A LESSON IN HUMILITY
"We need to talk now. Tyndale had an emergency. Helicopter taking off."
That is not a text message any parent wants to receive. Especially if it comes from one of your best friends who happens to be an emergency medicine doctor. On June 23, 2015 that was exactly the message that came across my cell phone. The resulting phone call confirmed that my third son had drowned, that it was unknown how long he was deceased, but that he had been resuscitated and was enroute to Children's Hospital of Mississippi. Tyndale would eventually make what seems to be a full recovery from his drowning, but my role as a father has humbled me on many other occasions.
- "Mr. Burtron, you need to come back to town, the doctor said there is no longer a heartbeat."
- "Daddy! Daddy! Please help me daddy! I can't walk. It hurts so bad. Please make the hurt stop!"
- "She has Salmonella. All of her signs are going in the wrong direction. We are admitting her to the hospital immediately."
- "We don't know why she is not gaining weight. She is in the first percentile. We don't know how much longer she may have."
- "She lost a lot of blood. It's kind of amazing she is still here."
When I asked my future father-in-law for permission to marry his daughter, God gave me a moment of clarity that was well beyond my own wisdom. I told him that I had no illusion I would ever be able to sufficiently take care of his daughter, that all good things come from God and that I would depend on God to provide for all our needs. I had no idea at that moment how prophetic those words were.
20 years later I have a much stronger understanding of the fragility of life and God's provision. It is true that all good things come from Him, that as He cares for the birds of the air, so He cares for us, and much more. More than anything else, my role as a father has humbled me, but in doing so I have gained great resolve to seek out righteousness with boldness and approach life without fear.