"Bathroom Evangelism"

Several days ago, my brother-in-law and I sat at dinner with our wives, sharing memories of all the ways our kids created to embarrass us when he reminded me of my son's unique contribution to the family. For lack of a better way to define it, my wife and I called it "bathroom evangelism." Any time our family went out to a local restaurant, our son found the need to visit the men's room without fail. Naturally, I attended to my Daddy-duty and took him. As soon as we passed through the door, my one and only son felt a rush of inspiration and broke forth in song. Not just any song, mind you, but "Amazing Grace," all four verses, at the top of his lungs. Why he did this is beyond me. All I can say is that the effects were, well, interesting. Any other five-year-olds present with their dads were totally mystified by the pint-sized soloist. Probably, they were envious that they had not thought of such an ingenious way to embarrass their own fathers. The men did not say anything. Usually they left in a hurry. I rationalized that they were under conviction, but then I'll never know for sure. No one offered a comment, or felt an apparent urge to join in singing, or offered money for voice lessons for my son. Most of all, they did not offer - or threaten - anything to make him stop singing. Surely they must have been under conviction, or maybe they were just music critics. Either way, they got the word, and a testimony was given if under somewhat unorthodox circumstances. But then, God moves in mysterious ways.