I'm back from spending parts of six days with my family in Kansas. One of the blessings of teaching is that you know years in advance when your days off work will be. One of the blessings of having two brothers who also are in education is that their schedules will roughly parallel your own. Dave and Scott teach together, and Scott's wife, Karen, is the registrar for the same school, so our vacations coincide although not quite perfectly. The timing of their school calendar to mine is close enough to where I can spend time with their families and they are kind enough to put up with me! Lord willing, I will be reprising this past trip in twenty-six days for the Christmas holidays.
One of the blessings of this past week was that I was able to spend time with two of my great nieces and one of my great nephews. My nephew, Ben, and his lovely wife, Courtney, are living with Dave and Sally until they close on their new house in several weeks. So, I was able to be around Caroline-Jenson-Bo who I see rarely. Caroline is just walking and shy around me but Jenson and Bo, both in Pre-K, were fun to play with. The past several trips, they've more or less ignored me but this time, I was their new buddy. We read together, watched videos together, and played together. Jenson even drew a picture for me which now adorns my wall. That's the life of a great uncle- fun without the responsibility! There were several takeaways from my time at Dave and Sally's. One was a new respect for SAHMs like Courtney. Three small ones don't leave much time to relax. I was worn out just by observation! I also was impressed by how Bo and Jenson try to be helpful. They were constantly picking up sticks in the yard so Dave would build a fire. OK, it was mostly in the sixties but you just can't go wrong with a fire in the fireplace!
But my favorite moments with the kiddos were the ones listening to Jenson, age five. The first night I was there she asked me,
'Uncle Steve, what are you getting me for Christmas?'
I turned it around and asked what she was getting me. Jenson didn't have an answer to that so we will continue that line of dialogue in a couple of weeks when I return. On the afternoon before they went to visit Courtney's folks in Oklahoma, she was riding with Dave and me to their church building to help set up for a pie supper after mid week Bible study. Jenson was asked, "What are your favorite holidays?"
Has to be Thanksgiving and Christmas, right? Without batting an eye, she blurted out,
'Valentine's Day!'
I laughed and asked, "Because of candy and boys?"
She seemed slightly puzzled but replied, 'Just candy!' That will make Ben happy!
Well, what's your other one?
With no hesitation, she informed us,
'My birthday!'
I like that- all of us should consider our birthdays a holiday. The world would be a little sweeter if we did!
My favorite moment of interacting with Jenson came on the same excursion. I was listening on the car radio to an interview with one of the members The Heartbreakers, Tom Petty's band. I was getting into it when Jenson asked Dave, who was driving, a question from the back seat. I don't remember the question but I clearly recall what Dave did. He turned off the radio so he could clearly hear what his granddaughter wanted to ask him with no interruptions. Dave's total focus was on Jenson. The interview was unwanted clutter in the communication with the little girl who means the world to him. I probably would have forgotten the interview by now but not the very short vignette starring my brother and my great niece. That's how I picture our Father in Heaven listening to His children. Our questions and pleas are deeper and our dilemmas are more gut wrenching, at least in our eyes, but our God gives us His undivided attention. The scriptures are full of times when Jehovah beseeches His children to beseech Him. My belief is that He can totally focus on all of us individually at the same time and in my limited understanding, I have no clue as to how that is accomplished. Maybe He enjoys our words in the same way I get enjoyment from the words of Jenson. Maybe He just loves when we reach out to Him. Sometimes when Jenson wanted me to play or read to her, I was too busy. Praise the Lord that our God is never too busy for us..... and the radio never gets in the way. Tom Petty will just have to wait.
Applicable quote of the day:
The soul is healed by being with children.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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