At the Beckoning of My Son

  At the insisting of my son, I walked outside. I was quickly handed a bat and, because I’m perceptive like that, I understood that I was to join him in a game of baseball. We took turns placing the ball on the tee and swinging the bat. Lefty. Righty. Bothy. It didn’t matter.  Our outside play morphed into different games and soon I was adorned with deteriorating dollar store jump ropes and my ridiculously comfy slippers were getting covered with wet grass.  My suggestion to go for a walk was welcome by my son, so we laced up some shoes and head out the front door.   Before long we were walking hand in hand on our adventure to the mail box, leaving the jump ropes behind. When we arrived at our destination, I let my boy fiddle endlessly with the key in an attempt to get it in the right spot and turn it to open the box.  At last, WE GOT MAIL. But instead of turning around to complete our journey, we started a new one. An aimless walk, with no destination, no end goal, no purpose, no objective.   And so we walked. Hand in hand. Seriously the most precious thing a mommy could do. We looked at the flowers, and the birds. We saw an airplane overhead and I scooped him up when he was startled by a barking dog. As we rounded a corner ,we approached a busy street. We watched the cars zoom by.   People hustling and bustling. It’s December. There is much to do. So much to do. Too much to do. People are in a hurry. The “to do” lists are endless. There are gifts to buy, packages to get to the post office- yesterday. Christmas cards that aren’t out yet. Cookies to bake. Lights to see. Memories to make. Oh yea and then the whole “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” attitude to keep while everyone else seems to be able to buy and do what I want to buy and do for my family, but can’t.   Oh, but that’s all on top of regular December. You know the one that has laundry and groceries. School projects and programs. Games, practices, recitals and rehearsals. Car repairs, meetings, birthday parties and who knows what else because seriously my brain can’t hold it all.   But not today. Not in my little moment. Cause as I rounded that corner with my son, for some reason, with his little hand holding mine, that moment took my breath away. I saw all the zooming cars, people getting things done, checking things off their list. But I was present. I was IN THE MOMENT. And without realizing it I had forgotten about all the things that were weighing on my mind and I was captured by my son.   And then it happened. The most magical thing. We turned our eye just in time to see a red fire truck pass us by. Then 3 yellow school buses. And to top it all off, a green garbage truck finished off the parade. Seriously it happened. We both tinkled a little with the excitement. It was AWESOME.   And so with my son’s sweet little hand in mine, I thanked God for the moment.  For our journey without a destination or a goal. But it certainly had a purpose. To shift my heart. To see God’s graces in the moments He has already put before me. To slow down. To reject the lie that says that everything needs to get checked off the list. To be thankful.  To look for the things I would have missed if I hadn’t chosen to BE present, instead of shop for one. To realign my heart to beat the truth, that Jesus is the reason for this, and any season.  God Almighty, sent His Son as a baby boy to walk a journey that would eventually stretch out His hands on a cross. For you. For me. And that is the greatest gift of all.