A prayer that really mattered.

I love driving Liam home from school. We catch up on our day, I get to watch him reunite with his brothers after a day away from the family and iyts like finally, at 3:00 our day can finally start because our car is full again. One day, on the way to pick up Liam, Matix and Easton fell asleep. So when liam got in the car, it was just me and him (i love it when i dont have to share). I asked liam about his day, followed up with our goals we had set that week and let him tell me all about his silly friends and suprising activities he enjoyed at school. We drove down Ocotillo Road towards on home on Ironwood and in the near distance, we saw billowing couds of dark black smoke, it was startling and the sight of it slowed traffic. "Mom, what is that! It looks like a house is on fire!", he wasnt wrong, it looked like it was coming from the neighborhood behind ours. "I dont know buddy. I dont think its a house but it does look pretty big huh." Just then, we pulled to the side to let two fire trucks wiz by. Liam Said 'Mom, i think we should say a prayer." I pulled over a little more into the sade of a big tree so we could pray together. Liam offered a sweet prayer asking for everyones safety and opportunities to help. I was taken back by his thoughtfulness in the moment, but I dont know why, thats just Liam. I thanked him for the prayer and as we pulled out from under the tree, we looked to the skys as we got back on the road towards home. "Liam, where was the smake coming from?" I was completely turned around, i looked behind me for a moment to make sure i was headed in the same direection as before. "mom, its gone! The smoke is gone!" I looked all over the horizon and he was right, the huge bellows of black smoke that caked the skies less than minutes before were completely out of sight. All that remained was a small grayish haze right above where the menising coats of smoke previously were. I had never seen such a drastic change in my life. "The Lord heard your prayer Liam!" His jaw dropped and tears filled his eyes. We talked for a moment about what we had just seen and gave a prayer of thanks. "Mom can we see what it was?", the kids were still asleep so i was in no hurry to get them home and wake them up. We drove just past our neighborhood and sure enough, right behind our complex, we found the source of the smoke. There is some farming acreage behind us and a farmer was out doing a controlled burn. There were the cops and fire trucks on site so while it looked like everything was under control, I suspect some rubber or plastics got thrown in the mix and they were being sited for it as we drove by. "Oh I am so glad it wasn't a house, it looks like everything's under control! Isn't that wonderful bud?!" silence. I looked back at him in the rearview mirror and he had a worried expression on his face. "Whats wrong Sweetie?", "Did my prayer even matter" he said it with as much sincerity as he when he offered the original prayer. Heaviness filled the car. I could tell he was confused and looking for comfort and clarity and i wasnt ready for the question his asked. I said a prayer in my heart that the spirit would help me teach him the principle that the Lord intened for him to take from this experience. "Liam, when you said the prayer you wanted to help didn't you?" "Yeah" 'We knew there was a fire and becasue we saw the fire trucks and ambulence, we thought there might be people hurting" "Yeah but we were wrong, and we prayed for something that wasnt real" My heart hurt hearing his disappointment. "You took something that mattered to you and talked to heavenly father about it. He knew it was just a controlled burn but he also knows that his little Liam is thoughtful. He knows that you care about people and he heard your prayer. He is grateful that you turned to him, even if he knew that no one was in danger, he is still tremendously happy that his Liam would turn to him." "When you saw that smoke cleared, you felt close to God. He wants to be close to you when you seek him." We had just talked that week in CFM about"seeking" so when we talked about his prayer being a form of seeking closeness with God, I think it clicked. I came home a recorded our conversation because i swear i didnt speak it but the spirit did. I believe everything i said but i didnt come up with the words. As a mom, i felt inadequet in my abilities to answer his question in a way that would facilitate the growth that God wanted in that moment (and frankly, i didnt feel like i could give this sweet boy the answer he deserved after such a faith filled experience) but i felt so grateful that like Liam, the Lord answered my prayers too and allowed me to be apart of this testimony building expereince.