“Children are a rich blessing and a gift from the Lord."
~ Psalm 127:3
Alice, a kind, grandmotherly type,
operates a big, yellow school bus. She
greets every one of ‘her’ elementary-schoolers with a grin and a smile. Most kids don’t respond, yet she
persists.
It’s not a glamorous job.
Not the kind of thing that would impress people at a party. But it’s an important job – one that must be
done perfectly every day.
The rewards are the kids themselves. Alice loves to zip their coats, dry their
tears and listen to their stories. It
actually makes her happy to replace forgotten lunch money, knowing that they’ll
have a full tummy to keep them sharp all afternoon.
Her own children have all moved away. Alice drives a bus to borrow other people’s
kids - kids whose innocent, optimistic, unmasked qualities offer ample reason
to get up early every morning.
There’s Ben whose dog is so glad to see him in the afternoon
that the big collie bowls over the little guy, kinda like Fred Flintstone and
Dino. Lauren sometimes brings freshly
baked cookies for Alice that fill the bus with a wonderful aroma. Josh gets help with his arithmetic homework when
Alice asks enough pointed questions to help him figure out the solutions on his
own.
Yesterday, Olivia cried almost imperceptively. She’d accidently ripped her library book when
Alice hit a bump in the road. Her large,
sad teary eyes revealed that she expected the librarian would do something awful
to her.
As usual, Alice came prepared, retrieving a roll of tape she
kept in the pocket behind her seat just for such emergencies. She went on to explain that the ‘really nice librarian”
would be thrilled that Olivia was reading on the bus. Another crisis averted.
Happiness usually spreads through Alice’s bus like a cold
drink on a hot day. But sometimes her
job is hard, especially when she fails to break through the emotional barriers
that isolate some kids - like Dana. She
knows Dana’s family is down on their luck and offers daily encouragement and
genuine empathy. Just before she got off
the bus at the elementary school, Dana turned.
“Thank you!” she said before giving Alice a hug.
“I want to hear one new thing you learned today when you get
back on my bus this afternoon,” Alice requested.
“Okay!” Dana said as she skipped away.
The sun, up higher now, sparkled in the dew of the prairie
grass. Another beautiful morning Alice
thought to herself. Ahh, kids. It’s so easy to help them solve their little
problems when you tune in to their frequency. She wheeled the big bus around and put ’er
away until the afternoon. Can’t wait to
tie a few shoes again!
Help me as an adult, Lord, with my
weaknesses and imperfections. Give me
strength and godly wisdom to set the right example for the children of the
world. Please supply what I lack. Keep them walking on the path that leads to
eternal life. Amen
