Recording Indy

I am presently kicking back in an Indianapolis hotel room following the first recording session of the weekend. Saturday will prove to be a long day, particularly with my drive back to Chicago in the evening. I am greatly missing my family, though, and tonight’s sessions reminded me of the importance of being a father.

The professor with whom I am working related a story about his young daughter who stole a bag of seashells from school one day. The teacher saw her do it and phoned her father. When she came home, she happily announced that she had found the bag of shells in the street on her way home. After admiring the shells, her father asked her again where she got them and then gave her an opportunity to tell the truth. Hanging her head, she did, and her father phoned the teacher back. They walked back to the school together, holding hands, and her father could sense her intense fear of facing the teacher. They did it together and when the teacher saw the girl, she bent down on one knee and opened her arms wide. The child ran to the teacher and embraced her and gave her back the bag of shells. It was a beautiful picture of God’s grace and love, and that God is able to remove our sin from us.

The class session also included two Nooma videos by Rob Bell. One of them, Lump (NOOMA 010), had me missing my son. It contained a similar message as the professor’s story, but was much more dramatically compelling for me because it reminded me of my own life as a child and inspired me to be the best father I can be for my children.