All this week I have been reminded of something that happened several years ago. I was teaching as an adjunct at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. At the end of the semester, I needed to go to UMHB and drop off my final grades for the semester. So, I packed my youngest son in the car and drove the 40 minutes it took to get to campus from Waco. Thomas was about five or six months old, and like most babies, he fell asleep about 30 seconds into the trip.
When we arrived at UMHB, I had the unpleasant task of waking him up. Thomas was not (and still is not) a morning person. So, I gently tried to wake him. As he roused, he had this look on his face that was a cross between confusion and anger (Cindy says she knows the look . . . apparently he got it from me). I tried to console and encourage him, but he was still very disoriented. Then, I leaned down in front of him so that he could see me. When I did, something happened that I will never forget. The confusion and anger melted off his face into the sweetest smile I have ever seen.
Thomas taught me a humbling lesson. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter where he was as long as his father was there.
I suppose that is a lesson that I learn more slowly. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that the Kingdom of God must be lived out among our enemies. Thankfully, God has never asked me to face down the Nazis. But, when God does ask me to be and go places that make me uncomfortable, I need to remember that. When I wake up and look around and feel confused and angry, I need to be able to be at peace by simply gazing into the face of my heavenly father and remembering that wherever I am it is okay because my heavenly father is there.
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