The first school I ever attended sat halfway up the side of a hill. Along the ridge right above it were several matronly Oak trees and down at the bottom of the hill was the playground with seesaws and swing sets. Every afternoon at recess most of the boys and girls would make a mad dash down the hill to be the first on the swings and seesaws. A group of us boys, however, found another great toy to play with, the acorns from the Oak trees. Thus began the Great Acorn War.

For several days we divided into armies, gathered our acorns, and spent recess throwing them at each other. It was great fun until you got hit. One day I found myself trapped behind a tree with the other army all around me. I said a quick prayer to God to please not let me get hit and then made a break for it. Dozens of expertly thrown acorns stung into my face, head, arms, and back. I ran as fast as I could all the way back into the school. The next day I decided the swings might be more fun and left the warfare to others. Soon after that one of the teachers saw the acorn fighters in action and put a stop to the Great Acorn War once and for all.

That was one of the first times I remember asking God for something and it was also one of the first times I remember Him saying No! It took me many years to finally see that sometimes what we think is best for us really isn’t and that God’s wisdom is far greater than ours. Since then I have had a lot of my prayers answered and the answer hasn’t always been yes. I asked God to cure my boys of their Autism but God showed me instead how to look beyond their handicaps and see their loving souls shining through. I asked God for an easy life, but God gave me a challenging one to grow my character and learn the importance of love. I asked God for the ability to help others and heard Him say in my heart, “You are finally getting it!”

May God then always give you what you need even if it isn’t always what you want.

Joseph J. Mazzella joemazzella@frontier.com