The Unexpected Visitor Who Stopped Time
Last night at about 6:30pm we had a 12 year old boy showed up at our back door; book bag in tow...
"Hi, do you have a son who does karate?" He asked my husband Barrett.
"No" was my husband's answer, "but my son goes to ____elementary school. Do you?"
The boy confirmed and as Jared came running out of the back room, they recognized one another and began playing. We asked where his parents were, as it was already dark out, and he said "at work; they work until midnight at the airport every Friday." Understanding, however, that this kind of situation is not at all unusual where we live - we often play with kids who are not being supervised for hours at a time... so we went about our normal Friday night rhythm not surprised or really all that caught off guard by another kid included in it. After all, rumor has probably gotten out about our couch cuddling and my superb southern cooking (joke).
We ate dinner and watched a movie together. Pretty normal stuff. Then we walked him "home" after the movie, but his parents were not home yet. Guess hes right, midnight it is. A little puzzled over this predicament, we agreed he could come back to our place. We left a note taped to the apartment door letting the parents know when they returned from work, that "Antonio"(not his real name) was with us and left our phone number and apartment number.
11pm rolls around and we walk him back down. Again.
Still no answer, no lights on, nothing.
He starts saying things like "I'll just go; I'll be fine; I was actually going to meet some friends at the park." Now, anyone who knows me and what kind of mom I am can just imagine my response to this 12 year old, "Oh yeah bud?... friends at the park at 11:15pm by yourself???? Ha! I don't think so....you're gong to wait here until we know you are safe."
He said over and over "Thanks so much for the shelter tonight...thanks so much for being so nice to me..."
So before he went to bed I began to get more curious:.. why OUR door?... why on THIS Friday night?.. last Friday we wouldn't have even been home... or the Friday before...
So I asked: "Hey Antonio, what made you come up to our door?"
Friends, I cannot make up his answer, I promise.... he said "I saw your Christmas tree through your window (he points at it); it was so pretty with the lights on it and the angel on top."
Friends, the twinkling lights and angel on our tree led a 12 year old boy wandering around our apartment complex in the 50 degree weather by himself, to our door where he came inside to cuddling on the couch with us, a home cooked meal, and home made peanut butter kiss cookies for dessert.
I could hardly contain myself. I looked at Barrett and muttered out-loud, "Could this be ANY more Gospel????" My husband is an engineer, a smart one, and he doesn't tend to believe in weird stuff... his face softened, he took a deep engineer breath, and he simply said, "No. It couldn't."
I gotta admit, I could hardly make eye contact with this kid. My heart was basically dropping out of my body as I wondered why his parents had left him to fend for himself while they were at work.
We tucked him and Jared into bed about 11:30pm and Barrett walked to the parents apartment once again. We left a note saying we were headed to bed and have your son. We rummaged through his book bag, found a cell phone number and called it. Disconnected. It's now after midnight.
Morning rolled around and we feed him a true Snedaker breakfast- a plate full of sausage, fruit, and eggs with cheese, sprinkled with prayer and of course, a time of reflection on what we are most thankful about.
Then my phone rang with a number I didn't recognize. Finally!
"Hi. Is this Annette?.... you left a note on my door about having my son... I don't have a kid."
Antonio had lied about that being his apartment. Three times he took us back to the same door and we knocked and no one was home. We had totally believed this 12 year old kid, that his parents were at work.
When the police officer arrived, he said very casually, which I was surprised by, "Where is he?"...
I walked into our dining room and he said to Antonio "This again??? Man, you got to stop running away from home!"
My jaw dropped.
GREAT! Now we're kidnappers???!!!
"Um, excuse me officer; we had NO idea... we believed him; we thought his parents worked until 12am."
We received a very pleasant answer, "It's OK ma'am, this is the 8th time; its just that we always locate him before the next morning; we even had the helicopters looking for him last night."
Oh, the helicopters?! well we would have heard those but we were too busy eating cookies with him and watching movies...
"Ma'am, we're just glad hes safe and actually glad it was you he was with."
I knew because of confidentiality reasons, I probably couldn't ask why he keeps running away from home. But as I followed him and the officer out the door to the parole car I think I got my answer...
"Officer, can I ask you a question?" Antonio said.
"Sure"
"Can you please just bring me anywhere but home? Please sir, bring me to a shelter or a place where bad kids go. Just don't bring me home."
I filled out the report and remembered that right before the officer had showed up that I had invited him to church tomorrow. "Antonio, show that paper in your hand to your mama and if you want to go to church with us tomorrow, you can come back here at 9:00am and we will take you"
"Oh!! I'd LOVE to go to church with you!! I hope my mom lets me!!"
I was a mess. It was so hard watching the parole car drive away with that little boy in it. I don't know what hes going back to.
I hope our Christmas tree, the angel, the cookies with kisses, the couch cuddling, the prayers, and the invitation to our church helped him know that whatever it is that he's facing, whatever the reason is that he keeps running... that for a moment time stopped for him. Helicopters weren't heard, oddly enough. And no one was home at that apartment he knocked on three times pretending to be his own. The cell we called didn't work.
We were home. And our home and hearts were honestly prepared for an unexpected visitor. There was room, literal room in our tiny apartment and in the humble heart of my husband and my kiddos for another cuddler on the couch and another plate at the table.
There was room.
Thank God there was room ...and that Leah insisted on those lights and that angel and that spot for our Christmas tree.
