I might have been 8 or 9 years old when, at the end of a fun-filled summer day, I left my bicycle between our mobile home and our shed – the shed in which our bikes were to be stored. Mine was a used 1976 model in commemoration of our country’s bicentennial, painted in red, white, and blue with matching handlebar streamers.

Early the next morning, when I went out to start another day of bike riding, my bike was nowhere to be found. I checked the shed and all around our yard, but the bike was gone.

In tears, I went inside to tell my mom. I was heartsick that my bike was stolen, but I also felt guilty because I had been told never to leave my bike outside overnight. I knew it was my fault that someone was able to see it and steal it.

My mom was not angry to hear my confession, but was sympathetic. She used the occasion to teach me to turn to God. She said we should pray about it. I can’t remember if she prayed with me, but I know I prayed.

I prayed fervently, knowing I probably lost the bike for good, but still told God of my sorrows and asked for help to find it.

Hours later, after lunch, while I was playing in the back yard by myself, a police officer pulled up to our sidewalk. He called me over, opened his trunk, and asked if the bike inside was mine.

“Yes! That’s my bike!”

My mom saw us out the window, so she came outside to ask what was going on. She saw the officer take my bike out of his trunk. Amazed, she asked where he had found it. He answered that he found it abandoned behind the Hills department store, which was several miles away.

“But how did you know it was ours? We never called anyone or reported a stolen bike.” There was no I.D. of any kind on the bike, and no one else knew it was missing.

The officer turned aside without a word, entered his vehicle, and drove off.

Maybe there’s another explanation, but my mom later thought it was an angel, literally. And the memory of this incident confirms to me that God hears the prayers of children.

I still believe that. Old people, sick people, and children are special friends of God. He consoles us with miracles, big and small, according to his wisdom and love.

It reminds me how we should have childlike innocence and trust in God, whatever our state in life.

However the Lord deals with us for our own good – whether he returns our bike or lets us go without for now – we do well to adopt the mindset of Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:26).