City Bus

Last Sunday was hot! The temperature while I was directing traffic in the parking lot and in the middle of the street was nothing short of brutal. Perhaps because the heat tends to slow things down, there were a lot more people showing up late for the 10:15 service than usual. This was not necessarily a bad thing, as Pastor Bob running a bit late and people from the 8:30 service were leaving the parking lot much later than usual.

This meant that the late-comers were able to snag a space in the parking lot as people trickled out. This is sometimes the case, and is one of the miracles I get to witness on a regular basis as I direct traffic and dodge cars in our parking lots. I enjoy the intricate ballet of cars leaving and entering the lots, and liken it much to the “loaves and the fishes”. I often will wave a car onto the lot, even though I know full well that there are no empty spaces. Yet somehow God provides, and someone will decide to leave at that exact moment.

As I said, a lot more people showed up late last Sunday, so it was 10:30 before all the traffic subsided and I was making my way back toward the Worship Center. As I walked off the north lot, I passed the church’s laboring air-conditioning plant and noticed the open side doors of the Worship Center. Now, I’m always telling my family to keep the doors closed when the AC is on, so I figured I veer over and close the doors to the Worship Center to try to keep some of the cool air in the building. As I approached, I could hear that Pastor Bob was already into his message, and I found a man with a baby and a small boy at the doors. The man was feeding the baby a bottle, and while the baby seemed content, the man seemed irritated. I suggested to the man that he might be more comfortable in our baby room. It’s air-conditioned, has comfortable seats, baby facilities, toys for his young boy, and has a sound system that allows parents to hear the service. He didn’t seem to care about utilizing the baby room, and informed me that the young boy was not his. Indeed, he wondered aloud why the boy’s parents weren’t controlling him, as the boy was trying to close the door the man was holding open for fresh air (go figure).

“Are your mommy and daddy in church?” I asked the little guy.

“No,” he answered, “my Daddy’s at home and my Mommy’s on the city bus.” He replied.

“Oh, did you come with your grandparents? Or did you come with a friend?” I countered.

The boy, Evan, as I later learned, was not only bright and articulate, but quite insistent for a 5-year old. After repeatedly telling me that “Mommy’s on the city bus,” he brightened up, cried out: “Come… see,” and took off at a run toward the Life Center building. I followed, though my failing knees, ankles, and feet kept me from keeping up with a running child. I didn’t even have time to think about him losing me, as he kept doubling back to cheerfully encourage me to “come on… hurry up!”

He stopped just in front of the Life Center, and proudly proclaimed: “City bus!”

As began to catch up to him, I finally saw what he meant. There, parked between the Life Center and our Youth Center was… the Red Cross Mobile Blood Unit… certainly a bus. An adult could read that the vehicle was the Red Cross Blood Mobile, but to 5-year old Evan, it was the “city bus.”

As a matter of fact, as I escorted Evan toward the waiting area set up by the back doors of the bus, the doors opened, and there was a young woman who had just given blood sitting in the recuperation area just inside the bus. Triumphantly, Evan cried out: “See? Mommy’s on the city bus!”

Now, it is not all that uncommon to find children who have slipped away from their parents, and are exploring the many fascinating corners of our campus. In this case, Evan’s mother, Kathleen, had left him with the volunteers in the blood donor waiting area, and he had wandered over to the playground during a few hectic moments. From there, it was only a few steps to the side doors of the church… where I found Evan.

As I sat chatting with Kathleen, I discovered that she was just visiting our campus, not to worship with us, but to give. Her home church did not sponsor blood drives, so when our church hosts Red Cross blood drives… she comes to donate her blood. The bandage on her arm told the story of how successful her giving had been on this day. Like me, she has one of the rare blood types, so she donates as often as she can. Both of us agreed that it felt good to know that we could donate a pint of our blood, and that it might well save a life. I thanked her for her gift to the community, and I thanked Evan for teaching me about the “city bus.”

Later, as I reflected on this tiny part of my day, I realized that we need to be more active in sponsoring Prayer Drives. Each of us has a different kind of prayer power inside of us. What if we asked for people to channel just a tiny bit of their prayer to people they don’t know? I can’t do anything with a pint of my own blood, but the Red Cross can do amazing things with it. It’s the same with prayer. I can’t accomplish anything by trying to direct my own prayers, but when I give my prayers to God, He can do amazing things with it.

I’m not going to try to tell anyone how to pray. I’m just asking: “How’s YOUR prayer life?” Have you given in prayer without any thought of knowing how it might be applied? Have you responded to a Prayer Drive (request for prayer)? Like Kathleen… have you gone out of your way… and out of your comfort zone to give?

Your brother in Christ,

Dave