Praying for Chutes and Ladders

Carissa and I were in the middle of an intense game of Chutes and Ladders yesterday, and suddenly she realized that her Zoe game piece (we have the Sesame Street edition of the game) was in a precarious position. Although she was way ahead of her daddy (Big Bird), Zoe had a 2 out of 6 chance of landing on a chute with her next spin (which would drop her way back on the game board). Suddenly, Carissa paused, turned slightly away from me, closed her eyes and grasped her hands together.

"Dear God, please let me get a 4, OK, please let me get a 4, alright."

Wouldn't you know she spun the wheel and got a four. After a quick shout of joy and a "Thanks, God," we continued to play.

Now, as cute as this was, this whole situation left me a little perplexed. When I took the time to think about it, so many thoughts have been running through my mind.

• We have never really talked about praying for help in sports or games, and never really demonstrated this behavior, so where did Carissa pick it up?


• Is this a good thing for Carissa to do? Should we encourage her to think about God as an actively interested party in her board game play (and later with sports, etc)?


• I've always struggled with imagining that God cared a whole lot about the winners of athletic and other contests (even the Super Bowl), let alone Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. At the same time, I claim to believe in a God that cares about the smallest details of my life and my children's lives.


• To see Carissa model this level of dependence on God and trust that He cares is a humbling example to me... are there things that I consider too trivial to bring before God that he wishes I was humble enough to take to Him?

Maybe I'm thinking too much (OK, I know I am), but it is important to me that I raise up my daughters with a right understanding of who God is, and understanding that He is not some genie in a bottle waiting to grant our every wish and whim.

Most importantly, I got to see yesterday that my 5 year old daughter thinks about God as a friend who can help her and cares about what is important to her. Maybe she has as much to teach me about God as I do her.