The Streetpoet

It’s been a mild summer, and I’m grateful, but we’ve had our heat spells. Our little house is barely insulated at all and is very drafty, although the attic holds an unbelievable amount of heat during the day. Last year Peter installed an attic fan and that’s helped some. A few weeks ago he traded out the air-conditioning unit in our bedroom for a bigger one that actually cools the house! And he also put up a tarp outside that takes away all my sunshine in the bedroom…but it’s also easier to cool. 🙂

My mother came out to visit right after Seth was born and planted a beautiful garden right outside my kitchen window.

A year and a half later we adopted a dog, and then our neighbors got a puppy, too. Well, that was the end of my garden. Between their dog’s digging and our dog’s trampling-in-search-of-a-shady-nap…it was gone.

So, before Ian was born Noel came over and replanted my garden. My mother was coming out and I was embarrassed to have her see it like that. Noel found shrubby plants that could withstand some dog abuse and it’s really pretty with roses, lavender, mock orange, tea tree, and some plants I can’t recall the names of. But what has really done well (taken over) and gives me so much pleasure to look at is the purple fountain grass. It’s getting so tall and the fluffy things catch the evening sun to light themselves up.

But none of it could be seen until recently. There had been a metal dog fence around the whole garden to keep the dogs and little boys out until the plants had a chance to take root and establish their home there. Well, they did that just fine and the dogs and boys stayed out and the fence just kept stayin’ up. I was just as embarrassed about that fence as I had been about the bare dirt of a garden, but I wasn’t gonna say anything about it because I felt it was my pride making me ashamed of a metal fence held up by tires in my front yard.

Peter spent two days of his free time putting up this lovely little wooden fence in replacement. It made me so happy! And now anybody can see what’s in that garden. And I suppose since the ugly metal fence was up for so long, the dogs got used to not being in there and they haven’t even tried breaking in. 🙂

Another thank you to my man!

I was reading in Galatians this morning while the boys were all asleep and the house was quiet…a rare, wonderful time.

I came across the verse “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” and thought to read it to them at breakfast. According to Jerome he already knew that verse (from Cubbies) so I asked Seth to say it after me. In a very small, sweet voice Seth said “Love my neighbor as myself”, so I said it again “Love YOUR neighbor as YOURSELF”, and he again said “Love my neighbor as myself”…

So easily does the gospel speak and apply to our children’s lives when they hear it!

Here’s my two year old.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller

This evening at Papa’s house Jerome was swinging on the playset in the backyard before dinner. I went out to watch him and I noticed he was swinging as hard as he could with his eyes closed, squeezed tight shut. His face was blinking in and out of the sun and his hair was flopping up and down and his mouth was in this funny sort of grin like he was discovering something new in his world and enjoying every moment!

bliss

This picture is on our rope swing at home. He does some pretty amazing stunts on that thing!

And Seth loves to do whatever big brother does…

Sometimes he can’t, and Jerome is more than happy to help Seth.

He is our firstborn, our cautious one. Jerome is very sensitive and he has an acute sense of the spiritual. He is very loving and affectionate…hugs are a very big part of his interaction with us.

I love watching him enjoy life to the fullest. I love how his questions seem to come out of nowhere and sometimes I have to really think hard before answering him. I love watching him build with his legos, blocks, and dirt and sticks. I love watching him climb trees like he was born to it. I love listening to his imagination take him on adventures of all sorts. And I love watching him cherish his baby brother.

I pray that he will grow into a godly man. That he will commit his whole life, heart and strength to his God…that he will be the kind of man his Grandpa Jerome was. I pray that he will grow in wisdom and grace.

We threw him a pirate party this year. Not because we condone what a pirate is, but because to him it is the adventure of sailing on a ship and finding treasure, wielding a sword in the air, and saying “Ahoy, matey!” with Daddy.

And on the day of his birthday he wanted to drive out to Daddy’s work and have lunch with him. Peter works at Westlake and the boys love to watch the ducks and boats and throw rocks in the water.

I love you my precious Jerome! Happy birthday!

Today there occurred something I cannot account for. A blessing I do not understand.

After church we decided to go out for lunch which is a real treat for us, and we even had a gift card for $5 to Red’s Barbecue.

We had a wonderful lunch together and a chance to discuss the sermon and a few books we’d been reading. Ian slept through the whole meal and the boys really appreciated the treat it was to eat out when they got to color at the table and order lemonade!

As we were finishing up our meal I noticed the lady at the table behind us was getting her check and seemed to speak familiarly with the waitress…I wondered if they were friends or related. But I also noticed that she was alone. She wore all white except for a bright pink purse; her hair was even white. As she was behind me I had not even known she was there until she was leaving. Peter had seen her and thought that maybe she was waiting for someone to join her.

We had to actually ask for our check from our waitress and she told us that there was no check. The woman sitting behind us had paid our bill in full anonymously. She did not know who she was and had promised not to say anymore, except that our lunch was on her.

I wished we had a chance to speak with her and learn her story. Who is she and why did she pay for our meal?

It was such a big, generous act of love toward us who were strangers to her. It gave me an overwhelming sense of security in God’s providence. We didn’t need her to do that….but maybe God just wanted to remind me…

There was a time in my life when God did things like that for my family and it was needed…very much. Hospital bills paid in full…money coming in at exactly the right time in exactly the right amount for things we could not pay. Because Daddy had gotten very sick and almost died, and he had lost his job because of that. But he had begun our family in an adventure that month…a life lived by faith. When we could not make the rent and had to move out with nowhere to go, God supplied a place. When a bill came due He also supplied the means to pay it, usually not very far in advance. We had to trust Him. As children Daddy expected us to pray and believe with him that all our needs would be met, and we did.

We were not to make our needs known to any man…but to God alone. He is sufficient and supplied for all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!

It was an exciting life, and I fell in love with a very big God who loved a very little me.

And He reminded me of that today.