Goodbye Tooth, Hello Race Car.

When Ethan was in 2nd grade, he lost his permanent front tooth while coming down the slide at recess.  He didn't really lose it, it was completely knocked out.  It was winter, a foot of snow on the ground, and the kids were on the playground throwing snowballs.  Unfortunately one hit him right in the face, his mouth hit the icy slide, and that was that.   His tooth came out completely, root and all.  Someone actually found it in the snow and the dentist put it back in, although it's been dissolving ever since.   

Fast forward to today, four years later, and Ethan finally had the tooth pulled and a bridge is now in its place.  He was not looking forward to this day.  He wondered about the pain.  I laugh at this when I think about all the kid's been through.  He is not a stranger to the E.R., being a typical boy.  He takes drama and pain in stride, and Type 1 diabetes has made him even tougher.  But the tooth, well that's been a different story.   He was clearly unsettled with the entire thought of extraction, the bridge and saying good-bye to his tooth, this time for real.  

We bathed the day in prayer and prepared for a long day of appointments.   Everything went well, no complications, and his new smile looks great, although a lot of healing needs to take place.   Besides bothersome restrictions like "no popcorn for two weeks"  -- which is sort of a big deal for my expert popcorn popping and eating son! -- and no swimming for at least a week, Ethan is well on his way to putting this behind him.

But the real reason for writing this post is to talk about God.  He knew how Ethan felt about today.   He understood his reluctancy and apprehension.  He walked Him through it.  THEN...He chose to bless Ethan with a really awesome thing-that-never-happens happening.

In all my years of driving, I have never seen a real race car on the road, and one certainly has never been right in front of me.  But today, right after the surgery, we found ourselves behind a real race car with sponsors all over it and that vrooming engine sound that thrills a race car nut like my son.  We were at a light and the cool car graced my uncool minivan with sparks and flames shooting out of its exhaust, which caused little bits of something to fly onto our windshield.   It was all kind of surreal, and despite the fact that Ethan had strict orders to limit mouth movement, he had a smile on a mile wide!  And to watch it rev up and take off when the light switched to green...even I was impressed.  

So when some people think that God doesn't really care about the little things...

or doesn't bother to delight the hearts of His children...

or doesn't shower them with simple pleasures...

or doesn't give them rare and flat-out fun experiences like race cars on a common freeway...

HE DOES!

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures.

For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.

Psalm 36:7-9 (Amplified Bible)

Father, You rock.  You made my son smile today in a way that I never could.  You gave him an uber-fun moment in a scary, yuck day.  You lifted his spirits with a race car.  Your out-of-the-box ways delight us and show us that you delight IN US!  I love it.  I love you.  Amen.