Please bear with me... This will seem like a complaint at
first. I promise it is not!
I have a confession to
make. Not the kind where I need to
go to the priest, although during Advent it is definitely a good time for that.
This is a confession for you, the parents of my school.
I took over the morning traffic duty a year and a half ago,
and I have to admit to you that it wouldn't have been my first choice of supervision duties. (If you walked by last Monday when it was
pouring down rain, you could probably read the look on my face that said I was miserable.) I don't know what I expected back before I
started morning traffic last year, but I do know that I wasn't expecting it to
be fun.
And that's the point
of today's message: my expectations have totally been turned upside down.
Morning traffic is one of the most enjoyable times of my whole day! The main
reason? You.
You, the parents-- and by extension the grandparents,
cousins, aunts, uncles, and students-- all of you who walk or drive through
that line each morning have made it a great and welcome start to each day. In the beginning, my "Good Mornings!" sometimes fell flat, with no
response. People driving by in their cars didn't notice my wave hello. I would
sometimes get confused looks from folks who were obviously used to feeling
invisible as they walked or drove through the line.
Things have definitely changed, however. Sometimes, I can't
even turn around before I hear someone calling out a "Good Morning!"
from afar. Drivers are waving before I can even tell who it is through the
glare of the sun! From the walkers who wait for the cars to go by, I enjoy
hearing how things are going, what your family will be up to that evening, or
how last night's softball game went. On those rare occasions, I even feel
blessed to be present for you to share some heartache and offer my assurance of
prayers.
I have to send a special thanks out to a couple of the
grandpas who walk their grandchildren through the line each morning, too. I've
gotten some great laughs from them over the last year and a half. (One
suggested that Miss Chacon and I sing a duet at the Christmas Program next
year. Sorry, it'll never happen . . . You don't want to hear me sing! Another
thought wrist weights would be great while I hold up the stop sign and wave
cars through because I'd build muscle by the end of the school year . . . Okay, I'm
actually considering that one!) Each morning brings something different, and
some kind of joy or laughter.
So in all truth, my
expectations have truly been flipped upside down. God took something that I,
in my human limitedness, thought was going to be difficult, and He turned it
into something wonderful and life-giving. I have been truly blessed by all of
you.
I have one small reflection on this for you-- consider it an
early Christmas gift. As we approach Christmas Day and hear the Nativity story,
consider that God turned Mary and Joseph's expectations upside down, too! Out
of the blue one day, God stepped into their lives and asked something of them
which they did not expect (and much more challenging than morning traffic duty,
for sure). Being open to it, though, they followed, and out of their
"yes" came the salvation that is possible for each one of us.
I know that many are facing difficult challenges. I
know that sometimes the road ahead does not look promising, and that life doesn't always work out the way we expect. I pray that God's grace will be in the hearts of those that need it, so that they may continue to follow Him, and to give Him a chance to show how He can turn expectations upside down.
If things are going
well for you and yours right now, pray for those in
our community who desperately need your support. God is always finding ways to
break through to us (even in silly little ways, like through morning traffic
duty). Let's all pray for the openness to let Him in! As we do this ourselves, we’ll be setting the
best example possible for the little pairs of eyes in our homes that watch and
learn from us.
Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow morning!
