The Boy came up to me just minutes ago and said, “I’m going to start praying about the girl I’m supposed to marry. My future wife. I’m going to start praying now for her, so that I’ll know her when I see her.”
I affirmed his plan. “I think that’s a great idea. That’s exactly the thing to do. If you start praying now, when you’re young, you’ll have prayed about her all those years when you finally meet her. That would be amazing. I’ll pray for her, too.”
He nodded. “I’ll ask God to show her to me. If He tells me to go this way…” (a step to the left) “then I’ll go this way, and if He tells me to go that way…” (a step to the right) “I’ll know to go that way.”
“That’s exactly the thing to do,” I said, thinking of it more abstractly, as the verse in Isaiah suggests (“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'”).
“Because then,” he continued, taking a couple of steps forward by way of illustration, “if I’m walking along and God stops me right in front of a girl…”
He stopped abruptly and looked up with wide, earnest eyes. “Then I’ll know,” he said. “She’s the one.”
I nodded.
He nodded.
“That’s powerful,” I said.
He nodded and walked off to get his snowsuit on and play in the snow.
As I sat here thinking about it, I remembered a Wayne Watson song that came out back in the early ’90s, called “Somewhere in the World.”
Somewhere in the World
Somewhere in the world today
A little girl will go out to play
All dressed up in mama’s clothes
At least the way that I suppose it goes
Somewhere in the world tonight
Before she reaches to turn out the light
She’ll be prayin’ from a tender heart
A simple prayer that’s a work of art
Chorus
And I don’t even know her name
But I’m prayin’ for her just the same
That the Lord will write His name upon her heart
Cause somewhere in the course of this life
A little boy will need a godly wife
So hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are
Somewhere in the world out there
That little girl’s learnin’ how to care
She’s pickin’ up her mama’s charms
Or maybe, swingin’ ’round in her daddy’s arms
Somewhere in the world to be
Though the future’s not real clear to me
Theirs could be a tender love
Grounded in eternal love above
Chorus
And I don’t even know her name
But I’m prayin’ for her just the same
That the Lord will write His name upon her heart’
Cause somewhere in the course of this life
A little boy will need a godly wife
So hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are
I don’t know her name, but wherever she is in the world, a little girl should know that two grownups are praying that the Lord will write His name upon her heart…that she’ll hold onto Jesus.
And she should know that there’s a six-year-old Boy tromping around in the snow wearing purple boots and a blue snowsuit praying that at just the right time, the Lord will direct his steps and stop him directly in front of her.
So that he’ll know: She’s the one.
* * * * *
Watch on YouTube: Somewhere in the World-Wayne Watson
I love, love, love this to the point of tears. Amen.
What an amazing little boy and story. And I think that parents who hear and receive such words and prayers from small children are so wise and so awesome. What a testimonuy this little boy and a special little girl will have when they grow up, meet and fall in love. I too join the prayer for these precious ones!!
What an AWESOME story. What an AWESOME boy. You are doing something right!
that’s awesome. i love that song.
so sweet. I remember praying for my future husband, whomever he was, but I was an old lady of twentysomething at the time. the Boy got it figured out much sooner than I did.
Oh, wow! That’s so beautiful… and now I’m crying. Thank God for children; they show us the way to be, completely trusting in the Lord to guide our steps to our destiny.
You Know Yer Old When…you start quoting Wayne Watson songs…of which I used to sing at the top of my lungs…
And You Also Know Yer Old When…you go to give a blood sample at the lab and the girl in line ahead of you says her birth date is 1989…I mean…sakes alive, I was Singing Wayne Watson Songs in 1989!
That’s powerful. Wow.
Wow, your son is so wise. The girl God stops him in front of will be lucky, indeed.
Great story. Your son just reminded me to stop what I’m doing and pray for my future son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Thank you everyone for your comments–I’m glad I told you about The Boy’s simple act of faith. Thanks for your encouragement back to us, as well.
Your story made me smile. Our son and daughter were small children when that Wayne Watson song was first popular. We prayed earnestly for the boy and girl our son and daughter would marry from the time they were toddlers. They both married wonderful Christian spouses who each remember their parents praying for the boy or girl they would marry all through their growing up. All four of the kids told us they thought it maybe a little bit of a strange thing to pray for when they were small, but they are really grateful now. God was preparing each one of them for the other and he brought them together in His time. Just had to brag on how good God is to honor our prayers. God is so good, your young son is quite wise, and ya gotta love a little Wayne Watson!
Oh, my heart! I loved that song so much back in the 80s and I still love it today. Your boy sounds so sweet and thoughtful. I have a couple of girls around his age, you know…
;o)
That is absolutely adorable.
This will be random, especially considering it is now June and you posted this in February, and considering that we don’t know each other.
I got married a year ago (almost to the day) and my husband’s best friend made a video/slide show of pictures of me, then pictures of my husband and then pictures of us together. My husband’s mom suggested that Wayne Watson song to be played during my pictures. Today I wanted to find that song again and as I “googled” some of the lyrics, I found your blog… first item that pulled up.
Your story truly touched my heart and I know that I’ll be praying for my children’s spouses, too, even if I haven’t even met my children yet! I’m hoping that if I have a little girl she’ll meet a boy as sweet as your son that has been praying for her since he was six! Keep up the great Christian parenting!
