When I was little, I had a terrible fear that strangers would climb in my window late at night to steal me away. My parents prayed with me often and set up a nightlight (though I can't stand the extra light now...), and Dad reassured me that he'd hear any intruders and race to my rescue. I never doubted him at the time. Yet, in times when I've looked back, that I've thought...Dad, you're quite the sound sleeper, and I know how your back aches; surely you couldn't have meant that...
But I was wrong...
With Dad asleep on the couch, I was trying to be quiet as I snatched my coat from the front closet this morning. I'm pretty good at tip-toeing...but in a hurry...with my then-empty plate balanced on my water glass, things went down-hill rather quickly. I managed to spill only part of the water on my coat, but my reflexes were not quite quick enough to grab the crumby plate before it shattered--partly on tile/partly on carpet.
Poor Dad...he sat nearly straight up before I could even turn around--eyes wide and questioning. I didn't know he could wake so quickly and be so alert at a moments notice. So much for my attempts at silence... He later told me he'd been ready to fight someone. :)
With 15 minutes until take off time for school, I managed to sweep & vacuum, get my teeth brushed, and pull myself into a suitable state for teaching.
I think I'm destined to have accident-prone children. I feel like I've been less-than-graceful in recent years (though I do enjoy ballet moves, yoga, tai-chi... :) I've been given much grace (and not only for my butter fingers), so I owe a whole lot.
God's so good to teach me like that...and I feel good when I can extend it well to others.
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