Showing Up Undone: Honk 4 Hank
Showing Up Undone: Honk 4 Hank
ad·vent
/ˈadˌvent/
noun: advent
the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.
The most regularly anticipated moment for Hank Trapp happens every Tuesday and Friday morning when our garbage man comes. Hank loves trash trucks, trash cans, and trash day. But for Hank, it is not only about the arrival of the thing (the truck). Nor is it simply the event (trash day). It has become so much about the person: Mr. Julio (our trash collector).
He considers the arrival of this notable person so much that he dreams about it. I know this because he talks about Mr. Julio in his sleep. Hank is daily devoted to praying for Mr. Julio. He actually cries if we forget. The way my little boy closes his eyes each night before bed to pray for Mr. Julio has opened my eyes to care for someone I otherwise would have overlooked.
Hank wanted nothing more than for Mr. Julio to come to his birthday party. On Tuesday, we taped an invitation to our garbage can. On Friday, some of Hank’s favorite people waited together with anticipation for Mr. Julio to come by our house on his route.
When Mr. Julio arrived, Hank was so overwhelmed that he ran inside to hide. Slowly he emerged. Our garbage company gifted Hank a hat with the company logo on it. It dawned on me as they were handing Hank the hat that this wasn’t just a party for Hank, but we were also there to celebrate Mr. Julio! He is, after-all, a celebrity in our house. So naturally, we had Mr. Julio sign Hank’s hat. I had to smile when we discovered that his initials are J.C.
It is Advent. A time when we gather around with our people to anticipate and celebrate the arrival of the most notable J.C.—Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. With all of the things and events we orient ourselves around during this season, let us especially remember to fix our eyes on the person this is all about!
“ …Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
Jesus Christ came to this earth overlooked and undervalued. Many have passed him by. He lived a life serving others. He was not a trash collector by trade, yet he collected our mess and took it straight to the cross, bearing the load of our burdens to the point of death. During Advent we celebrate that Jesus will share his joy with any messy person who looks to him in faith for his cleansing sacrifice. This joy will be completed when Jesus comes again. And he has promised to come again!
“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:28
Of all of the lessons I have learned through my precious boy in his earnest expectation of Mr. Julio, the one I treasure most of all is the way he reminds me to joyfully wait. Sometimes in this life we are misguided, waiting for the wrong things. And sometimes we lack the patience to wait at all. But often when we wait for someone special to us on this earth, God gives us a taste of how we are made to wait for him to come back to this earth. For now we get to have mini “Honk 4 Hank” moments. They are little gifts helping us sing the song of this season and point us to the one who has promised to enter back into the filth of this life and make all things new.
A note to Hank on his golden birthday: I love your golden locks, your heart of gold, and the brilliant ray of sunshine you are to everyone around you. Thank you for shining light so bright on parts of life I tend to breeze past. Often when I find your precious face pressed up against the window so eager each week for Mr. Julio to come, I am in a hurry, excessively checking my watch thinking about how it is time to get our shoes on and get out the door for our day. But your day is happening right there. In the midst of our struggles and rushes, you remind me to see people who matter, to take time to slow down, and to wait with joy.
*Advent definition taken from Oxford Languages Dictionary
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