The Story of the Toy Firetruck (And why it meant so much to me)

My youngest brother Kebron is an adorable little fellow with a brain full of interesting and sometimes hilarious ideas. He has little round glasses, and one of his eyes is half brown and half blue...that eye also drifts quickly towards his nose when he gets nervous or excited. Think Jenny from Free Birds. ;P We all love his sweet, loving, sometimes scatterbrained ways. A few days ago, we all went out to our local farm and ranch type store to look around. They sell a lot of different fun stuff there; toys, clothing, western style home decor, etc., along with the usual tack, boots, guns, and other supplies. Since Kebron had some Christmas money, he decided that he wanted to buy one of the large toy trucks that were on sale that day. After a long deliberation period, he decided on a very long, very red, and very shiny firetruck. He carried his new possession home with great anticipation, and spent the rest of that day in the deepest enjoyment of the treasure. The rest of us cringed a bit when we saw how very cheaply it was built (rather sad how toys are these days...), but of course didn't want to spoil his joy. 

Fast forward around a day and a half. All of us kids were down in our basement playing a game that involved lights being off and pitching light-up darts at each other at top speed. I won't go into too great of detail there--it's probably not the smartest of games! :D We were playing along, throwing, dodging, yelling, when suddenly....kersnappity crunch!!!!!!!!!!! Silence fell. Someone flipped a light on, and there on the floor lay Kebron's special truck, forlornly squashed into several very broken pieces from an unnamed sibling's foot! Dismayed exclamations broke out everywhere, along with apologies from said sibling, but what could we do? It was broken far beyond fixing! Kebron was very disappointed, and of course we all felt terrible. Time passed, and I thought that was the end of the matter. 

The very next day, I went with a couple of others to Wenatchee to do some outreach/door knocking. I always enjoy doing this so much, even though sometimes it can get pretty cold! ;) So there I was, going from door to door with a smaller sidekick, when Mrs. Warren, a friend who was with us at the time, called me over. "There's a guy in that house over there who has 3 little girls, and one on the way...he said they are moving, and he was wondering if we wanted to come inside and take some of their toys off their hands?" I happily agreed...I mean, who could say no to free toys, right? ;) We went inside and greeted the kind family, deep in the midst of the moving process. "I had the girls just throw all the toys in a pile in the playroom", the man informed us, "Just pick whatever you can carry!" A scene of glittery pink and purple confusion greeted us. These little girls certainly had plenty of loving family to get them things! We gathered a few small odds and ends, feeling slightly awkward to be intruding like this, when there, poking out from this massive pile of girly items, sat a gleaming, all metal, very large red firetruck. What??? I asked the dad, "Where is this from?" His reply: "Oh, I've had that since I was a kid...It's Tonka brand, super well made! Somehow it never really got played with much." At this point I'm thinking, Okay, there's no way he'll want to just give this away: I mean he's had it since he was little!! "So...how much do you want for this firetruck? My little brother just lost one yesterday to a tragic collision with a giant foot." Without hesitation, he replied, "Oh, just take it, of course--we want to get rid of everything in here!" With utter shock in my mind, I picked up the heavy, two piece fire engine and boxed it up. That night, Kebron received a new, much bigger and better toy from a total stranger in Wenatchee! 

Now you may wonder why I took all the time to relate this story...I mean, it was just total coincidence, that whole thing, right? Well, you can think that if you like, but I believe God knew exactly how all of that would play out! Some of you may be thinking, "Seriously, Mykaela? You think God cares about Kebron's silly little toy?" Yes, I do! I think that the God who created the universe, put the stars in their places, and made this beautiful earth for us to live on, looked down and saw one of His little lambs that was grieved about something! Of course, God didn't have to supply Kebron with a new truck the day after his broke. He didn't have to give him one that was even better in every way. And yet, there it is...a completely "random" encounter with an unfamiliar family who simply wanted to get rid of some junk, and God plopped a gift right into Kebron's small hands. I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty amazing!!! God says in His Word that even a tiny sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without God's notice. Doesn't it stand to reason that he would see and care about other seemingly small things in our lives? I believe so. I am so thankful to worship a God that cares about the things in my life that others would consider tiny, insignificant, or worthless! 

This fire truck story just encouraged me to pray about the "little things". And even more importantly--to thank God for the "little things"! Do you have a story about God's provision in the little things? :)

Mykaela