Lessons learned from the Faith of a child.

So on Sunday I was getting set to go to church. The little one was dressed and ready to go and I was just getting out of the shower when I hear her screaming. I get into my pants and run out to see what is the matter. She says the basement is flooding.

It is not flooding per se. The toilet and sink have both become geysers for raw sewage backing up through the system. I tell her to get out of the way and I grab the two upholstered chairs and get them out of the line of fire. I am about to go for other things when I see her crying. Torn between stuff and a little girl, I go upstairs and hold her and tell her it is going to be okay.

I get her calmed down and I start making phone calls. I call the water company and then the village and send an angry email to the mayor. My seven year old asks me what we do now, the water by this time is at six inches and rising. I look at her at her cabinet with all her board games topples into the sewage. I look at her and tell her we wait till it stops and daddy will clean up the mess.

Then, she looks at me and says, "Can we pray?" I stare at her for a moment realizing that it is me who should be the example and not her. I ask her if I can do it. I thank God for the home we have and the wonderful gifts we have. I thank God for the fact we HAVE a home knowing others do not. I thank God that we have running water and sewers. Now comes the crazy part...I find myself meaning it and realizing how lucky I am. I ask God to touch those who do not have a home, cannot pay their bills, and do not have running water...for me, this is good enough in the emotion I am feeling. I start to say amen and this little one blurts out, "God, daddy is sick (I have a cold) and the water has germs, please don't make him clean this up."

I am moved. I am about to go into my lessons to her about how clouds do not open up and we need to know that though God answers prayers, he..blah blah blah...I am about to start my speech. Phone rings. It is a man from public works telling me he is going to have a professional cleaning crew come and take care of the damages. I get off the phone and the mayor calls me and tells me the same thing and tells me they are going to get to the bottom of this and that they will make arrangements for me to have a sewer check valve installed to help prevent this from happening again. Then, the cleaning company calls me as the door bell rings. At the door is a man from the water company telling me it is a infrastructure problem and they are trying to pump the sewers as fast as they can and he is very sorry, the cleaning company man tells me he will be at my house first thing Monday morning.

Now, I am not a health and wealth guy here. I am not one who believes I deserve anything. But that little girl taught me a lesson. Too often we try everything else and THEN pray. We claim to believe in God and Jesus yet live lives that have no reliance on Him. For her it was pray first. For her it was okay to ask for our direct needs and to know that He would figure out a way I would not have to clean this mess up. For her it made sense...for me it defied logic.

Her prayer was answered...I hope mine was. Who knows..maybe someone got a job, maybe someone got a home who did not have one. I may never know...but knowing I did not have to clean my basement because of a little girl and God..taught me a lesson.

I still have a nasty cough. She still lost her board games...but I gotta tell you something. In the next few days...I think someone is going to be taken to Toys R Us. It seems the right thing. She lost all her board games. She never once complained.