At the beginning of 2011, I left my land and family to journey to the land of Texas, Dallas specifically. My oldest daughter and son-in-law, Holly and Trent, had been blessed with a third child, a little girl. With the older children being boys and ages 4 and 2, she desperately needed help. Never having had boys, I still marvel if little boys are really human, they seem more like from another planet. Needless to say, on my stay they wore me out.
However, my five week stay was filled with new things. I learned to talk “BOY TALK”. Things like: “to infinity and beyond” and “saber swords coming atcha” were pretty common. I learned to make healthy food in a tricky manner so the boys would think they were eating “goodies”. I learned again to put myself in a child’s mindset and it was absolutely wonderful.
I will unequivocally say that in my visit I regressed to simple things and it was exhilarating. Every morning, Christian, the two year old pounced in my bed and lay quietly beside me until I said, “You ready to get up?” And every morning without exception, he would shoot up and say “milk” and “fish”. That was my cue to accompany him downstairs, prepare him a cup of milk, me a cup of coffee and turn on the movie “Finding Nemo”(Disney’s fish movie). I probably watched that flick 20 times but loved every moment of it. It was a bonding time, it was a time of making memories, it was a simple time. My 4 year old grandson, Connor, was excited to show me his finds, his friends and his funny ways. He and I would venture to special stores on “a mission” to find just the right $1.00 toy for his room already filled so full I was unable to walk. Here again, it was a simple thing but it spoke volumes to the both of us.
One evening Trent put on a worship cd in the living room and he and his boys marched around the room with arms raised praising God. Then Connor would pretend to play the drums and Christian the horn. Each would take turns being “the leader”. It was a simple thing but I cried. I cried to see my little family worshipping God in their little home. I cried because it doesn’t take money or things to make children happy. The simple things of “playing like” made them as happy as any item of worth. I cried because my son-in-law took the role of priest of a household seriously and is teaching his children at a very young age the importance of worshipping our mighty God, such a simple thing but a thing that many homes have forgotten.
I know I am telling my age now but I remember at my grandmother’s house just sitting on the front porch with all her big family (10 of them with spouses and kids) just talking. We would laugh and make memories.
With the economy as it is today, many are suffering financially and may feel guilty for their inability to purchase things for the family. The cable may be cut off, there may be no funds for little league and there may be no extra dollars for the trip to Florida, but the simple is still around. And they won’t forget the simple. They won’t forget the “tickle games”, the walk in the woods and naming of the stars at night. And they will never forget hearing you pray. And they will never forget Bible story time when you enacted “David and Goliath”. In those simple times, we are shaping our children and grandchildren. We are pouring into them memories, words of wisdom and life. “When you go, they (the words of your parents’ God) shall lead you; when you sleep, they shall keep you; and when you waken, they shall talk with you.” Proverbs 6:22.
Make it a point, a vital point, to get back to the basics with your family, whether circumstances force you or not. For the sake of generations to come, GET BACK TO SIMPLE!
