Several years ago, shopping for the entire month's groceries with my children along could be quite an ordeal for everyone.

On one of these grocery trips, one of my daughters brought along her favorite doll. My son, being mischievous, had been teasing her during the entire time at the grocery store. It wasn't malicious, just out-of-boredom teasing. After dealing with this frustration in the store, we finally headed home.

Traffic was especially heavy that day for some reason. It was summertime, so we had our windows open. We had to rely on 4/60 air-conditioning: All four windows down and driving at a brisk pace. Still teasing his little sister, my son playfully held the dolly out of the window. I hit a bump on the road, and, wouldn't you know it, the dolly fell to the middle of the street.

When she started crying, I looked in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, I saw the dolly in the middle of the road, and the car behind me was closing in. She cried for her dolly.

My son was beside himself, "Mom, I didn't mean to. Really, I didn't."

She cried, "I want my dolly!"

In my frustration, I said, "I can't go back now. Traffic is too heavy."

"Then what are we going to do?" my son asked as he tried to console his sister.

In my frustration I said the first thing that came to mind: "Pray about it." I was not expecting anything to happen really, but the car quieted down. In retrospect, probably all six of us, my five children and myself, were praying for that. I only know my prayer, which was that she be contented and that God give me the wisdom to handle the situation.

Since it was a half hour drive to the store without heavy traffic, I soon concentrated on getting us and the groceries home before they spoiled in the heat. When we arrived at home, my older children grabbed bags to take inside, and my little girl ran inside. In less than 15 seconds she came running back with the doll in her hands—the same one that had fallen on the street!

In disbelief, I asked, "Is this the same doll?" All of my children nodded.

My son said, "Mom, I saw it fall on the street!"

We were all amazed that day, but every time something comes up, I remind my children, "Remember the doll? God answers small prayers."