A member of St Philip's recalls two linked events over a twelve-year period...

My daughters grew up to know Jesus, but when they were aged seven and six my wife divorced me and I had to move out of the house.

I maintained contact with my daughters as best I could, but for various reasons it was difficult to do so.

After two years of no contact, my older daughter decided to make me a part of her life again, so we started to meet up.

I learned that she was now agnostic i.e. she didn’t know whether God exists or whether He doesn’t. So I prayed that God, my Dad, would make Himself real to my daughter.

One Saturday, back in 2019, we met up for our weekly connect, and we decided to go to Bugsy's that day, in Margate. After playing pool for a bit and as we were leaving the building, we passed an arcade grabber machine.

This reminded me of an incident from her youth that I then recounted to her, as she had forgotten it:

I was out with her and her younger sister at a children’s party in the hotel next to Margate train station on a Saturday in 2007, when they were aged five and four. There was one of those amusement-arcade grabber machines where the children are guaranteed a prize for each turn.

She had a go and grabbed a bracelet, which she then gave to one of her friends.

She came back to me and asked to have another go. This time she got a bag thing that she let another girl have, though actually the girl snatched it off her.

Then I thought I had better let her younger sister have a go.

We positioned the grabber over the soft toys, and when it came up it had grabbed four, yes four, soft toys ! I couldn’t believe it as I was watching it happen.

I told my older daughter that it was Jesus giving her two toys back for the two she had given away (or had been taken from her), plus two toys for her younger sister.

(When I got home I tried recreating this by attempting to pick up the four toys from the table with my hand, but I couldn’t do it !)

So, twelve years later, I recounted this story to my daughter.

She was a bit down that day as someone had stolen £20 from her pocket when she had forgotten her coat and left it at a party the previous weekend.

We left Bugsy's, crossed the road, went down towards the sea, and walked along the cliff path.

Suddenly she stopped, then stepped over the metal railing that ran by the path, and retrieved a £20 note that she had seen fluttering in the grass.

What were the chances of that ? Of me having related this previous story of Jesus recompensing her, she immediately then being reimbursed for this latest loss ?!

Thank you Jesus for showing my daughter Your personal knowledge of and care for her.