I Heard the Children

Joy Cromar, California, USA

Clinical depression was something I never wanted to face again. But after I had been free of it for 12 years, it returned.

I was scared and distraught. I questioned Heavenly Father and prayed for the strength to make it through my trial. I also pleaded with Him that my depression would not last five years, as it had the last time.

My husband and I have three children, two sons and a daughter, who have blessed us with 13 grandchildren. Knowing the despair I faced, my daughter organized the family for a day of fasting and prayer. All the grandchildren, ages 1 to 10, wanted to pray for Grandma, and the three who had been baptized wanted to fast. It was such a comfort to know that my husband, children, and grandchildren would fast and pray on my behalf.

The next day when I awoke from a nap, the feeling of depression didn’t seem so strong. The next day it lifted even further. By the fifth day my depression had lifted completely. That evening, while I was contemplating how this miracle had happened, a voice touched my soul and said to me, “I heard the children.” Heavenly Father had heard them in their innocence and had answered their prayers of humility, faith, and love.

The Savior taught:

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3–4).

I have corresponded with my grandchildren and thanked them for fasting and praying on my behalf. I told them how much I love them. I told them Heavenly Father had heard them and answered their prayers.

As my grandchildren grow in the gospel, I hope they will remember the time Heavenly Father said to their grandmother, “I heard the children.” And I hope that experience will strengthen their testimony and help them stay strong in the gospel.