Near To The Heart Of God

Patti and Scott were expecting a child soon. The parents-to-be invited another couple–Bart and Rita–to see their new nursery…

In the corner stood a big, cardboard box, containing a new crib that Scott hadn’t had time to assemble yet. “Get some tools and we’ll put this thing together,” Bart volunteered. The eight-page instruction booklet on how to assemble the crib was typed single-space–complete with asterisks, footnotes and diagrams of “figures one through eleven.” But the instructions proved more confusing than clarifying, so they were tossed aside and the two couples plunged into the assembly-work guided only by their own logic.

Forty-five minutes later, the crib was put together–well, almost. “I think the teething rails go on top,” Patti said. Bart and Scott righted that situation by removing and repositioning the side panels. Then Rita discovered that the leftover part, still in the box, was really a catch that allowed one of the crib’s sides to be moved up and down.

Finally, when…