HAPPY THANKS GIVING!

I have been asking MacGyver to write a post on the blog for some time. This was a very special story and he agreed to share it on this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks MacGyver. You teach me something new each day and for that I am truly grateful. I hope each of you have a Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to stop and take a long look around. We have so much to be grateful for and serve an awesome God who provides for our every need.

Dirty Windows
by MacGyver
November 2010

I drive an old, wonderful, minivan. I think of it as another tool to use when I need to get stuff done, like get kids to school or me to work. I have been unable to see through the front windshield for a few weeks and obviously haven’t thought anything of it, until today for some reason. Maybe the sun was a little lower today, maybe the kids smarmed my window a little extra, maybe just maybe today will be the day I clean it. But I had a ton of meetings today and classes to prep for. Bottle Rocket had a big decision to make about his spelling test that he scored perfect on; he actually got one wrong and needed to tell the teacher she missed it. Smoke Bomb was having trouble with his shoes, again. By ‘trouble’ I mean the flailing, yelling kind. Fire Cracker was working on getting ready and asking an unusual amount of questions, like “Dada, why do you have to go to work?” Answer that one for your soon-to-be-four year old. Sparkler was running the show and solving the world hunger crisis, not really, but I know my van windows are going to take another back seat today (pun intended). The boys and I get in the car, book bags and lunch boxes in tow. I drop off the kids as usual, and there are the windows again. Wow, I might actually hit something or worse, someone, because I can’t see anything except blinding light refracted through my smarmy windows. Over the radio I hear a song about how we love God more than the sun. I think to myself the sun is huge and so far away (93 million miles) and I really like being warm, hot even. I love God tremendously for sure, because we glorify him, faith of a mustard seed, I get it. But these windows are bad and I decide to turn back and head to the house after dropping off the boys. Back at the house I answer a few more of Fire Cracker’s questions, help Sparkler reply to a few world leaders and give Mama a hug as I grab the glass cleaner heading out the door. I clean the windows expeditiously and begin backing out of the driveway. Off to work, but wait. What was that? What’s this blue thing in the back seat? Equipment from last night’s Fall Festival at church? Maybe a kid’s sweater? No, it’s someone’s……….lunchbox. Smoke Bomb, in all the excitement of heading to school, remember the trouble he had, left his lunchbox in the car. Well, thank you God for making my first meeting a bit later than usual. Now I get to see how Smoke Bomb’s doing at school, maybe. I head to school and carpool is still hopping. As I park, one of the assistants sees me and says “Hey, I’m going in, I’ll take that for you. Which boy does it belong to?” What a great save! But, I decline and tell them I’m already heading in and I’ve got it. I sign in, knowing it will take me longer to sign in and out then to drop the lunchbox off, and head to the classroom. I turn the corner to Smoke Bomb’s classroom and see his teacher welcoming kids in and she recognizes that I have his lunch. He takes it from my hand unaffectedly and heads back to his morning work. I say a few words to his teacher and leave, wishing her a good day and a Happy Thanksgiving. As I walk down the hall I see a small billboard with Thanksgiving decorations from each classroom. I have to see this- maybe there’s something from Smoke Bomb’s class. Maybe there’s something from Smoke Bomb himself. Turns out it is something completely different and it’s a lot closer than 93 million miles (see below).

Thank you God. Thank you for loving me to glorify You. Make sure you don’t miss the second part; God loves us, to glorify Him. It’s like seeing the sun and missing the warmth, or thinking your dirty windows are about something other than His glory.