I found your blog while searching for the precise lyrics to that song- wanted to write them into a card I’m sending to my youngest son’s fiancee. She is that precious little girl we’ve been praying for all these 22 years for him. He proposed to her on 12/26/08, after a 5 1/2 year period of friendship and courtship (with her dad’s permission and the blessing of all of us). Praise God for the gift of faithful, tenderhearted wives for each of our sons! We moms pour so much into our kids and long for them to have a happy and fulfilled life when they grow up. It is certainly a cause for much prayer.
My son, David, was 6 years old when I first heard Wayne Watson’s song and I immediately began to pray for that little girl that one day would be my son’s Godly wife. On Feb. 1, 2009 that little girl become our new daughter-in-law, Rachael. She would have been about 3 at the time I first started praying and her family was living across the country in the state of Washington but God brought them together last year for the first time and it was a perfect match. It took almost 25 years, but God was faithful. Now I need to recommit myself to praying for David’s younger sister and brother! Our church has just started the study guide that goes along with the movie “Fireproof” I plan to share that song with the ladies group as a testimony of how a mother shouldn’t wait till her children start dating to pray that they “find” the right mate – let God grow them up! God bless from Peggy in Charleston, SC.
Ann, this is so beautiful.
My husband and I have prayed and continue to pray for our children’s spouses. We have already been blessed with two amazing ones! God is good. If we learn to trust in Him, we will see how good He is.
We’ve always told our children that we do this and encourage them to do the same!
Thanks for writing this post.
We are still on this side of marrying off our kids, Leila, so it means a lot to hear how you are one by one seeing your children choose well and launch their lives with amazing spouses. Thanks for your encouragement and always taking time to comment.
Hi Ann, Thanks for your post!
I found you googling the words to that song. 🙂 It came out when my son was 3. I remember telling him that “we have to start praying for the girl you will marry some day”. He looked so confused and said, “But I am going to marry Stephanie”. Well, Stephanie was his cousin…. I am glad he didn’t continue in THAT desire… ha ha.
Over the years many have come and gone & I have prayed earnestly for Marshall through each one. I continually picture a certain precious young lady who has held on to Jesus and waited for MY son to arrive. I am so pleased that this past weekend, Marshall proposed to that little girl!
They are both committed to God’s best for both of them. To God be the glory for his faithfulness! I will remember to pray with you, Ann, for your son. I know God’s watching his soul mate as I type. 🙂
Kamille Danford
Congratulations Marshall and Shelly!
Just came across your blog as I was searching for this song for my older daughter’s rehearsal video. I too prayed for each of my kids future spouses. My oldest is 24 and God honored that prayer so beautifully with an amazing young man who had grown up in Singapore. They met because we moved to Singapore to teach and our two families met. Both of the kids were in college in the states but God brought them together even through a great distance in the states. It is such a blessing to see their young, but strong hearts together! Funny story about my youngest. One day I told him that I was praying for his future wife and he said, “who is it?” I guess he thought since I was praying that I knew her! He looked at me so expectantly, it was adorable! I did explain and he was okay with that…
I’m with the others. Thank you for posting this song lyrics because my son is 23 and getting married to the girl he has been seeing for the last 6 years. I too had prayed for my son when he was a little and I was trying to remember the song that inspired me and had to Google to find this post. this is the exact song I remembered from so long ago.
I just found Wayne singing it on YouTube (not quite the version I remember from years ago, but it’s nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NzjZLHHiqk&feature=related
Thank you! Thank you so much for your post! I remember hearing–decades ago–that song, but recently could not locate the title/artist. I wanted to include it in my own wedding, maybe in a slideshow or at the reception as a father-daughter or mother-in-law-groom dance. Your blog was the only link among hundreds to refer to it that I found in many Googling attempts. (I found everything from Lady Gaga to “11-year-old girl married to 40-year-old man” in Afghanistan.)
Oscar, I’m so glad you found this and that it has helped you out–I recently switched my blog hosting and it messed up the formatting. I think I fixed it for you if you return. Take care, and may you have a beautiful wedding day!!
When my son was about 12 years old, I heard this song for the first time. I prayed for a wonderful wife for my son, and we have a great daughter-in-law. They have three children – 10, 9 and 7 years old. I want to start praying for my grandchildren for God to bring the right mates into their lives.
Wonderful!! You give me vision for praying for my children’s children, and my own children aren’t even in college yet! 🙂
I noticed you wrote this post in 2008 and it is now 2016 and I am reading your thoughts today. My daughter is getting married next month and I was pondering what to say at her wedding. The song “Somewhere in the World” came to mind. I remember in the 90’s, hearing this song and praying for the spouses of my five children who lived “somewhere in the world”. I believed, at just the right time – God would bring them into view. She is our fifth to get married and God indeed answered our prayers. Thank you for your warm thoughts and writing such a touching post. Bless you …
Wendy, thank you for taking time to write. Yes, that’s a few years ago. That little boy is now 14, and my daughters are all grown (nobody married yet). Congratulations on all the new members of your family–people you prayed about for years and years, and finally got to meet and now invite into the folds of your love.