I’ve saved the angel cut out of yellow construction paper. With two eyes and a smile, it has the words “Pray for Steve Bell” printed across the middle. My son Nathan made the angel in Sunday school class. The teacher instructed the children to place the angel on a desk or nightstand as a reminder to pray for Steve daily. Steve was dying of cancer.

Each evening Nathan prayed. Weeks passed. Steve died. Two days after the funeral I was cleaning Nathan’s room. As I came to the desk I saw the angel, picked it up, read the words, and tossed it in the wastebasket.

Later that week walking through Nathan’s room I noticed the yellow angel back on the desk. Adding a letter and a word to the angel, Nathan changed the message to read, “Pray for Steve Bells family.”

In my mature adult mind I thought we could quit praying for Steve when he died. In Nathan’s tender, childlike mind he knew there were those who continued to need our prayers.

I’ve saved the paper angel. It’s my reminder of a child’s heart and my Lord’s instructions to turn and become like a child.