Basketball Shoes

My sister teaches at our Christian school and tutors on the side to make a little extra cash.  One particular second grade boy that she tutors has been difficult to corral.  It seems that he is not interested in schoolwork at all; he just wants to play basketball.  Not unusual for a second-grade boy.  The boy lives with his grandparents, and grandma is always present, trying to get her grandson to do his schoolwork.  Grandpa is usually mowing the grass or otherwise busy when the tutoring session takes place.  But last week, when my sister arrived for the tutoring session, grandma was absent, and grandpa was supervising the session.  My sister and the little boy worked at the dining room table while grandpa sat over in the corner not saying a word.  But grandpa had the boy’s basketball shoes conspicuously placed on his lap.  Grandpa texted on his phone and read a book, all the while with the basketball shoes on his lap.  That particular day, the second-grade boy did all of his work and stayed focused … except for an occasional glance at his basketball shoes.  My sister had no idea what the grandpa had promised or threatened, but whatever it was, it worked.  Hey, the dear Lord is just like that clever grandpa.  The Lord knows how to get our attention.  God may speak to us in a hospital bed, through our the wallet, or in our children.  God came to a discouraged Elijah with a powerful earthquake and a raging fire in I Kings 19:12, “And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”  Often the dear Lord whispers to us, and we would do well to listen.  Like the second-grade boy, God will use what is effective to get the attention of His dear children.