As I was in the garden one day, weed-proofing pathways through the plants, one of the girls came to help me for awhile. We had a nice little conversation and I thanked God for it when we prayed after our talk.
The sun was low, and the light was beautiful. She said, “Neekola, you don’t have a Mama, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You don’t have a Papa either, do you?”
“No.”
She was silent for a minute, then said, “I don’t either ... not a Mama nor a Papa. Do you have a babushka?”
“No.”
“Neither do I,” she said, “but I have an Aunt and an Uncle.”
“Oh, that’s good!” I said, hoping her Aunt and Uncle were good people. “It’s a blessing to have at least some family.” She smiled.
“Do you ever get sad when you think about your Mama?” I asked. She nodded, and I said, “I do too. Today when we drove back from shopping I cried a little bit because I missed my Mama.” She smiled again. I could see she liked that.
“That’s a special thing about God,” I told her. “People can’t always be with us, but He is always there for us and we can tell him how we feel about things.” She smiled. That night when we prayed there was a new level of closeness between us.
We were covering this tarp with soil to weed-proof the garden paths
I love praying with the little girls at bedtime. One of the very little ones has a pretty strong will. The first night she waited and waited as I finished drinking tea for me to come and pray with her ... then when I tucked her in, she didn't want to pray. The next night, after tucking her in, I prayed with a girl in the next room. When I finished, there she stood in the doorway, all smiles. “Meekola!” she said, “Pray with me” (she insists my name is Meekola), and after that we prayed each night.
It is quite sobering to hear their prayers: “Lord, please help my Mama and Papa to stop drinking and smoking and arguing and beating (this is almost everyone’s prayer) ... Lord, please help my Mama and Papa stop drinking and come to know you so we can go back to them ... Lord, please keep this home safe so no bandits will break in (a possibility now with the upheaval in Kyrgyzstan) ... Lord, please keep the rabbits safe so nothing will break in and hurt them ... “ The first time I prayed with one of the girls, she prayed, “Lord, thank you for bringing Nicola here and protecting her along the way.” THAT brought tears to my eyes!
One of the older girls has chores to do each night, but she made it a point to stop and come to the girls’ bedroom for prayer, and then went back to finish her chores.
One night I was very ill ... hot and cold, hot and cold. My head felt like it was going to explode and I couldn’t think. As I was going to bed early, I met Masha in the hall. “Come pray with us, Neekola,” she said as she took my hand.
“Oh, Masha! I can’t. I feel so bad, but do you know what I would love? Would you please pray for me?” She was thrilled to be asked. I sat in a Volkswagen van seat and she prayed a beautiful prayer. The moment she began praying, my fever broke, and the next day I felt better! At dinner the next night I announced to everyone that Masha had prayed for me and my fever broke. She squirmed in her seat trying not to look too pleased with herself.
One night the girls asked me to read a story to them before bed. I said, “I’m sorry. I can’t read well enough to read that story.” From that moment on, every night almost all the girls' prayers went something like, “Lord, thank you for helping Nicola learn Russian more so she can speak better, and thank you that she already speaks it really well. Thank you that Mama will stop drinking, etc.”
One night I was about to leave their room when I heard my name, "Meekola! Meekola!"
“You’re supposed to be sleeping!” I said.
“I want to pray!” So I went back to her bed and she prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful sunny day, thank you that my mamma will stop drinking and beating, and thank you that nobody will break in and rob us, that we will be safe, and the animals will be safe ..." Again my eyes filled with tears that this tiny girl would have to pray a prayer like that. It must break God’s heart.
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 10:24AM 
We were covering this tarp with soil to weed-proof the garden paths