Small Scribbles

Charlie and I went to the book store to get Lauren a study Bible for her twelfth birthday. I laid the Bible on the checkout counter when Charlie came to a realization, "That present is from you and Papa. I want to get Lauren a present from me!" Perhaps the array of candy right at his eye level helped his line of thinking but at any rate I could tell by the enthusiasm in Charlie's voice that we could not leave without a present just from him. "OK. What do you think Lauren would like?" "How 'bout these chocolates?" "Lauren doesn't really like chocolate." "How 'bout these chocolates?" "I repeat, Lauren doesn't like chocolate." "Oh. Then these. What are these?" "Cinnamon candies. I think they might be too spicy. How about this?" I held up a roll of Orange Creme Life Savers." He studied the wrapper with great deliberation. "That's not shareable. I want to get something to share...

We drive home; groceries spill out of bags; wipers slap raindrops and Kirk Douglas is on stage remembering his father in Before I Forget . He talks slowly, fighting stroke-impaired muscles to transfer thought to voice. (Here I paraphrase.) "My father wasn't around much when I was a boy," he says. "When we moved, he chose not to come along. But once, when I was five, I was in a play and my dad came to see me. He didn't say anything about my performance but after the show was over, he bought me an ice cream cone and that, that was my Oscar." The wipers slap, a spearmint plant slides off the front seat and I calculate the years. Ninety-two minus five. Eighty-seven years. Eighty-seven years later Kirk Douglas remembers the one time he knew he mattered to his dad. I drive by the Gas and Go where the men loiter with bottles wrapped in paper bags. I drive through the section of town where men sit on porches. All day they sit, play cards. I drive past the school wh...

We sit side by side at the table, uncommon fare on our plates, hotdogs and Sun Chips. Stuart's chips are gone. No problem, mine are close at hand. His hand reaches over and he snitches! He snitches just one but just one is not enough so, by and by his hand is back again. And again! I say nothing the first time or the second. What are two chips between husband and wife? But as he reaches for the third chip, I lean my body over to shield my plate. I laugh and he laughs and then he makes off with that third chip. "Get your own!" I gripe and he does, but honestly...How hard would it have been to share? Today I do math with little girls. Division with fraction remainders. "How many times does three go into twenty. Use your rods. How many ten rods do you need?" "Two." "How many three rods line up under the ten rods." ""Six." "So does three go into twenty evenly?" "No, there is a little space left." "What rod ...

How does God love? Set aside a few minutes this busy love day and count ways... ABUNDANTLY: You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you." Psalm 86:5 EXTRAVAGANTLY: Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." Psalm 36:5 SECURELY : How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7 PATIENTLY: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm 103:8 FAITHFULLY I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:2 ETERNALLY: For great is your love toward me, you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. Psalm 86:13 COMPLETELY: Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 PERFECTLY : A new command I give to you, love one another, even as I have loved you that you love one another. John 13:34 To you who are fami...

Charlie woke up the other day with an upset stomach and as he stumbled pale-faced and gagging into the playroom, four little mothers sprang into action. John helped him to the bathroom, Lauren brought him a cool wash cloth and Claire grabbed a bowl in case of further emergencies. Somehow Faith knew the best thing to bring comfort to a sick boy. She laid a pillow in a laundry basket and covered it with a towel. Charlie curled right up and spent a very comfortable morning laying in his nest on the living room floor surrounded by doting siblings who periodically dropped what they were doing to bring him an ice cube to suck on. They were not at all deterred by this little sign that Faith attached to the end of the basket. Six hours later Charlie was much better and begging for pancakes and cheesesticks and the laundry basket bed was dismantled for more mundane tasks.

My heart swells when I look at these pictures of John and Lauren. They are inseparable. Lauren is an appreciative audience for the thousands of ideas that percolate in John's brain. John needs Lauren for her level headedness; he relies on her organization and structure. She needs him for his boldness, his easy-going, happy-go-lucky personality. Late at night, when I tiptoe through the house turning off forgotten lights, I often find the two of them reading together. They love the same books. They escape to the same imaginary places in their play where sticks become swords and wit sounds best delivered with an English accent. Mowing is John's job. A big step toward responsibility this summer. Lauren cannot bear to be left behind and so this is how they mow. Lauren works the gears and John the gas and they take turns steering around the yard. And when the riding mower coughs and shudders and is rolled onto the trailer to be taken to the repair shop... ...they start up the p...

The house is just beginning to stir. I balance a load of laundry on one hip and tiptoe toward the laundry room. I pass Claire on my way. She is dressed and rummaging in the pantry in search of a pre-breakfast snack. My early morning girl. Lauren, still cozy under her covers, turns the pages of The Indian in the Cupboard . I peek in on her but she doesn't notice. Faith sits up in bed and pushes tangled curls aside. She dangles her legs over the side of the bed and rubs her eyes. The sun pushes through the curtains and makes patches of light on her feet and on the floor. I pause at the boys' door and scan for dirty laundry. The room is dark. The sun will not make its way to this side of the house until the afternoon. John's stack of midnight reading and his flashlight are in a heap. I pick up a shirt and a pair of shorts and add them to my basket. John and Charlie are sound asleep. John sprawls on his back tangled up in his red fleece blanket. His arms and long legs stretch o...