I had just finished my first cup of coffee when it dawned on me. Leo was going to have to go to Sunday School.
Leonardo Speedy Harrelson is our 6 week old African Tortoise who joined the Harrelson Pack over Christmas. Leo is a great pet as his bobbing head, burrowing, and love of kale and collards provides constant sources of entertainment for us all. Although his life expectancy of 50 years has caused us to consider our life plans as well as our retirement plans (his vote is for somewhere warm with a nice humid air, so he won’t have to be spritzed twice a day), he was certainly a great pic by MH and Sam.
We made the commitment that if MH wanted to take Leo back and forth between houses that we would all pitch in, packing up his three heat lamps, food, and water dishes so that she could have a pet at both houses, which is why last Sunday, Leo had to go to Sunday School.
There was no way anyone would have had time to run back by the house before heading up the mountain to Asheville to get Leo. It was also much too cold to consider leaving Leo in the car, so Leo camped out somewhere between Capernaum and Jerusalem as the girls learned about Jesus getting lost from his parents.
The packing up and sorting bags and tortoises and heat lamps is part of what we do week in and week out as parents. It’s part of the life of every parent who shares children. It’s a part of our lives that often ends up at the UPS store on Monday morning overnight something. It’s a part of loving our children, which means sometimes Leo has to go to Sunday School so that your church family can understand a little bit more about what it means for your family to be family.