Faith Enough to Follow

Abraham, Isaac, and Jonah walked on to the school playground. . .

Sounds like the beginning of a joke except that this week has been no joke. My son began kindergarten at the school that, although it is two blocks away from our house, is not our school of choice. But somehow, back in January, I mixed up the paperwork, so he is not attending the same school as his eight year old brother. Follow me? We "choiced" out of this school four years ago, but here we are, standing on the playground in Nineveh.

Why does it always come back to Jonah with me?

I will tell you that I feel like God definitely has a plan here, which is a silly thing to say in the first place because of course He has a plan. He's not in Heaven saying "Oh crap, I can't believe she didn't fill out the paperwork."

The first day of school dawned muggy, and my five year old rode his scooter to his line on the playground where he knows no one; his circle of friends is at the other school. In that moment, I wondered how Isaac felt about being brought to the mountain because his dad was busy following God. Did he question being tied to the altar, because scripture tells us that it was as Abraham was raising the knife that the angel called out? I kissed "little Isaac" good-bye after helping him find his cubby, swallowing hard so I didn't turn into that mama.

Stepping into the bright sunshine, I realized his scooter was nowhere in sight. Seriously? SERIOUSLY, Lord? You sent me to this school, and now someone steals his scooter?! My neighbor had passed this scooter along to us a few years ago, and now it was gone.

"Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.  But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Jonah 4:10-11

Feeling bad for my snarkiness, I asked God to help me love the people that I would meet, and show me why I am here. All I could think was that it had to be an adult who had taken the scooter, because all the kids were in class already, and these are the people I am supposed to be reaching out to. Jesus did not come to call the righteous to repentence, right? He hung out where people needed Him, and expects us to do the same. He has definitely knocked me out of my holy huddle.

So here I am, feeling like Abraham and Jonah all rolled into one, with Isaac trailing along behind, wondering what God is up to. Is it a test of obedience for me? Is there someone at this school that I am supposed to meet? God gives us just enough light for the next step, and while me feet may drag a little, my heart wants to follow willingly. If my head could just stop thinking so much, I'd be good.

ps: I called the school secretary and learned that someone had brought the scooter to the office thinking a kid had left it out. In that moment, all I could do was cheer for God. He is so good! He confirmed once again, that He knows exactly where I am and has the situation under control.