Insider Info

Had a really really neat thing happen last night.
My wife and I were out having dinner with all our children and a family friend. We are at a local pizza place that specializes in making things 'over-the-top-fun' for kids. All you can eat buffet, balloons, Ice cream, cookies, candy, weeee!
So, we're having a fine time. Kids are using their best manners and everything. The server who was assigned to our table has given the kids their balloons, suckers and a small handful of vending/game machine tokens. As we are leaving the restaurant we find the vending/game machines. The most captivating machine to all of us is the big clear plastic box filled with stuffed animals that has the claw hand you control to lift out the stuffed animals out and into the world where children live.
My kids go at it with all the gusto and hope they can muster. Tokens are leaping from their sticky hands into the coin slot faster and faster. They are getting so frustrated and angry. Our really nice family evening is collapsing toward a big crying fit.
"We better let Daddy do this while we still have a few tokens left." OK here we go.
I step to the controls. Cool and collected. We've got five tokens left. The next four tokens go down fast like goldfish at a frat party. Last token. I feel a little sweat on my upper lip. Token goes in. I push the claw control forward and to the right, over a little more and let it dive deep into the pile of plush toys. It grabs a whole claw full of toys. and I navigate the claw back to the front of the machine where the toys are dumped into a clear plastic chute for passage into our world where children can love and fight over them!
This was one sweet moment people. If my kids were bigger people they would have carried me out of the restaurant on their shoulders.
Here's the 'Insider Info' part. One of the prayers I've prayed most lately is that I can be the father this family needs. This little moment of triumph at the pizza joint last night was like a big wink and a nod from the Lord.
A beautiful moment in a life I love dearly.
I have moments like this in my life as an insurance agent too sometimes. You prepare yourself to serve and then you find out how much your service is needed. I have a couple cases this week that will require some extraordinary care and service.
Please make me able to serve Lord.