Monthly Archives: July 2008

The boxes are back into their places, the floors have been swept, the kids are gone.
The five nights of Bible School are over, and there are some very tired people.
The words of the theme song keep ringing in my head,
“Read to go where you may lead,
I’m ready, ready to serve . . .”

My anticipation is tempered by the losses.
I feel keenly the faces that won’t be there —
 
Aunt Mary Lois, Aunt Clara, Aunt Gertrude, My Daddy, Uncle Monroe, Uncle John
(These are the ones in Heaven)

And there are those, who won’t be there, by reason of health:
Uncle Amos, Aunt Daisy, Uncle Luke, Aunt Cora, Uncle Eli, Aunt Ruth.

And there are those who won’t be there because they can’t.
(This makes me sorry)

And there are those who won’t be there because they won’t.
(This makes me sad)

But there will be many, many who will come gladly.
Because they can.
Because they want to.
Because when all is said and done,
 warts and all,
WE ARE FAMILY.

Welcome, dear family.

Some years ago, there was a sleep over for the female cousins on my Daddy’s side.  We had a wonderful time.  It was a sacred, heartwarming time, filled with laughter and tears.  One of the things we did that weekend was to bring something to give away that would tell something about our lives.  My cousin, Judith, had come to be with us that weekend, and it took a great deal of courage, because she really did not know us.

When the time came to share what we had brought, she brought out this greenhouse pot kind of thing with some “spear-ish” looking things in it with some stems topped with something that looked like dried blackberries.  She proceeded to introduce us to a lily that made delicate flowers and then folded up over the center and formed a blackberry looking seed inside of a parchment-looking cover.  She told the story of how her life paralleled this particular lily.  There were few dry eyes.

I was the one who got to keep the sqiggly looking things in the pot.  Some of the cousins took some seeds, and I don’t know what became of them, but I planted my little lily beside my back garage door, then transplanted it to a raised bed on the other side of the back door, and kept wondering when it would bloom.  This is my third summer with it, and very suddenly, just yesterday, I noticed that it had made a single flower (with the promise of many, many more)  I was ecstatic!

This is larger than actual size.

In other news, Bible School has been moving right along. 
The balcony houses the elementary class, and it is such a temptation to look over the edge:

This fellow is being quite contained. 
We’ve had a couple of narrow squeaks!

  
It is time for Bible School
at the little white church at the corner of
Canterbury and Carpenter Bridge Roads in Kent County, DE.

   
How our church loves Bible School Children
 and the week of Bible School.  Our theme this year is
God’s Big Back Yard
And what a great job of decorating!  It is really sweet!

They love the snacks and games
(Don’t we all?)
    

The first two nights have been well attended, greatly participated in, and a whole lot of fun.  (You could put the word “Work” in the place of “Fun” and you would still have it right for the adults and youth group people involved.)

Worth it???

Only eternity will tell the whole tale, of course.
But even without eternity, we would hate to miss this week and the opportunities it brings to us.

“Come to Bible School, Come to Bible School . . . “

“Lord Jesus, if the invitation to Bible School can translate into an invitation to make sure of Heaven,
And even one person would accept,
The Family in your Big Back Yard
Could know no greater joy!

Frankly, neither were any of us.

Except, maybe, HIM, because of the reaction it got.