After taking all day to set up Christmas lights with my son… we ended the day on the roof… amidst the glow-of-lights around the rim of the house and store-bought stars hanging from our large oak tree.
The clouds were like small ripples flowing like river past the moon — which, from our view, was as big and round as a dime. The clouds masked the moons’ full glow.
We were armed with a flashlight, two binoculars, and a book about clouds — which was odd at night I know — but you should have seen this moon.
As we gazed at the night sky… my newly turned nine year old said,
“Dad, can we talk?”
Eyeing through the binoculars at the moon… I wasn’t listening too well.
“Dad, I can’t take you serious with those binoculars on your face.”
(I slowly rolled them down my side).
“Yes, buddy, what do you want to talk about?”
He said, “Sometimes when I’m having a really fun time, like today, I think of all the people in the world that are having a bad day. I mean, it just doesn’t seem fair when I’m having this great day… and they have something bad happen in their life.”
I tried not to interrupt with my lessons or “dad” thoughts — so I just patiently waited.
He continued, “I feel bad that I’m having such a great time when bad things are happening to people around the world. I feel like I should be helping them. I always picture that time you bought a sub sandwich for that homeless man who was digging through the trash”
(And here I thought he wasn’t paying attention)
“Shouldn’t I be doing something to help everyone?”
Now I am thinking… WOW… this is awesome! I said to him, “We might not help everyone, everywhere. But… God does give us opportunities to help people… at the right moment. There’s probably someone on the other side of the world (right now) who is helping someone else get through a bad day. We have to make sure we’re looking for the opportunities around us when they pop up… like the man that needed food. It was our turn to help him.”
He lay there on the roof looking up at the moon with his hands clasped behind his head… pondering.
I explained, “This is why mommy and daddy desire to take you on mission trips, to experience other people and help when needed. But it starts right here in our own neighborhood. That’s awesome you want to help and I’m proud of you. We’ll be on the lookout for more opportunities.”
At that moment a sliver of a complete, clear, cloudless patch floated by the moon… it was brighter than ever.
“Oooh dad… look at that!”
We grabbed our binoculars and began dialing in on the moon. And that was it… a moment of complete awesomeness with my son, on a roof, in December.
I was putting my son to bed the other nite when he said something pretty funny.
So we walk into 
