God and pencils

A few months ago, while on the way to school (and rushed as usual), my son, Kailen, went into a panic because he forgot a pencil. He's quite the studious little guy that always tries to do his best and takes school very seriously. So this was a big deal. I said, "Kailen, let's ask Daddy for a pencil today." Right then in the car line, he and his sister, Dani, and I thanked Jesus for somehow providing a pencil for Kailen that day. After saying Amen, I told Kailen to be aware of the way that Jesus would provide a pencil for him - whether finding one on the ground, or a friend giving him one, or ??? who knows? I just encouraged him to be aware of how our Father would provide and then for him to say "Thank you" when He did.
That night at bedtime, I asked Kailen how Daddy provided a pencil for him. He said with excitement, "Today my teacher was giving out pencils!!" I said, "See? He knew you needed one and He had that pencil just for you!"
Fast forward several months and the same scenario came up again, today. This morning we're headed down the road toward school when Kailen gave out an exasperated sigh. I asked him what was wrong only to discover he didn't have a pencil. I could sense the panic in his voice but before I could answer, Dani said triumphantly, "Hold on! Dani to the rescue! I have.....(fumbles through her purse and pulls out...)a PENCIL! It's a little short, and hot pink with no eraser, but it's a pencil..." and with that she handed him this stubby bright pink pencil - an absolute nightmare for a nine year old boy. I quickly glanced at him to see his priceless expression of "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Then the panic struck in again - a whole new one of "I can't be seen with a PINK pencil! Are you KIDDING me?!?" So I tried to smooth things over by frantically searching my side car door pocket area. I had just cleaned out my car last week and knew there were a few pens in there, but I didn't recall seeing any pencils. But as I glanced down, I noticed something that appeared to be just that...a pencil. I reached my hand down and pulled out the best looking pencil you can imagine. It was sharpened to the sharpest point with a beautiful, never used eraser on the end. But the best part? It was blue and said, "Smile, Jesus loves you". I quickly handed it to him and said, "Look at what Daddy provided for you today. He did that especially for you because He wanted you to know that He loves you! It wasn't by chance that you forgot a pencil today. He wanted you to get THIS pencil!" You should have seen the look on Kailen's face! It was like he had just received the keys to the kingdom!
As I was thinking about that, I wondered how many times Daddy speaks to us and we seem to not even notice. I have had so many incredible stories happen to me in the past two years that simply take my breath away and leave other people saying, "How does this happen to you? You have the oddest, strangest God experiences." The truth is, we all do. I don't believe there is a day that goes by that our Daddy isn't trying to speak to us in some way, conventional or otherwise. Often times we choose to believe it's happenstance or purely coincidental. But I challenge you to open your eyes a little wider and notice how He lavishes you and how He speaks to you. Even in heartache, He's there. He just wants us to lift our eyes above our circumstance because He's got everything under control. He sees every tear that falls, He hears every unkind word that's been spoken, and He cares deeply when we've been hurt or experienced pain. So when life seems to get a little too unbearable, I encourage you to look for the ways in which He tells you how much you are loved. It may be in someone calling you or sending a note, but it may be in some quirky, strange, untypical way...like a pencil.