"Mom! Come here! Look what I just found," said five year old Heidi.
Andrea saw her daughter squatting down next to one of the larger trees in the park. "What are you looking at Heidi?"
"Look, Mom, do you see it? It's a purple ladybug! It's so cute!"
Andrea bent down and peered into the bottom trunk of the tree and saw a rock painted like a ladybug. "Oh, that is cute," said Andrea. "I wonder who put it here."
"Can I pick it up and see if there is a name on the back?" Heidi asked.
"Sure, why not."
Heidi reached into the tree, pulled out the rock, and tried to read the back. It said, "I hope I made you smile. Love, God." Heidi's eyes grew as big as her smile. "Mom, God put this ladybug here to make me smile. I didn't even know He was thinking about me!" exclaimed Heidi.
Andrea smiled too and said, "Well this must be our lucky day! We have found a hidden treasure!"
"You think this ladybug is a treasure?"
"Not the ladybug, but the message on the back. God found a way to say 'I love you' to us today. I'd say we struck it rich today!"
Heidi smiled again hoping God would notice how happy He made her. "Hey, Mom, can I take the ladybug home with us?"
"No, we better leave it here. God may need to give that message to someone else, too."
"Ok. Can we go home and tell Dad we found a treasure?"
"That sounds like a great idea. Let's go!" agreed Andrea. Andrea and Heidi walked hand and hand out of the park towards home. As they walked they never even noticed thirteen year old Autumn sitting on a park bench pretending to read a book.
Autumn made the sign of the cross and began to pray. "Hey God, did you see that? Your idea totally worked! I used the talent you gave me to spread your message! Did you see how happy it made that little girl and her mom? And I feel great inside, I made a difference! Thank you for letting me a part of Your Plan!"
Autumn closed her eyes and heard God whispered, "Thank you for listening to My Plan. I need to get this message out to a lot of people. This is only the beginning...."
-Susan
