Today, I had the three G kids for a while so their Mama could work on her lesson for PTP. It was a Murphy’s law kind of day in all small ways. I mean I couldn’t even believe all the random little calamities. SO in the middle of that, we sat in the car in the rain in a parking lot with a near-dead phone waiting for a rescue from Papa. This little conversation occurred, that put Mr. Murphy out of business!
Colleyanna: Can we listen to music?
Me: I’d like everyone to just be quiet for a little bit, so I can look for my credit card and Papa’s wallet.
Ezra: Yeah, Colleyanna. We just need to be quiet. Mammy is having a hard time. But, this IS a good day, I mean a few little things have gone wrong.
Me (in my head) Yes, a few little things… Wet toddler panties in the wrong place… blackened, in the wrong way, pork chops that we were taking to the shut-ins… dropped muffins that we were taking to the shut-ins… a little hand in the candy jar at the candy store…the discovery that I had no charge card in my wallet and no (zero) cash AFTER the kids had measured out their little bags of candy at the candy store and AFTER the proprietor had weighed it and totaled it up…the discovery
that my husband who was nearby had also forgotten his wallet at home because he had baptized someone the night before and gotten his clothes all wet and laid his wallet somewhere to dry…then being rescued by Paul Owen who sometimes has that emergency money on him, and loaned it to my husband…then the drink machine at the restaurant took three minutes between each screen change. [They finally just gave me a big bottle after I had tried to get the kids a drink for about fifteen minutes.]… Then we came out of the restaurant and it was pouring rain and Colleyanna said, “Remember we were going to play in the splash pad.” I said “We ARE playing in the splash pad! It’s just coming from the sky instead of the ground, and we didn’t change into our water shoes!”)
Me (aloud): Yes it is a great day! Papa is coming to help us and everything will be great.
Ezra: But what if Papa has a wreck on the way over here?
Me: Well, he will be fine, but even if he does, that will be okay, too. Because we are going to all be okay all the way to heaven because we just pray when we have a problem and call on God’s people and God takes care of us, always. And he does that all the way to heaven.
Colleyanna: In heaven what will we do if we want something?
Ezra: You won’t even want the same things in heaven.
Me: God will make sure you have everything you want. You will be completely happy.
Colleyanna: So everything will just cost about a dollar or something?
Me: There will not be any money in heaven because we will not need to buy anything. God will make sure we have everything we need.
Colleyanna: Oh…And there’s not going to be anything bad? I mean I know there’s not going to be any crying.
Me: Right. There will be nothing sad, nothing that hurts, you will never wish any thing was different than it is, when we get there.
Colleyanna: But if he wipes away all tears, then could there be tears that you cry because you are happy?
Ezra: yeah, I think there could be happy tears.
Me: I guess so.
Ezra: Can the devil ever get into heaven?
Me: No. He will be forever in a very bad place with all the people who are liars and who don’t want to follow Jesus. It will be very bad for those people. That’s why it is hard to see why any people don’t want to follow Jesus for this short time on earth. It’s just really a test to see if we decide we want to follow Him and go to heaven. Why would people not choose that?
Ezra: But the devil will always be happy, right?
Me: You know, I don’t think anyone is truly happy if he decides to live away from God. Maybe people act like they are very happy and glad, but, really, I don’t think the devil will be happy at all in eternity. It will be a very bad way to exist and he will know that he has been forever defeated. He has lost.
Then Papa drove up with a borrowed 100 dollar bill and after he left …
Colleyanna: Wow! A hundred dollars! That is a LOT of money!
Me: (in my head): A half-a-dollar would be a lot of money right now, in comparison, when I’m sitting here in the rain without one red cent and without my credit card.
Colleyanna: Can I see that one hundred dollar bill?
Me: Sure, just hang on to it. It’s all we have today.
Ezra: Oh Mammy, maybe you shouldn’t give her that.
Me: It’s okay.
Colleyanna: Look this bill says “God”.
Me: Right. All of our money says “In God we trust.” That’s becasue our founding fathers wanted people to remember to trust in God instead of money. Wouldn’t it be great if all people did trust in God instead of money?
Ezra: Colleyanna, give that back now before you tear it.
I kind of agree with Ezra. I mean, a few little things have gone wrong, but it was a pretty good day. =)…And thanks, Mr. Paul.
