Bedtime has been a not-so-exciting adventure in our home of late. At least one of our boys will typically have a difficult time going to sleep. With yesterday being the night before the first day of school, that was exponentially true of everyone. Excitement, anxiety, and nerves were crushing every suggestion that we had on how to go to sleep. That is how I found myself driving through Nashville sometime after 10 PM with our youngest son in the passenger seat. His mind could not shut off and so his mom suggested we go for a drive.
Knowing that anxiety about returning to school was at the forefront of his concerns, Liam and I took our normal route to his school. We pulled into an empty parking lot and stopped where he would be dropped off the next morning. As we sat there, I asked him if it would be okay if we prayed about the new school year. He nodded his head and then looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if he wanted to say some words too.
So I prayed and he held my hand. We asked God that this school would be a safe place of learning. That Liam would remember that there were friends and adults in that building that loved and cared for him. We prayed that God would help his relationships grow and that he would form new friendships. We prayed that he would remember that God was with him when he was in school each day and that he was always on the mind of his parents. We said, “Amen” and he hugged me. Then he asked if we could drive around a little more and listen to some music.
Liam is really into our 2000s playlist at the moment. As we drove along, he rolled his window down and sang at the top of his lungs. It is fun and funny to watch a 10 year old belt along to Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles.” In that moment, he seemed completely unburdened and free. I hope that is an image that I never forget.
After driving around some, we made our way past his brother’s school. I told him that I was going to pray for Jim’s school year. I was planning on just saying the prayer silently as he continued to listen to music. Yet when I pulled to a stop in the parking lot, Liam paused “Crazy in Love” and grabbed my hand. This time as I prayed, he interjected different things; casually adding prayers for his brother that he thought should be in there. It is one of those rare beautiful moments that you get as a parent because I am often pulling the two of them apart and telling them to be nice to each other. Yet here he was praying for his brother.
We talked about going to his mom’s school to pray for her but both decided it was probably too far away. Her new school is about as far out there as you can get while still being Nashville. But I prayed for EA too and as we passed the nearest high school, I threw up a prayer for the students that I knew who were going there and those I know going elsewhere.
I don’t necessarily know if those prayers will make any difference in the world. But they made a definite difference in Liam and myself. Granted, Liam also was really happy to be out late with his dad and singing songs so it wasn’t all the prayers for him. Yet as I drove around late at night praying while my ten year old sang along to the White Stripes and the Black Eyed Peas, I felt more grounded, more connected, and more at peace. That difference in me is at least something.
