I Saw Jesus
My daughter’s ability to brighten my day comes as easily to her as it does my wonderful wife… They both have this sweet charm that sweeps over me like a blanket of warm sunshine on a cool day. Kelsea is seven years old, and is quite simply the most amazing and beautiful little girl in the world. To say that She’s a “Daddy’s girl” would be an understatement, and to say that I’m wrapped around her little finger would be equally so. There is never a shortage of hugs for Daddy, and I always know I’m loved. I can hear it in her voice. I can see it on her face. But I saw something in Kelsea recently that literally brought my world to a screeching halt.
As a pastor, father, husband and full-time website developer, I easily become overwhelmed by the busy-ness of life. In fact, I’m prone to compounding it all even more because I love to do things for people. If there’s a job to be done, I’ll likely find some way to get my fingers involved in it. If there is a place to help, I’ll usually be seen with my sleeves rolled up, grease on my shirt, or worse. Call it an obsession, but I just like to be busy.Not long ago, I was sitting on our living room sofa with my laptop and wireless Internet connection doing some work for a friend. Just prior, I had put in 8 hours at work, been to the hospital to pray for a saint’s friend who suffered a heart-attack, and then took a long phone call from another church member before coming home for a short dinner. Afterwards, I did some more work for the church and then fired up my computer to round out the strenuous day with some other work I had promised to do.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that was going through my mind, I closed my eyes for a moment and tipped my head back, letting out a long sigh.
Suddenly, I felt two small hands begin gently tugging at my socks. Looking down over the screen of my laptop, I saw my daughter sitting at my feet with a towel and a small pitcher of water collected from her tea set.
She looked up at me and smiled, and then diligently began pouring warm water over my tired feet.
I felt the love move from my feet, up through my body and come bursting out my eyes as tears as her hands gently massaged away the day’s worries. When she was finished blotting my feet dry with her towel, I closed the lid to my laptop and brought her up on my lap for some much needed love between a father and his daughter.
I am guilty, sometimes, of neglecting the most important things in my life… of living click-by-click and task-by-task rather than face-to-face and heart-to-heart. I can let the cares of life consume me and overwhelm me, and miss the beauty of a moment.
I saw Jesus that day. He picked up my tired, weary feet and washed them with warm water poured from a child’s toy teapot. He dried them with a hand-towel from my bathroom cabinet. He spoke the words, “I love you” through the soft lips of a seven year old, Spirit-filled little girl.
Kelsea, Daddy loves you very much.
