Monday, March 14, 2011

A Special Birthday Gift

Going to Wal-Mart on Saturday is NOT my idea of an enjoyable Saturday afternoon, but I wanted to get groceries because we were going into a week of revival services and I wanted my meals planned. I wanted to go Friday but did not get around to going. That was because God had a plan...

As I was running out the door Caleb decided to come along. I always enjoy the alone time with the boys because I get a glimpse into their heart. Caleb recently received money for his birthday and like any little boy he was trying to decide what to buy. For a few months he's been anticipating his birthday. He had a few things in mind that he wanted; however, he kept coming back to one particular item...a new paintball gun! He had been looking online and at the pawn shops for one but no luck finding what he wanted. We talked a few time about waiting on the Lord. We talked about faith and we decided to trust that the Lord had something special just for him on his birthday. While at Wal-Mart he found a $5 item that he wanted, it was not something he needed in fact it was really just a waist of his $5 so we talked about maybe just waiting. We talked about being wise with his money and not just spending it because it was in his wallet. I reminded him that God had something really special for him if he would just wait on the Lord. He had already split his money up into save & spend so what he had was his free to spend birthday money.

On the way home we had one of those special conversations, you know, the ones where he tell me what a great Mom I am! I love those! tee hee!! We had a nice ride home just visiting with one another and enjoying our alone time. As we pulled into the neighborhood we spotted a yard sale sign. Knowing I had groceries in the back he said; "Mom, can we go to the yard sale real quick?' I agreed but said; "I bet its over because its already after 2 and yard sales in our area close before noon!" Sure enough, as we drove by they had everything in boxes and it looked like it was all clothes anyway. As we drove by we noticed the yard sale sign we were following was past the house that was packing up so we proceeded around the corner to another one. Again I repeated what I said a few moments earlier. As we pulled up to the yard sale it was still in full swing! Junk...I mean stuff everywhere! As soon as we pulled up he yelled..."I see a paintball mask!" Now, let me just say this mask was on the back of a table behind some other junk and all you could see was the strap! He jumped out of the van, ran up to the table, talked to the man of the house for a few moments and ran back to the van. I could tell by his excitement that there was more then just a mask!!! He said with great excitement; "Oh, Mom, there is a paintball gun, mask, tank and hopper (only a Mom of boys would know all the names!) for just $70!!! I smiled and said; "Well, lets get your brother so he can look it over." He told the man in a calm voice, you know, not to give away he was really excited; "Ummm, sir, I'm going to get my brother to come look at your gun, we'll be right back". He got in the van and his mouth started running!! Thinking the Lord was about to give him his special gift I said we need to do a few things. One, we need to go home and see how much spend money you have and two you need to take your brother's advice. If he says its good and you have enough money then you can get it; however, if you don't have enough money or if Kyle says no then you need to just take it that the Lord has something better for you and this is a NO. He agreed! When he got home he counted his money and had $50. We decided together if it was good and Kyle said yes he would have to offer the man $50 and if he would accept $50 then he could buy it. Off they went to make a deal!!! They walked back to the yard sale and about 15 minutes later they came into the house .

I could hear them laughing in the front yard before they even opened the door so I knew God had given him a special birthday gift. Sure enough the front door flew open and two excited young men came bellowing in the front door!!! Mom, they said, we got it for $50!!! My heart was filled with joy but little did I know....

You see, our oldest son had been praying that God would give him a new mask because the one he had was to snug. He looked up online a particular mask that he needed but it was $80 and he knew he would never spend $80 on a paintball mask so he decided to pray about it. Would you believe the mask he prayed for was the mask at the yard sale!!! Right down to the color!!! When he saw the mask he said; "My heart started pounding and I could not believe my eyes!" When he told his brother about it on the way home his brother decided Kyle would get the mask, Caleb would get the gun and Kyle would give Caleb the smaller mask.

Oh, and the gun, well, it too was the exact gun Caleb had been praying for and its only been shot about 5 times!! The total package was valued around $300 and God gave it to a little boy who was faithful in praying for a special gift! Don't tell me God does not hear the prayers of our children.

After they settled down Caleb said real quick "I'll be right back, I've got to go to my room!" He ran to his room and when I looked in he was kneeling along side his bed thanking God for the blessing of a special birthday gift. He was thanking God for a gift and I was thanking God for yet another lesson learned.

1 comment:

  1. AWWWW!!! That is AWESOME!! God is soooo good to us! I LOVE that story! Thank you for sharing it with us! What a wonderful gift!

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