|
"Why
don't you go inside to find your classmates while the girls
play on the monkey bars?" I suggested.
Bill
agreed with my plan and disappeared into the crowd. When he
failed to return thirty minutes later, I set out with the
girls to find him. Our search turned up no one from the
class of 1986. Unsure of what to do next,
we returned to the playground to wait ... and
wait.
"Let's
look for Dad again." I suggested when we found
ourselves in the dark, not just figuratively, but literally
as the sun set on the monkey bars and the moon took it's
place in the sky. We found Bill a few minutes later at
the local fire station where other alums had gathered.
"Why
didn't you come and get us?" I asked, trying not to
sound annoyed.
"I
thought you knew where I was." he replied innocently.
Happy
that our search was over, I dropped the issue and
visited with several acquaintances until Katie commanded
my attention.
"Mom,
I'm tired." she said, tugging on my arm.
"I'll
ask Dad if he's ready to go." I offered as I turned in his
direction.
"Bill,
it's 10:30 and the girls are getting restless." I
informed him,
hoping that he too was ready to leave.
"Five
more minutes." he assured me before resuming his
conversation with a friend.
When five minutes turned into another hour, Katie's pleas became more
urgent. "I
want to leave now!" she demanded, unwilling to take
no for an answer.
I
couldn't blame Katie for being angry. She and Hollie had
caught all the frogs they could find and visited with all
the grow-ups they cared to. They were ready to go.
"Bill,
it's 11:30. We should be leaving soon." I insisted.
"Five
more minutes," Bill replied predictably.
Caught
between a graduate of Guide Rock and a hard place, I
searched for a way to appease the girls. "Let's put
your pajamas on." I suggested as I guided them to
the van.
"Watch
the movie until you fall asleep," I told Katie and
Hollie
after tilting their seats
back, covering them up with a blanket, and putting a DVD
into the player.
"I'm
so tired." Hollie said between yawns.
"I
know." I empathized, "Dad did not make the best decisions
today but we're showing him mercy."
"Because this was his day." Katie added as she
leaned back in her seat. "Today was
all about him."
With
those words, Katie demonstrated that she was not just a good
listener, but a great follower as well. In their
book, Lead Like Jesus, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges
had this to say about followers:
"The
first challenge for a Lead Like Jesus leader is to recognize
that it is not about you ... it
is about following the servant leadership example of Jesus."
(p. 204)
I
reflected on this as
I unrolled the driver's side window to give the girls some
fresh air. At that moment, as I watched Bill visit with a former
teacher less than fifty feet away, I had another thought.
What if Jesus
forgives us for the same reason we were so quick to forgive
Bill?
His
death on the cross, after all, was all about our salvation. Someone who would
sacrifice his own life to give us an eternal one would surely go to equally great lengths to
ensure we received it.
It was
after midnight when we left the fire hall but Bill had nothing
to apologize for.
Twenty-year reunions—even poorly planned ones—come around
only once. Today was
all about
him and,
because nearly two thousand years ago Jesus made it all about me, I
... was happy to serve.
A
Quote
to Grow On
"The price of forgiveness is
letting go of the right to require either payment or an apology for a wrongdoing."
-Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, Lead
Like Jesus, p. 78
|
