The Fire Hydrant Story

Just a quick little story to share today, because Luke touched my heart and made me giggle. We were on our way home from preschool, and as we entered into our housing development, Luke spotted a bright yellow fire hydrant.

"Mommy! Look! A fire hydrant!"
"Yeah, baby! Wow....would you look at that." (can you hear the enthusiasm in my voice? LOL!!!!)
"Can you find me another one, Mom?"
"Well, I bet if you keep looking out your window you'll probably see another one."

So we continued on several more blocks, all the while Luke was glued to his window, pining for another hydrant. (I'm not sure what spawned the fascination with the hydrant today, but whatever.) As we pulled onto our street, I noticed the hydrant that resides just out front of our neighbor Kristin's house and I pointed it out to him.

"Can WE have a fire hydrant outside of OUR house???" he asked.
"Well, honey..." I said, thinking of how to explain this to a three year old, "when they built our house, they put a fire hydrant where it is now. We can't just move them...it has to be put there BEFORE a home is built."

Luke was silent for a moment as he pondered this and tried to find a solution to his dilema. He then exclaimed..."I can ask GOD for one!!"
"Well, sure honey. You can do that. You can ask God for anything, so I guess you can ask him for a fire hydrant too."

And from the backseat, in the quietest, tiniest little whisper I heard Luke ask "Please, God. Can I have a fire hydrant?"

I had to hold back my giggles at how SWEET my boy is, but my joy was evidenced by the grin that spread from ear to ear on my face!

"So...did you ask God?"
"Yup."
"Hmm....okay. "
"But he already told me "No.", mommy."
"Oh, is that right? "
"Mmmm-hhmmmm."
"Well, that was quick!"
"Yeah."
"That's the thing, honey. God ALWAYS answers us, but sometimes its just not with the answer we had hoped for. Sometimes he says no because he knows that the thing we are asking for isn't the best thing for us."

I realized that this little lesson might have been well over his head, but I said it anyway. And Luke's response (an affirmation, really) was...

"Yeah.....sometimes no is better."

Wisdom beyond his short three years! And a good lesson for us all to keep in mind. Not only that God always knows what is best for us, but also to pray about ALL the things that are important to us! God tells us in Phillipians 4:6 that we can (and should!) pray about everything. Even the things that we may initially feel are unimportant to God, like Luke's fire hydrant. Because, the truth is that God cares about even the smallest details of our lives! He even knows the number of hairs on our heads!! (Matt 10:30, Luke 12:7) I love that even a lesson such as this, (that we, as adults, sometimes try to over think) can be made as simple as a three-year-old's interest in a fire hydrant! :) Love that!