The Faith of a Child
by Donna E. Streeter
(Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)
Donna E. Streeter
The Faith of a Child Brings Answered Prayer
It's a quiet summer day - the sun is brilliant against the sapphire sky and the slightest breeze gently rustles the leaves that dress the trees.
Beneath the stately maple can be seen the small figure of a child - a little girl with curly blonde hair that is tussled who looks to be about 5 years old. She sits with her back against the trunk of the tree and looks up toward the sky.
"God", she says, as she lifts her tiny hands toward heaven, "Where are the missing children? Why have they left us? And why, every time I ask Mama about them, she begins to cry?"
The little girl's attention turns to an object on the ground beside her - a blue box about the size of one that might hold a ream of paper. She picks it up and places it on her lap. The box is hinged and she gently lifts the cover. Inside are the things that allow her to travel back through space and time - to a magical world filled with memories that occasionally grow hazy but are never totally forgotten.
She gingerly begins to lift three faded photographs from the box and lines them up in the grass. One is of a dark-haired little girl with curly hair not unlike her own; a very pretty little girl somewhat older than she. Another is of a dark-haired little boy with a smile that could melt a snowman and a twinkle in his eye. Yet another, of a little boy with curly blonde hair just like hers and a smile as big and as warm as the summer sun.
She rolls over on her stomach and stares at the pictures and they seem to stare back. She begins to talk to them in a soft voice, almost a whisper . . .
"Where are you?", she says aloud. "Mama and I miss you very much! And we love you, too!"
She grabs the snub nosed pencil she brought with her and the pad of paper and begins to write; something she does a lot these days in spite of her young age.
She begins to write a little poem:
"One little angel, sitting on a star
One little angel, out there oh so far -
Every night I see you, every night I pray
Come home to Mama and me,
Come home to us this day.
Two little angels, flying in the sky,
Two little angels, flying up so high
Every night I see them, every night I pray,
Come home to Mama and me,
Come back to us this day.
Three little angels, playing in the clouds,
Three little angels, laughing oh so loud,
I lift my prayers to the starry sky
And ask God to bring you back
So Mama will no more cry..."
Tears begin to well up in her eyes, and she begins to put the words she has written to a melody that fills her mind. Her own little song she will sing when she is alone for many years to come: a petition to God to find the three little missing angels - her brothers and sister who have been gone for so very long. God always answers prayer - but in His time, not ours. And 43 years after being separated, the little girl who is now a grown woman, locates the missing angels.
Four children - two blond and two dark haired - are reunited with each other. And the missing ones with their mother!
Yes, God DOES answer prayer. He has honored the faithful petition of a little girl who never gave up hope of finding the missing children. A little girl who always carried them deep within her heart.
I now this to be true - for I am that little girl. In August of 1993, I found my missing brothers and sister. None of us are missing anymore! Praise God for His wisdom - for His mercy and for His love.
