I Believe

(Jenn) This is probably not one of those stories that's going to be quoted at the Christmas Devotional someday. But I think it's a pretty good story.

So Henry's very favorite birthday present was a little die-cast toy version of Chick Hicks from the movie Cars. He pretty much played with it constantly from the minute he opened it on his birthday. Naturally, Chick Hicks came with us to choir practice the Sunday night two days later. Henry unpacked 10 cars from the diaper bag, Chick Hicks being one of them. He and the other kids drove them all over the chapel until it was time to go home. We gathered the cars together and counted only 9. You guessed it, the beloved Chick Hicks was missing! We searched, along with 4-5 other parents, for about 10 minutes and never found him. It was pretty much the saddest day in Henry history.

Luckily, with Christmas around the corner, he was pretty comforted with the thought that he could just add "Chick Hicks" to his Christmas list and Santa would take care of it! We had it all worked out, and the new Chick was ordered a few weeks ago. Problem solved? Almost. On Saturday night, on the way to the church Christmas party, we were talking about the impending visit with Santa. Henry was getting pretty excited. I asked him what he was going to ask Santa for. We had talked about this several times previously, and the plan was to ask for a car transporter. This time he changed his mind. "I'm going to ask him for TWO Chick Hicks!" Henry announced. Hmmm. I finished my Christmas shopping last Tuesday and already went over Henry's budget to allow for a little Santa magic. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen. I spent the rest of the car ride trying to explain that it was silly to ask for two of the same toy, and probably Santa wouldn't be able to do it. However, Henry's grand idea could not be altered.

So the Christmas party came and went. Henry shared his little secret wish with Santa, and I secretly hoped he would forget what he had asked for. Then yesterday the miracle happened. In the middle of church, I was out walking the halls with Ellis, trying to get him to fall asleep. We walked about three laps, and I was starting to get a little bored looking at the same surroundings. I wandered into the media center. As I peeked around the corner into the room, I saw a small basket sitting on a shelf. In the basket: a few stray crayons and none other than Chick Hicks himself. Henry's Chick Hicks! I slipped it into my pocket with a baffled grin.

Don't tell Henry, but he'll be getting his Christmas wish this year -- a silly request whispered to a white-bearded man. And I'm giving Santa all the credit for this one. Let's just say that as for me and Henry, we believe.