You're not going to believe this but it is absolutely true.

I have written about my son, Alec, who is immersed in the Civil War era submarine, The Hunley.  Remember?  O.k., today, we were driving to a nursery south of us, in a town that we haven't been to in months.  It's only 20 minutes from here but we don't need to go that way too often.  Anyway, on our way back from the nursery, Alec shouts, "Look!  The Hunley!"  We all look in the direction he is pointing at and see a row of about 8 moving vans from a major moving company.  On each of these moving vans is a large, colorful drawing of a particular state attraction (you've probably seen these in your town).  Sure enough, on the van advertising South Carolina, big as you please, is a drawing of The Hunley!!  I said, "Todd, turn around!"  Todd, being the most excellent driver that he is, made the U-turn on busy Hwy 101 and we parked alongside the van.  We just couldn't believe it!  Here on the Oregon Coast, clear on the other side of America, sits a van showing a submarine built over 140 years ago!  A sub that my son is fascinated with at the moment!  It was incredible.  Fortunately, Todd had put a camera in the car a few weeks ago and we took photos of drawing, then headed home for lunch.

I marveled at all this.  I know God had a hand in this amazing moment.  God cares about the small things in our lives, just as he does the big things.  We had been planning this little outing since February, as this nursery was having a class on the art of bonsai, which Alec is also interested in (and so is Todd).  We've been looking forward to this for several months.  And here's this moving van parked along side the road on this particular day.  If we had seen it last year, we wouldn't have cared.  I find all this just too much to be a coincidence.  God loves to delight us.  I am sure of it.

After we got home, I realized that we should have taken a photo of Alec next to the van.  It was raining (of course) so I guess that's why I didn't think of it.  Anyway, I took the kids back down there this afternoon and got photos of Alec next to the colorful drawing.  It really is a unique depiction of The Hunley, kind of eerie if you know anything about it (look it up!)  It's sort of a cutaway that shows the men inside with some of the blueprints appearing in the background above.  For some reason, they have a few dolphins swimming under the sub - weird.  Anyway, this time we read the words on the van as well and that's when we saw that you could go to the moving company's website to learn more about The Hunley.  Tonight, we went to the website and the first thing that appeared was "The Hunley"!  It must be their newest van graphic because that is what was being spotlighted on the company website.  We were, again, amazed.  There were many pages about The Hunley, including photos, blueprints, and information about the rather recent recovery of the antique relic off the sea floor.  I printed out all the info for Alec.  He was just thrilled. 

I made sure all my kids understood that the Lord orchestrated all this.  It was not just by chance that we happened upon that van.  I firmly believe it.  Perhaps the Lord uses events like this to help His children grow in their relationship with Him.  I know it makes me love Him all the more when He is kind to my children.  I pray that my children will love Him more, knowing that He cares for them, even in the little things.