Just a block away from the beautiful building my husband and I call home, the downtown 'market' offers a wide variety of shopping (from bohemian skirts to whimsical beads) and eating, to satisfy any palate. Indian, Mediterranean, and Mexican are just a few, but I'm sorry to say the Mexican in Virginia is cardboard when compared to any Texan la comida. Christmas lights still adorn each lamp post along the city streets, despite the new year's arrival; and in some small way, I find the holiday remnants to be endearing.
So, imagine my surprise when a feeling of fear stole over me this morning, as I traveled the familiar lane to my car. While taking care to avoid patches of ice encrusted intermittently upon the sidewalk, I did not immediately recognize the two boys flanking me on either side. I stopped abruptly in stunned surprise and with rising apprehension, observed not only the two boys just behind me now but the two in front of me as well.
I was surrounded.
Picking up my pace with an averted gaze, I ignored their demeaning forms of address and snide nudgings for a number. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, the boys suddenly blocked my way entirely. Heart beating fast, I prayed for God's protection. In my peripheral sight, a police car was just visible, steadily approaching. The boys scattered but continued to follow me from yards behind until I was safely in my car across the street, and even then, they stood huddled together watching and jeering.
I sat numbly for a moment, as my shaken thoughts slowly thawed. I was reminded of a sparrow I'd seen hopping in the snow, only a few days before. I'd thought warmly, 'how beautiful'.
How delicate and frail.
How... how similar we must seem to our Creator.
How comforting to know that he watches over us and cares for us.
Today, I was a shivering sparrow who found shelter in the cleft of His coat.
His warmth covers me even now.
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