Ask, Seek, Knock

Today during church we were learning about the passage Matthew 7:7-15. 

'Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened.'

During church the kids coloured in door hangers with this verse on it. They sand a song about it. Then we spoke about it for the kids talk. 

We spoke about how God wants us to ask, seek and knock. We spoke about how God wants us to pray and speak with him. We spoke about how God is a good God. We spoke about how he hears our prayers, anytime. We spoke about how God answers our prayers - yes, no, wait. 

Daniel gave an awesome example from Ninja Kid books where the Grandma makes lots of inventions but only gives them to Ninja Kid at different times because he might not be ready to use them or they might be too heavy for him. James and I were quite impressed that he saw the connection.

We asked the kids if they wanted to pray and Eliza and Alexander did. Eliza started and prayed for Boompa. It was such a beautiful prayer. She prayed that Boompa would get better, and thanked God for all the things that Boompa has done for us and for others before he got sick. She prayed for Nana J too, thanking God for all that she does for us and for others and for her care.

Alexander then prayed for Boompa too and asked that he would get better. He also prayed for Nat and Steve and their family that they would be able to fly out from the tribe. 
 
I saw it as an opportunity to talk with the kids about Boompa. I have been worried about how they are going to go with Boompa having cancer and not being sure about the future. James and I mentioned that it is important to pray for Boompa to get better and we should pray for Boompa to get better, but we need to understand that God sometimes says yes and sometimes says wait and sometimes says no. We don't always understand why he answers prayers the way he does, but we do know that God is a good God who loves us and knows what is best for us, so we need to trust in him. We explained that Boompa might not get better, even when we ask God for that. The kids told us that they don't want Boompa to die. We agreed. We don't want it either. But we need to remember that it might happen. 

It was a hard conversation to have, it was a tricky one to navigate with what to say. But it was important that we start talking about it this way. It is important that we are honest with the kids. We don't know what the next few weeks/months have in store for us as a family but I do know that it will involve James away for a bit.