God Is Good and the Ornaments Are Up!

Those who were at the services this morning heard about the bittersweet time I had yesterday as I realized our 19 year old son had little interest in participating in the family tradition of hanging our own, unique Christmas bulbs on the tree. His decorations were left forlornly gathering dust on the chest on our living room, a sad reminder, for me, of his rite of passage. A small matter at most but an indicator of his coming of age and a regrettable but necessary loss of the innocence of his younger days.

How I wanted back that little guy who was always eager to impress me with his capabilities and accomplishments! Did I pay enough attention? Did I spend enough time? I may never know, at least not while I walk this earth! For now, his attentiveness to my opinions of him and his achievements has been replaced by a more compelling desire to spend time and treasure on his girlfriend, a delightful young lady he's known for quite some time.

All this was made even more melancholy when I realized he was not in church with us this morning. As I walked in the door, shortly after 2:00, he was sitting at the computer, "Hi, Dad!"....and gone.....off to take ballroom dancing lessons for the afternoon.

None of this was helping me.

But then, God showed up and just blessed me out of my socks.

I was sitting in the living room alone, Kelly having gone Christmas shopping. Jason came through the door saying, "You won't believe how many people told me about your sermon! I completely forgot about hanging the bulbs this year!" He then proceeded to put them on the tree, taking the same care with each individual bulb that he always took when he was small.

For one fleeting moment, I saw the little boy. One last glimpse at what this young man has sprung from. It was sweet and tender and it buoyed me with the promise and the hope of what God will do tomorrow by seeing what He has done today.