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A while back I mentioned that our libraries had closed last spring. It was really sad for the whole community. I love the ambiance of the library, and I missed just walking between the towers of books.
Our libraries finally opened again at the end of October. I was so happy that I could finally enjoy books again, without having to pay for them. Yesterday I had the opportunity to take my son to our local small-town library. It’s really small. There are about 6 rows of books for adults and 4 rows for children.
As I was parking the car, my son was chattering incessantly from the back seat. His latest obsession is Hot Wheels cars.
“Mom,” he asked, “can I get a Hot Wheels book?”
“I’m not sure if they have Hot Wheels books,” I replied. “But we’ll look and see.”
“I want to buy a Hot Wheels book,” Sam insisted.
“We’re not going to buy books,” I said. “We’re going to borrow them.”
Sam seemed satisfied, and we walked into the library. Not used to the new schedule and hours, we walked in about 10 minutes before preschool storytime ended. I thought it was a great opportunity. Sam had other ideas.
“Sam, do you want to listen to the stories?”
Sam dug in his heels. “No! I want to look for a Hot Wheels book.”
Sighing, I told him we’d look for mommy’s books first in the adult section, because we didn’t want to disturb the kids who were listening to the stories. Sam agreed to follow me around.
As I was walking up and down the 6 aisles, just browsing the books, every once in a while I would hear Sam behind me whispering, “Where are the Hot Wheels books?”
“I don’t know,” I would whisper back. “When story time is over we’ll look for them.”
We continued walking slowly up and down the aisles. At one point, I paused to look at a book. As I started walking again, I noticed Sam was pulling a book off the shelves.
“Sam,” I whispered. “Put that back.”
“Mom,” he insisted, “it’s a Hot Wheels book.”
I brushed it off, pushed the book back onto the shelf, and took a couple of steps. Then I paused. I glanced at some of the books on the shelves. Collector’s items. I pulled the book back off the shelf. Tomart’s Price Guide to Hot Wheels by Michael Thomas Strauss.
“See! A Hot Wheels book!”
Shaking my head and laughing, I said, “You’re right, Sam.”
I gave him the book and we headed for the checkout desk. I will never figure out what made him pull that particular book off the shelves. The binding is just a black plastic comb binding, so there weren’t any pictures of Hot Wheels on the binding of the book that Sam would have seen.
The only thing I can figure is that God wanted Sam to experience a little joy yesterday. Sam has been studying the many pictures of different collectible Hot Wheels cars ever since we got home from the library. What a blessing for him. And what a blessing for me to experience it with him.
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stacey says:
how cute! we have been loving the library lately ourselves too!
December 7th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Angie says:
It’s the simple things isn’t it? My friend calls those little love signals from God. I think that was one of those times. So sweet!
December 7th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Lynnae says:
Love signals from God….I love that!
December 7th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Jenny is Live & In Color says:
I don’t know what I’d do without my libraries! Living in a large metro area affords us great libraries. I live within 5 miles of three of them.
Something you may find useful is bookmooch.com
You post books that you are willing to get rid of and can mooch off of others’ lists. The only cost is shipping. I just started it several weeks ago and LOVE it. It helps me part with some of my beloved books when I know another will come to take it’s place.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Lynnae says:
I’ve never heard of bookmooch. I will definitely check it out. I love to read!
December 7th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
boomeyers says:
You must live by my friend Raylene! So was so sad when the libraries closed and jubilent when they returned. She does’nt care if they cut the hours as long as they are OPEN!
December 7th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Lynnae says:
Sounds like I do live close to her! And I’m with her…I don’t care about cut hours, as long as the libraries are open! I’m one of the fortunate ones who lives in a town that voted to increase the budget to open longer. So my library will be open 36 hours a week soon! Woohoo!
December 7th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Carol says:
Sam’s story brought me the experience of a little joy today.
God’s blessings are a never ending circle. Thanks for sharing.
December 8th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Summer says:
How cool! I’m glad he was able to find his Hot Wheels book.
Thanks for submitting to the Carnival of SAHMs!
December 10th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Sarah @ Real Life says:
I can’t believe I’m getting teary about a Hot Wheels Book! God is so good.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Some Changes are A-Comin’ | From Under the Clutter says:
[...] while you’re waiting for me, check out the Carnival of SAHMs this week. I submitted my post Of Libraries and Hot Wheels Cars. There are lots of other great blog posts included. Thanks to Wired for Noise for [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 4:07 pm