When William walked into the house wearing a grin that went from ear-to-ear, he made no reference to the shirt he was wearing. I noticed the Psalm 75:10 reference on the front of the shirt. I had not yet seen the back of the shirt. Had he been to church camp? Had he become a religious zealot? Seriously, all this time I thought he’d been out with the flu.
It was probably twenty minutes later that William said to me: “Granddad, why don’t you use the text on my shirt for your sermon on Sunday?” I responded: “We can use it. You can be the preacher.” Knowing that William is a man of few words, I felt fairly safe in offering the invitation. I knew we weren’t going there.
It is seldom that I need a supply preacher on Sunday. Several years ago, the church extended me an opportunity to be out six Sundays a year. So far this year, I’ve been only been away one Sunday. Truth be told, I’d rather be in my place than elsewhere. Fortunately, I have several wonderful friends who have filled the pulpit for me in the past. Consequently, I am always confident that when I’m away, folks at church are in good hands. Only once in my very distant memory did folks feel a little shell shocked from having been to church.
At the time, I needed to be out and I went on the recommendation of a friend. You live and learn. Consequently, since that time, I’ve opted to stick exclusively with the three friends whom I’ve depended on in the past. I don’t like coming back to discover an unwanted surprise. Shell shocked doesn’t work well in a church whose priority is good news.
Truthfully, the General and I had hoped to have taken a really nice trip this year. They say timing is everything and this year, life circumstances were such that it didn’t feel right. Why force yourself to be elsewhere when the timing is all wrong. Consequently, our celebration of our fiftieth wedding anniversary was postponed until we both were at a place where adventure and laughter were guaranteed. I think we are almost there. That being said, I suspect I’ll miss more than one Sunday in 2019.
Jake’s birthday dinner last night couldn’t have gone better. When he requested Asian food for his birthday, I thought he’d made a mistake. For starters, I know the General doesn’t have that culinary delicacy in her repertoire of experience. Shall we say that my anxiety was heightened when I saw her searching the Internet for a recipe for egg rolls.
So why are they called egg rolls if they don’t include eggs? Actually, as it turned out, the egg rolls were scrumptious. Andrea and Kevin took on the responsibility for preparing the fried rice and five or six other entrees. They were the last to arrive and I was speechless with amount of food they hauled in. They obviously had been very busy.
Andrea immediately noticed the logo on William’s shirt. She smiled and said: “We’ll talk about your shirt later.”
Never have I enjoyed Chinese food more than last night. It was a meal that we didn’t rush through. To add to the ambience, we opted for chopsticks instead of regular flatware. Many years ago, I had lunch with a friend who was a missionary on furlough from Paris, France. He and his wife lived in the Chinatown portion of Paris. It was the first time I tried my hand at using chopsticks.
Actually, using chopsticks was my friend’s idea. He said it would make the experience seem more authentic. I remembered being surprised that if you do it correctly, eating rice with chopsticks is possible. Who would have thought? Even the birthday boy managed everything but the rice with chopsticks. He didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable switching to a fork for eating the rice.
Dinner last night felt like an updated version of the Walton’s on television. There was simply the sense of serenity associated to being together as a family. Never has Chinese food tasted better.
Following dinner, the birthday boy opened birthday gifts. From there we moved on to the belated opening of Christmas gifts. My grandchildren made out like bandits. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Dre’ showered each of them with a multiple of gifts that both prompted laughter and filled their piggy banks. Who would have thought of selecting “The Official Bob Ross Coloring Book” for a fifteen-year-old? That garnered a laugh. So, did the $50 gift card to Whataburger. If you want to know what was funny about that, you’ll need to check with my granddaughter. Trust me, the story will be one of interest. My grandsons also received gifts with a Bob Ross theme.
They say seeing is believing. I had never heard of Bob Ross until the grandkids were here at Thanksgiving. I think it was Jake who made the selection of Bob Ross to watch on the computer. All three kids seemed familiar with his work as an artist with a huge paint brush. I have to admit that even I found it interesting.
I anticipate the next three or four days will be both very full and very enjoyable. It is always good to be surrounded by family. We are oblivious to concepts associated to family conflict that forever separates families. I’ve seen it happen and once it does, it is seldom ever amicably resolved. It defies belief, but there are families who opt to build walls that forever separate them from those closest to them on their family tree.
All My Best!
Don