Joshua Prays for a Van

This summer as we drove from Alaska to Missouri Janelle picked up a KOA directory to find places to stop. Joshua saw an ad on the back that had a van with a TV and Nintendo in it. He began praying for a van with a TV and Nintendo in it. Janelle began teaching Joshua about prayer. God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. We have a van that is meeting our needs. We will be selling this van in a few months. We thought this would settle it for Joshua.

A couple of days later while driving through Colorado we were having devotions in the van. After all of the kids had prayed, Joshua asked if he could pray again. He prayed, “And dear Jesus, please give us a van with a TV and Nintendo.” We told Joshua once again that we didn’t think God was going to give us a different van. The kids and Janelle went to sleep in the van. About an hour after that prayer, a deer ran across the road into our van. None of us were hurt. But the van was totaled.

Over the next week we went about the process of replacing our van. The insurance company gave us a good settlement. As we shopped at a dealership, the salesman had shown us everything on his lot that might work. We were ready to go somewhere else. He stopped us and said, “I have one more van that isn’t on the lot. It is in the shop.” As he talked we thought it might be what we were looking for. It had less miles than our other van, better pulling power, and more space for the kids. “By the way”, he said, “it has a TV and Nintendo in it.”

As it worked out, this is the van we purchased. When Joshua found out he did a little dance and said, “This is the first time I remember God answering my prayer.” God certainly had. I guess God thought it would be alright for a little boy who would spend 40,000 miles in a vehicle this year to have a Nintendo to play.

Joshua received his Christmas present early this year. An answer to prayer. A gift from God to a little boy who believed God would hear his prayer.
6J’s