Guarded

  When I was a teen/young adult, I naively put myself in some positions that could have turned out very badly.  Take, for instance, the time a guy gave me a ride from the top of the trailer court down to the bottom because it hadn't been plowed yet. 
  Jumping into a stranger's vehicle has some risks of its own, but inviting him inside for a cup of coffee was flat-out stupid.  My motives were pure.  It was a thank you gesture.  But after we chatted for awhile, it suddenly dawned on me that he was expecting to receive something that I had no intention of giving.
  Fortunately, even before I was saved, God was gracious enough to protect me from my stupidity.  But lately, I've been wondering, "Have I been too cautious, therefore missing opportunities to minister"?
  Ater serving six years of a seven to fourteen jail sentence, my son is in a halfway house.  He is located about 45 minutes from my home.  Between us, stands our church.  To pick him up on a Sunday morning and then take him home would require a good bit of extra travel, and we already travel almost a half hour.
  My daughter suggested I ask Gale, a lady from our church who comes from that direction, to pick him up.
I hesitated.  She is single, and old enough to be his mom.  Still.  What if I had been in her shoes? 
  I didn't ask her in person, but rather through facebook, but from all appearances, there wasn't a moment's hesitation.
  Weighing in at 9lb. 2oz at birth, my son has always been "built like a Mack truck".  The first Sunday she picked him up, I prayed she wouldn't panic when she saw him.  I don't think that prayer was necessary.
  Words cannot express the joy it is to be able to worship with him every Sunday morning.  And this brings me back to the thought, "What if someone had asked me to do the same?"

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