It’s Yellow Ball Monday, and Elaine Gavette has the ball:

A ride in the back of a tiny compact car is not always pleasant for a two-and-a-half-year-old. However this Sunday morning, Allie was in a happy mood. Sitting in her carseat next to her eighteen-month-old brother, she was high enough to see out the car window.

It was a beautiful spring morning and she called out the colorful things she saw. “Trees!” she squealed, “I see trees.”

Her mother encouragingly replied, “What color are the trees?”

“Green!” she yelled.

“Good job, Allie!” Mom praised. “Do you know who made the trees?”

“God made them,” she quickly replied.

“That’s right,” her dad confirmed. “Good job, Allie!”

Allie turned her attention once again to the passing scene outside the car window. A moment later, she said, “Good job, God!”

Do I stop, like Allie did, and give You praise for the simple and beautiful gifts around me every day? Open my eyes and my heart to notice and appreciate Your goodness.

Elaine Gavette is grandma to Allie, along with four other grandchildren. She has been married for almost forty years, and after 29 years of teaching in Holland, she (semi)-retired last year (she still substitute teaches).


I first got to know Elaine while we worked together in our church’s children’s ministry, and she was a complete delight. (The kids thought so, too!) Elaine’s husband was a Christian Ed pastor for 25 years, and she has loved working in children’s ministry for most of her life. But she says that her highest goal and joy is ministering to her children and grandchildren. 

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