We were hovering in the pantry the night of the tornado warning.

The alert told us to take shelter so we didn’t waste time gathering together in there.  As my husband and I prayed, my daughter was hunched over and crying.  She was visibly trembling with fear.  The thought of a tornado was scary, and she prayed that God would keep us safe.

About twenty minutes passed, and while my husband and I talked and prayed, my boys were munching on cookies, not completely aware of the situation.

My daughter continued to tremble, then she sat up and started to pray aloud, earnestly, between her sobs.  Her prayer sounded something like this, “Just like you saved Noah in the flood, save us, Lord! Just like you helped Paul, Lord, save us! I bless your name, Jesus!”

I was in amazement and close to tears. I had never heard her pray like this.  She was making a desperate plea, remembering God’s faithfulness to His people in the past..and praising God in the middle of the storm.

A few months ago, I talked to my husband about my concern that our daughter wasn’t learning Bible stories like I had hoped. I wasn’t sure that what she was learning on Sundays, or even at home, were sticking with her.

But, here we were, in what seemed like a terrifying situation in her life, and she was able to call out to Jesus. Jesus was real to her.  That humbled me, and I praise God that I could witness that in my five-year-old!

Parenting is a challenge, and there are days I wonder if I am teaching my children the things that they will remember. Yet, even when I don’t realize it, they are absorbing things they heard or things they witness each day.

Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  As we go through “calmer” days in life, we should be intentional in memorizing and hiding truths in our heart. That way, when we go through those unexpected storms, we can speak boldly in confidence of God’s past faithfulness…and praise His holy name.

-Betsy