I don’t have to go—I get to go

Going straight home from work is typically no longer an option. I love getting into my warm pj’s and curling up on my couch at the end of a long, stressful day, but there’s an important stop I usually like making before heading home.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. “I don’t have to go, I get to go.” Think about that a minute…

There will come a day when my parents won’t be there for me to visit. What a sobering thought.

When I get to mom and dad’s house, I always walk in and holler out, “knock knock!”

My dad’s hard of hearing. If he doesn’t wear his hearing aids, he likely doesn’t even know when I come in, but my mom always does. She calls out to him, “Marianna’s here baby,” but today, she didn’t do that.

I heard my dad’s voice. At first, I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he didn’t sound distressed so I wasn’t too concerned. What was weird was that I didn’t hear a peep from mama.

As I walked around the corner into their living room, I witnessed a precious sight. My dad was sitting in the seat of my mom’s walker directly in front of her recliner. She was awake and snuggled under her Christmas fleece blanket while daddy was reading the Bible to her. They both knew I was there, but barely acknowledged it at the time.

We were all in the presence of God.

I quietly sat in his recliner and listened until he finished reading. Miraculously, the stress I carried all day long suddenly disappeared. Hearing my dad read the Bible aloud was quite a blessing. I honestly don’t recall the details of the two chapters he read. All I know is that God and Moses were a force to be reckoned with.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10