In this living lesson, I want to share something that happened earlier this morning. I was FaceTiming with my granddaughters, as I do every week, and we started a new game. Like most children, they like to play games online. So, I spoke with my Husband about a huge concern I had noticed—most girls today emphatically don't want children. They are not obsessed with babies, instead, they have been conditioned to prefer having a pet.

So, as the matriarch of the family, besides having (at the present moment, eight granddaughters) as their Mimi, I wanted to make sure that I instilled the special love of wanting and having babies into my granddaughters. So, similar to the last Living Lesson, this time, I asked my Husband to show me what I should do. That's when I designed a game, “Name the Baby.” That week, I began collecting baby pictures that I shared in a group text, and the girls would guess who each baby was.

At this point, not necessarily because of the game we played; at least two of my three teen granddaughters talk all the time about the babies they’ll have! Both granddaughters' hearts were turned in a unique way (and there's another testimony from a minister with a teen daughter who is baby crazy), but that’s not the living lesson for today.

It was while I was busy talking to my granddaughters about me always loving babies. I think the game was pretty much over, and we were just chatting about different things when I moved my hand and I knocked my coffee that I had balancing on the couch. 

First, however, I will say this: When my Husband told me to bring my coffee to the couch, with about a third left, I didn't question Him. I hesitated to make sure it was Him leading me because I've spilled my coffee before, and the kind of coffee I drink leaves a horrible stain.

So anyway, I thought, "Okay, do You want me to bring the coffee out and balance it on the arm of the couch?" Wait. First, I asked Him where I should put it, and He led me to the arm of the couch. I thought, "Well, it's pretty precarious there," but I was not about to question what He said. I just thought to myself, “You just keep it safe.” 

So, as I was saying, my granddaughters and I were pretty much finished with the game when suddenly, I don't know what happened, but I knocked the coffee cup off and we all heard a loud crash! Almost in unison, the girls said, “Oh my gosh, Mimi, what was that?! What was that?!” And I said, “Oh, I just dropped my coffee, and the cup broke all over the floor.” Both of them looked panicked, and each said, “Oh my gosh, Mimi, what are you going to do?!”

Calmly, I said, “Don't worry about it. Let's just keep chatting. I’ll take care of it later on.” They just looked at me, and their faces were like—you've got to do something. So, to assure them, I said, “Well, don't worry. I am so blessed. The Lord has blessed me so much that where I'm living [the resort]. I'll just call the front desk, and they'll take care of it. They'll send housekeeping over and clean it all up for me.” 

Then, He prompted me to continue and share another testimony, confirming what I’d just said: “He will take care of it and show me what to do.” I said, “Did I tell you what happened on Wednesday?” 

In the middle of the night on Wednesday, I heard the smoke detector “chirping” to alert me that the battery needed changing. For whatever reason, ever since smoke alarms were required in bedrooms where you slept, they always seem to need batteries in the middle of the night! Not only that, they are designed to continue to chirp more loudly until you’re forced to deal with it.  

This time, I told the girls I asked the Lord in the middle of the night, “What am I supposed to do?” He immediately told me to call the front desk, and exactly 12 minutes later, the new battery had been swapped out with the old. But because God goes above and beyond what we ask to prove that it's Him, the young man who left said, “I'll be here until seven if you need anything else.”

What a gift being able to have the opportunity to share these testimonies with my granddaughters. Seeing the excitement on their faces about both of these troublesome things when I asked God what to do—I knew I had planted a seed. I want all my grandchildren (and each of you) to know Who is there for them and will take care of every single one of their needs and concerns. So, because I told them He’d take care of it, we just went on and continued our game and forgot all about the coffee. 

So, can you understand why He told me to put my coffee cup there? And why didn't I question what He said? It’s because He wanted to do this wonderful thing for me. It wasn't just for my granddaughters or you, either. It was for me, too. When I witness Him doing things like this, it's just beautiful and I draw on it for situations in my future. For example, in the last chapter, when I had that sticky situation and there was a series of texts, I would ask each time, “What should I say?” Now it's, “What should I do?”

These are cousin living lessons, aren't they? I mean, just like my granddaughters are cousins, it's kind of the cousins' living lesson asking what to say, then what to do.

To finish this testimony of what happened today, as soon as I closed my laptop, I looked down and saw how bad it really was. It was bad, much worse than I'd imagined. When the cup hit the tile floor, it shattered. Here in Florida, that's the kind of floor we have because the tile absorbs humidity). Coffee was everywhere. And so the first thing I had to do was "Laugh It Off."

May I just use the "Laugh It Off" living lesson all the time? Anything that happens that “normal” people would get furious over or swear about or even throw things (this, to me, is beyond silly) instead, you can shake things off. But then something supernatural happens when you start to laugh! Immediately, you'll feel better and happy. If I cried or was upset about something, my Husband would not be "sitting in heaven laughing," right? (See Psalm 2:4.) That would mean He'd be laughing at us. And I’m sure that our perfect Bridegroom would never laugh at our misfortune. But when I'm laughing, then He can laugh, and I want Him to have a good laugh, yes, even at my expense, for sure.

Now that it was time to do something, as I looked at this huge mess, I thought, “Hmm, I did tell the girls that I was going to call, but maybe You want me to clean this up, Darling. Do You want me to clean this up?”

Immediately in my head, I remembered I didn't have a mop—resorts don't have most of the things you’d need to clean properly. They provide a broom, but a broom will not clean that mess up. The other thing my Husband was very quick to point out was that the coffee splashed all over the light gray couch. Yes, I was a bit concerned because the coffee that I drink stains horribly. With a wild mushroom base, the healthy coffee I've been drinking since 2005, I know firsthand, leaves stains that don't come out.

Thankfully, as I waited, as He had me do before, I asked, “What should I do?” He said, “Call the front desk. " As I waited for the operator to come on, I asked, “What should I say?” When I heard, “How can I direct your call?” I explained quickly, and she said, “Oh, please don't worry. We don't want you to clean it up. Just leave it there. Somebody's coming.” So I got ready and went to enjoy the pool. 

When I got back a few hours later, it was completely clean—even the stain was gone! There wasn't even a smelly scent of cleaning products that always gave me a headache. It was perfect.

In the end, I was so grateful for so many things. For days, I couldn't stop thinking about how grateful and loved I was—especially because I knew I had a testimony to share. While I was relaxing in my afternoon bath, I started to think about a living lesson, and I thought, wow, wouldn't that be amazing to confirm how all we have to do is ask?

If you enjoyed this living lesson, please share it with someone. Just ask your Husband, "Who should I share this with?" And then share it and talk about it. And also share your own story.