A great one too I might add!
Anyway, back to my story... We were visiting at her house. She is always so generous and patient with all of our messes and noise. Of course no trip to Grandmother's could be complete without a pit stop at the toy store. So we headed off to Target and Toy's 'R' Us to shop. We looked at all of the cars and rode all of the battery powered 4 wheelers and touched a lot of things. Finally when Samuel had had enough, Matthew decided on a new Lightning McQueen car and a Mack tractor trailer truck. When it was time to go home to Waco we pack our things including our new loot and headed for home.
On the way home we decided to stop at Mighty Fine for a chocolate shake. It was late in the evening and we were tired so we thought a pick me up would wake us up. Of course Lightning McQueen had to go inside to share the shake with us. And boy did he make the rounds...from the ordering counter to the hands washing station, to the table, back to the washing station several more times and I think he even might have made it into the bathroom (yuck! remind me to tell Matthew to leave the toys at the table next time!) and then of course to the washing station again. In all of the activity, we lost Lightning McQueen.
We didn't notice until several days later when Matthew kept asking for him. I looked everywhere I could think of but could not find him.
So, those of you who know me well, know that I become a maniac when things go missing around this house. I become a complete nutcase...an obsessive crazy person. (By the way, we are working on this.) So there was no exception in this case but even in my mad search, Lightning McQueen was nowhere to be found. Matthew did end up telling us that he left him on the hands washing station at Mighty Fine so I called them but he was not in their lost and found. At that point I gave up and decided that we might have to buy a new car for Matthew.
But let's fast forward to two days ago, Wednesday, when Patrick had to go to work really early. Well that means my day starts really early too because our boys have not learned the joy of sleeping in yet. The morning started out rough. It had been a hard night with Samuel unexpectedly not sleeping through the night and then waking very early. So needless to say, I was cranky. But Matthew woke up unusually cranky too and I found myself wanting to snap at him for being a 3 year old.
Instead of snapping, I did something that I wish I did much more often. I called Matthew into the living room and we sat on the couch together. I told him that we were going to talk to Jesus so that he could help us have a good day.
I spent a few short moments (short because a 3 year old does not stay still for very long) praying and thanking our Lord for the day he created. I thanked him for the boys and asked him to help me remember they are a gift from him...a blessing he created for me. And I asked him to be my patience and love for the boys.
On the way home we decided to stop at Mighty Fine for a chocolate shake. It was late in the evening and we were tired so we thought a pick me up would wake us up. Of course Lightning McQueen had to go inside to share the shake with us. And boy did he make the rounds...from the ordering counter to the hands washing station, to the table, back to the washing station several more times and I think he even might have made it into the bathroom (yuck! remind me to tell Matthew to leave the toys at the table next time!) and then of course to the washing station again. In all of the activity, we lost Lightning McQueen.
We didn't notice until several days later when Matthew kept asking for him. I looked everywhere I could think of but could not find him.
So, those of you who know me well, know that I become a maniac when things go missing around this house. I become a complete nutcase...an obsessive crazy person. (By the way, we are working on this.) So there was no exception in this case but even in my mad search, Lightning McQueen was nowhere to be found. Matthew did end up telling us that he left him on the hands washing station at Mighty Fine so I called them but he was not in their lost and found. At that point I gave up and decided that we might have to buy a new car for Matthew.
But let's fast forward to two days ago, Wednesday, when Patrick had to go to work really early. Well that means my day starts really early too because our boys have not learned the joy of sleeping in yet. The morning started out rough. It had been a hard night with Samuel unexpectedly not sleeping through the night and then waking very early. So needless to say, I was cranky. But Matthew woke up unusually cranky too and I found myself wanting to snap at him for being a 3 year old.
Instead of snapping, I did something that I wish I did much more often. I called Matthew into the living room and we sat on the couch together. I told him that we were going to talk to Jesus so that he could help us have a good day.
I spent a few short moments (short because a 3 year old does not stay still for very long) praying and thanking our Lord for the day he created. I thanked him for the boys and asked him to help me remember they are a gift from him...a blessing he created for me. And I asked him to be my patience and love for the boys.
It was not but 10 minutes later that Matthew came running out of Samuel's room saying, "I found Lightning McQueen!. He was in the Micky Mouse toy". Oh the delight on his face was priceless. Well I guess you can imagine that the delight on my face was priceless too!
I know the Lord loves to surprise us. I truly believe that the Lord gave us back the Lightning McQueen car because we spent time that morning being thankful. He loves to bless us in ways that we are not expecting.
It is so good to have a God that loves us so much. Sometimes he can love so simply.
It is sometimes so hard to remember the simple things like being thankful.
As you can imagine after Matthew found Lightning, he would not let go of him. Above you can see the progression of the pictures. I snuck into the living room while he was watching the Cars movie, go figure, and took these pictures of Mack and Lightning McQueen. You can see Matthew is in the background not paying any attention to me in the first picture and then he realizes that his car is gone and spies me with it.
We spent the rest of the day playing with Lightning. Here are some pictures.
Samuel had some fun too. While Matthew was driving Lightning around on trees and in the grass, Samuel hung out in the swing. I think he liked it!
"I once was lost but now I am found."
I know the Lord loves to surprise us. I truly believe that the Lord gave us back the Lightning McQueen car because we spent time that morning being thankful. He loves to bless us in ways that we are not expecting.
It is so good to have a God that loves us so much. Sometimes he can love so simply.
It is sometimes so hard to remember the simple things like being thankful.
As you can imagine after Matthew found Lightning, he would not let go of him. Above you can see the progression of the pictures. I snuck into the living room while he was watching the Cars movie, go figure, and took these pictures of Mack and Lightning McQueen. You can see Matthew is in the background not paying any attention to me in the first picture and then he realizes that his car is gone and spies me with it.
We spent the rest of the day playing with Lightning. Here are some pictures.
Samuel had some fun too. While Matthew was driving Lightning around on trees and in the grass, Samuel hung out in the swing. I think he liked it!
Dear Lord,
Thank you for being a God that looks for ways to bless us. Thank you for returning Lightning McQueen to us. You are so good.
Amen
Life imitating art. Lightning Mcqueen goes missing, news at eleven.
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