A Big Prayer for A Little Rain

This is a true story about my oldest daughter, Charisma Suzanne (Shanaberg) Sullivan!

A BIG PRAYER FOR A LITTLE RAIN

 

When my children were young, we were camping, whenever we could.  Sticks and rocks became something different, in this outdoorsy world.  The sticks became swords and all sorts of toys.  There was, even, fighting over the sticks; like the woods were not full of them.  There is no corner in the woods, so "time out" was taken standing on a flat rock with the nose facing the tree.

 

One summer, there was a terrible drought.  The bees were going crazy.  It was miserable to be outside.  The kids would dry off from swimming and be suffering from the heat, again, within the short distance between the lake and our tents.

 

My oldest daughter, Chari, said, "I wish it would rain."

 

We had a screen-tent, where we would sit, out of the sun, and eat.  Just outside of the front door of the screen-tent was a flat rock, about the size of a floor tile and an inch thick, that had a zip-lock bag under it for messages, when we were out.

 

I told Chari that that rock was a "prayer rock" and, if she really believed, she could stand on it and pray for rain.

 

She stood on the rock, with her hands clasped together, in prayer, and her eyes closed, chanting a repetitive prayer for rain.  I was praying, in my heart, that by some miracle, something would happen.  But, I knew that we were having a drought.

 

Nothing appeared to have happened, but suddenly, Chari began jumping around, shouting, and pointing at the "prayer rock."

 

When I went to look, there were no less than a dozen small drops of moisture on that rock.  I don't know whether it was "bird pee" or some tiny sputter of rain, but there it was; a miracle!

Author's Note

She has never forgotten that day and that her prayer "was" answered.

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Since birds do not pee (all thier body fluid comes out when they defecate) it could not have been that. But it may have been water from a swim or perspiration from your daughter; at any rate, it is nice to believe our prayers are heard and answered. This made me smile. It's a quaint and charming story.

[Jenny Nelson]

What a wonderful story. If it made your daughter believe in miracles, then it was a miracle.

[Corvus]

Beautiful. I doubt it was a bird, birds don't urinate, but how touching. A good memorial to a small, yet largely effective event in your life. How beautiful.

[TTBoy28]

Isn't a child's mind wonderful? This was very well told...I hope you continue this story!

[Tina Kline]

This is a wonderful story. I'm so glad your daughter's prayer was answered. That is something important and I'm glad to she has never forgotten it.

[Ellen Hammond]

Since Dom Macchiaroli already pointed out the typos I notice, I won't repeat it. But, I think that 'woods' is used as a singular subject so 'was' may be right, but the other 2 he mentioned are the ones that jumped out at me.

This is a delightful story! Never under-estimate the power of prayer and child-like faith. I loved reading this tale about your family. Thanks for sharing!

[Miss Coral]

Cute story. :) Memories like those are always treasured, no matter what actually happened.

[Nathan Durham]

I liked this story. I'm not usually one to believe in miracles, but I believe that children are often tied in with special, logic-defying occurrences. This was well worded. I enjoy reading your stories.

[TheKaylaPup]

That's really cool. You should make a book of short stories about your children.

[Dutch Jr.]

Touching work her, as with all of your work. Great job.

[ettorney]

I have always told my children the truth about Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and yes, miracles. They are real as long as we believe.