Today has been a hard day. I lost my wallet, again. I spent most of the morning looking for it. My house shows no remaining evidence of the thorough cleaning it received a mere three days ago. I’ve also been struggling with a silly issue where I’m trying to accomplish something that I know is right, but I’ve felt a lot of opposition and frustration. That’s been heavy on my mind for the past several days, with my asking myself “Why?” a lot.
I called Matt at work for my daily “hey, have you seen this item I lost?” call, and he even walked out to his car to see if my wallet was there. No luck. I felt discouraged, like maybe nothing’s going like it should. Maybe I just don’t have it together. Matt suggested to have the kids pray about it (their prayers always help) and he would too. The boys were at school, so I hung up the phone and looked at little Natalie sitting on the floor playing with her button book.
“Natalie, can you say a prayer for me to help me find my wallet?”
She just kind of looked at me, and then went back to her book. I turned my head and stared out the living room window. Feelings of discouragement started to pile up and I felt myself on the verge of tears. I don’t cry very often, so I just kind of swallowed the feeling and tried to control my emotions. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natalie looking up at me from the floor. She closed her book, climbed up the couch on to my lap, and hugged me. Hard. The tears slid quickly down my cheeks. After a couple minutes, she looked at me and said, “Why are your eyes wet?”
I told her I was a little bit sad because I couldn’t find my wallet, and …
She hopped down, walked over to a chair, climbed up into it and looked at me.
“Where is Heavenly Father?”
“Where is he? He’s in Heaven?”
“Can we see him?”
“No, we can’t see him right now, but he can see us.”
“How can he see us?”
“Well, because he knows everything.”
“Does he have a telescope?”
“Maybe he does. I don’t know.”
“Maybe he has a periscope.”
“Maybe.”
Something about her words made me remember that despite all His wonder, He watches us individually. And I remembered a devotional I attended once where the speaker, who I knew personally and admired, said this:
“I testify that he who will bring about the universal restoration of all things also brings to pass those intimate restorations that heal our wounds, cleanse our sins, and fulfill divine promises.”
I went into the kitchen to get Natalie’s milk ready for her nap, and while I did, a thought came to my mind. I went and looked, and I immediately found my wallet. Tears came back as I realized that this was a testimony that God was mindful of me and my simple problems.
I walked down the hall to tuck Natalie in, and she asked me to read her Llama llama red pajama, one of her favorite stories.
It’s about baby llama who goes to bed at night and waits for his mom to bring him a drink. As he waits and waits, he gets scared, then frustrated, then angry, and cries out frantically to his mother. I’ve read the book probably a hundred times before, but today I felt like it was a parable for me and my Heavenly Father. So, the tears ran down my face (again!) as I read this page:
Little Llama, don’t you know, Mama Llama loves you so?
Mama Llama’s always near, even if she not right here.
So, yeah, I cried three times today. I also got a hug, an answer to prayer, and a little insight that maybe, just maybe, Heavenly Father does have a periscope.
Diapers and Divinity 
I am so glad you found your wallet with the help of our Father in Heaven. I hope you have a better day!
What a sweet experience. Thanks for brightening my day by sharing it. Somehow it is so easy to get frustrated and discouraged–even though we know eternal truths.
I love it when little lessons like that hit me in a big way! I hope this day continues to get better and better for you.
It’s the little things that make it all worth it. I love how you find life lessons in the smallest things.
I love hearing a child’s sincere prayer. My husband dropped a pretty full jar of olive oil yesterday, and a couple of minutes later, Hannah came in. “Mom, I just said a prayer! I prayed that Dad would get all the glass, and that the oil would be easy to pick up, and that nobody will get hurt…” What sweet little spirits!
I’ll have to get that book! Sounds great!
How sweet! I love when we feel love on the hardest days. I love the confirnmation we sometimes get from Heavenly Father. Thank you for sharing this little lesson with us, and I hope your day gets better.
Aw, I love the Llama books. I’m glad you found your wallet. Sometimes it’s the little things all piled up together that can really weigh you down.
That devotional quote is just what I needed today. And thanks for the lovely, goose-bump-inducing post as well. 🙂
Sometimes I feel like small confirmations mean more than the big ones. It really hits home how much He loves us.
Your post makes me miss those years when my children were little. Such a sweet time of life. I hope you are writing these things down in a journal. It will be priceless when your children are all grown up. I wish I had written more.
Yeah, sometimes stuff like help finding a wallet does more for me than the most elaborate speech in sacrament meeting. And I need to find these Llama books.
We seem to have a “finding things through prayer” gene in my family. And finding things is one of the times that I am most clearly able to see that the Lord really is working in my life. Probably because there is concrete proof that I have been heard and answered…
PS–I can’t get the link to work–more info please!
I think their server is down at speeches.byu.edu, but the devotional was called “The Intimate Restoration” by John Rosenberg.
Wonderful post….our problems, trials and struggles do really bring us closer to Him. What a wonderful reminder your post is to me. Thank you~
That is beautiful. It reminds me of those special moments with my girls. Praying for you tonight.
And this really blessed me today.
“I testify that he who will bring about the universal restoration of all things also brings to pass those intimate restorations that heal our wounds, cleanse our sins, and fulfill divine promises.”
Well, don’t feel too bad. Cuz now *I’ve* cried at least once today. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. It’s a lesson I desperately needed.
Chalk up at least one cry for me today …
Okay, so add up all the people that cried WITH you today, and that wipes out any cries you had today, plus credit for cries you might have tomorrow. It all evens out. But thanks for sharing, because it’s no fun crying by yourself!
And may God bless all two-year-olds everywhere…and four-year-olds, and ten year-olds, thirteen-year-olds, and almost-sixteen-year-olds…
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You just reminded me that there’s more to parenting than the “rush here rush there” “is your towel hung up?” “Are your chores finished” busy-ness of the day. Thanks for reminding me about what’s really important.
Even reading this post and your experience show me how much the Lord cares about me as a person.
And how have I never read that book?!
Isn’t it always true how the Lord gives us reminders every now and then that he is there for us?….. Thanks for sharing! 🙂