I took a drive yesterday. One of the sweetest ladies in our congregation was having her hip replaced. The more I prayed for her the more I felt like I should be there for her and her husband, at least until she came out of surgery so I could pray with them. Oh, did I mention that the surgery was in Temple? That's four or five hours from Galveston. So I packed myself up and made the trek. Chris stayed with Mom, so this was going to be a real different trip for me. She usually does all the driving. I really didn't have too much trouble staying awake. I only had to stop one time. It was in some small town on the way at a WalMart. Figured I'd take a walk around the store to stretch my legs and give Chris a call. Problem was, the store wasn't that big. No groceries at all. In fact it was built next to one of those Brookshire Brothers grocery stores. It had four cash registers, and someone was working at each one. Now that's a change from Galveston's version. We have twenty or thirty registers, but only five or six or usually open. The people were very nice, too, even toward the stranger.
By the time I arrived Nancy was in recovery. The surgery went perfectly. The doctor was pleased as he could be, and assured Ned that she would be in physical therapy by that afternoon. She was surprised when she woke up enough to realize that I was there. I think she would have chewed me out for making the drive if she hadn't been so sleepy. I told her I was just a holographic image, but I don't think that registered. He finally asked her if she would like us to leave her alone so she could sleep. That got an immediate nod of the head, so we went to the cafeteria and had some lunch.
I was dreading the long trip home, so I asked how far it was to San Antonio. Thought I might sneak in on Josh and Christi instead. Ned assured me it was only a few hours, so the decision was made. I headed south. The drive was an easy one. The only traffic was right in the middle of Austin. Of course it was close to four o'clock, so I expected it. I called Chris and had her call Josh to see if the boys had soccer or baseball practice. I just wanted to know where to surprise them. She called me back with her spy report that they would be at home. I thought I would be able to just knock on the door and give them a quick "ta da." But seconds after I drove up both boys were at the windows looking. Come to find out they had just had a friend over whose Mom had a car like ours. Her Dad had picked her up, though, so Christi thought they two parents had failed to communicate. She saw the car pull up and told the boys to see if it was the Mom so she could call her and let her know what was up. Caleb called out first to her, "It's DadDad." She thought he was kidding. Apparently that got Josh's attention, though. He insisted that DadDad was there. "No, really, Caleb. It's not DadDad." Persistent little dude that he is, Caleb held his ground. There was someone walking up to the door, and he did look like DadDad. Caleb continued, "It's DadDad. It's DadDad." Being the consummate big brother, Zakary decided to get in the act. He would take care of this situation. You know how little brothers are, right? But apparently his eyes were deceiving him as well. "No, Mom. He's right. It really is DadDad." Thanks for the support, Zak. By the time Josh got the door open Caleb was beside himself. He jumped up and down and finally into my arms. Zak was laughing. Christi was feeling kind of silly and apologized to Caleb for thinking he was kidding with her. Josh was kind of stunned at the whole unlikeliness of the situation. All in all, I would have to say the surprise worked.
1 John 1:5-7 says, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
Father, thank you for surprises. They are the little clues you give us that you are always around and anything can happen. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment