Please Help Us Find Sugar

We have been really trying to increase the quality of Princess' prayers as of late. When she first learned to pray almost two years ago, we started off like most parents, teaching her to mimic what we said. Now she is older and I think she is ready to grasp more of the actual concept of prayer. So we talked to her about what she would like to say in her prayers, who she could bless, what she is thankful for and what she could use help with. I told her that Heavenly Father would help her with whatever she prayed for. My adult brain tells me it's really not that simple, but I figure it's an okay place to start with a 3 year old.

I remember a time when it really was that simple for me. When I was a child, I had unwavering faith in prayer. Anytime I lost anything, my glasses, my jacket, mom's car keys, I knew all I had to do was pray and they would be found. I just knew it. And why did I know it, because of faith + experience. I had tested it and it had worked. As an adult, I sometimes feel a little scared to "test" it. The stakes are usually higher than lost glasses or keys and the desired outcomes more complex. I admit my faith in prayer had wavered with age. So, how was I supposed to teach my daughter to have faith in prayer?

A couple of days after my prayer conversation with Princess and the journey down memory lane (which left me feeling a little like a hypocrite) we had some friends over to play. As they were leaving, somehow our dog escaped out of the open front door. I didn't even notice she was gone for almost two hours. She'd done this before (Kage has had the pleasure of scouring our NYC neighborhood for her a few times). Now, a new neighborhood, her old tag, her cluelessness about the danger of cars and the fact that it had never taken me this long to realize she was gone, left me completely sick to my stomach. I was sure this time I would not be lucky enough to find her, at least not alive.

I got the baby out of bed and loaded her and Princess into the car to begin the search. As I jumped in the car, I felt like I needed to say a prayer.

Heavenly Father, please help us find Sugar. We really love her a lot. Amen.

Princess added her confident Amen and I started the car, ready for a long night of searching, poster making and worrying. I looked up in my rear view mirror to back out of the driveway and there she was--Sugar, alive and well, running right to us, not more than 20 ft away. I tried hard to fight back the tears because Princess still doesn't quite understand why people cry if they are not sad.

Thank you Heavenly Father. Thank you for helping us find Sugar. Thank you for reminding me, and teaching my daughter, that sometimes prayer really can be that simple.