, I hear her come in and start calling my name. She proceded to call my name throughout the whole house and then outside. After I hung up the phone I had to be gentle with her and try to explain the situation to her. Here is how I explained it...I told her that there would be times when mommy wants to spend time with God and I want to do it with just God. Just like when she and daddy or she and mommy go out on a date. I asked her why mommy and Katie couldn't go with her and daddy and she said because they wanted it to be just them. I think maybe a small lightbulb came on.

• I just hope that she understands. I don't often steal away to prayer during the day because I generally have my quiet time early in the morning or late at night. But today I realized that it is just as important sometimes for my children to see me praying, or even crying. I want them to know that we don't just pray at night or at meals, but that knowing God is about talking to him all the time, even when it doesn't quite fit into our routine.