An Answer to a Prayer

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Alden has struggled this year focusing on his work. I would dare say that he's one of the smartest kids in his class. He's a great reader, loves math, is fluent in Spanish, and has an incredible memory. However, when he got an Unsatisfactory grade on his first report card, Michael and I were very concerned. We have met a lot with his teacher, talked to the principal, had a the school counselor come in and observe him, and even came up with a reward/consequence system that gave us immediate feedback every day. I think there are several things going on that are not Alden's fault, but the bottom line is that Alden needs to learn to work around distractions and focus on the task at hand.

One day Alden came home from school and told me that he again had not finished his work at school. I was very, very disappointed, especially since this was the third or fourth day in a row that Alden not only missed recess but failed to do his work during recess as well. I had him call and tell his dad (perhaps his worst punishment of all--he hates disappointing Michael), and then said a quiet prayer, pleading with the Lord to know what I could do to help my son be successful in school. As I finished my prayer, the thought occurred to me, "He needs to ask for my help."

I took Alden in my room and asked him if he wanted to have good work habits. He said he did but that the room had too many distractions for him to focus and that he needed Michael or me to go in and watch him work every day. I told him that we couldn't always go to school with him to watch him do his work but that there is someone else who is always there to help him. He knew immediately who I was talking about. I told him that if he wanted to that he could go in his room and pray and ask Heavenly Father to help him focus at school and to remind him to stay on task. He thought about it for a minute and then said he'd like to do that. He went in his room and started playing. I reminded him that he was going to say a prayer. "Oh yeah," he said.

A little while later, he came downstairs. I asked him how it went. He said, "It was really good, Mom. I asked Heavenly Father to help me. I told him that I knew that he would be able to feel Jesus close to him at school because he prayed for his help. The next day I went to Alden's school to volunteer. When I walked in, Mrs. Erickson, Alden's teacher, said to me, "Alden has all of his work done today! He's worked really hard!" I nearly did a cartwheel in front of all his classmates, and he nearly jumped out of his chair he was so happy.

Since that day, he's had good days and bad days. Interestingly on the bad days he's said, "Mom, I know why I got an N or an U today--I forgot to ask Heavenly Father to help me!"

I am so very, very grateful for the way that God does answer our prayers. I'm grateful that he answered mine and even more grateful that he answered the prayer of a young 6 year old boy. I know that God is real and that he loves me and my family. He truly does answer a prayer of faith, sometimes not in the way that we want but in ways that are best for us to grow and learn.