Post #24: Recognizing the Hand of the Lord

If we take the time to stop and reflect upon the daily miracles that fill our lives, it's easy to recognize the hand of the Lord in even the most unlikely of places. This week I am off of school on fall vacation. We'd wanted to rent a car and take a trip up to Frankfurt, Germany to visit a close friend. Unfortunately, we nearly had a heart attack when we started researching the cost of car seats. To rent a car seat is 45 euros per kid, and new seats would cost around 160 euros--each!

And then the miracle happened. While second-hand stuff is less common in Lyon, we amazingly found a store that was selling two used car seats for less money than it would have cost to rent one. For all of the child safety monitors out there, we do recognize that second-hand seats are a bit more risky than new ones. However, we also believe that eating is important. Given our personal situation, we think the benefit outweighs the risk, and we feel so blessed.

Two other stories: I was out shopping with Brooklyn at a big store far from home. It had been a long trip and she was tired. She noticed some kids with cotton candy on the way in and wanted some desperately. She asked about it for the entire time we were in the store, albeit politely. She had been so good that I wanted to reward her for her efforts, but I didn't have any cash on me, and I was sure that the cotton candy vendor wouldn't accept a bank card. Amazingly, as we walked out of the store, they were giving away cotton candy for free to kiddos under the age of 12. Needless to say, Brooklyn was simply delighted.

Then at the bus stop a few minutes later I accidentally dropped my bank card. A man found it on the ground and returned it to the bus driver who gave it to me. Obviously my heart was filled with gratitude for his honesty and for the headache saved. I don't know what was most amazing: the car seats, the credit card, or the cotton candy that appeared like manna from heaven for my little girl.