Do you know Haiti?

We, like so many other families around the world, have been praying for the people of Haiti every night since the earthquake destroyed Port au Prince. Sometimes we pray with the kids individually and sometimes we pray as a family. One night, a couple weeks after the earthquake, we were praying as a family when Alyssa, in the middle of her prayer, stopped and turned to us and asked, "Mmmmm, what's her name?" Now, this is not an uncommon occurrence, so we all started guessing who she might be asking about, "Tess?" "No, she's a big girl, not a little girl!" The names started flying, "Erica? Pearl? Lena? Katie?" All met with resounding no's. Her little face screwed up as she closed her eyes and thought hard. "Member?! She's hurt and sick. She needs food and water." I was stumped. Lucas looked at her questioningly and ventured, "Alyssa, do you mean Haiti?" A huge smile beamed across her face. "Yes!!!" and she continued on with her prayer not seeming to hear her sister & brothers' astonished, "Haiti is a country, not a girl!!" I shot my kids a 'knock it off' kind of look and we finished our prayers.

As I tucked Alyssa into bed that night, I did my best to gently explain to her that Haiti is a country with many people who are sick and hurt and need our prayers. She assured me she understood.

Fast forward to this last Wednesday night. After we got home from church, Alyssa was changing into pjs when she turned to me and exclaimed. "Wow Mommy! Lots of people know Haiti! We pray for Haiti and tonight at church they prayed for Haiti and even on the raido I heard them pray for Haiti!" Then, incredulously, she added, "How do so many people know her???"Ya gotta love it.