Two weeks ago, my gentle, adorable grandson went to preschool for the first time. His entire family went to drop him off, and once he was safely at school, they left for work. Dad would pick him up when school dismissed.
So at the appointed time, Dad drove into the pickup line and turned on his phone’s video camera, because he wanted to record the moment for posterity–GrandBoy’s first pick up from school. But GrandBoy was not in the pickup line. (He does have a name, but I don’t use it in posts.)
Video camera still running, Dad goes to meet GB’s teacher. When she can’t find him, she says, “He must have walked out of the line.” Really? A child who has never been to school before is supposed to know what a line is?
No one could find GB. They went to the office, and people began to search everywhere. His dad calls my daughter at work, and she freaks out, as you might expect.
Then Dad suggests something simple: “Could he have gotten on a bus?”
Now–this school usually has a teacher who notes every kid who gets on the bus, and the bus driver should know the kids on his/her route by late April, don’t you think? But while they are debating if this is even possible, the school’s office phone rings.
In the mean time, a few miles away, my hubby is sitting in my office, checking in with me after his day, and his phone rings. It’s our daughter, and she’s hysterical. I can’t hear her side of the conversation, but suddenly my husband starts screaming, “They lost GrandBoy?!”
I respond with, “What? WHAT? Call the police!” And then I pray. Out loud. That angels would protect my precious grandson until he is found.
Meanwhile, back at the school, someone answers the ringing telephone. It’s an apartment manager a few miles from the school, and he’s with some girls who just got off a bus. They have a little boy with them, and they know he doesn’t live in their building. It’s GrandBoy.
Dad has to drive to the complex, where he picks up GrandBoy–who, thank the Lord, thinks this has all been a big adventure. The office managers have given him crackers and told him that Daddy is on the way.
That night, when our three grandkids come to spend a couple of hours with us, GrandBoy is proudly wearing his new school backpack, none the worse for his “situation.”
But hubby and I know how badly things could have gone. He could have stepped off that bus into traffic. He would have been taken by anyone. He could have started walking and we never would have found him.
But thanks to the kindness of those little girls and those office managers, what was lost was found. (And I’m not even sure he realized he was lost!)
And now I am reminded of the old parables–the missing lamb, the missing coin, the missing prodigal. God cares desperately for the lost, and our job is to be the ones who get in the car and go find them. And to be the kind girls who escort the lost to shelter. And to be the office managers who say, “Eat, drink, and be comforted, child . . . because Daddy is on the way.”
And that’s a parable for our time.
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Praise God he was being well looked after even though you didn’t know that at the time! That is a great parable for all of us to contemplate. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I was so thankful that God knew what we needed before we needed it. Bless you!
A parent/ grandparent’s worst nightmare. Thanks for sharing it and the analogy of the lost. May I use it as an example for writing personal experiences in my writing classes with acknowledgement to you?
I’m honored that you’d ask. Of course!
Thank you. We tend to read these scriptures without hearing the frantic screams of panic and feeling the anguish of those seeking the lost. You have done such a good job putting those into words while note letting the pace bog down. This is something I gave a hard time teaching writers of personal experiences. You lose readers if you get bogged down explaining your feelings. They want to feel for themselves as the story moves along and this piece will illustrate this really well.
The angels were certainly looking out for him. Yes, a parents/ grandparents worse nightmare. We have a little grandson starting Kindergarten this fall. I can’t imagine going through that. So glad he is safe.
I hope the teachers will be more vigilant with your grandson. I think in our case, since it’s nearly the end of the school year, they might have been a little too comfortable . . .
Amen and amen!
Such a terrifying moment and a vivid reminder of the sense of urgency we should feel for the spiritually lost – even if they don’t realize their lostness. I’ll never forget the time I lost my youngest son at a university carnival. He was only about 4, I think. He was with me and then he wasn’t. We looked everywhere. Retraced our steps. Checked the bathrooms. Searched all the bouncy houses. Panic swelled. My spirit’s cries to the Lord became more and more desperate. I was about to search out someone to make an announcement over the loudspeaker when the sea of people milling around me suddenly parted and there was my baby. Moses had the Red Sea, and I had that moment. Equally miraculous in my mind.
I felt your panic as I read your post! So glad your little guy was found safe and sound!
So thankful that your Grandboy was okay, and that the Lord made sure of it. Now I can’t help but wonder: What happened the next day? And the next…..?
He is doing fine. The next morning he didn’t want to go to school, but Mom said he had to, and that took care of that. Since then he tells us about his new friends, AND we worked it out that his big sister (who’s a safety patrol) picks him up at his classroom and walks him to the correct place in line. Lessons learned!
I loved this so much!
🙂
Oh my Lord, I am in tears and so thankful God protected him! Praying God will bless those little girls! ❤️
Me, too. 🙂
In kindergarten, I attended a morning class, so the bus ride home at noon was exclusively for kindergarteners. Except the day a blizzard closed school. I got on a bus with my friend, but we didn’t live in the same neighborhood. Fortunately, we sat in front and the driver realized he had a little stranger on his bus. I don’t know if I knew my street address, or if older kids knew my second-grade sister, or he was able to call in to the bus dispatcher. But before delivering the kids on his own route, he found his way to my house. The bus I should have been on had just dropped off the kids at my stop. Instead of letting me off by them, my driver went right on down the street and turned in our drive, passing my sister who was rushing home to tell our parents I hadn’t been on the bus. I was blessed that day with a good Samaritan.
Wow–yes, you were blessed. What a wonderful bus driver.
SO thankful for the happy ending to this story. And what a blessing GB thought it all an adventure! 🙂
But I do hope the teacher will make sure this doesn’t happen again (to any child!). As a former kindergarten teacher, I had to make sure my little ones all arrived where they were supposed to be because I couldn’t “breathe easy” until they did!
I love the way you tied this story to a beautiful message from the Bible – – thank you. 🙂
🙂
When we returned home the ushers had already brought our son home and left him next door where he was happily playing with the neighbor boy.
I can appreciate the family call to action!
We lost our daughter when she was about 3 at a Chicago soccer tournament being held at a lakeshore park. I have never before known such calm, controlled panic in my life, and haven’t since. The tournament people drove me around the perimeter in a golf cart; my husband searched the grounds while our son stayed behind with other parents in our group. Turns out she had lost patience with everything being about her big brother’s games and decided to go to the bouncy house by herself. Daddy spotted her tiny sandals in a line of kiddy shoes. She was furious that we took her from away from all the fun she was having! Days later, her big brother was still upset with us for losing her. He was protective of her then, he is still, and she’ll stand up for her brother as his best woman when he gets married. It is a true blessing for your kids to grow up and still be best friends.
Love this story! Especially the shoes!
Thank The Lord your grandboy was safe