Jesus, find my wheel!

Enoying the weather as much as possible before our outdoor activities are slightly hampered by cold and wetness, we have been getting to parks, fields, farms and playgrounds as much as possible. (note: I only said slightly hampered, because I fully believe that we will still be outside, we'll just bundle a bit more! I got out Anna's 'bundling' clothes yesterday, Hudson's closet comes today. ;) Recently, we were at a local park for an evening with the Flamingo Mama and her 3 (soon to be 4) beautiful babes. Our hubbies were doin' the worship team thing together and when her man is on the team, we usually hook up to pass some of the evening time.

We arrived at the park, Hudson's favorite car in tow (a cool car he got for a gift called Automoblox). We had a discussion about the car before we left on what would happen if he took one of his favorite toys somewhere else. We explored what might happen, that he would have to share, how he would feel if he lost it....I bet you know where this is going. No less than 10 minutes after our arrival, Hudson came over and started to take his puzzle car apart and put it back together - and he realized he was missing a wheel. Now, at this point, he was not too concerned with this fact, merely because his friends were there and he was having fun. I convinced him that we should search for it, but we were unable to find it. I suggested to him that maybe we should pray that we find it. He ambled away from me in another direction and I heard him say, "Jesus, find my wheel." After another 20 seconds or so, he turned around and yelled at the top of his lungs, "JESUS, FIND MY WHEEL!" He then spun to me and said, "Mommy, I don't think Jesus heard me." My, how hard it was not to grin too largely. I did smile and say, "I am sure that he heard you that time!"

We proceeded to go on a walk around the neighborhood and as I was walking I was contemplating all the possibilities of the meltdown scenarios upon arriving home and Hudson realizing that the wheel was gone. To say the least, I was a bit worried....especially since I knew I was on my own for the bedtime routine, and it would be hurried as we had decided to stay a bit later. We arrived back at the park and all of us fanned out to look for the wheel - the Flamingo Mama volunteered a quarter for the one that found the wheel (I love bribery!) and in less than 3 minutes, it was found. No quarter was rewarded though, because the Flamingo herself found the missing part. Hallelujah - crisis averted. Thank you Lord for helping us find our wheel!

Sometimes I feel like that - I mean I really feel like I lost a wheel. My life is off balance, off kilter, that one of my 4 wheels is missing. (I'm going with tires here, not the wheel like in the Carrie Underwood song.) I often cry, Jesus, help me find my wheel...and while not all stories of missing toys turn out quite as favorably as this one, I do know that my heavenly Father always hears my cry of help and I eventually find that balance again - usually because I forgot to include Him as a part of my day and once I ask, he takes the load of my life (car) and rolls it along.