Have you ever lost or left a child behind? | Irelin’s Christmas-Leave

Another one of our most frequently asked questions is “Have you ever lost or left a child behind?”

The short answer to this question is, ‘yes we have” and every time Christmas comes around (especially Christmas Eve) we recall the story of how it happened.

It was Christmas Eve 2011 and our entire family went to church to attend and serve at the Christmas Eve service. Two days prior to this our 9th child, Keegin was born  (12-22-11).  It wasn’t necessarily our plan to bring our newborn to church so soon after he was born, but Todd was needed as a back up worship leader that evening.  Interestingly enough, our church’s Worship Arts Pastor and his wife were also expecting their first child and she went into labor just as we were preparing to leave the hospital with baby Keegin.

We literally met our friends at the ‘check in’ counter just as we were leaving the hospital.  I (Todd) was clueless to the fact that she was in labor and that they were there to check in!  When we met in the lobby I believed they were coming to visit us!  I began to make light of the fact that we were headed out the door as they were coming in to visit.  Soon I noticed that his father and mother were also there and that his father was video recording their every move!  It didn’t take long for me to get a grip on reality and I was a bit embarrassed about my assumptions and I patted him on the back in an effort to encourage and congratulate them.

Anyway, we recouped at home for a day or so and then decided that we would all attend the Christmas Eve service since Todd was needed as the backup worship leader. The service went off without a hitch and we even paused to snap a quick family photo in the church lobby before we and headed off to my office to get on our coats and hats.  We were all exited to pile in the van and get home because Uncle Chad and Aunt Syd were going to come to our house to participate in our fun tradition of making homemade Christmas egg rolls!

Todd Tami and Family Christmas Eve 2011

The egg roll making tradition is something we picked up about 7 years ago when we were invited to an egg roll making Christmas Eve party at our former Senior Pastor’s house. We all had so much fun making egg rolls with them each year that we decided to make it our family tradition even after we moved away from our dear friends.

In my office we rushed to get our coats and hats on hurried out to load everyone up in our BIG 12 passenger van for the 10 minute drive home.  We were about 8 minutes into our drive when Todd’s cellphone rang.  The screen indicated that it was a call from our Senior Pastor’s wife.  Our first thought was that she was simply calling us to say “Merry Christmas” (which she did) but she also added… “and I have Irelin here with me.”  I’m not sure why but I immediately tapped the breaks as I realized that we had somehow left Irelin at the church.  Our Pastor’s wife quickly added, “She’s fine and Uncle Chad is still here so we’ll just send her out with him.”

Still in shock and slightly embarrassed I agreed to her plan, wished her a Merry Christmas, and then ended the call.

You might be thinking, “How could you let this happen!”  But you have to give us just a little grace….we were two days out from just having a baby and we were all in the “baby fog” (especially Tami). She was sore and exhausted and was not her usual organized-self.  She hadn’t even had more than 24 hrs to recuperate in the hospital before we headed home.  Besides, we were sure that we were all present and accounted for when we suited up to leave and we all left the office at the same time!  On top of that we went straight from the office to the van!  Todd even made it a point to be the last one out of the office so he could turn out the lights and lock his office door.

Tami cooking egg rolls Christmas Eve 2011

The simplest explanation for the mishap was that we all went to the right and for some reason Irelin went to the left.  We aren’t sure why she went left but she did.  She returned to the lobby to socialize while we piled in the van and headed home.  We all learned our lessons that night!  Todd and Tami’s lesson: Do a head count as we leave the building and once again in the van.  Irelin learned to stick with the group and pay attention.

In the end we all enjoyed some amazing egg rolls and a good laugh about Irelin’s Christmas “leave.”

Irelin Ann 2014

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

~ Deuteronomy 31:8 ~