In the Cool of the Day

On Thursday I volunteer for the Pyjama Foundation, a organisation that seeks to provide friendly mentoring and boost literacy for kids in foster care.  Today was a bit strange, in that we did not read at all!  It was a learning and growing time for me as a living parable played out before my eyes.

As I turned right at the roundabout, I saw two kids playing down by a creek.  I suspected one of them was Nate (name changed), and upon entry to the home my thoughts were confirmed.  We enjoy spending some of our time outdoors and I was early anyway, and after greeting everyone I headed outside.  Yesterday it had rained heavily and the creek was higher than usual.  The boys had noticed!  Nate was skipping stones with a friend and for a while we threw rocks into the water.  That didn't last for long.  All that water and mud was simply too interesting, so the boys headed down for a closer look.

Nate and his mate hopped down into the waterway, only to bury their school shoes to their ankles in mud.  This was very exciting, I mean, who could have expected that?  Since they were muddy already, what was the harm in trying to wash off their shoes?  For these boys, "cleaning" those shoes and socks was more of a novelty than a necessity.  Besides, their shoes cleaned up so well (as long as you don't mind brown socks which once were white!), there was little motivation to stay out of the mud.

As they waded through the murky stream they were engrossed with their new environment.  Pieces of broken glass were like discovered treasure, and discarded bits of wood became bridges.  Then there was a vain attempt to build a dam to stop the flow of water.  It was amusing seeing those two muddle around, trying to hold back the flow of water with a couple rocks and handfuls of sand.  As time passed their clothes grew increasingly wet and muddy.  "Do you think I should wear this shirt to school tomorrow?  I can wear a jumper over it!"  It wasn't long before they were trying to find the softest mud to sink into, and Nate sunk almost halfway to his knees.  He slurped out of the mud with a laugh, amazed at the qualities of mud.  My, who could have thought this could be so fun?

After about a half hour I told Nate it was time to head to the house and clean up so we could read and do some activities together.  Nate started moving in my direction when suddenly his friend found a lizard, and they were on the hunt.  It was a particularly aggressive lizard, the kind that runs away and hides in rocks when you walk closer to it.  I was having a good time watching Nate have fun, and I wasn't going to make him do anything he didn't want to do.  "Ben, Ben!" he would shout, and I walked closer to appreciate his latest discovery.  Once it was a large drain pipe; another time it was a deep pool with slippery mud around the edges.  Further upstream they travelled, finding more treasures and lizards among the sandstone rocks.  It was lovely to hear the boys laughing and feel the cool afternoon breeze as it rustled through the gum trees.

I was suddenly reminded of when Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.  There I was, pacing slowly back and forth, waiting for Nate.  I was not in the least bit impatient.  If Nate would rather play in the creek, I was fine with that.  My time with him is a gift I rejoice to give because I am his friend.  I was struck with an idea:  how many times has God come to visit me with His presence and I was busy doing other things?  To think that I could be like that little boy, running around trying to stop a flowing river with a rock and handfuls of sand!  It was a sacred moment as I stood by a gum tree, watching those kids.  There I was, and God was walking with me.  He was talking with me.  In the stillness of my heart I was blessed with the knowledge God visits His children who are precious in His eyes, even when they don't expect or call Him.  He wants to spend time with us in mornings and evenings, and even if you happen to stand for an hour watching kids play in mud.  Men's best efforts are about as useful as those distracted boy's attempts at building a dam out of sand, and they were beyond hopeless!  I confessed sin and asked Him to cleanse me.  The LORD knows I am no more clean or pure than those muddy, water-logged children in my flesh.  This filth of this world sticks easily to us.  I quietly sang a few songs of praise as I watched from a distance, drinking in my Saviour's love.

We never made it inside the house to read today, but it was a sweet time of fellowship with the LORD and good time spent with a couple of delightful boys.  After I told Nate my time was up and I was heading off he said, "Boy am I going to be in trouble for this.  I already have an early bedtime as it is!"  He was a frightful sight.  His face was streaked with mud, his once white shirt was half brown, his socks permanently stained, and his shoes were a disaster.  "Well, what did you think would happen when you jumped in the mud?"  "That's just the problem," he said with intensity, running over to jump in a dirty puddle.  "I never think about what's going to happen later because I just think about having fun now!"  Well said, Nate.  Those are words even adults who try to stay out of the mud can learn from if taken to heart!