A Ladder Prayer on the Stairs of a School

As I left my house this morning, I felt compelled to grab a book that my daughter had given me for a Christmas present. The book was "have a little faith" by Mitch Albom. I knew I had read it before but I could not recall what it was about. I thought maybe I could read it between classes during our YWAP Relationship Mentoring Program. With the little book on faith in my hand, I headed out the door.

Upon my arrival at the school I signed in at the main office and then headed upstairs to the second floor Library. As I reached the stairs, I suddenly began to pray. I asked God to make the stairs like a ladder to Heaven. I asked Him to take over today's class and surrendered to whatever needed to happen with the students that day. I smiled to myself as I put a name to my thoughts and called them: "The Ladder Prayer."  The Ladder comes from an old story in the Bible about a man named Jacob having a dream about a ladder resting on the earth and reaching into Heaven. There were angels ascending and descending on the ladder.

I walked into the class and we began to talk about trust. The first class was great as we discussed how trust is broken and how we can build a healthy self trust that will guide us in trusting others. In between classes, I left for a customary trip to Starbucks. I buy a coffee for myself and the Gym Teacher - Brett Stanwich. He is an awesome guy who always has the students active and happy. I left Brett his coffee and headed back up to the Library and I did pray the Ladder Prayer again. I sat down in the Library and opened the book by Mitch Albom. It didn't take me long to realize that I had watched the movie about this book before Christmas. A very dear friend thought that I should watch this movie and we spent a few emotional hours enjoying a deep, deep, true story. Some days just seem to be totally divinely orchestrated.


I flipped through the book and came upon a story about a farmer who loves the word; "maybe." That's another coincidence because my friend uses the word "maybe" a great deal. Here is the story:

A farmer wakes up to find that his horse has run off.
The neighbors come by and say, "Too bad. Such awful luck."
The farmer says, "Maybe."
The next day, the horse returns with a few other horses. The neighbors congratulate the farmer on his reversal of fortune.
"Maybe", the farmer says.
When his son tries to ride one of the new horses, he breaks his leg, and the neighbors offer condolences.
"Maybe," the farmer says.
And the next day, when army officials come to draft the son, and don't take him because of his broken leg-everyone is happy.
"Maybe," the farmer says.

"Mitch goes on to write: I have heard stories like this before. They are beautiful in their simplicity and surrender to the universe. I wonder if I could be attached to something so detached. I don't know. Maybe."

The word "maybe" became part of our discussion for the day. Just maybe that Teacher that you don't like needs a little compassion from you. Just maybe if we build trust in ourselves we can learn who to trust. Just maybe we can instill confidence in ourselves by helping each other. Just maybe. we can learn how to be more positive and believe in the best for each other. Yeah, just maybe we should be open to what the universe has to offer. I thank God I was open to a "Ladder Prayer" this morning because He planned my whole day.



I left the school with a glow and a feeling that this was the best day that we have ever had in this school. The students were totally engaged in a lively and fruitful discussion. Their "Take Away" was filled with positive words as they went on about their day. I sat in my van for a few moments just feeling downright giddy. I noticed the vehicle in front of me had a license plate that matched the first 3 letters of the license plate that my friend has. The same friend who arranged for me to watch the movie with her. Shortly thereafter, I received a text message that contained a Bible verse from Isaiah 1:17 that says:

Learn to do right; seek justice.
   Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
   plead the case of the widow.

That was the final coincidence, on my left wrist is a bracelet with that Verse. I received that bracelet from the same dear friend that had me watch the movie and whose license plate matched the car in front of me. The same dear friend who likes to say "maybe."  Today God turned that "maybe" into "may it be."