On Friday, I attended the staff Christmas party of the school I "work" at. Basically I come in one night every week or two and take care of some registrar related work....mostly I work from home, though. I saw a parent I haven't seen in a while, who works in radiology. I asked him if he worked with our Children's Hospital and we just started talking. He asked me for everything we knew about KayTar so far, which I explained in full, without crying. (Yay me!) To be totally honest, I did kind of start to tear up. When I verbally list it all like that, it feels so overwhelming, like me speaking it aloud makes it more real. He said since he "walks among the doctors" he can get a feel what the different doctors are like. He said he's going to read up on her conditions and talk to with different neurologists as he gets a chance too, and let me know what he finds out. He said he feels like KayTar is his own and he'll do everything he can to help us out. Then he said, "You know, we pray for her every day when we get in the car to come home from school." And THEN I cried.
People say "We're praying for you." all the time. Our pastor says it is the all-purpose Christian hello and goodbye. "Hey! We're praying for you!" or "Well, we'll see you next Sunday...we're praying for you." but rarely does it mean anything. Its just something people say. For that reason, I rarely say it. But when he said "We pray for her every day when we get in the car to come home from school." I knew he was telling the truth. It was so shocking that someone who I never even see anymore prays for my KayTar every day. Thankfully, it was the end of our conversation, so I was able to walk away, have a sip of water and choke down my tears before seeing anyone else. It was just so kind I almost couldn't bear it. Even now, writing about it, my eyes still fill with tears. I think praying for someone is the purest kind of love, and to think someone loves my KayTar in that way without even really knowing her is just amazingly overwhelming.
7 comments:
It's so easy (for me) to get caught up in all the theoretical issues surrounding prayer (is it possible to change God's mind, etc. etc. etc.) and forget that prayer is, as you so perfectly demonstrate here, first and foremost an act of love.
How beautiful - and pure and selfless. I'm glad you've got such kind people looking out for your darling girl!
That's so beautiful, Kyla, and I'm so happy that you're so surrounded by love for your family.
What a special, special story.
I have to tell you, that my family has been praying for you, too. It started with, "God bless Kyla, who let Mommy know that her writing means something to people - even when they haven't met." About a week later, we started praying for you and your husband to have the strength and patience to wait out a diagnosis. We prayed for KayTar to learn sign (I'm fluent, but never had the patience to teach my own kids). Now we say a general prayer for the health and safety. Although last night we did pray that BubTar would be blessed with more understanding teachers.
So many of us pray for you, Kyla. I agree with your pastor, it does get to be a bit of a general "hello." I sometimes find myself too shy to tell people that I pray for them regularly. I am so happy that this man wasn't shy about it. What a wonderful gift for you to know.
Prayer often feels like an inactive response. We sometimes have difficulty seeing the fruit of our prayers. We must remember that we are commanded to bring our petitions before God and that He hears what is on our hearts. Prayer is a wonderful way to be a part of God's plan and to see Him work in our life and in the lives of those around us. It is a powerful thing. God will do His perfect will in our lives and others without our intervention, but prayer allows us to be used of God as instruments of His. I hope you get a chance to share with that friend the answer to that prayer. He will answer, and it will be the right one. His will is perfect for our lives.
It is so nice to hear about these acts of kindness - especially from strangers. I'm happy you have these type of people in your life.
It sounds like you have a lot of lovely people around you to give you love and support. So important.
Cheers.
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