A Child Shall Lead Them

Thanks for joining us today.

You're listening to Laugh Again with Phil Calloway.

We love to hear from Laugh Again listeners, like Ken, who admits to binging on Laugh Again

for five hours on a road trip.

Made me smile, giggle, sigh, groan, laugh, and cry, he says.

It reminded me of listening to you in your office tell corny jokes.

Well, that's right.

Ken and I worked together years ago.

With his permission, here's the rest of his note.

Hey Phil, it's been a long time.

Long enough that life looks completely different.

We have a son Henderson whom we call Hendo, he's 13, a ball player through and through.

Baseball isn't just a sport to him, it's oxygen.

And somewhere along the way taking photos of his games became my own obsession.

I shoot every inning, every pitch, every dusty slide.

Thousands of frames a week, half frozen grit, half joy, all of it this wild, beautiful

slice of boyhood happening faster than I can hold on to.

Years ago when I said goodbye to you, I didn't just move, I drifted from God.

Not out of rebellion, just distance.

Thirty-five years of silence, no church, no Bible on the table, no faith passed down

to my son, it simply wasn't in our home.

Then one night, as I was calling a memory card, buried between all those photos, the usual

chaos of swings and dirt and laughter, was one image that stopped me cold.

I didn't even realize I took it.

Hendo, alone in the dugout, head bowed, hands clasped in prayer, and Phil I never taught

him how to pray.

When I asked him what he was praying for, I expected I prayed we'd win or I wanted a big

hit.

Instead he said, I prayed for their picture, he was struggling and seemed scared.

I asked God to help him feel calm again, and Phil something deep inside me cracked open.

I asked where he learned to do that.

He mentioned a few baseball influencers online who talk about prayer or faith sometimes,

not sermons, not teaching, just tiny seeds, and somehow they sprouted.

Then a few months back he started asking if we could visit churches around the city,

so he could try them.

Different Sundays, different congregations, a 13-year-old quietly steering his father

back toward God.

He eventually found one he loved, small, warm, alive, and for the past month I've been

sitting beside him every Sunday, feeling something I thought I'd buried thirty years ago

begin to breathe again.

And then this past Sunday after service, he said, Dad, I want to get baptized, and I'd

really love it if you'd do it with me.

I don't think I've ever been hit harder in my life.

So here I am, a man who wasn't looking for God, suddenly finding himself walking home,

led by the very boy I never taught to pray.

And I thought you of all people would understand, because you've spent your life helping kids

and parents know Jesus.

I'm living proof those seeds take root, even when parents aren't planning them.

Even when the soil looks dry, even after decades of silence, sometimes God grows something

anyway, and sometimes he sends your own son to bring you home.

The next time I'm near you, I would love to meet up and catch up.

Love you, man.

Can.

Well, I tried to read this to my wife, but my eyes sprung a leak, because I do understand.

It was my first child's birth that steered me back to God.

Someone asked me what is the template for my stories.

I said, the prodigal son, it's my story, it's Ken's story, rarely does God speak more clearly.

I thank God Ken didn't ignore his tap on the shoulder.

He loves us so much that he sometimes uses what we love most, a child, to point us home.

Do you ever feel compelled to pray, but struggle to find the words?

You're not alone.

That's why laugh again is offering a free book of prayers, called praying with the Saints.

30 prayers from 30 Saints, people with a deep desire to connect with our God.

It just might be the jumpstart your prayer life has been waiting for.

Request your free copy today at laughagain.ca or call 1-800-663-2425.

Laugh again.

Truth bringing laughter to life.