Caleb's Truck By: Katie Gay
Posted by William Wall on Tuesday, May 19, 2009
I just wanted to share how God revealed Himself to my two sons, my husband, and myself on this past Sunday night, May 19. Our family had gone to church early for a Sunday School meeting. I had told my boys that they could take some books and a little toy to play with, since the meeting would last a while. As the meeting went on, my little one year old daughter continued to become louder, talking in her little gibberish. So, I took her out in the back hall area so she could crawl around a bit, and my son Caleb came with us. He brought his little "monster truck" with him, and was having a great time sending it speeding down the hallways. It came time for me to get our older son and take him into the church to sing in his little program. As we were walking Noah around to meet his teacher, Caleb said, "Mama, I left my monster truck!" I told him not to worry, that we would be right back, and he could get his monster truck again. Well, when we returned, the truck was gone. My little three year old was brokenhearted; he becomes very attached to certain toys, and very sentimental. I looked for the truck in several places over the next few minutes, and even asked one of the church ushers if he had picked it up. I checked lost and found, but no monster truck was in sight.
I took Caleb by the hand to walk him to his Cubbies class for the night, and was thinking about how I should deal with the lost truck; he was still very upset. Finally I said, "Caleb, let's stop and pray, and ask God to help you find your truck, if that's what He wants." So, we stopped and asked God for His will to be done, knowing that He could help us. I had a couple of thoughts at this point; first, I almost told Caleb that if we didn't find it, we could buy him another one. I guess a mom doesn't like to see her little ones disappointed. But I believe God placed it on my heart to not say anything. My next thought was, "I want my son to see God in this; I want Him to see what God can do." It is becoming my prayer more and more for my children that God would be real to them on a daily basis, that they would see Him in their mom and dad, and in every day life. So, with those thoughts in mind, I walked with him to Cubbies. Of course he had to tell whoever he talked with that he lost his truck.
As I returned to the sanctuary, I checked lost and found one more time; there were lots of things there, but no truck. I temporarily forgot about it during the church service. My husband went to pick our boys up from Cubbies after church, and they met my daughter and me a few minutes later. When we finally reconnected as a family, Caleb held up his truck and exclaimed, "Mama, Mrs. Hartman gave me my truck back!" He was so excited! Over the next few minutes the story unfolded. Mrs. Hartman had been walking into church and had seen the truck and picked it up. She took it with her to her seat, and wondered what she should do with it. She sat through the entire church service, and said she forgot about the truck. Then as she got up to leave the service and go pick her daughter up from Cubbies, she said the truck had gotten tucked inside her daughter's sweater; at this point she still had not remembered about the truck. As she neared the line to pick up her daughter, see saw the truck, and thought again about what she should do with it. She said she saw my husband and Caleb ahead, and it was as if the Lord said very clearly to her to give the truck to them! She walked up to them and said that God laid it on her heart to give Caleb that truck; apparently before she could get the words out of her mouth, my husband was exclaiming, "That's Caleb's truck!" They were all amazed at how God had worked, but Caleb had not thought to tell them that we had prayed about it before church. So, when I told my husband what our prayer had been, we were all in awe. I did fill Mrs. Hartman in on the entire story yesterday, and she too was amazed.
As we got into the car to drive home, I could see the excitement on my boys' faces. I said to them, "Boys, what does this tell us about God?" Noah shouted out, "that He is wonderful!" Caleb exclaimed, "that He answered my prayer!" They didn't stop there. Noah said, "He sees things, even when we can't see them, when we don't know where they are", and "He is true; He did what He said He would do." Caleb then looked up and said so sincerely, "Thank you God, for giving me my truck back." We then talked of how He cares for each of us, and for the details in our lives, and how He loves us so personally. And then we gave God a great big round of applause right there in the car.
I tell you, I wouldn't trade anything for the experience of that little lost monster truck, for by it, our whole family saw more of our God. My husband and I have both cried over what God did two nights ago; He made Himself real and personal to each of us. There was no mistaking that He was the One who did it all! I've thought a lot about it...He could have placed the truck in lost and found, have had me find it in the hallway, or have had us never find it. Instead He chose to bring it to us in a truly miraculous way. Why? I truly believe it was so that we could see Him! If we had found it in one of the other ways, we would have thanked God, but I'm not sure we would have seen Him as we did and do...we would not have praised Him as much...He would probably not have received the proper glory due Him. But oh, how we praise Him now, and want more of Him!
My prayer is that this would encourage someone today, to keep on, to keep believing in the living, real, personal, providing God, and to cry out for more of Him. He is worthy, He is worth it, and we are the amazingly blessed recipients of His mercy, grace, and active work in our lives. Praise Him with me!
I took Caleb by the hand to walk him to his Cubbies class for the night, and was thinking about how I should deal with the lost truck; he was still very upset. Finally I said, "Caleb, let's stop and pray, and ask God to help you find your truck, if that's what He wants." So, we stopped and asked God for His will to be done, knowing that He could help us. I had a couple of thoughts at this point; first, I almost told Caleb that if we didn't find it, we could buy him another one. I guess a mom doesn't like to see her little ones disappointed. But I believe God placed it on my heart to not say anything. My next thought was, "I want my son to see God in this; I want Him to see what God can do." It is becoming my prayer more and more for my children that God would be real to them on a daily basis, that they would see Him in their mom and dad, and in every day life. So, with those thoughts in mind, I walked with him to Cubbies. Of course he had to tell whoever he talked with that he lost his truck.
As I returned to the sanctuary, I checked lost and found one more time; there were lots of things there, but no truck. I temporarily forgot about it during the church service. My husband went to pick our boys up from Cubbies after church, and they met my daughter and me a few minutes later. When we finally reconnected as a family, Caleb held up his truck and exclaimed, "Mama, Mrs. Hartman gave me my truck back!" He was so excited! Over the next few minutes the story unfolded. Mrs. Hartman had been walking into church and had seen the truck and picked it up. She took it with her to her seat, and wondered what she should do with it. She sat through the entire church service, and said she forgot about the truck. Then as she got up to leave the service and go pick her daughter up from Cubbies, she said the truck had gotten tucked inside her daughter's sweater; at this point she still had not remembered about the truck. As she neared the line to pick up her daughter, see saw the truck, and thought again about what she should do with it. She said she saw my husband and Caleb ahead, and it was as if the Lord said very clearly to her to give the truck to them! She walked up to them and said that God laid it on her heart to give Caleb that truck; apparently before she could get the words out of her mouth, my husband was exclaiming, "That's Caleb's truck!" They were all amazed at how God had worked, but Caleb had not thought to tell them that we had prayed about it before church. So, when I told my husband what our prayer had been, we were all in awe. I did fill Mrs. Hartman in on the entire story yesterday, and she too was amazed.
As we got into the car to drive home, I could see the excitement on my boys' faces. I said to them, "Boys, what does this tell us about God?" Noah shouted out, "that He is wonderful!" Caleb exclaimed, "that He answered my prayer!" They didn't stop there. Noah said, "He sees things, even when we can't see them, when we don't know where they are", and "He is true; He did what He said He would do." Caleb then looked up and said so sincerely, "Thank you God, for giving me my truck back." We then talked of how He cares for each of us, and for the details in our lives, and how He loves us so personally. And then we gave God a great big round of applause right there in the car.
I tell you, I wouldn't trade anything for the experience of that little lost monster truck, for by it, our whole family saw more of our God. My husband and I have both cried over what God did two nights ago; He made Himself real and personal to each of us. There was no mistaking that He was the One who did it all! I've thought a lot about it...He could have placed the truck in lost and found, have had me find it in the hallway, or have had us never find it. Instead He chose to bring it to us in a truly miraculous way. Why? I truly believe it was so that we could see Him! If we had found it in one of the other ways, we would have thanked God, but I'm not sure we would have seen Him as we did and do...we would not have praised Him as much...He would probably not have received the proper glory due Him. But oh, how we praise Him now, and want more of Him!
My prayer is that this would encourage someone today, to keep on, to keep believing in the living, real, personal, providing God, and to cry out for more of Him. He is worthy, He is worth it, and we are the amazingly blessed recipients of His mercy, grace, and active work in our lives. Praise Him with me!
