God Hears You

​For a few summers I was a nanny for a little girl named Lucy. Trying to keep up with her two older brothers, Lucy was a fearless, sassy little girl. She was unafraid to walk across the gravel driveway barefoot or jump into the cow pasture where animals ten times her size grazed. 
One day we were sitting down for lunch and Lucy was unusually quiet. Halfway through her crustless peanut butter sandwich she looked up at me with seriousness in her four-year old eyes and asked, “Is God sad when I’m mean to my mom and dad?”. The calm reflectiveness of her question surprised me; it was truly out of character for her. I explained that God is sad when we’re mean to people we’re supposed to love. However, God also loves us very much. I told her that when we sin we can always ask for God’s forgiveness. Somehow these concepts of contrition and mercy must have registered in Lucy’s mind, because she dropped her sandwich and screamed at the top of her lungs: “I’M SORRY GOD!!!!!!”. Her shrill high pitched voice bounced off the walls and echoed throughout the house. Afraid my eardrums were about to burst I told her through my laughter, “I think He hears you, Lucy”.
God hears you. Your joy, sorrow, confusion, guilt, frustrations, excitement… God hears it all. Today let us have the confidence of a child in knowing our prayers are heard.

Colette Harrold, Youth Life Coordinator