Category Archives: Children

A Lovely Look-Back

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Reminiscing brings pleasure to those of us getting up in years. We find joy in looking back over our shoulders at the many ways God was active on our behalf.

Not long ago the Lord initiated a look-back that surprised us all. My adult kids and I were following a road map of all the places Nate and I had lived in the Chicago area after we were married – a tour set up by Linnea.

First stop was a tidy bungalow Nate and I called home right after he graduated from law school. We lived there with an aunt who kept me company when Nate had to go on active military duty.

Next we visited the city apartment building where we lived for a year as Nate settled into his first lawyering job in Chicago’s Loop.

After that we drove to a three story walk-up on the north side of the city. Back in 1972, it had charmed us because of its proximity to a small patch of beach on Lake Michigan’s shoreline. If Nate and I hung our heads out the apartment window and looked left, we could see the water.  

We then drove to the suburbs and stopped at three houses, the first in Deerfield where we lived for three years, the second (also Deerfield) for five years, and the third in Prospect Heights where we raised all seven of our children and lived for twenty-nine years.

As the kids and I drove along that day, they urged me to share memories linked to each location. I was honored that they were interested.

We hadn’t planned on getting inside any of these special places except at our last stop. I’d written to the current owners of our old farmhouse, warning them not to be alarmed if they saw a crowd congregating in their cul de sac taking pictures – because it would just be us.

When we knocked, Theresa warmly invited us in and led us to a lavish hot chocolate / dessert bar in the kitchen. She encouraged us to tour the house at our leisure and offered to take pictures.

She got a kick out of our reminiscences and was happy to hear how much we loved the house. Then, as we hiked upstairs, God had a sweet surprise waiting for us.

Louisa’s old bedroom, now pink and green with fresh white woodwork, was a far cry from her decorating — glitter-painted walls festooned with hundreds of 4×6 photos. As we complimented our hostess on the room, she asked a question.

“Would you mind looking in the closet? Maybe you can explain something to me.”

Wedging ourselves into the small space, we turned and saw a loopy ballpoint script written on the inside of the door frame:  “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:13)

Louisa caught her breath and said, “Oh my gosh! I wrote that! When I was thirteen!” It was a quote that had impacted a middle-school girl enough to tattoo it in a private place – seventeen years ago.

 

As Louisa took a picture, her eyes brimmed with tears. Theresa watched in wonder… which is when we asked a question of her. “It looks like you painted around this writing to leave it there. How come?”

Her answer was simple. “We thought it was a nice blessing over our house.”

Louisa remembered that year as being up and down, much like the written proverb. But on our tour day, God showed us that his living words had been on her mind, influencing her young life.

Even now, years after we moved away, those words are influencing still.

“Write [God’s words] on the door frames of your houses.” (Deuteronomy 6:9)

Baby Yes

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Not all little girls like to play with dolls. Some prefer coloring books and markers. Others like riding toys, building blocks, or just doing whatever mommy’s doing.

Back when granddaughter Emerald lived in Michigan, I got to babysit her a good deal, and from early-on she was a coloring person. But there was one brief period when she bonded with a doll – a soft one about 8” tall.

It mattered that this baby was decked out in Emerald’s favorite color, and even her skin was pink. During those days when the two of them were friends, Emerald was 3 years old, and I wondered if she had named her dolly.

“Does your baby have a name?” I said.

Emerald didn’t have to think. “Baby Yes.”

“Her name is Baby Yes?”

“U-huh.”

The explanation was that her doll always said yes. I found that charming, and a fascinating discussion followed.

Our conclusion was that Baby Yes had the right idea. It was good to be positive about life and to embrace opportunities with yeses. It was especially important to say yes to God and the things he wanted us to do. Emerald said she was up for that.

While my grands were here this summer, Baby Yes got lots of attention from granddaughter Lizzie, who also happens to be a very sweet yes-person – and who is definitely a dolly girl.

                                ******

At the end of the summer, all 12 children had headed home, and I began reorganizing the well-used toy bins. When I opened the doll container, I found a jumble of undressed, sticky babies with marker-make-up. Dumping them all on the basement floor, I decided to have some grandma-fun.

While their tiny clothes swished in the wash machine, I cleaned up their faces and hands, feeling like I was playing dolls again. Each of these babies has history with our family and bears the name given them by our 3 daughters when they were little.

There’s Jennifer, Baby LaLa, Connie, Allison, Megan, and others. And of course there’s Baby Yes.

As I lined them up for a photo to send to my granddaughters, little Baby Yes stood out from the crowd – all because of the name Emerald had given her. Looking at her, I decided I want to be a yes-person, too, especially when God is the One asking the questions.

Jesus asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. (Matthew 9:28)

When Dark Is Light

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Each part of a church service has a special significance, but the children’s sermon is one of my favorites.

On a recent Sunday, our pastor was doing a good job describing Jesus as the Light of the world when one of the children, age four, raised his hand. Having just heard all about the Light, he felt it was important to add something. “My favorite color is dark.”

Most pastors are good at handling this kind of spontaneity, especially when it comes from a child. After acknowledging the comment, Pastor Jay smoothly moved his words from darkness back to light.

That afternoon at home I was still chuckling over the morning’s comment when I remembered our first grandchild, Skylar, who would have appreciated that unprompted addition to the children’s sermon.

When she was only three (left), her Auntie Weezi asked her a question most kids love to answer. “Sky, what’s your favorite color?”

Skylar answered without even looking up. “Black.”

Most little girls are into pink and purple, but each child is allowed to have their own favorite. Skylar’s unusual choice gave us all a good giggle that day.

My next-door-neighbor, Linda, told me that when she was a child walking home in the dark, she was never afraid. Instead she looked into the inky blackness around her and thought about the interesting things that might be hidden in the darkness – good things. She probably would have nodded in agreement to the favorites of dark and black.

Some of my widowed friends (including me) have experienced the opposite perspective on darkness. After becoming widows, we might find our imaginations allowing fear to creep in, uninvited. This is when we need to turn to God to get his opinion. He created darkness as well as light and surely isn’t biased against either one.

His explanation to me has been that the black of night is not the problem. Rather it’s the fear. And fear is never, he says, from him. It’s a tool of the devil who uses it to knock us off balance emotionally. God tells us there’s no darkness in him at all (1 John 1:5) and that he’s not afraid of it. As a matter of fact, darkness looks light to him (Psalm 139:12). The only darkness that should concern us is spiritual darkness – not knowing the truth of salvation.

As for fearing the black of night, it might help to spend more time hanging around those youngsters who love both black and dark.

“For you are my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord will lighten my darkness.” (2 Samuel 22:29)