And Cue..."Awww"

My students are so sweet. I stayed home yesterday because I wasn't feeling well, and they were excited to see me back this morning. We were getting ready to have our prayer time (they love praying, its such a blessing!) this morning, and a girl said, "my prayers were answered last night!" I told her that was great! And asked how so. She said, "I prayed that Mrs. Blair feels better and that she would be at school tomorrow, and you're here!"

It's amazing seeing fourth grade students that are prayer warriors. In my book, that term is normally reserved for adults, people that have had a long time to establish themselves in their faith. But my kids are different - we start every morning in prayer, and they all jump at the opportunity to pray out loud for their classmates and for our day together.

Dad emailed me today and informed me that his close friend and coworker of several years, Mark Watts, passed away unexpectedly and suddenly last night. He asked for our prayers for his office and the Watts family (you can keep the family in your prayers, too!). I've heard my students pray over and over for the same people everyday - people that they know that are sick or hurting in various ways. I knew that if I shared with them this particular situation, they would do the same for this hurting family.

We were about to say our blessing before lunch, and I told them that my dad's friend had died unexpectedly last night. They were all so sad for the Watts family and for Dad. They promised to pray for the family and all involved. A student asked if Mark was a Christian. I said, "Yes! He was, so we can be glad that he's with Jesus now," and a student proceeded to say our blessing and a special prayer for the Watts. I thanked them and we went on to lunch.

I asked my children to hang on for a second so that I could grab my lunch from the workroom. I walked around the corner to meet up with them, and there were my nine fourth graders, smiling at the ceiling and waving.
"What are you doing, guys?" I asked, laughing.
"Mrs. Blair, we're waving to Mark! He's up there with Jesus now. We're happy for him."

I almost cried right there. Sweet, sweet kids. Please keep the Watts family and the friends of Mark in your prayers!