The Power of Prayer

The Culprit

Ever since Sedona started to learn how to say prayers we have had her also bless the 'tikus' ('mouse' in Indonesian). This is not because we have a pet mouse, but because we love to hear her say the word. It is just too, too cute.

The mysterious part of this story is that every time Sedona says the prayer, a mouse-like creature would appear in our home. First, it was a cute little shrew. Then, we had a few small mice appear in the kitchen.

It had been a few weeks since Sedona said a prayer so we had her say one yesterday during scripture reading. I assisted her and just as I told her to close her prayer, she quickly added 'Bless tikus'! Immediately after Heavah said, "No, Dona! Now we're going to find a mouse somewhere in our house." We all laughed and went about our day.

That evening, Axel and I went on a date night. When we arrived home we went up to our room to get dressed in our pajamas. For a brief moment, I saw a very large something run across the room. I instantly jumped up on my bed hyperventilating (Too may bad childhood memories of sharing an old home with bats and mice. I am scarred). As I was panicking, the RAT jumped up on my bedside table, bounced off my bed and hid somewhere. Axel had no idea what was going on. I yelled 'RAT!' and ran out of the room.

For 15 minutes I heard banging, clanging and shifting of heavy objects. Despite Axel's great effort he could not find the creature. I panicked and vowed never to sleep in my bed again until the rat was caught. Luckily, my parents brought sticky mouse catchers for us and Axel placed one on the floor before we went downstairs to decompress for the evening.

When we returned to the room, there he was. A giant, hairy rat about 7 inches long (not including the tail). Axel insisted I look at it because it was quite cute. I refused and asked him to dispose of the animal ensuring it will never return again.

Moral of the story: Be careful with what you pray for...It just might appear in a very large, hairy form!