The weather has turned really hot this July, and it reminds me of the opposites we have. In the summer, we wish it was cooler, and in the winter, we wish it was warmer. Sometimes we even wish for the opposite season.

As I pondered that, I remembered an event with my youngest daughter, Elli, when she was about three. The weather had been frigid for about a week and showed no sign of abating. The temperatures were around twenty degrees below zero, and there seemed to be a constant wind that shot the cold right through a person. 

It happened on the worst night of all that one of our older children had a concert they were playing in. We always attended events the children were in if we could, so we all prepared to go. To help everyone else stay warm, I got our van warming for about fifteen minutes before we loaded into it. When it was time to leave, we all made a mad dash to the van. I made a couple of trips carrying Elli and some things to keep the youngest children occupied during the concert.

The concert was enjoyable, and when it ended, people didn’t stay around and visit like they often did. Everyone was concerned about getting stranded in the stormy weather. I got the van warming again, then pulled it up near the doors. I helped everyone into it, and we headed home. 

Once we got home, we did our usual evening song, prayers, and other family things. There were bedtime snacks, then we sent the children off to bed. It was late, but I had a cow that still needed to be milked, and other animals that needed to be fed.

I grabbed the milking bucket and went out to do the chores. Our milking barn was open on one side, so the freezing air whistled through it. By the time I finished milking and feeding, I could barely feel my fingers, and my toes were completely numb.

I came in and gave the bucket of milk to my wife, Donna, to take care of. I then went to warm up. I took my outer clothes off and stood in front of a heater, but I continued to shiver. Donna made me some hot chocolate, which helped, but I finally decided to get warm I needed to take a hot shower. 

By the time I finished the shower, I was finally feeling warm and comfortable. That’s when I heard Elli kind of crying—more of a soft whimper. I went up to her room and put my hand on her head. She didn’t feel hot or anything.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She nodded. “Daddy, I left Toby, my bear, in the van. Can you get him?” 

Fresh out of the shower and finally feeling warm, the thought of going out in the night made me cold just thinking about it. “Sweetheart,” I said, “it’s freezing out there. I’ll get him in the morning.”

“But he’ll get cold,” Elli said. 

“He’s a bear,” I replied. “He’ll be okay.”

Elli didn’t complain. She sniffled a little, then told me no one had helped her say her prayers. I said I would help her, so she kneeled on her bed.

Usually, I would share things she could say, but this time she had the words in her heart that she wanted to pray about. “Dear Heavenly Father, please help Daddy go get Toby and not be cold when he does. I need him so he won’t freeze, and so I can be happy and go to sleep.” 

She said a few more things, and when she finished, I put on some warm clothes and retrieved a bear. It’s amazing how much power and faith there is in a child’s heartfelt prayer. It kept me warm as I went out into the frosty night. 

And when I gave Toby to her, her smile, and the hug she gave me as she snuggled him close, were the best pay I could ever ask for.