>[!Properties]+ Page Details >Written: March 11, 2025 > > >#lessons-from/Elllie #Gospel/Prayer #Gospel/Gratitude [[Luke 17#The 10 Lepers]] On a Sunday evening after dinner at the Houghton's house for Stan's birthday. We put the girls down a bit later than normal, maybe 7:45 (yeah, that's late for them; they are 4, 2, and 6 months old, after all). The girls were tired and went right down (somehow), but Tori and I sat on the couch outside their room, talking and on our phones. Sometime after 8:30, Ellie came out with a sunken expression and got right next to Tori, looked up, and said, "I've been praying for a really long time, but God isn't answering." Tori looked at me with a surprised smile on her face and help in her eyes; I couldn't help but chuckle. We explained how God sometimes doesn't answer right away. She still wasn't getting it, so I told her how I once prayed for an answer for 4 years, the same number of years you are old. She still wasn't getting it and was getting sadder. Thinking she may have been praying about something we could help her with, I asked, "What was your prayer about?" Her reply caught Tori and me entirely off guard. She said, "I really want to give Jesus a hug." Some sweet words that someday we will get to hug Jesus and a loving spirit were shared through the tears as we tried to say something to both encourage and give perspective to this girl's perfect faith that Jesus was going to ring our doorbell that very evening so she could hug Him and say thank you. Ultimately, the Spirit was the teacher because she returned to her room content. It may not have been the physical hug she hoped to give, but a hug was shared.