A SIMPLE THING

(By Suzy Jackson, as told by her father)

It had been one of those days. Riding herd on two small boys, ages two and four, shopping and household duties had really worn me down. My husband had left for his graveshift job and my boys and I prepared for bed. We all said our night time prayers, giving our thanks, pleading for protection, confessing our faults. The prayers of my children were so innocent, so heartfelt. I wondered if I could ever again approach God's throne with the same kind of deep sincerity.

As I crawled inside my bed, I smiled within, grateful I had a restful nights sleep to look forward to. I had just about fallen asleep when I received a distinct impression to check on the boys. This thought I dismissed immediately, for I had just checked on them before retiring. Again the thought came, stronger than before, to check on the boys. As I struggled out of bed, I wondered, why am I doing this? I wasn't long puzzled, for as soon as I entered their room, the odor of smoke was strong.

Quickly, I pulled the plug on the humidifier, thinking it was out of water and running dry. On closer examination, however, I found it still had enough water inside and besides, the smoke smell was not coming from that appliance. I began sniffing about the room and covered Alex, our two year old. As I bent down to kiss Christopher, our four year old, the acrid smell was nauseating. It was then that I remembered the little night light by Christopher's bed, now covered by a pillow. Pulling off the pillow, I discovered the little four watt night light, minus the plastic bulb cover, had burned a large black hole into the fabric. Above the pillow were shelves of stuffed animals and bedroom curtains. There was plenty there to feed a potential fire.

I threw away the night light, cleaned up the mess, aired out the room and desperately hugged my boys. We all got down on our knees and very sincerely thanked our kind Father in Heaven, who watches after us, despite our follies and further thanked Him for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Prayer is such a simple thing. A simple thing that's so important.