Little 5-year-old Lilli went to a big store in Austria. She didn’t go alone—no, no. She went with Mother. But then she got lost.

Here’s what happened.

Lilli was wearing her favorite pink shirt as she and Mother walked up and down the aisles of the big store. They looked at this, and they looked at that. 

Suddenly, Lilli said, “I want to stay here and look at this.”

The “this” happened to be a carpet that was on sale. It was the most unusual carpet Lilli had ever seen. It had brown, white, and black spots and kind of looked like a cow. Lilli wanted to stop and touch the cow carpet.

Mother didn’t mind at all. 

“Sure,” she said. “I’m here standing right beside you.”

Lilli ran her fingers over the cow carpet. She imagined she was petting a pretty brown, white, and black cow. She could almost hear it say, “Moo, Lilli, moo.”

Then she looked up. Where was Mother? She couldn’t see her anywhere. She turned around—no Mother. Fear gripped her heart, and tears spilled out of her eyes. 

She prayed.

“Dear Jesus, help me find Mother,” she said.

At that moment, a woman came over and asked kindly, “What’s wrong? Can I help you?”

“Yes,” Lilli said. “I’m looking for my mother.”

“Where did you last see her?” the woman asked. “Show me the place.”

Lilli, sobbing, led the woman to the cow carpet with the brown, white, and black spots. Standing next to the carpet was a very familiar-looking woman. Lilli looked at the woman more closely.

 Could it be? Yes, yes, it was! It was Mother!

“Mother!” she exclaimed.

With cheeks wet with tears, she grabbed Mother in a big hug. Her tears were no longer from sadness or fear. Lilli was so happy that she was shedding tears of joy.

Mother also was crying. While Lilli had been touching the carpet, Mother had been looking at something else nearby. But when she turned around and couldn’t see Lilli, she became afraid. She told everyone in the store, “My daughter has disappeared. Her name is Lilli, and she’s wearing a pink shirt.” Very quickly, many people were searching for her.

No one understood what had happened. Mother didn’t think she had left Lilli at the cow carpet. Lilli didn’t think she had left Mother. But, somehow, Lilli had gotten lost.

In any case, it didn’t matter. Daughter and Mother were reunited. It was the happiest of reunions! Everyone in the store was happy. Mother was happy. And Lilli was very happy—because Jesus had answered her prayer. 

Lilli loves Jesus very much and talks to Him all the time, even when she isn’t lost. She thanks Him for everything and tells Him everything. She even dreams about Him at night.

“I like talking to Jesus and dreaming of Him,” she said.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, that will help more children know about Jesus. Lilli is now nine years old and studies at Bogenhofen, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Austria that received part of a previous offering. This quarter’s offering will help teach more children about Jesus in the Inter-European Division, which includes Austria. Thank you for planning a generous offering.