May 15 – “Gorgeous, of course”

Sadly, our time in Waco is drawing to a close.  I’m not at all sure what will happen next in Sneakaway 2017, though.  That won’t be decided until Chris gets out of bed and decides if her need for her own bed to recover in outweighs our need for an all-too brief few days away.  I suppose there will be more news to that end on FaceBook later this morning.

The Luke word for the day came in the morning.  “I gonna play with my “nigh pad” on more time and more time and more time and more time.”  The youngster wanted to make sure he got in some media moments. 

The kids presented Christi with her Mother’s Day present before we left for church.  They selected a foot spa appliance to soothe her tired feet.  She of course expressed her joy at the gift.  Beaming, Caleb added, “And it was cheap, too.”  Um.  Thanks for that expression of stewardship, Caleb.  Chris got a gift, too.  It was little box with a slot on top decorated with stickers from Alaska.  Perfect for saving up for our trip next year. 

Now the star of the day had her moment to shine once we got to church.  Christi waited until we arrived to put on her little dress.  Can’t have the prettiness wrinkled.  Then she added the accessories.  A tiny little bracelet.  And some of those really shiny black shoes.  She was gorgeous, of course.  And then the ceremony began.  The whole family went to the front of the church, along with four or five other families.  Each child was welcomed by the preschool minister with a photo on the big screen and a special word.  AnnaGrace’s comment was, “She is well-protected by her three big brothers.”  The life-verse selected for her by her parents was Matthew 6:33.  Check it out below.  It was all very sweet.  Oh, and then she dropped off the bracelet.  I think it never left the pew.  And then she threw a shoe.  Zak took care of that one.  And still, in spite of her bracelet-less and one shoe, AnnaGrace was … gorgeous, of course.

Later that afternoon we were sitting around the table enjoying fajitas when Christi remembered an encounter she and Luke had had at church.  She asked him about it. 

Christi: “Luke, what do you say when a girl walks by and she says ‘Hi’ to you?”

Luke: “I don’t know.”

In the background, but not so far in the background that they could not be heard …

Daddy and older brother Zak, almost simultaneously: “Run away.”

Christi: “No, you don’t do that.  You say ‘Hi’ back to her.”

Zak: “But Mom, you don’t know what goes through a boy’s head ‘cause you’re a girl.”

Christi: “I know that.  It’s why I’m telling him what the right way to respond would be.”

Great answer, Christi.  Not sure it will help when he is a hapless young teenage boy, but it gives him a concrete memory to return to in those terrifying moments all males must face, “Mommy said to say ‘Hi’.”

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Father, thank you for my mother and for my wife and for all three of the mothers of my grandkids.  They are all precious ladies.  Amen.