“It’s raining—it’s pouring!” Carol could hear her little brother, Jimmy, singing downstairs. In the middle of her usual scramble for books, lunch money and homework, Carol stood still in dismay.
Rain! That means boots, raincoat, scarf, waterproof bag for books—and there she stopped. Boots, raincoat and scarf were all in the closet. But where was that plastic bag for her books? School rules were strict; she had to have that bag to keep her books dry. She had too many to just tuck under her raincoat.
Once more she quickly went around the room, pulling out drawers, looking under the bed, under the dresser, behind the radiator—no bag!
Then she called, “Mother, oh, Mother-r-r! Have you got any kind of plastic bag I can use?”
“Plastic bags? I’m glad you reminded me! We’re all out. But hurry, dear; it’s almost time to leave for the bus.”
Hopelessly Carol circled the room again. No bag, and the rain was coming down harder now, she saw as she glanced out her bedroom window.
Then she had an idea. What was that Bible verse she had learned last week? “Call upon Me in the day of trouble.” She got on her knees beside her bed and prayed. “Dear Lord,” she whispered, “I’m in trouble—I need that bag—please help me!”
Quietly she got up and, without thinking, slipped her hand down between the mattress and the headboard of her bed. There was the missing bag, tightly wedged in the narrow space.
Getting on her knees by the bed again she had only time to whisper, “Thank-you, oh, thank-you, Lord!” before she stuffed her books in the bag and ran the two blocks to meet the school bus.
She had learned more that morning than school could teach her. She had found that God, the God who made the heavens and the earth, could hear the prayer of a little girl.
ML-11/23/1980