I ate a hot dog with black-eyed pea chili and sauerkraut for lunch today. But that wasn’t the moment that struck me as odd and compelled me to write this note.
Instead, the oddest moment of my day occurred as I was waiting to use the restroom this morning. As I stood in line to wait for an empty stall, after hearing a conversation about how the conference center should have closed one set of men’s restrooms because the number of women at the WMU meeting far outnumbered the men, I heard a pleasant voice say, “And we all must stand in line.” Then it was my turn to go so I went.
Afterwards, on my way to the sink area, I saw the person whose voice I’d thought I’d recognized earlier. I saw Wanda Lee, National WMU Executive Director-Treasurer, waiting in line, too. Knowing who she is and that she was likely very busy, I felt as if she should pull rank and skip to the front or that someone should let her get in front of them. But she didn’t. And no one offered a free pass.
As Wanda stood in line with everyone else, I thought to myself, “We’re all just human. And in the grand scheme of life, no one is more important than anyone else. We’re each loved by God. We each must use the bathroom. And we each must wait our turn. Thanks for that moment of humility, Wanda. You just spoke volumes to me without even trying.”
Ever since I introduced Wanda to Stanley and golf-cart-drove her to WMU NC’s 125th birthday party at Ridgecrest, wearing a trash bag over my clothes and head to serve as rain protection in the pouring rain, I think Wanda has thought me a bit odd and not quite known what to do with me. Knowing that this is the case, I haven’t told her about the profound moment she caused in the bathroom today, standing in line, being normal, living as one of the least of these...
Maybe one day I will…
But until then…
I will simply be grateful that God is alive and working around us. Sometimes we just have to open our ears and listen…especially in the waiting.
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