Yeah, That’s God

“Mom, can I talk to you in private?”

Seth was home sick for two days this week and we’d had a lot of one-on-one time. The sudden intrusion of Dad and Sister seemed to be overwhelming him. He was fresh from the shower and as much as I will it to happen, that baby fresh scent disappeared long ago. He just smells like a boy, albeit a clean boy when shower is done. He was clean and ready for bed but wanted to talk.

We walked into my bedroom and, after shutting the door, he climbed to the middle of my bed. I knew it was serious.

“How come I don’t see miracles in my life?”

Whoa. This was clearly deeper than I expected. In our two days of sick leave we had discussed Legos, Star Wars, pizza, and why we both hate shots but have accepted them as necessary. The miracle question caught me off guard.

“Tell me more.”

(This is a great little piece to slide into any conversation when you have no idea where it’s going.)

“Like Moses. I’m really intrigued with his life. God did miracles with Moses and people knew that God was real. Like the time Moses threw his staff on the ground and it turned into a snake but then it turned right back into a staff. And the plagues. I mean, I don’t want plagues, but they were big and God protected Moses and his people. I want to see some miracles like that.”

Seth has always had a huge love for the Bible. He received an “Action Bible” a couple years back. It’s the graphic novel version of The Word. He reads it every night and has read it cover to cover many times over.

“Mom, I don’t think God does miracles like that anymore and I don’t understand why.”

Okay. Deep breath. The boy is open to listen….here’s your chance….

“Well, I know it sometimes seems that God doesn’t do big miracles like that but I believe he still does miracles every day. We just have to open our eyes and ears to be aware of them. Like this week when you got so sick. I asked lots of people to pray for you and then we went to the doctor and you got a shot. You felt better in a couple of hours. That was a miracle. If you hadn’t had the shot you would probably still feel terrible.”

He crumpled his forehead and I continued…”God answers our prayers all the time. Sometimes he says “yes” and sometimes he says “no” but he’s always listening and protecting us.”

“No, Mom, I know he hears us. I want to see a miracle. I want to SEE something. I’d really like it if God could do something big on the playground or at recess. I don’t know how to tell people about God so they know he’s really real. I can talk about the Bible but it’s a book and my friends know it’s a book. If God could just give me something big when I’m with my friends then I could say,”Yeah, that’s God.””

I hugged him and told him to just start asking God for exactly that.

“Sweetie, if your heart’s desire is that your friends know that God is really real, then start asking God for that to be true. God wants your friends to know that he’s really real. He may not give you a burning bush but he will give you words and opportunity.”

“But what if I don’t know what to say?”

This kid is killing me.

“Pray that God will give you words to say when you need to say them and that he will shut your mouth when you don’t need to say anything. I pray that prayer all the time.”

He hugged me and ran to play with his dinosaurs, not even realizing that I had just seen a miracle.