Little Miracles

Today was definitely one of those hug-from-God days. Two weeks ago, L left her "mimi" (blankie) at CBS (our bible study). Since we don't go to that church regularly, and wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks because of Thanksgiving, this was a slight concern. It's also a fairly large church - comes complete with its own cafe and coffee shop areas ... and the Sunday School classes are divided up by age - i.e. the 2 year old room, 3 year old room, etc. If we had discovered it was missing before we had come home and sat down to eat lunch, I probably would have turned around and gone back. It's also probably important to note that she has about 5 mimi's, so it wasn't a HUGE deal that this ONE was gone - but to her, at the time, she was sad and missed it. So we sat at the dining room table to eat lunch and prayed that God would watch over her mimi and keep her safe for the next 2 weeks. By the next day she had forgotten about it already, which wasn't too big of a surprise. But I didn't. Instead, to be completely honest - I'm ashamed to admit that I worried. I worried that we shouldn't have prayed about something so silly as 1 out of 5 mimi's that L had already forgotten about ... that it wouldn't be there in 2 weeks and L would be left to wonder why God hadn't answered her prayer if she ever looked back and remembered this time. Because it really, honestly, seemed nearly impossible that with all of the hundreds of kids going through that Sunday School area and all of the different events/clubs/meetings going on at that church ... that it would be there. And seriously, a mimi? For as much as I had read about God taking care of little things just like this - now that it was happening in my life, it just seemed too small ... too not-enough to warrant His time. And yet, a small part of me still hoped - hoped that this would be a chance for L to see that God does listen to her, that prayer isn't just a ritual but an actual conversation. And even moreso, I hoped that L would feel God's love for her - maybe even for the first time. And so with that little hope, God encouraged me and persisted in me to remind her of her prayer ... and continue to hope and pray that her mimi would be there.

Which brings us to today ... I dropped her off in her class and thought about asking about it right then, but since L typically has a hard time being dropped off (which actually went pretty smoothly today - yet another answer to prayer and another small miracle), and because I still didn't have enough faith, I didn't bring it up just in case it wasn't there ... I didn't want to make the situation worse if it wasn't. So I kissed her and quickly left the room, telling her I'd be back "very fast."

A bible study and lecture later, I came to pick her up and before she saw me, I saw her ... running around holding a raggedy white diaper rag - her mimi. I still don't know how exactly she got it - if the teacher remembered that she had left it or if L had found it in the room on her own ... I did talk to the teacher, so I would think she would have mentioned it to me. So it seems like L found it on her own. I like that version better anyway.

The funny thing is that for the past 2 weeks, I've been praying that God would answer L's prayer so that SHE would feel God's love and know that He heard her prayers ... and to an extent, I know she did. I asked her who was taking care of her mimi and she quickly answered "Jesus!" :) What ended up happening though - even moreso - was that I felt such an affirmation from God that not only does He hear me, but He hears my 2 year old daughter ... and not only does He care about her health and development and spiritual growth and all of these bigger things that I care about, but He cares about the little things too. The things that she cares about. Because He loves her. And as her parent, there is such comfort and peace in that knowledge. So I cried on the way home - over a silly little mimi and a giant, comforting hug from God.