An Angel Among Us
I have a knack for being singularly unobservant, so I spent some puzzled moments during church this morning. During Sunday School, the sane and sensible leader for the all-church discussion of the Sunday School lesson interrupted himself to say "There's an angel among us." Shortly after that, he said he'd like to have everyone's attention again, and acknowledged in passing that "If this is a beauty contest, I realize I lose." Everyone except me seemed to appreciate this bit of humor. Over dinner I finally learned the cause of all the merriment and was very sorry to have missed it earlier.
Blue-eyed little Elyssa Miller apparently went astray somewhere on her trip between her mother on the women's side and her father on the men's side, and wandered serenely all the way up to the front of the auditorium down the center aisle. One of her aunts sitting near the aisle almost snagged her as she passed by, but apparently thought better of making the Herculean effort and sat back to let things follow their natural course. Elyssa circled around the front of the men's side, and, sober and wide-eyed, paused to check out the prayer room for a bit. Her leisurely walk ended abruptly as these forays usually do, with her dad appearing from the back, scooping her up and heading back to his seat.
"That's just a rite of passage for parents," I remember telling my brother years ago after he had performed an embarrassing center-aisle church-time sprint in pursuit of his fleeing child. "Everyone needs at least one such experience. Keeps you humble," I continued.
After nearly 25 years of parenting, I'm still having some humbling experiences. But thankfully I haven't had to chase down an errant toddler in church recently. I recommend it though as a great spectator sport. Thanks to Elyssa Miller, every observant worshiper at our church today got a taste of that pleasure.
Blue-eyed little Elyssa Miller apparently went astray somewhere on her trip between her mother on the women's side and her father on the men's side, and wandered serenely all the way up to the front of the auditorium down the center aisle. One of her aunts sitting near the aisle almost snagged her as she passed by, but apparently thought better of making the Herculean effort and sat back to let things follow their natural course. Elyssa circled around the front of the men's side, and, sober and wide-eyed, paused to check out the prayer room for a bit. Her leisurely walk ended abruptly as these forays usually do, with her dad appearing from the back, scooping her up and heading back to his seat.
"That's just a rite of passage for parents," I remember telling my brother years ago after he had performed an embarrassing center-aisle church-time sprint in pursuit of his fleeing child. "Everyone needs at least one such experience. Keeps you humble," I continued.
After nearly 25 years of parenting, I'm still having some humbling experiences. But thankfully I haven't had to chase down an errant toddler in church recently. I recommend it though as a great spectator sport. Thanks to Elyssa Miller, every observant worshiper at our church today got a taste of that pleasure.
posted by Mrs. I at
4:49 PM
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