September 28 – “When Momma’s happy …”

Well, apparently April saw what her darling little girl Cailyn said about future pregnancy plans … while she was in class.  She said she actually laughed out loud.  She didn’t say if she got in trouble, though.  That is always a fertile field for possible pedagogical involvement in a student’s life.  Just ask our son Josh about that one. 

One time when he was still in college we hadn’t heard from him in a while, so being the wonderful mother that she is, Chris decided to give him a call.  The problem was, she forgot to check his schedule.  His phone rang right in the middle of class.  And his teacher, being the wonderful purveyor of knowledge and life skills that he was, asked Josh to hand him the phone.  Not that he was going to take it away from him – that would be immature.  After all, this was a college classroom.  No, this professor was in full-on communication mode.  He had a message to communicate to a roomful of students.  It just so happened that this particular message had nothing to do with the academic structure in place at the moment.  No.  This message was more of the practical application kind.  So he answered Josh’s phone. 

Needless to say, Chris was a bit shocked at first, but when he identified himself as Josh’s professor, she realized rather quickly what was happening.  Remember, Chris had been the one to do the vast majority of teaching in Josh’s home school career, so she was instantly on board with the whole “teaching for life” concept, which the professor was obviously going for.  And much to her credit she took it in stride and immediately played right along.  She responded along the lines of “This is his mother, and I haven’t heard from him in a while.  I was just calling to see if he had fallen off the face of the earth or something.” 

Now it was the professor’s turn to be a bit shocked.  After a brief pause he politely informed her that the message would be delivered.  Before he pushed the “end” button, however, he turned toward the now-slumping-into-his-chair-in-abject-embarrassment Josh.  And in a voice loud enough for everyone in the class – as well as his mother - to hear, he pronounced, “Joshua … call your mother.” 

Now if that doesn’t change your life, not much will.  As far as we could determine, Josh never forgot to put his phone on silent during class after that.  In fact, even now I think he leaves his phone on silent all the time.  If you call him, don’t expect him to answer right away.  He’ll check his messages later … after class.  Oh, and he calls his mother on a fairly regular basis now, too.  Except maybe this week.  I don't think she's heard from him this week.  Hey, in the indomitable words of that well-intentioned college professor, "Call your mother."  Make her happy.  And when Momma’s happy, everyone is happy, right?

Psalms 32:9-10 says, “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.  Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.”

Father, forgive me for being like those mules.  I trust you.  Amen.