If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22).
The Train Table
Christmas 2009. That Christmas season was a hard one for us. We usually don’t fret too much about getting gifts, but we usually like to get something. Especially for the children. But this holiday season was full of bills. Late ones at that. My employer gives out Christmas bonuses and that is what funds our holiday spending. But in 2009 it had to all go to bills. I will admit that I was upset. Because we couldn’t provide that year. It was also my youngest son’s first Christmas.
But then a series of events took place that I will never forget. The first was my wife’s aunt. She has a son who is about three years older than my oldest son. They usually like to hand down clothes and toys to us. This year a series of cars, tractors, and toy musical instruments were given to us. We decided to save them for Christmas morning. Things were looking up. Then a woman that I worked with approached me asking questions about my children’s clothing sizes. The next thing I knew there was something called “Secret Santa” where some of the people I worked with went in and bought gifts for my children. Just my children. I don’t know if they have done this with other employee’s children in the past, but 2009 was for my kids. There were now gifts for under the tree.
Then a phone call from my Dad. He is remarried with two young boys. He and my step mom offered us the boy’s train table, along with numerous wooden trains and wooden tracks.
We were able to muster up enough money to buy our youngest (who was three months old at the time) a $10 toy guitar for babies. There were now gifts for Christmas morning. It was definitely a heartwarming feeling. Knowing that you went from no gifts, to numerous gifts all because of the generous hearts of others. As the wrapping paper flew, out came tractors, toy keyboards, cars, clothes, footballs, etc. And then the defining moment. I went down the steps first and set up the camera. The moment was priceless as I panned from the train table to the stairs and my oldest son. The look on his face will never be forgotten. As a matter of fact, I think he almost fell down the stairs trying to run to the table. He LOVES trains. So you can image the thrill when he’d seen the table with the immense track set up and the long line of trains magnetically connected to one another. I could watch the video clip a million times and still shed a tear. I don’t think God concerns Himself with making sure people get gifts at Christmas, but I do believe He concerns Himself with making sure that His presence is known. It was on that Christmas morning.
The clothes have since been out grown and now lie in totes for the next child to inherit. The tractors get pulled out from time to time, only to become boring within minutes. We sometimes forget about the keyboard. But the train table is still as used a year later as it was when we first got it. My sons wear it out every time they go downstairs, even if there is a brand new toy just within reach. Every child that has visited loves to play with it. Even my elderly neighbor fell in love with it during a recent visit. It is without a doubt the greatest material gift that we have ever experienced. Not just because of how well it is loved and used, but because the timing of it’s arrival was perfect. God provided gifts that Christmas. He always provides if we rely on Him to do so.
The Amazing Exploding Two Dollars
Did I ever tell you about the time God made two dollars explode in my wallet? Well if I didn’t, then let me tell you now. For the protection of my family, I won’t disclose what Christmas season the next story took place. But if you know me and are reading this, then you know when.
It all started one payday weekend. My check was already going to be smaller than usual due to cut hours. And there was a lot of needs on our grocery list. We went and did what we had to do and got what we had to get. By the weekend’s end we were left with… $2. Now at this time my wife was babysitting. So I wasn’t worried about having just $2 to live off of because we could make it off of her money. Until my wife got a phone call saying that she won’t be babysitting for two weeks. Now we were in trouble. I decided to take off the following Monday because there were errands to run and I had a big emergency project that needed to be done right away at home. So I used a vacation day. As I was driving around doing my errands, I was sulking. I was upset and angry asking God “Why?”. There was no way that we could live off of $2 for two weeks. Not to mention there were a few bills that had to be paid before my next paycheck was due. “God, you have provided for us before. Please do so again.” Over and over I would pray this.
Well on the Sunday of this weekend my in-laws brought over a bunch of their stuff from their old house and stored it in our basement. Some of these items included appliances. That Monday night someone came to look at their refrigerator and bought it. My Father-in-law told us we could keep $50 from the sale. So now we were up an extra $50. Then my wife got a call saying that she would be needed to baby-sit that week for four days after all (and then three more days the following week). The next day I was at work when our receptionist handed me a card that was mailed to me at work. Anonymously. Inside the card was the inscription “May You Be Blessed This Christmas” and included was a $200 gift card to Wal-Mart. This was the kind of blessing that you only read about. But it was real this day. Then another $200 check came at week’s end from my Dad as an early Christmas gift to my family. Also the following week the company I work for surprised us when they gave us a bonus of $100, despite hardships that the company is facing. Then right before Christmas Eve I finally sold a guitar that had been for sale for quite some time. Another $100! So in less than two week’s time, our $2 had exploded into a grand total of $810 before my next paycheck and Christmas. And we started with only two one dollar bills. Thank you God for your many blessings and answered prayers!
The moral of these two stories is that when things seem out of control, times are hard, and despair runs rampant, we need to be quiet and not ask “Why?”. We need to listen to the voice of The Almighty as He tells us ”Hush child and let me speak now”. He is always good, all the time. I hope that these two stories are proof. I know that they are and that He is real because I experienced Him in these two stories, along with many other times in my life. May He bless you this holiday season and the coming New Year.
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