The Man with the Laundry Cart
With ten homeschooling conventions on our schedule this spring, Ray and I have seen the inside of many hotels.
On Ray’s birthday in a hotel in Denver during the Colorado homeschool convention
One morning, when we walked into the hall to leave for the day, I noticed a middle-aged man pushing a large laundry cart. I shouldn’t stereotype people, but I Â was surprised to see a man his age doing this particular job. When he got near us, he said, “You are two sharply-dressed people.”
We said, “Thank you.”
Ray went to pull up the van, while I waited at the lobby door with our portable battery and our rolling cart. When Ray got to the door, this white-haired gentleman rolled the battery outside for me. He commented on our big vehicle. I explained that we sell books. “What kind of books?” he asked.
“Books for people who homeschool their children,” I replied.
“Do a lot of people do that?” he asked.
I told him that we were in town for a homeschool book fair and that there would be several thousand people there. He said, “That’s nice.”
I told him that I hoped he had a good day. He gave us wishes for a nice day, too, and said, “Y’all are nice people.”
When I think of this man, I am reminded of what Jesus said about becoming like children. Childlike. That is a good way to describe him. Except for his outward appearance, I don’t imagine that he has changed much since he was a child. I am guessing that there were times when this man’s mother worried about her son’s future, but on this day he was working at an honorable occupation, finding ways to help, and brightening the day for two travelers. I can’t think of a better goal for any of our children–or for ourselves, for that matter.
And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:2-4, NASB