Our son, Noah, was going to be turning one year old on Saturday, July 3rd. Since I stopped working to stay at home with my little man, things have been tight financially, so Ryan and I hadn’t planned on buying any special birthday presents for our babe who we figured wouldn’t really understand what was going on anyway.
But as his birthday approached, I grew more and more discontent with the idea that Noah wouldn’t get to unwrap something on the morning of his big day. Everyone gets to open something on their birthday! And I mean, I am the Happy Home Fairy for crying out loud! Birthdays are my FAVE! I love the confetti and balloons and posters and cakes and candles and most of all, the presents! There is something truly magical and wonderful about unwrapping a present! Half the time I don’t even care what is IN the present – I just love to stare at how magical it looks all wrapped up and tied with plenty of curling ribbon.
So, there we were, the night before Noah’s birthday, and I had decorated the kitchen with signs and posters and a big green balloon hanging from the cord on the ceiling fan. I had the Mickey Mouse birthday hat sitting out and the special birthday bowl that we traditionally serve birthday breakfasts in, but no presents…
I decided to pray.
“Dear Lord, thank you for Noah and his first birthday tomorrow. You have given us such a treasure in his life and you have provided for us every step of the way. Noah is your child and you love him and delight in him, so I pray that you will provide something that we can wrap for Noah so that he can have the blessing of opening a present on his birthday. Thank you in advance for what you are going to do! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!”
No sooner had I opened my eyes when God answered!
Two weeks prior I had picked up an inflatable beach ball from the dollar bins at Target. I had stuffed it in a drawer in our bedroom and forgotten about it (typical behavior for me, by the way, which drives my husband crazy. Especially since the ball was shoved in HIS sock drawer. Don’t ask. :-))! Noah had recently shown an extreme passion for balls, so I ran to find it. Then I remembered a light up, singing, talking book toy that a friend of ours had passed on to me. For some reason I had put it in the garage instead of giving it to Noah right away. So I quickly darted out to the garage to bring it in and wipe it down.
I sat down with my scissors, tape, polka-dotted wrapping paper, lots of curling ribbon, and TWO miracle provision presents and thanked God right away for His quick response.
The next morning, Noah’s one-year-old eyes were wide with wonder. He went nuts over the green balloon hanging from the ceiling fan cord. He loved eating his cereal in his special birthday bowl. He loved it when we sang Happy Birthday to him. And he REALLY loved his presents. He unwrapped those things with utter glee and abandonment!
This whole miracle provision present situation made me think of Matthew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Just as we want to give presents to our kids, He also wants to give and bless His children with gifts that are far better than anything we could ever ask for or imagine. God provided those two gifts for Noah, but He also gave me a gift in the process. The gift of knowing that my Father cared enough to answer a little prayer, and the gift of seeing Noah so happy.
And to this day, that ball and that book are by far his most favorite toys.
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