There is a Lad Here

Yesterday afternoon I was home with my three youngest children when I got an alert on my phone that there was a tornado warning. Despite some stormy weather outside, it was just about the last thing I was expecting! That’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing for Utah, a state that rarely gets tornados. It certainly scared my three children, the youngest of which immediately declared that her birthday party (which was set for that afternoon outside) was canceled as she ran scared into the basement. It turned out to be quite the experience as we watched the hail come down hard outside and fill the yard almost as if it had snowed while we wondered if there was really a tornado somewhere. The storm passed fairly quickly, though a round two of intense hail came a little later that caught me off guard in the car. I was most impressed when my youngest son remarked to me a couple of hours later as we were still discussing the events of the day, “Dad, we didn’t even say a prayer!” It was very refreshing to hear, especially given the resistance sometimes of my older children to praying together as a family. We certainly should have said a prayer to help calm my youngest children, and it was a reminder to me that perhaps my children pick up on more of spiritual things than I think.

            These words of my son would have fit well as an example with some of the stories that Sister Susan Porter shared in the most recent general conference. She related, “I have seen children all over the world who are offering what they have to bring God’s love to their families, church, friends, and communities. In the Caribbean, a mother told me that the Spirit lifted her heavy heart when her young son asked her to read the Book of Mormon with him. In Ghana, Primary children told me they share their lunch at school with others who don’t have any. In Cambodia, I saw sick children in a local hospital light up when they were given activity kits made by Primary children who cared about them. A few months ago, Chloe and Eli, both 10, stood before a group of business leaders and spoke confidently about how their faith affects their everyday life. They shared that they think about the gospel every day. They pray for others and look for ways to help.” We should not underestimate the faith of children and their ability to do good. Sister Porter also spoke of the example of the “lad” that had some fishes and loaves that he offered to the Savior. The account in John reads this way: “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would” (John 6:8-11). The word “lad” here is translated as “boy” or “young boy” in many other translations, confirming that this was indeed a child and not an adult who offered the food to the Savior. As I thought about this story today, I was struck that here in one of the most famous miracles that Jesus performed, it was a child who made the offering that the Savior magnified. Jesus fed 5000 men using bread from a young boy, highlighting that we too can be blessed by the faith and goodness of children.

            I am reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis to my children (again), and one of the themes that is consistent throughout the books is that it is children who are given great missions to accomplish. Digory, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Susan, Lucy, Eustace, and Jill are all children when they go to the land of Narnia to do the work that Aslan has for them there. At the end of the fourth book, Prince Caspian, when the four Pevensies had to leave Narnia and go back to their world, Peter was told by Aslan that he and Susan would never be coming back. He explained to his younger siblings, “There were things he wanted to say to Su and me because we’re not coming back to Narnia…. You two are… but not Su and me. He says we’re getting too old.” It was a requirement for them to be young to do the great things in Narnia that were required, and perhaps C.S. Lewis was trying to highlight to us as well that young children can do great things in the Lord’s work. Sister Porter said this to all of the Primary age children, “I invite you to pray to Heavenly Father and say, like Jesus did, ‘Here am I, send me.’ And then move forward, walking with Him to bring yourself and others to Christ. ‘[You] are cov’nant children with a gift to give.’” We should work to help children of all ages give those gifts and do what the Lord would have them do here on earth.