The other day my daughter came
home from school. As with most days she was full of stories about how other
people impacted her and how difficult it is to live life in a world full of
hormones and bad decisions. Often these poor decisions affect more than the
people who make them, and so often they result in more bad decisions turning
into lives broken by the weight of it all.
Compassion overwhelms her at
times. I can hear it in her voice. I can see it in her face. A heart full of
understanding that it could all be different if people would just stop being
mean. Today she told a story that could change the course. It should sound
familiar to those who have been redeemed and set free. It is what should be
considered normal by the people who follow a compassionate God. It should be the way of a people, the ones who
understand that Grace is not earned but is a gift and is meant to be passed on.
She had walked into class like
any other day but today she could pick her own seat. She sat down and noticed a
girl sitting on the floor by herself, her face buried in a book, waiting for
the other kids to file in. My daughter asked the girl what she was doing and invited
her to sit down next to her. The girl got up and came to take the seat next to
my daughter. The girl told her thank you and explained that she was sitting and
waiting for everyone else to come in and sit down first because no one likes
her to sit next to them. My daughter called her by name and told her, “You can
sit wherever you want to and you can sit next to me.” Another girl walked in, and
witnessing this, called my daughter a hero. She said the same thing happens to
her, too. My daughter invited her to sit down next to them as well, and she let
them both know they were free to sit wherever they wanted to.
My daughter is not a hero she
is a follower. Can you see it? In this moment she followed the one perfect hero
who called her by name and told her, “You are loved and you can sit next to me.
I saved you a place. Get up off the floor. You are free.”
I know once upon a time I was one
of the kids that would have been mean to those girls. I don’t deserve that
seat. I quite honestly belong on the floor. But I too was shown grace and invited
in. We can change the course. We have everything we need. If we just die to
ourselves and serve the One who has called us by name.
