A barbie and a prayer...

So I was having one of those moments where I reminisce about my childhood and recalled one of my first experiences as a child with prayer. This is one of those stories I'd like to remember because hey, maybe it'll be a good story to tell my kids some day. :)

When I was child, my older sister had a barbie doll. This barbie was absolutely beautiful...She looked just like a princess with long, blonde hair and a gorgeous ball gown--it was pink and had two little straps on each shoulder. I adored it but there was one problem...it wasn't mine. My sister loved this barbie doll and never wanted me to touch it...or even breath on it for that matter. So, every morning my sister would go to school, leaving her barbie in the same spot by the closet door and tell me not to touch her barbie. At first, I was sneaky about it...Sometimes, I would sit by the barbie doll and just stare at it. (As creepy as that sounds...) But I simply loved to admire it and its beautiful gown. Of course, I could only bare to stare at it for so long before I had to touch it...So, I'd pick the barbie doll up gently and pretend to have a ball to go to. When my sister would come home, I'd quickly put the doll back and hope my sister didn't notice. One morning, my sister left for school and said as usual, "Now don't touch my barbie...I'll know if you move her." Of course, I'd promise her I wouldn't touch it but being the two year old that I was, I just HAD to touch. So, I picked up the barbie doll and began to play. As I was playing "stranded princess" one of the doll's dress straps broke on her shoulder...I. Was. Terrified. What was I going to do? I was only two years old at the time and the amount of worry that flooded my mind made me cry. My sister was going to be so angry. But, I remembered something...I had learned in nursery that if I ever needed anything, that all I needed to do was to pray and that Heavenly Father would help. So I prayed. Hard. "Heavenly Father, please bless the barbie that it will get fixed and my sister not get mad at me. Name of Jesus Christ. Amen." I opened my eyes, took one look at that barbie and...what the? The strap was still broken. Maybe I didn't pray right, so I tried it again. "Heavenly Father, thankful for mom and dad and brothers and sisters and bless the barbie that she get fixed so my sister not get mad. Name of Jesus Christ. Amen." That should've covered it so I opened my eyes and...fixed it was not! So this time I remembered that if you want something really really badly, you have to cry when you pray. Believe me, the tears came (because boy was I in trouble if Heavenly Father didn't fix the barbie)...*Sobbing..."Heavenly Father, please, please, please bless the barbie that she get fixed! If you fix the barbie, I promise to be so good and do what mom tells me! *Even more sobbing... please, please, PLEASE fix the barbie and bless that my sister not get mad. Name of Jesus Christ. Amen." When I opened my eyes for the third time and saw that the barbie hadn't been fixed, I was as devastated as a two year old could be. Why wasn't Heavenly Father fixing the barbie? Well, I decided that I had no choice but to do what any other two year old would do...tuck the strap back into the dress and when my sister realized that it was ripped, lie my butt off about knowing anything about it. So, when my sister came home from school, I had placed the barbie in her usual spot and waited for her to put her back pack away and get her barbie. Just before she went to grab the barbie, I stepped forward...I couldn't keep it a secret because I was also taught not to lie. I explained to her that I did what she told me not to do. I played with the barbie and while I was playing with her, the strap of her dress broke. I told her I was so sorry and that I tried to fix it but didn't know how. After listening to my story, my sister let out a sigh and told me that it was ok...That she forgave me and that she was glad that I told her what happened. Though this seems like a funny story, I realized years later that Heavenly Father still answered my prayers, just not in the way I had originally hoped. I wanted him to fix the barbie, but instead I got the second half of my prayer answered. My sister didn't get mad. I guess it makes me think a little...That God hears prayers but finds other ways to answer them. Remembering this story, it also made me laugh because I find it funny that in moments of dire situations, people promise and promise the Lord that they'll be a better person, to live a better life, if He just gets them out of one sticky situation. Then, they eventually forget that promise until they're in the next sticky situation and call upon God to save them yet again. I was totally guilty of this. It makes me think, I hope I remember this story now and again and live a life where God will help me because I am always being a better person, always trying to listen to my parents or always trying to live a better life. Perhaps then, he'll get me out of situations where I need him most, not because I tried to bribe him, but because I've shown him that I'll always try to be more like him.

--"If God should stay his hand and let this trial befall me, it is because he has built me up and knows that my walls can withstand it." -Me