The Best Birthday Gift
By Andrew McChesney
April lost her tablet.
The 8-year-old girl needed it very much because she had to do her homework. Every evening, she met online for three hours with a teacher who helped her with her homework. The teacher helped her do her assignments in Bible. The teacher helped her do her assignments in social studies. The teacher helped her do her assignments in grammar, reading, and science. April especially needed help in science because it was her most difficult subject.
But on this evening, April couldn’t find her tablet anywhere. Making matters worse, the next day would be her ninth birthday. How could she celebrate her ninth birthday when her tablet was missing?
Usually, April put the tablet in her bedroom to charge in the afternoon. But this time, she didn’t do that, and she didn’t know where it was. April looked in her parents’ bedroom. Nothing. She looked in the living room and kitchen. Nothing, nothing. It was almost 6 o’clock, and she needed to meet online with her teacher. What could she do? April went to Mom for help.
“I can’t find my tablet,” she said.
Mom knew that it was time for April to meet online with her teacher. So, she gave her cellphone to April. But she also gave April a warning that she couldn’t watch television until she found her tablet. “If you don’t find the tablet, you can’t watch TV,” she said.
April wasn’t too worried about not being able to watch television. She was more upset that she had lost her tablet and had had to ask Mom for her cell phone.
That night, after finishing the three hours of online tutoring and before going to sleep, April prayed to the God of heaven. She asked Him to help her find her tablet.
“Dear God, please help me find my tablet because I need it for my studies,” she said. Then April fell asleep.
As she slept, she had a dream. In the dream, she saw her tablet lying under the couch in the living room. In the morning, April woke up early and immediately remembered her missing tablet. Then she remembered that it was her birthday. How could she celebrate her birthday when her tablet was missing?
April went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. As she drank, she glanced around the kitchen. Nothing. No tablet. Then she filled her water bottle and grabbed a few snacks for school. At the same time, she kept looking around the kitchen for the tablet. Nothing. Suddenly, April remembered her dream from the night before. In the dream, she had seen the tablet lying under the couch in the living room.
April ran to the living room and crouched down to look under the couch. Then she saw it! There it was! The lost tablet was found! April was very happy. She smiled as brightly as the morning sun outside the window. God had answered her prayer. This was the best birthday gift ever! She straightaway prayed to God and thanked Him for helping her find the tablet.
“Dear Jesus, I know that you are the real living God,” she prayed. “Thank You for helping me to find my tablet. Please help me to be a good girl and not to forget anything.”
Andrew McChesney is the editor for Adventist Mission. This story is shared with permission of Adventist Mission.
World Church Prayer Requests
December 20-26, 2024
- United States: Please pray for the victims and families of the school shooting at Feather River Seventh-day Adventist School near Oroville, CA. Two kindergarteners are in critical condition.
- Uganda: Pray for MESASA (Mengo Seventh-day Adventist Student Association). They are preparing a two week medical camp to preach God’s Word and provide free
- medical services. The camp will run December 13-29, 2024.
- Kenya: Pray for the University of East Africa Baraton students who are beginning an evangelistic campaign in Entaamo territory. Pray also for the Lake Natron Adventist School which is meeting for classes under the trees. Pray that the staff and students will grow in a knowledge of God, whether in nature or in classrooms.
- Zimbabwe: Pray for the public campus ministry as they seek to minister to students at Mutare Polytechnic and Marymount colleges. Pray that plans for a new church building to house campus activities will be built soon as the students have been informed that they can no longer meet on the college premises.