Have you ever thought of threadbare tires as a blessing?

A few months ago, we decided to build a sandbox for the kids. Since kids like to jump in the sand, we thought it best to surround the sandbox with tires so nobody would hit their head on the concrete edge. Toussaint went to look for some old tires, but many places wanted too much money for them. Then he walked into another tire shop and discovered that he knew the owner. “Take as many as you want,” the owner said, so Toussaint filled up his vehicle and gave the shop owner $4 as a thank-you gift.

When the sandbox was completed, we still had about 20 tires left. We kept them, thinking they would be useful for some other project. Sure enough, we used them for an obstacle course and a tire swing. Kids would squeeze themselves into the bigger tires, and our student missionaries would roll them around. Everybody had great fun.

When we had a VBS, a stack of tires became the furnace that Daniel’s friends were thrown into, and then they served as the lions’ den. One tire became a safety seat for our cook’s baby. Comfortably seated on some old bags in the middle of the tire, the baby can watch everything without falling over.

So now, when we count our blessings, we also thank God for our old, worn-out tires. Who knows what else they will be good for in the future?

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