February 27 – “Startle Attacks”

We took advantage of our window of opportunity, and we are now in Waco for a day or two.  Actually I guess it would technically be part of four.  We got here Wednesday and will return Saturday.  That’s four days, right?  After stopping LaMarque to sing Happy Birthday to Kel (Well, we couldn’t just totally ignore his birthday.  After all, I wrote about him yesterday, so he knows we didn’t forget.  And yes, we literally did sing to him as we entered the front door), we arrived around 2:30 or 3, just in time to somewhat disrupt rest time.  NOT “nap time,” of course.  These boys are way too old for something as childish as a nap.  After all, Caleb informed us “I am already five years old.”  And Zakary is off the charts at seven (I think).  And the two big brothers are doing their part to ensure that Luke, now four or five months old, will always remember that he has a place in the family.  Of course that place being the “youngest child” may not exactly be one that he will always cherish.Good ol’ big brother Zak has devised a way to keep him on his toes.  He sneaks up on him, jumps at the little guy’s face, and yells, “What cha doing?”  Luke is, of course, quite startled at first.  But then he realizes what has just happened, and in a spirit of “Aw, you got me … again,” he erupts into laughter.  It will be interesting to see what tactics Zak employs in the future when Luke gets old enough to anticipate the startle attacks.  As it is, he sometimes refuses to reward Zak with laughter.  Instead he presents a stoic face, simply staring down his big brother as if to say, “Is that all you got?  Is it?  You can’t scare me, Big Boy.  Bring it on.” 

Caleb has one of those love languages that insists on lots of physical touch.  I don’t mean holding hands and gently touching his cheeks.  Come on, he’s a five-year-old boy.  He was constantly leaping into my lap and offering his feet to me so I could have the privilege of dangling him behind the couch.  Zak even wanted in on some of that action.  I have never been so glad for water therapy.  My triceps will never be the same.  The boys even convinced a friend’s dad and their pastor (Wait.  That would be their Dad, too) to engage in a wrestling match before church activities got started at church last night.  Caleb came out of that one with a twisted ankle of sorts.  Not enough to slow him down when the opportunity arose, but enough to call forth some of that awe-inspiring “Mommy sympathy” when it came to avoiding bed time.  He also never turned down a chance for a back rub.  That’s what we were doing when he spoke his “Caleb-ism” of the day.  It came out of nowhere.  We weren’t talking about anything that triggered it.  He had actually been quiet for a good two or three seconds.  Plenty of time to totally reboot his thought processes.  Ready for this one?  Get out your journals.  “Allergies are awesome.”  I’m not sure why he said it or what the deeper theological significance is, but I’m positive it’s in there somewhere.

Psalms 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?”

Father, just as laughter replaces fear in the heart of Luke when he recognizes his big brother, so will you replace the fear in our hearts with your joy when we recognize you.  Amen.