“A Valuable Lesson in Faith,” Ensign, September 2016
A Valuable Lesson in Faith
The author lives in Queensland, Australia.
Illustrations by Joshua Dennis
The Primary “Family Day” had been a wonderful success and was made even better when our son Ben, a recently returned missionary, came home from the university just for the occasion. We played softball, cricket, hide-and-seek, and Frisbee, and enjoyed the swings and playground equipment. We were one of the last families to leave.
As we began packing up all our things, Ben discovered his keys had fallen from his pocket. A frantic search ensued. During the activities of the day, he had been running around with his siblings and other children over many acres of the park; finding his keys seemed an absolutely hopeless task.
The older children raced towards the playground equipment to search. I followed, hand-in-hand with our five-year-old son, Mitchell. I suggested to him that we should have a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help us find Ben’s keys. So in the middle of a playing field, Mitchell and I had a quiet prayer together telling Heavenly Father how much Ben needed to find his keys and how difficult the task would be without His help. After the prayer I asked Mitchell whether he thought Heavenly Father would answer our prayers. He replied confidently, “Oh, yeah!”
As I looked across the vast fields we had covered during the day, common sense told me it wasn’t going to happen. I secretly feared for the faith of this five-year-old child. But time has never dimmed the significance of what happened next. We literally took one pace and there the keys were. I was overwhelmed with emotion. My young son had taught me a valuable lesson that day about faith in Heavenly Father, who I know answers our prayers.