Grandpa continued with the story.

Just before Albert walked into his house, he wiped the tears from his eyes. He didn’t want his mom to see that he had been crying. Albert did not know how he was going to talk to anybody about how he was feeling.

Albert’s mom said, “Hi, dear. How is Alex doing today? I know you stopped there, because you can’t walk by his house without stopping to say ‘Hi’. “

Albert responded, “Alex is doing well today. He said that he might be able to walk a couple steps tomorrow. I know his physical therapist has been working on his legs and he’s been able to stand up for a short time, but walking would be miraculous.”

Albert’s mom said, “God is a God of miracles. I’m not sure why we don’t see many miracles these days. But there’s no reason for us to stop believing in them.”

Albert was having a real difficult time holding the tears back.

Albert’s mom asked, “Do you think very much about the accident?”

Albert quietly replied, “For quite some time I haven’t been thinking about the accident, so I thought everything was going well for me. But recently there seems to be some reason why I need to share with somebody how I’m feeling. I think God wants to do some healing inside. But I don’t know what that means.”

Albert’s mom gave him a little hug. Albert loved that his mom and dad give him hugs. Some of his friends never get hugs from their mom or dad. Albert considers himself to be extremely blessed from God. Albert was happy for Alex because his mom and dad give good hugs, too. When he is at Alex’s house, he feels like he has a second mom.

Albert’s mom said, “You need to ask the Lord to help you to accept that Alex is a good friend. The Bible says that a good friend is willing to give up his life for his friend. You know that Alex was willing to do that. He is still alive, but he did have to suffer a lot. It is hard for boys to understand, but Alex loves you.”

It was hard for Albert to respond through his tears. “Mom, Alex is the one who should be running around, and I should be the one in the bed. I know that Alex was willing to help me. If he didn’t, I probably wouldn’t even be alive, now.”

——

Grandpa stopped telling the story and glanced at each one of the kids. Most of them were crying along with Albert in the story.

Grandpa asked the kids, “Are you all doing ok? I know this is a hard story to hear, but we can already see that God helps us in our difficult times.”

Lisa said, “Grandpa, this is a really good story. But maybe we should take a break and talk about how we are feeling before you continue. Is that OK?”

Mike agreed, “Yeah, I think maybe some of us have a few questions. It might help us with the rest of the story to talk first.”

Grandpa responded, “OK, let’s have a time to chat with each other, all questions and statements are acceptable. We’re not going to judge anybody by what they say.”

Grandpa was amazed at the depth of the questions and patience of the children to wait for what they believed was a response from God.

One of the kids asked, “Why didn’t God protect both boys, so that neither one of them would have been injured.”

Grandpa responded, “This is a question some of the smartest, and wisest men in history have not been able to fully comprehend and explain. However, there is no reason why we shouldn’t ask the question and listen to what God says to us.”

Larry asked, “Could you change the story a bit so that it is easier to accept?”

Grandpa answered, “I know this is a very hard story for most of you to listen to, however, I am believing that God is going to help you deal with some of the things that are in your heart.“