… And a Carton of Juice

from Grandma Stories: God’s Little Miracles by LDMahan

One of the “skipping rope” songs that children like to sing starts out, “Down in the valley where the green grass grows, there stands [your name!] as sweet as a rose!”  But not all “valleys” are cool and green, as you will see.

A mom and dad who lived in Texas moved south to a place called The Valley.  This place was hot, dusty, and the winds whipped them constantly.  They had come to this place to study Spanish so that they could share God’s love and God’s word with people who spoke only Spanish.  They had to trust in God for everything they needed, so life felt like one adventure after another.

One day the mom drove their blue Dodge Aries to pick up her son who was in kindergarten at Taylor Christian School.  Her three-year-old daughter was in the back seat, and as they drove back to their trailer home, the boy talked about his day.  There was no air conditioning and the valley winds whipped at them through the open car windows.  But the mother’s mind was not on the wind, the heat, or on her son’s stories.  She was thinking about a loaf of bread.

At home there was no bread.  In her purse and in her bank account was no money.  How could she go home without bread, and how could she buy bread without money?  Well, they had come here to trust God, so she would.  Suddenly she noticed they were passing a bread store.  On an impulse she pulled into the parking lot.

“Son, I want you to reach down between the seats and look for change,” she instructed.  They made it a game and dug around in the car, finally coming up with a grand total of 95 cents.  Triumphant, she herded the children into the refreshingly cool store and put down the money for one loaf of bread, rung up at a total of 89 cents!

As she paused to enjoy the coolness for a moment more, the cashier astonished her with these words: “And today, when you buy a loaf of bread, you get this carton of juice for free!”  She walked over to the cooler and pulled out an ice cold carton of orange juice to hand to the thirsty children.

In the midst of their hot, dusty adventure, God had provided bread … and a carton of juice.