The other day I was driving home from preschool with the boys & we were stopped at an intersection. On the corner there was this old abandoned restaurant & a homeless guy sitting on a large flower bed outside the building. He had a sign, I'm not sure what it said because I wasn't paying attention, but Cody sure was.
He took this opportunity to teach me something I'd long forgotten & I waited a few days to post it & I've yet to actually TELL anyone about it, mostly because I wanted to think about what had happened to me. I'm not sure how the event transpired into something about me, but it did.
As we drove away from the intersection, Cody said, "mommy, did you see Jesus?" I asked him what he was talking about & he said, "sitting back there where we waited for the red light." I asked him if he saw Jesus sitting NEXT to the man & he said, "no, mommy, that man WAS Jesus." I didn't know how to respond because I could obviously see that it was just a homeless man who looked NOTHING like the pictures we see of Jesus (assuming that Jesus even looks like that, but whatever). I kept kind of asking him if he meant next to him or near him or what, & Cody was adamant that the man WAS Jesus.
I remembered the story from the bible where Jesus is walking & talking to someone & they don't recognize him. Finally he reveals himself & the person is blown away by Jesus right there next to him.
I thought of that song by Joan Osborne that was so cool in the 90's- 'One Of Us.' I remembered how we all sang along & probably never actually THOUGHT about the lyrics. It amazed me that my 3 year old could so plainly see Jesus in the face of a homeless man that I would have never looked twice at.
Two days later, we drove past the intersection again. This time there was no one there, but Cody told me, "Mommy, that's where I saw Jesus." I would have thought by then he'd have forgotten but really, I know Cody better than that.
I asked him what Jesus was doing sitting there that day & he told me, "helping people." I can't say that the homeless man was really helping anyone when chances are, he has a hard time helping himself, but maybe God took that opportunity to remind me through my son that maybe I should start thinking about people other than myself for once. I hate to admit it, but in the last, well, little while, I've become rather selfish. I get tired so easily & I just want the boys to go to bed so I can get some rest. I get annoyed when talking to people & I'm not really in the mood instead of hearing what they really have to say. I hate when I don't get what I want & I lose patience SO easily lately.
I've been struggling a lot with my faith lately. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been to church since Cheyenne & I just need to "refill my cup" or if there's something deeper, but I've definitely gotten off track.
It's interesting when your 3 year old shows you something you'd never expect & it's like a not-so-gentle reminder from the big man saying, "Hey, get it together Bran- hands & feet, remember?"
What kind of things have your kiddos shown you?
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