Welcome Home
When my
kids went to kindergarten, half-days were the norm; I would drop them off at
the school in the morning and pick them up a little before lunchtime. This worked out well for all of us since my kindergarteners
always napped in the afternoons, and I loved having them home with me for half
the day--especially when they were sleeping (kidding…I am mostly kidding.)
Since our neighbor families also had kindergarten kids, we often shared the driving
to and from school. This usually worked
out great…until it didn’t.
This story
is about one of those not-so-great times.
I was in charge of pick up on this particular day, and as I rolled up to
the pick up lane, I noticed that none of the kids I was in charge of were
waiting at the curb. The teacher assisting
said that one of the other neighborhood moms had already swung by and gotten the
crew. So, I pulled through the lane and
made my way back to our development, (a little over two miles), or “the Farm”
--our affectionate name for our subdivision --just outside of town. By the time
I had gone to the school, pulled through the line, talked to the teacher, and
left the school, at least 20 minutes had passed and I was hoping that my neighbor
had realized her mix up and kept Cole--my kindergartener--at her house until I
returned. Cell phones weren’t very
popular then and texting was definitely not a thing. Knowing that he wasn’t in any danger, I turned
toward the house, stopped for the mail at the mailbox, and then proceeded to
our home. When I got about 2 minutes
from our driveway, I saw a small figure dressed in snow pants, snow boots and an
orange winter coat--carrying a camouflage backpack--coming towards me and my
heart started to race. As I sped up to
go towards him, I could see that it was Cole…and he was crying as he
walked. I immediately pulled over to the snow-covered grass, ran towards him, and grabbed him into my arms. I asked him what he was doing, and between
big sobs, he said, “Mommy, you weren’t there.” Then I started crying, guilt flooding my entire being, and I said, “Oh
honey, I am so so sorry. That will never
happen again.”
Because my
neighbor thought it was her day to pick up kids, she had just dropped Cole at
the garage door and sped away. What she
didn’t know is that I wasn’t home right then, and our garage door was uncharacteristically
locked that day. So, when Cole tried to
get in, he couldn’t. He didn’t give up,
however, he tried the other doors too, and finding them locked, he went first
over to the next door neighbor’s house, and then he started walking up the road--the
place I found him--to the go to the house the driver (and her family) lived. I was so proud of him for being resourceful
and for trying to find a solution even when he was scared, but when I found him
plodding down the road, that bravado had worn thin and he was almost giving
up. My heart was broken because I knew
that he felt, in a way, “abandoned,” and that made me sad. No one was at fault, and it was just a simple
scheduling mistake (and really, he was only in distress for probably around 15
minutes,) but I felt sorrow that I had contributed to making my very precious
son feel unexpectedly separated from me.
I think
God understood my feelings that day.
Please know, I never want to “humanize” God and make him something less
glorious than he is; but when Jesus, God’s Son, was sacrificed for US…when Jesus
died on the cross and was separated from his Father…when God had to turn his
face against his very precious Child so he could take on MY sin and MY shame…when
God had to momentarily abandon HIS ONLY SON so I COULD LIVE…when he heard the
piercing, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I’ll bet it brought sorrow to his heart. Don’t you think?
Jesus willingly
died for us and rose again so we would never ever have to be separated from
God. He did it so the promise “I will
never leave you or forsake you” would ring true in our nervous hearts. He did it so when we go on our final journey,
maybe plodding and with waning courage, our Heavenly Father will run towards us
with open arms and say “Welcome home, child.
I have been waiting for you.”
God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
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