A Trust Experiment

Sometimes I like to flex the kiddos' trust muscles, so today I came home from work and ordered them into the car.
"Mommy, where are we going?"  "Mommy, why did you pack water?"  "Mommy, why do I need shoes?"  I could have told them the truth.  That on a day like today, when the temperature hits 75 degrees, and the sun is bright and the grass is green and the flowers are blooming, it is time to welcome summer with a trip to the Dari Bar.  Instead, I asked Eli, "Do you trust me?"
Long pause.
"Yes?"
Five minutes later, "Mommy, did you bring food?"
"No."
"BUT MOMMY!!!!!!  WE DON'T WANT WATER AND NO FOOD!!!!"
And a little voice whispered into my soul, "Haven't you asked me the same things?  Haven't you cried out to me that you want to stay home but you don't want to be poor?  That you fear I called you to this path with no plans to provide for you?  That you can't see any open doors, so you assume there won't be one? You assume that I don't care about you, about the desires I've placed in you? You think I've forgotten?  That I've overlooked the important?" 
Of course.  The Israelites did the same thing when God rescued them from Egypt. "... and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone…" (Numbers 11:4-5)  God just rescued them from SLAVERY, and they were freaking out about manna.  
Just a few chapters later, they are breaking down again because the promised land seems a little scary. "And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. " (Numbers 13:27-28)  

Maybe if I teach my son to trust me, he'll find it easier to trust God.  Maybe I will too.

"Do you trust me?"  I asked Eli again.

"....Yes."  

"Do I do good things for you?"

"...Yes."

And then we pulled into the Dari Bar.

As he finished his ice cream, chocolate and vanilla swirl with sprinkles and a candy face, I asked him, "Aren't you glad you trusted me?"

With a big chocolate and sprinkle grin, he said, "Yes."

"Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10"Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"  (Matthew 7:9-11)