My home computer is ancient in computer terms. The operating system is no longer supported by the manufacturer, which means I can no longer update my computer. It has been like that for a long time. However, it has files I don’t want to copy onto the lap top at the office. It has obscure webpages about Scripture that I can’t get elsewhere. And, like an old friend, it just feels good to sit down and start communicating.

         But, I am afraid its time is coming to an end. It is sad. Those files I have in it that I refer to from time to time, keep disappearing. Then, they show up in odd places. Imagine you have a neatly organized filing cabinet. Everything you want in it's proper file. And then your grandkids come over and get into everything and wind up turning the filing cabinet completely over. That is what is going on with my computer. Almost every day there is something out of place. I just bought a new monitor and now I fear I will have to buy a new computer.

         Sometimes, though, there is a benefit. The blog I write here is not my first venture into writing. I have been putting words to paper for ministry almost as long as I have been in the ministry. Recently, I had a whole file disappear. I have come to where I don’t fret over these things anymore. Once I cease to write, my writing will be forgotten within the hour. The strange thing about this incident, however, is that one article reappeared all on its own. One article out of a whole file popped up as I was trying to make another file work. As I read the article the memory all came back and I had to smile. I think most of you will relate.

         Just to bring you up to speed, Sheetz is a gas station/convenience store very popular in Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania. At the time, everyone who had a cell phone (they were all flip phones with little antennas) had their phone on a ‘plan’ and the ‘plan’ was to rip you off. I had the cheapest phone on the market because I didn’t need a plan. I could get a minutes card. I usually got one for thirty minutes a month, which was all I needed. And finally, the event took place in January in Northeast Ohio. We had just been hit with a Lake affect snow storm that was measured in feet rather than inches. It was cold, the snow was high and it was miserable. Read on;

         This past Tuesday morning dawned clear but terribly cold. It was -5º and when you added the wind chill it brought it down to -25º. Schools were closed, government offices were closed. If you didn’t have to be out you were to stay home. At the time I leave for the office, though, the traffic pretty much consists of real people going to real jobs. We are NE Ohioans. If you can see to drive, you drive.

         I stopped at Sheetz in Perry to get a cup of coffee and to buy a phone card for minutes on my cell phone. (I have found that I can have a phone plan and pay the monthly fee and all the hidden charges or I can pay as I go and save a ton. No brainer for me.) As I walked in, was a young woman standing there with a cell phone up to her ear. She was maybe 25 years old and from her clothing she looked to be a nurse. She looked bone tired, which also made me think she was a nurse. As I neared her she said, “Hi, Daddy. It’s Megan. I just wanted to let you know that my car is acting up and I finally got here to Sheetz, but I don’t think it is going to get me home.”  OK, at this point I have to tell you something. I never listen to phone conversations of other people. Mostly because I think that people in a restaurant or grocery store or some other such place who are gabbing on the phone are just being rude. I don’t need to hear their conversation, their language or their story. But (and here is the confession) this child started the conversation with “Hi, Daddy.” She looked tired, she looked beaten and she was calling Daddy. Suddenly the candy aisle, which was right behind her, got my attention. I stopped to examine the Rolos and to listen to her call.

         “No, no, Daddy. I’ll call Nick. You don’t need to come out in this cold. I just wanted you to know.” She listened for a bit more, then, “Daddy, no, it’s OK. Nick will come or I can get somebody.” I wanted to know who Nick was and why there would even be a question of his coming, but going on…. “Well, OK Daddy, if you insist. No, I am inside and it is warm enough. I’ll stand right here by the door and watch for you. OK. I love you, too.”

         Good for you, Daddy! And for Megan who, even though she is a grown woman and making her life happen, still chooses to call Daddy before she calls Nick. The bond between Daddy and Megan is still strong and probably always will be. Yes, I eavesdropped for a little bit. I didn’t buy the Rolos, either. But by the time I walked past Megan on the way out with my coffee and phone card,  I didn’t care so much about the cold. She was standing there by the door looking like a little girl waiting for Daddy. It was good.

         We call it the ‘circle of life.’ We grow up and listen to our parents when we are little, then as we hit the teen years we just roll our eyes and shake our heads at the old folks’ silliness. We become young adults and decide we need them and then we have our own kids and the cycle starts again. Meanwhile, our own folks grow old and feeble and then we say goodbye. In time it is our turn. The circle of life keeps turning.

         Except it is more than a circle. It is experiences and lessons taught and lessons learned. It is laughter and sometimes tears and memories that no one else shares. It is frustration and little victories and hugs for no reason. It is not a circle of life, it is the fullness of life.

         Daddy was probably pretty much dressed getting ready for his own job. In my mind’s eye I can see him hurriedly pulling his shoes on, getting his coat and hustling to the car. I know this because I have done it, too. So have you. And it’s worth it because somewhere there is a young person who has given us pain and joy, who is standing by a door waiting for us to come. 

         The fullness of life.