During my devotionals the last week or so as I keep reading the story of Christ's birth, I just kept saying to God, "Hey, I'd love a chance to really make a difference this Christmas; I want to feel- deep down- the true meaning of it all.. I want to feel and experience and witness why Christ was born.."
Friends, I have really been praying that. I wanted Christmas to be about welcoming the stranger, the birth of a new way, and the peace of God filling a heart...
But be careful what you pray for.
Because God might give you just that.
And thank God there was room.
Peace to each of you,
Annette
Sitting here blubbering as I wait for my pizza. Snedakers to the rescue again and I'm a mess. God answered your prayers and that of the boy. God is good.
ReplyDeleteThis and only this is what life is all about. What a gift.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. Thank you.
DeleteAnnette, do you mind if I share a bit of this in a sermon with appropriate attribution?
ReplyDeleteI would be honored, absolutely honored if you shared. His story needs to live on in order to inspire others. Thank you.
Deletethank you for sharing this moving moment it brings back memory for me,sorry this will be a long story that will have to be sent in multiple messages so you can fully understand the miracle. back in the 80s I started a new job, there was a Chinese gentlemen there straight from china on a educational visa, the other works would call him chink and get him to do all the hard work because he was a kind man that wanted to please people but yet they would not sit with him at meals because he ate Chinese food and only with chopsticks, I was raised military family and my parents always welcomed everyone and when we lived in other countries we lived off base when ever possible to learn about other people, so I had no problem asking if I could sit with him and work beside him. he was surprised and delighted and in broken English thanked me. well over time we became great friends and I would jump the workers giving him hard time and he once asked me why I got made when they called him chink wasn't that an American name I explained it was not and why he quickly learned to tell them his name and not to call him chink and to tell them to do their own work or help him with his he would help with theirs.
ReplyDeleteLove y'all so much!
ReplyDeletepart 2 Chinese Miracle.
ReplyDeleteover time I learned his heartbreaking story, He came from Tannamon Square China (Communist at time) with his wife the government sent him here on 5 year visa to get medical schooling but he had a 3 year old boy who was to come with them, but once on the plane the government changed their mind and came on and took son off and said he had to stay with grandma in china, they wanted to get off too but were ordered to go in China they were not allowed to argue so they had to leave for 5 years and not allowed back till end of visa. grandma had no phone so other then letters for 5 years there was no contact with her or son. and as she was poor no camera for pics they tried to send her one but government sent back, yes they could do that. they did allow them to send pics of them but could not get pics back. every year they begged to either come home or send son and every year refused. I met him at beginning of their fifth year. I met his wife and they taught me a little Chinese and how to eat with chopsticks and I helped them with English and our culture then in December they got a letter from government saying they were sending the son Now 8 to them he would arrive Dec. 25th. they were so happy yet started crying as they told me they had no way to get him, we were in Binghamton he would be arriving in LaGuardia. and they didn't drive. Well I said I will take you as my Christmas present to you when they asked what Christmas was I told them about the true Christmas and Jesus. I contacted my aunt as she had a wagon and when I explained why I wanted to use it she volunteered to drive as like me she felt this would be the best Christmas for us too.
part 3 Chinese Miracle
ReplyDeleteWe drove them down his wife brought all kinds of Chinese food for us to nibble and I brought a teddy bear for the boy. when his mom asked why I said you son doesn't speak English he is flying by hisself from China to America (yes the government sent him alone) and meeting his parents he hasn't seen since he was 3 he will probably be scared this bear will give him something to hold to feel safer. they loved that. well we get to airport plane arrives but no boy. we asked crew as they came off and they said no unaccompanied minors were on their plane that had come from Sanfransico. we go all over airport no one knows where he is or what has happened all 4 of us are crying because we fear something bad has happened then out of the blue a small voice yells Momma Poppa and we turn and see this small 8 year old Chinese boy running toward us he is with an oriental man of about 25. the boy starts chattering in Chinese and Parents start crying harder this is their son. the man says he was in sanfransico when china air landed and a stewardess came up with the child and said you going to LaGuardia take him to his parents and left him , the man explained he doesn't speak Chinese he is an American born Chinese American but didn't know what to do so stayed with the child and had been looking all over for his parents. we thanked him and blessed him. as we head out to car I hand the bear which the boy now has in a deathgrip as excited as he was to see parents he was also very scared, dad explains that his son had a picture of them that he had got and that was how he recognized them they didn't recognize him because it had been 5 years and a 3 year old changes a lot in 5 years. well we pile into station wagon letting the reunited family sit in back together and chatter away in their language and my aunt and I are crying for joy for this family all the way back realizing how God had protected this child first of all he and his grandma had been in middle of tanneman square during the horrible earthquake but had survived then he had been sent thousands of miles away by hisself then handed to a strangeman who didn't speak his language but thank the Lord was a good man willing to care for the child not abandon or worse yet harm him. when we get to the their home his dad says we have a gift for you for your Christ Mass day yes this is how he said it. then this small child steps forward and in English carefully says Thank you Merry Christ Mass. his parents had taught him on the way back about Christmas and how to say these special words his first English ever, needless to say our Hearts were filled to bursting then that May they flew home together as a family with a new learning of Christ, though they said when they get back to China they would only be able to talk in home about it as not allowed. Never heard from them again but they stay in my heart as they brought me a true Christ Mass that year.
WOW. Since you posted anonymously, I don't know who you are. But this Christmas gift for you sounds like an amazing story. wow wow wow What a blessing to have a part in this reunion!!!!! Thank you for sharing
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