Over the past three weeks, our family has attended church services in English, Latin and French. I could guess at some of the language, but for the most part mass in French and Latin was truly foreign to me. However, I can tell you what I fully understood: Prayer.

When we were at DisneyLand-Paris, I watched as a Muslim man (with his family standing by watching) knelt on his mat facing east, and prayed. If I could have heard his thoughts, I would not have recognized his words - but I know what he was doing. Like a smile, prayer is universally understood. His sense of devotion was noted and respected.

I am not sure why, but it seems my children behave better in church here than they do at home. Maybe it is the excitement of visiting a new church, because it is clearly not that they understood the Latin or French. To me, the reasoning doesn’t matter, as long as they are respectful of those who are trying to pray. Just yesterday my oldest leaned over to me and said, “Mom I don’t understand what he said.” Again, that didn’t matter to me - I was just thrilled that he was LISTENING and trying to understand what was being said. Listening, as with raising your children with a faith, is a journey along which to learn and perfect.

As we travel from church to church - religious nomads of our own kind - we will continue to pray for those in need, for those who ask for prayers, for those who need prayers and for those who don’t even know they need prayers. You might not understand what we are saying, but I hope you feel them.