Today me and Mom took our boy up to Mt. Shasta Nordic Center to do some cross-country skiing courtesy of Shasta Disabled Sports. All of it was free, including the equipment rental, help, and instruction. And trust me, we need a lot of all of that. We own no equipment and we have about as much experience in the snow as New Yorkers have feeding bears. The amazing people behind Shasta Disabled Sports as well as all the other generous volunteers who give up their free time to work with people with disabilities deserve a tremendous thank you! We love them and may the Lord bless them!

Follow up:

None of us did cross-country skiing before. It was fun. It also gave us more exercise than we thought it would. We didn't get cold. While skiing, Braden had an excellent time and he never complained. He was especially amused to see me fall on my butt twice. I can't overstate how much we appreciate the people of Shasta Disabled Sports. I know there are similar organizations all over the United States and each one of them deserves our thanks. If not for them we probably would not ski or white water raft or experience many of the other activities they organize.

After we left the Mt. Shasta Nordic Center we ventured into the town of Mt. Shasta. Mom wanted to visit some of the little boutique stores downtown. Braden and I endured the torture and then Mom mentioned something like, "Why don't we go into Napa?" I said, "Sure, why not." I was feeling pretty agreeable and passive at the time. I didn't expect to find anything in Napa and we didn't need a new water pump or anything.

There was a Napa Auto Parts store right close though. It was within easy walking distance. Around Christmas time I told Mom that I wanted to get Braden a Napa truck because I knew they were built well, I thought they were cool, and I knew he'd enjoy a new 18-wheeler. So we went in. Of course, I also knew the trucks were expensive.

I'm sure it's not very often that a family goes into an auto parts place together. It's not like a diner. But we went in and were quickly greeted by a clerk. We were the only customers in the place and right away I told him we were looking for a Napa truck for my son.

To make a long story short they had no tractor trailers on the floor. So the owner went upstairs and came back with a blue die cast diesel truck. Braden started checking it out and was obviously in love with the thing. He was making his 'special kid' noises and that usually prompts us to say something about his disability. Mom mentioned that he had autism; that's why he makes those sounds.

Me and Braden were checking out the truck, didn't know how much it cost, and was pretty sure we weren't going to be purchasing. The detail on this toy truck was incredible. I mentioned above that it was die cast metal, not plastic like so many toy cars and trucks these days. It was a good size too. It had full suspension, made sounds, the doors all opened, the trailer was a coin bank, and it had working headlights and tail lights. Even the dome light in the cab came on when you opened the doors and the driver's seat slid forward and backward as if to accommodate a short driver or a tall dude. It had to be expensive. I never had a toy truck like this when I was a kid. (Dang, I'm sounding old here.)

The owner was on the computer looking up the price for us. We seriously knew we couldn't afford this thing. It was like a toy for an adult collector. But then he came over to us from behind the counter and said Braden could just have it. What?

We were shocked and surprised. We surely didn't expect that! Mom and I were almost in tears. This guy, who doesn't know us or our son, just gave him this expensive detailed toy truck. WOW! I don't know if he knew it or not, but God just worked in this man's heart. I'm sure this truck costs between $40 to $60. You can't find them just anywhere. We were moved by his generosity. And Braden loves that truck.

The owner of Mt. Shasta Napa just made our boy's day... and showed us once again that God is always at work.