Counting Yellow Buses

"At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." (Luke 10: 21)

Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I am blessed to have my 3 year old son, Ayden, travel with me to work as he attends the daycare located in the same building. And so early in the morning, we load up the vehicle with his fifty snacks, toys, and other miscellaneous items and we make the fifteen mile trek straight north. We have a direct highway that takes us pretty much from the house to the church. The only problem is that there are twenty-six stoplights that we must travel. On a good day, i will catch about 5 or 6 stoplights. When this happens, there is much rejoicing in the car and a Old Testament sacrifice is made. But on a bad day, I will catch twenty-plus stoplights and it takes everything i have not to yell and scream at the inanimate object changing colors above me.

But recently, my son has started to play the game "I Spy" when we drive. His favorite thing to "spy" is a yellow school bus. With the most enthusiasm he can muster, he yells out, "It's a bus!" I in turn will mimic is cry and add "Another bus!" He then follows that up with, "This is crazy." I love it. I have found myself constantly looking for buses because I am caught up in the excitement that my son has for them. I personally could care less about buses but my son goes insane for them. And so it's contagious. I gotta find a bus... because this is crazy!

I believe it's amazing how infectious my son's excitement is for the simple things in life. He finds joy in simply spotting a school bus driving by. He finds joy in seeing something that you and I take no thought in. Again, I could care less but there is something to his joy that i long for. There is something to the simpleness of life that i know my life is not. I am cluttered with the thoughts of what has to be done and what needs to get done. I am stuffed with the ideas of how to change the world and how to improve things in the ministry i am involved. I am overloaded with tasks that beckon my attention. I believe that if i stop to count the buses the world will fall apart. Almost like some kind of nuclear explosion will happen and we will all end up zombies like in the movie "Zombieland". And all the while, my son is counting yellow buses.

I used to think that the older you get the wiser you become. I am not so sure. I am starting to believe the older you get, the dumber you become. Jesus alludes to this a little bit in Luke when he says that he has "hidden" things about faith and God from the intelligent and "revealed" them to children. I wonder sometimes, as an adult i think i know so much and i am so important to the world and I am so valuable that i think way more of myself than i should. Luckily, my son reminds me how dumb i can be sometimes. And so in the moments where i get frustrated or the moments where everything seems to be piling up around me and I am ready to yell and scream, i take a valuable lesson from my son and i count yellow buses.

My hope today is that i don't get caught up in all the mess. My hope today is that I don't try and do everything. My hope today is that I don't think more of myself than i should. While I am gifted by God, I am not God's gift. Instead I hope i can take time to breathe. I hope i can take time to smile and laugh. I hope i can take time to count the yellow buses as they drive by.

Look! Another one! This is crazy!