My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in the Cub Scouts   only a short time. Once he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give them all to his father. That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. The piece of paper was a set of instructions about how to build a wooden racing car. Gilbert's father laughed when he read the instructions. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed. Finally, I stepped in to see if I could figure it all out. Having no skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the instructions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. Within days, his block of wood was turning into a pinewood racing car. Then the big night came. With his pinewood racing car in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. As the race was done in elimination fashion  , you could keep racing as long as you were the winner. Finally, it was between Gilbert and the fastestlooking car there. As the race was about to begin, Gilbert asked if they could stop for a minute, because he wanted to pray. Then the race stopped. Gilbert prayed in earnest for a very long minute. The Master came up to Gilbert and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, Gilbert?" My young son answered, "Oh, no Sir. It wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked him to make it so I don't cry when I lose." Children seem to have wisdom far beyond us. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to control the race, make us the champion, or remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get through what lies in our way. Who finally made the pinewood racing car?
Gilbert. Gilbert's father. Gilbert's mother. The whole family.