Who knows what lies in the mind of a child? Dreams and hopes, fears and sorrows. A child who seeks from those whose love and care is craved, just a smile, a word of approval, a touch of a hand, carried on a shoulder big and strong; lifted up and tossed into the air, then safely caught in strong hands…….
Who knows what lies in the mind of a child?
The second part of the story begun last week.
You had to wait a long time for that prayer to be answered, but one December it was answered in a most wonderful way and Daddy himself explained to you how God answered your prayer;
One day, whilst sitting on the front veranda of his little miner’s cottage, in that far away country, he had decided to kill himself with his air force revolver. He said that he was very sad because he missed Mommy and all four of you children and because he was afraid he’d never see you again, he just wanted to die. He reached for the revolver and just then a clanking noise
made him look up. There, to his surprise, he saw an elderly priest on an old bicycle! “Excuse me.” The Priest gasped, “Do you have a glass of water for a very hot and thirsty priest?” Daddy was so surprised; he fumbled with the revolver tucking it under his seat, so the Priest would not see it, and then got up to fetch a glass of water for him.
Daddy and the Priest began to talk; Daddy told him all about his life, about Mommy and his children too. He told the Priest about how Mommy’s mother died when she was only twelve years old and also how she was attacked by a man, one day on her way back from school. He also told the Priest how her brother died in the desert in the Great War, when he was only nineteen years old. Daddy said that is why she drank the horrible stuff out of the brown bottle.
It was the beginning of a lovely friendship. This friendship changed not only Daddy, but all of your lives. The Priest told Daddy that he was to go back home and fetch his wife and children and bring them to live with him at the mine. The priest wrote Mommy a letter, explaining what had happened and told her what he and Daddy had discussed.
Mommy never told you about the letter and so you were very taken aback, when one December day, you heard a car hooting at the gate and you all
rushed out to see what was going on. What a beautiful surprise!
Your Daddy drove in through the front gate in a shiny new car, not only your Daddy, but Father Christmas as well! His car was filled with all the most exciting toys and other presents. It was the best Christmas of your lives and all the while Mommy never drank any of that horrible stuff in the brown bottle.
You asked your Daddy if he was going to stay and he replied that he was staying for a few days, then he would be leaving again. But he was going to talk to Mommy about all of you coming up to live with him in this far away country, where he was a miner. It was a land that had good-looking shiny new cars and exciting toys.
Well, the day finally came when a taxi arrived to fetch all of you and Momma waved you goodbye. You felt I wanted to cry, because you just knew that you were going to miss Momma very much, but you didn’t want your younger brothers to see you cry and besides, you were on your way to see your Daddy!
You had never travelled on a train that went out of the country before, only the trains that took you to school, so this was a real adventure. You were even going to sleep three nights on this train. You felt like crying again, because you wondered what your bed at home would be feeling, without you tucked in on top of it. But then you began to think of your Daddy, coming to fetch you in one of those shiny new cars.
At first it was very exciting on the train, you loved the smell inside the compartment; Mommy explained that it was the green leather upholstery that had that smell. Whatever that meant you didn’t know for sure, but liked it anyway. You played in the corridor along the big coach with your brothers; the twins, Robert and James and their older brother, Michael, but you were the boss – the big brother. One time you went out the of coach door to see what the next coach was like, when suddenly a loud voice behind you shouting, “Oi! Where do you think you are going my lad?” It was the conductor and he gave you a right ticking off, so you never did that again.
Sometimes the train would stop at little stations along the way and you thought it strange that these stations had no platforms; then you noticed that the only reason the train had stopped was, not to pick up or drop off passengers, but rather, crates of things, milk cans and once – two bearded goats! The great big steam engines; there were two of them because your 
train had lots of coaches and these were called Garrets. They were very hungry and thirsty, always taking on coal and water. There were not many towns along the way, just lots and lots of bush and it was very hot.
After the second day, it wasn’t exiting anymore and both your brothers and you began to argue and fight with one another. Poor Mommy she got very upset and forbade you to ask, “How much longer to go?” She used to say to you, “when your Father comes to pick us up, I’m going to tell him how badly behaved you boys were!” you begged her forgiveness and pleaded with her not to tell Daddy.
It was in the afternoon of the fourth day, when the conductor came down the corridor ringing a bell and in a loud voice and told everyone that the train was arriving in one hour.
Mommy called you all into the compartment and got you dressed smartly, with the new clothes Momma had bought for you, before leaving, so you would all look clean and tidy for your Daddy.
On arrival, your eyes searched the crowds for Daddy and on seeing him you 
thought that he looked so smart and handsome. Once the hugs and kisses were over, the porters carried your luggage to a shiny new car.
Little David, you will find out, as you grow older, that your new life with Daddy and Mommy together was a great one. Momma would come to visit you all, at least once a year and you were a very happy family in this new exciting country.
You will still experience pain and sorrow. Suffering as well, as you grow older in your life, but you will come to see that, that’s what helps you to understand and love all the different people you meet on this magnificent long road of life.
You would never be the priest that you so wanted to be, but you would be a missionary, who travelled around the world, encouraging wounded and broken souls to a stronger life. You would be a man who had great compassion and understanding of those whose lives were crushed in prisons, tormented by drugs and who were left with no hope, but a longing for a quick death. You will marry; be blessed with two fine sons and your own little daughter, who between them would present you with eight grandchildren – and one great grandson.
Little David, you who is me and I you, don’t cry for Mommy, because your fears will never be realised, she will die peacefully in late life, surrounded by the love of her now six sons, their wives, nineteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
God has saved your many tears in a bottle, which He will show to you one day and then you will know that your prayers to ‘Gentle Jesus’ were not in vain.
I love you very much
Your older you,
David.
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