Separation Anxiety

We live 5 minutes away from Terry's office. We're lucky, considering that Houstonians don't think it's unusual to drive an hour to work. One of the best things about our situation is that Terry occasionally gets to come home midday and eat lunch with us. He got to come home this passed Tuesday. Caleb was already sleeping, but I'd let Micah stay up and play a bit longer. We were both thrilled to hear Terry's key in the door. He's been working a lot and the boys are always saying how much they miss him.

He and Micah played for a while before it was time for Micah to head to bed for a nap. Micah hugged us both and went off to bed. About 10 minutes later we heard crying coming from the bedroom. When we went went in to ask what was wrong, our sweet-natured, 4 year-old sniffed, "I don't want Daddy to go!"

He had gotten himself all upset by realizing that Daddy would head back to work when his lunch hour was up. And, even though Terry was still in our home, Micah was upset in anticipation of him leaving!

Later that night I opened up my Bible to Hebrews 2:1 and read, "Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." I thought the phrase "drift away" was an interesting one. It's more applicable than "fall away" or "turn away". To drift implies a slow, lazy, almost unintentional movement. And that's usually how it happens, isn't it? We slowly cut back on our prayer time or Bible time until we're completely neglecting God. Or we ignore our convictions on one tiny issue and before long we find we've long ago drifted across a line.

What if we had the heart of a child? Consider my child. What if, when faced with just the idea that we might soon be separated from our Father, we become heart-broken? Micah's tears for Terry's impending absence speak highly of their relationship. All Micah wanted was for Terry to be somewhere in our home, anywhere in our home, as long as he didn't leave to go back to work. Are we just that passionate about being in God's presence? Wouldn't it be great if after just one instance of drifting from God, we are shocked to see the space we've put between Him and us and we run back to Him full-force?

Terry was sad to see Micah's tears. But he was honored by the meaning behind them. I think God would feel the same joy the next time we throw ourselves on the bed and cry out that we just want to be in His presence!