Sample Story

Our Daily Cereal                
             Pat and Linda were experiencing growing pains and hunger pangs.  They were a couple in their late 20s working as missionaries.  As part of this calling, it was their humbling task to raise their own funds on which to live.  It wasn’t unusual to go through dry spells, but during one challenging season food was scarce in the cupboard and supplies were dwindling in the refrigerator.  It was during one of these times for the Boyers that childlike faith got their attention.  The other member in the Boyer home was their precocious six-year-old daughter Christi who one day came to her father with a request.
             “Daddy, can I have some Rice Chex cereal for breakfast tomorrow morning?” she asked.  He didn’t quite know how to tell her, but he knew he needed to answer her.
            “Baby, we don’t have any in the house.”
Quite honestly, Pat was angry with God.  He thought, “God you’ve asked us to be your servants.  Here we are with little money and my daughter wants only cereal and we don’t have any.”  He was not a happy camper, but the little girl was determined to have cereal in the morning and she had a plan to get it.
            “Daddy, can we pray to God for some Rice Chex?”
            Although he didn’t say it, Pat thought, “Yeah, sure, like it’s going to do any good.  God can’t even get us a paycheck.  If He did we’d have cereal.”  Needless to say, his faith had dwindled to the level of nourishment in their home.  So he did what any “doubting dad” would do, and that was to allow his daughter, who didn’t know any better than to fully trust God, be the one to pray for the need of the moment.
            “Sweetheart, why don’t you pray,” he told her.  So she did.
            “Dear Jesus, we don’t have any Rice Chex in our house and I want some for breakfast tomorrow.  So please bring us some, amen,” she finished.  Pat was grinning inside while almost sarcastically challenging God to prove his ability to provide.  Admittedly, he did find it cute to observe the faith his daughter expressed, which had not come from him at least not at the moment.
             “Alright, it’s time for bed,” he said. 
             In a few minutes Christi was sound asleep. 
            The next morning Christi ran toward Pat and said, “Daddy is there any Rice Chex for breakfast?”
“No Honey, I’m sorry we still don’t have any,” he told her.
Admitting the he was angry with God Pat his daughter a dramatic demonstration as he looked under the pillows on the couch and said, “None here,” but his sarcastic show wasn’t over as he looked behind the TV and remarked, “And there’s none here either.” 
Not losing faith, the patient little tyke paused and looked calmly at her Daddy and suggested, “Why don’t you look out on the porch?”
A bit skeptical Pat decided to indulge her so he poked his head out the front door to see what the weather was like.  As he did so his eyes caught the sight of a bag sitting on the top step.  He had no idea who had left it there.  He stooped down and picked it up. 
             Inside the brown grocery bag were a few items that included - $100 in cash – some canned goods—and at the very bottom of the bag was exactly what little Christi had prayed for—a box of Rice Chex cereal!