Did I Forget Something?
Technology is amazing. Seems like every time you turn around they come up with something new. Take the last car I purchased. Although it is just a little car, it has some really amazing features. My favorite feature is the fact that you do not need a key to start it or lock it. As long as the key is in your pocket you can do either.
One time I was with my wife riding down the road and she had her purse with her and sat it in the floor in front. When we got to our destination I turned off the car and I got out. She got out on her side. I went to lock the car and it wouldn’t lock. She was able to lock the car on her side but I wasn’t able to lock it from my side. The same thing happened at the next few stops we made. I thought my side was broke or I was just pushing the button wrong, so I asked her to come to my side to see if she could lock it. She walked over and without any effort locked the door. I tried it again with her standing next to me and it worked fine. Now I was really puzzled.
When I arrived home I emptied my pockets and the solution became clear to me. I had left my key at home. I could start the car because her purse held a key and that key was inside the car close to where you needed to start it. When she got out of the car, with her purse, she was able to lock the car from her side, but the signal would not reach my side so I was unable to lock it. When she came around to my side, with the key in her purse, she or I was able to lock the car. Mystery solved.
The modern Presidents are surrounded by Secret Service protection. This protection is also extended to their immediate family. Many Presidents and family members have complained about the lack of privacy that this causes, especially for their children. The Secret Service goes out of their way to find a compromise that will allow the most freedom, but will also keep the President and those close to him safe. Eventually most Presidents settle into a routine and the Secret Service almost becomes like an extended family member.
When the President and/or his family visit a foreign country this becomes extremely taxing on the Secret Service. Sometimes different family members head off in different directions, yet the Secret Service agent’s job is never done. They need to make sure no harm comes to whoever they are in charge of covering. So was the case when this President darted off to Russia with his wife and daughter. When they landed, each headed to their separate limousines. The daughter rode in a limousine with the First Lady’s Special Assistant, named Capricia.
Other than His birth, there isn’t much in the Bible about Jesus’ childhood, except this one story. The Bible says that every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. When He was twelve years old He was with them on one of those journeys. As He sat in the Temple among the religious scholars, these scholars were amazed by the questions He asked and His deep understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus’ parents must have been doing something else in Jerusalem because they weren’t with Him at the Temple. They left town without Him and it was a full day before they realized He wasn’t with friends or family. When they turned around to go to search for Him, it was another 3 days before they went to where he actually was, in the Temple.
I’m sure His parents were in a real panic state because He was only twelve years old. Still, one has to wonder why they didn’t at least check up on Him.
One of the things I like to do on a day I take off from work is to go out to breakfast. One day I took the day off and my wife had to work. I decided I would drive her to work and then go out to breakfast. When she got off later in the day, I would pick her up and take her to dinner. So I drove her to her school and dropped her off. Then I headed out to breakfast. I didn’t get too far from her school when one of those annoying lights flashed on my dashboard. It was a bright red key. I thought, “Oh no, the battery in my key has gone bad and needs to be replaced.” The key does have a physical key with it, too, for emergency just like this one. So I decided to go ahead and eat breakfast and then head somewhere to get the battery replaced. When I got to the restaurant I cut the car off and stepped outside. I went to lock it and the push activation didn’t work. I reached in my pocket to get my key and it was then I realized exactly what the red flashing key on my dashboard actually meant. I didn’t have my key. Let’s just say, everyone in my wife’s family and her whole school now has something to laugh at me about.
Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton pulled up to the Kremlin in Russia for a farewell dinner at separate times and in their separate limos. They had dinner and each returned to their limos for the trip back to the airport. Bill arrived at the airport first and Hillary arrived soon after. Chelsea, Capricia, one of Bill’s valets and Chelsea’s lone Secret Service agent were standing beside the curb waiting for their limo, which never arrived. As the last limo pulled away and two men started rolling up the red carpet they realized they had been left behind. The agent and Capricia noticed a beat up white van and convinced the driver to race them to the airport. While the confused Russian security men at the airport tried to figure out what was going on, the group blasted past them and into the awaiting plane. Hilary states, “I didn’t discover that Chelsea was missing until we were ready to board the plane, and they came panting into the terminal.”
Forgetting something can lead to a panic. Whether it is a key or a child, it can lead to a real sense of helplessness. All of a sudden everything stops and our hearts race. Just imagine what it’s going to be like when you get to heaven and Jesus isn’t on your heart. Now that is the last thing you want to forget.
Prayer: Father, Please enhance my memory so that the important things I need, I don’t leave them behind. Please help me, every day, to remember to take Jesus with me wherever I go, too. Amen.
