No Mushy Titles Here

I went to SK St. Francis to pick Ken up from school today (dodged here and there to get past the little kids who were running about everywhere).

A long line of parents and older siblings lined the railing outside. It was still only 15 minutes before the dismissal bell. One would ask:

Nothing better to do ar? Never pick your kids up before ar? So early for what?

Yeah. One would think that parents who picked their kids up everyday would be able to time their arrival time just right by now.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not thinking that. There's a reason why I was there to see that line of people waiting 15 minutes before school dismissed. Duh.

When you're in the sort of situation where it gets awkward when you make the slightest movement because then everyone looks at you, there's really nothing better to do than to observe stuff. And in that sort of situation, you really get to observe stuff... Like the 2 secondary school boys (one would question that, based on their behaviour) shooting imaginary bullets into the air and throwing imaginary buckets of water over the fence.

Screw the irrelevant details. Let's start again.

Ahem.

...Like the fact that there were probably 2 kinds of kids there today.

1. The "I can't wait to go home, dad where are you? I'd better get ready to run, woohoo!" kid
2. The "Dad's not coming anytime soon, I'll just play in the canteen first, woohoo!"kid

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINNNNNNNNNNGgggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

Ooo~ The bell. (may have been overdramatized)

Kid #1 sprints towards the school gate with a burst of energy that prompts the 2 boys to exclaim:

Wahhhhh never go home before izzit?

I do wonder. Have they forgotten what it was like to rush towards the school gates when the bell rings?

The adrenaline. The joy. The excitement. The anticipation. A long day at school is too much. I want to go home!!

And when you pass through the gates, you realize that your heart's pumping like it's never pumped before (or so you think. It pumps like that all through your childhood days of running around). Or maybe they'd never experienced it before. Pitiful people.

Then there is the kid who nervously clutches his bag and strains his neck for a glimpse of his parent or sibling. Whichever. The one who'd take him home, anyway. The awful moments of waiting and watching for Dad comes to mind. Brrrr. The longest wait was 4 hours, by the way.

Then I see a little boy with rabbit teeth and a yellow-red bag, not near the fence, but a distance away, trying to peer over the fence from his rather distant position from the fence itself. Of course he doesn't see the one who can bring him home. He's too far away. I watch as he turns and mopes away. I take after him and push my way through the string of kids, trying to keep my eyes on him for as long as I can.

When I finally push through the crowd, I realize I've lost sight of him. I walk towards the canteen anyway, and see him searching his pockets, for a RM0.20 probably (=D so cute!), near the payphone. I call to him -

P&P. Pause and Ponder. It's amazing how it always happens the same way -

Ken!

Little head turns. Little face smiles. Little feet start running.

The call. The turn. The smile. The feet.

But only if I call his name. And only if he knows my voice.

If I called out "oi!" to you, would you turn? If a stranger called out your name, you'd turn, but would you smile?

How interesting to note that we learn the most valuable lessons from little children.

When the Lord calls, He calls you by name. And He expects you to turn, smile, and move your little feet. But sometimes we miss out on the call. We don't recognize His voice. We answer a stranger's call instead.

And sometimes... we don't even listen for His voice.

Like kid #2, who, by the way, was crouched on the ground in a circle with a bunch of friends. Crouched and distracted from the moment the bell rang to the moment Ken and I walked hand in hand out the school gates.

There's no way He can't find you when you wander further than you should. For He looked for you before you were born, and He seeks you out still. There's no possibility of Him being 4 hours late. For He waited before the world began, and waits for you still. There's no excuse for not hearing His voice. For the familiar voice rings loud and clear above the noise of the world. There's no reason for not knowing it is Him. For He calls you by name.

When the Lord calls, turn, smile... and run. Run like you've never run before.

And after all that adrenaline, joy, excitement and anticipation, slow down and take a walk, your hand in His, and walk on home.