This morning, I read my devotion and then slowly read the Bible verse, “God will meet all your needs.” Philippians 4:19

As I sipped my last drop of coffee, my mind was taken back twenty years ago, recalling a shopping trip at Target with my two little kids.

We enter Target. The red dot sale section tempts me, but I admonish myself. Oh boy, not the dollar bin. Stick to the list and only the list. 

We fill the shopping cart and head for the check-out lane. Oh, man. Look at the lines. I pull behind a string of carts and look around. OK, where’d they go? They were just right here. I see both kids, one check-out lane over. There they are.

Mia whines, “I want gum!” My eyes glare sideways at her, making a scene.

“Stop it, Mia!” Luke admonishes. “You can’t have any.” He straightens his baseball cap and grabs her hand. 

“But I want it!” 

“Mia. No. Mom’s in line. We need to go.”

“But, Luke, there are Pokémon cards for you.”

Frustrated, I swing the cart out of the checkout line. Mia!  Not wanting to draw any more attention, I amble over to the kids.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Luke says. “I don’t need anything.”

I drop to my knees. Fold his little body into mine. And whisper, “I love you, Luke Griffin.” 

“I love you too, Mommy.”

“You’re my good boy.”

My Hallmark moment with Luke is contrasted inches away by Mia’s full-on tantrum. Keds stomp the tile floor and pigtails flop every which way in a whirlwind of anger. Look at her! I’m so embarrassed.

I push back my cart in anger and leave it in the aisle. Great. “We’re outta of here!”Great. Didn’t get anything today. That was a wasted trip.

Waving my index finger in Mia’s face, I scowl, “That was not nice.”

“Yeah, Mia. You know Mom can’t buy that stuff. Gosh!” 

“Okay, Luke. That’s enough.”

 Irritated, I toss the kids in the car, start it, and turn on the radio to muffle my sobs. Help me, God. I’m barely surviving as a single mom. Life should not be so rough. I peek in the rearview mirror.

“Mommy, are you all right?” Luke asks.

“Yeah, honey.”

“Don’t worry, Mommy: ‘God will meet all your needs— Philippians 4:19.”

I look over my shoulder. “What did you say?”

“God will meet all your needs. It’s our memory verse this week.”

 I feel like I’ve been tossed into the middle of It’s a Wonderful Life when Zuzu says, “Daddy, teacher says every time you hear a bell ring, an angel gets his wings.” Then George exclaims, “That’s right! That’s right!”

I wipe my tears, reach back, and squeeze his hand. “That’s right. That’s right. Thatta boy, Luke Griffin.”

“No problem, Mommy.”

I look up at the clouds. Nothing gets past YOU. You know what’s going on and YOU used my little boy to teach me a lesson.