Little Blessings

These last 2 weeks have been tough on us. There have been both smiles and tears, understanding and confusion, hope and helplessness. But tonight something happened that was the Lord giving us, his children, a special blessing. I want to relay a silly, frivolous, wonderful, compassionate story of God's goodness.

Since we arrived in Guangzhou, and found the teeny hole-in-the-wall called Walmart, we've made several trips there with one purpose in mind: to let Eleanor play the claw arcade game. You know the one where you use a metal claw to grab stuffed animals, only to have the claw jerk so hard it knocks the animal out of its grasp before making it to the exit chute. In the U.S. we never play these because they are ridiculously expensive and virtually no chance of winning. Here, they cost 1 yuan, which is about 17 cents USD. And still virtually no chance of winning. But they are fun and put smiles on kids' faces.

A couple nights ago, Jason played the game, trying to win a stuffed Minnie Mouse for Eleanor. He picked it up and carried it to the chute. She got really excited and jumped up and down. It hit the side and bounced out. "Oh no!" she said with a sad face. 

We knew we had one more trip to Walmart to get snacks for our trip home. This morning, as silly as it was, I prayed that the Lord might let Jason win a silly stuffed animal for her to take home, but more importantly for the memory that it would bring each time she looked at it. This evening, God did just that. Of course, she was bouncing off the walls with happiness and giving this little animal gigantic bear hugs. I was fighting back tears because the Lord was reminding me He is still in control. 

We encountered things here in Guangzhou that we were not expecting. Things we would argue we were not ready for. But God is always prepared. Sometimes we just need little reminders. See you all soon!