Yesterday afternoon we met some friends for lunch. Looking up through the large plate glass windows to the east, I could see Hope crossing the parking lot. Hope America is our three-year-old. Currently she is the baby of the family. I jumped from the chair and ran to the door. She was crossing the parking lot to get to her older sisters who were leaving for a little shopping. I called to her as I ran out the door.
“Hope, come back here.” She had been walking but now that she thought I was going to keep her from going with her sisters, she turned a broke into a run. (It is a serious matter when you interfere with a woman of any age who is intent on shopping).
“No, Hope. Stop,” I called out. She was in a full run. The words were barely from my month when her shoe caught on the ground and she fell face first on the asphalt. When I picked her up she was still trying to wrestle free because she wanted to go with her sisters. Her knees were skinned but otherwise she was unhurt.
All I wanted to do was make sure she got safely across the parking lot and give her sisters a couple dollars for Starburst jelly beans. She just thought I was an old guy out to ruin her fun. I may be getting up in years but I try to contribute to the fun whenever I can. The older she gets, I’m sure, the more she will know that to be true about me.
I suppose we all have a little of that in us, though. We all have that tendency to doubt the goodness of the Father. We all fight the foolish impulse to turn and run away when He calls for us.
I gathered my baby into my harms and held her. Holding little Hope and wiping the tears from her face I pressed a couple dollars into her hand for the jelly beans. I reminded myself that all the Father’s gifts are good.
Today Lois told me that she read of a little boy, who when his father called to him, ran into traffic and was killed. Running when the Father calls can be a deadly habit. When you hear His voice turn and run into his arms. He loves you and his plans for you are better than you can imagine.
Hope is doing well. Her knees are pretty as ever. She brushed her teeth after the jelly beans and we have been working on teaching her to come quick when her Daddy calls for her. When your Father calls, don’t run. He is either protecting you from something bad or He is trying to catch up to you with one of His blessings.
