My three-year-old grandson, Nolan, loves cars. I rarely see him without one clutched in each chubby little hand. His cars accompany him to church, the grocery store, on visits to family, and to the dinner table.
When our family went to Disney World for five days, Nolan headed out every day with clutching his cars—and even with all the constant ins and outs from his stroller and countless rides on the attractions, he never lost one.
When we had dinner at his house last Sunday, he spent half an hour on Granddaddy’s lap looking at a pamphlet of cars, showing him which ones he needed.
So when Nolan and our five-year-old grandson, Ethan, came for a sleepover at our house last night, it was no surprise that a cars theme developed for the evening.
We had tacos for dinner and then we baked cookies. Nolan settled in a chair at the kitchen island, a cookie in one hand and a car in the other. After that, we had a Cars movie marathon. While we watched the movies, Nolan had a car tucked in each hand. And then the boys played on our car rug, which depicts roads and various scenes like a football stadium (with parking lot), a gas station, and other places where they can take “road trips.” They lined the cars up in rows. Lined them up in circles. And took them for drives across the rug.
After bedtime prayers, I tucked the boys in. Nolan said, “Wait a minute!” He jumped out of bed and when he slid back under the covers, I realized he had cars to sleep with. And first thing this morning before he was even fully awake, I watched as he flung the covers around until he found his cars.
I love how he holds onto his beloved cars so tightly. As I watched that precious little face that weekend, the prayer on my heart was, “Dear God, please help Nolan to always hold just as tightly to you. Help him to take You everywhere he goes. Help Him to plan his life with You in mind, and help him to love you with a love that’s even fiercer than his love for his cars.”
Hold on to Jesus, little buddy. He’ll be the perfect companion for all the roads that life will take you.
