Do My Parents Remember?

Tonight we enjoyed a rowdy fellowship potluck--although, using the adjective "rowdy" doesn't really distinguish it from any other that we have. :) I did have to wonder, however, when it was over, "What do my parents think as they see and hear all these children running, squealing, chasing, laughing, dancing, drumming, playing as hard as they can, and making all sorts of raucous noise?"

Do my parents remember the small group meetings we had when I was a child? Sometimes we called it "cell group," sometimes it was "home group"...but the idea was the same: fellowship as the body of Christ. Here in this house, in the very same space in which my boys scampered tonight, I scampered with my brother David and our friends. Do my parents remember how noisy we were, especially after the official meeting was over and our pent-up energy could be released? Do they remember how, during one indoor game of tag or hide-and-seek or some such game, the wrap-around skirt of one of the Connor girls fell down as she stood by the hearth, creating a good bit of panic and mayhem? Do they remember the night the electricity went out, stranding us all in the dark until Dad's trusty pen light led someone to the cupboard for matches and candles? Do they remember how terribly exciting that was for the little folk? Do they remember that there was some significant ballgame being played that night, and the men went down to the garage to listen to it on the car radio since there was no power in the house? Do they remember...

So, Mom and Dad, do you remember? :)

Here is a picture of part of the group tonight, which included the Myers, the Wampoles, the Evans, and my parents. Interestingly enough, some of the "regulars" weren't here; but it still felt like a full house anyway. :)

Dear Cindy made me go eat while she sat on the floor and fed Tobin.
This picture of Adam and David is actually a little blurry, but I'm still grateful for it because it captures a moment at the "overflow" table.

Josiah helped me make the leaves for this Thankful Tree today. Everyone got to write what they're grateful for, and we'll leave this up on our wall for a few weeks until it's time to put up Christmas decorations. The really neat thing about this is that I save these leaves in our fall decorations storage box and have the pleasure of looking back on them in years to come. Today I saw some of the ones from 2006 and enjoyed the trip down memory lane that they provided. Tonight on Josiah's leaf, he wrote one word: SEASONS. Jeff was David's scribe and wrote what David told him to, that David is grateful that Kevin and Doris are his friends...neither of them were here, but I'll make sure they hear the news that out of all the things he could have given thanks for, David chose to give thanks for them. :)

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Time to catch up on my 30 Days Thankful posts; I've gotten much further behind than I would have liked!

Day 12 - On this day, Jeff came home from running errands with the boys with an early Christmas gift for me! He told me he had something for me, then debated aloud with himself about giving it to me now or waiting for Christmas. One thing I've learned about Jeff is that he's not very good at waiting to give gifts. ;) So he decided to give it to me immediately which was OK with me! The gift was a digital photo frame; and as he showed it to me, he said excitedly, "Haven't you always wanted one of these?" Well...as a matter of fact, no; actually, I've never really thought about it before and certainly didn't long for one. :) However, now that I have it, understand how it works, and have a bunch of my favorite pictures loaded on it, I am ecstatic about it--simply ecstatic! I have it set up on the counter between the stove and the telephone, my worst-by-far Hot Spot in the kitchen. I'm hoping that seeing the beauty of the pictures in that place will inspire me to keep all the other junk cleared away from there--I'm nothing, if not an optimist! Anyway, when we lived in Israel, our computer was in our living room in our very small apartment, so I constantly saw the screen saver rotating through our pictures...and I loved it. Pictures are treasures to me, each one like a piece of gold; and I never get tired of looking back at old photos. Here in our present house, our computer is downstairs rather than in our main living area, so I don't have the pleasure of watching our pictures cycle through a screen saver. The digital photo frame fills that gap for me, and I'm so very grateful for it...and for Jeff's willingness to get me a gift that he knew I would love way before I realized that I did indeed love it!

Day 13 - Somehow in the few miles between Jeff's work and our home, he is able to switch mental gears and come in the door ready to give to his family. It can't be easy to give to people all day in the barbershop and then come home to give to rambunctious boys who've been waiting and waiting for their daddy and who overflow with excitement the minute they hear his noisy Jeep coming up the driveway. But Jeff doesn't snap, "Give me a break." He doesn't go into the library and shut the door to get away. He doesn't grab a newspaper to bury himself in. He doesn't turn on the TV...wait, we don't have a TV :)... But the point is that he doesn't let himself have an immediate escape when he comes in the door at night. He's involved--ready to grill the steaks or fill a hole under the fence where the dogs got out or answer a boy's many questions or swing light sabers in the living room with another boy. At the table, he's present--really present--sharing in conversation with me, our boys, and my parents. I've never forgotten the concept of men needing a cave (from Men Are From Mars...) and I respect that, but somehow Jeff keeps himself out of the cave when he walks in the door at night; and for that, I am grateful.

Day 14 - Jeff didn't feel well today, yet he stayed at work and fulfilled the obligations of his busy schedule there. Then he came home, ready to entertain a houseful of guests and serve/lead us in an evening of fellowship. I think I could count on one hand the number of times he's "called in sick" to work in the 11 and 1/2 years we've been married. He's extremely conscientious. Thank you, Jeff, for the great example you set in this area...and so many other areas!