Grandpa Green

I bought Grandpa Green for Jake and Lilly because the cover reminded me of my Pop.

Written and illustrated by Lane Smith, it is a beautifully simple yet profound book. The story is told by Grandpa Green’s great-grandson, who is just a little boy. He talks about the era in which Grandpa Green grew up, the one before computers or cell phones or television. Grandpa Green wanted to study horticulture, but went to fight in a world war instead. Grandpa Green met a girl and married her. And they never ever fought. Grandpa Green creates beautiful works of art out of bright green topiaries that tell the story of his life and the generations that follow. The pictures, more than the words, tell a beautiful story of aging and about what is left behind. When Grandpa Green grows old and cannot remember any longer, the garden remembers for him.

This book reminds me so much of my Pop, I cannot help myself. When I sat down with Jake and Lilly to read it to them, I was in tears. We read it cover to cover. Then we read it again. And again. And again. It’s as if both of them knew that this book was special.

My Pop, just like Grandpa Green, was a soldier, a husband, a father, a gardener. Though he went to be with Jesus just six weeks before his great-grandson was born, he left so much behind. He left his garden. He left my sweet Grandma who is now the Keeper of the Garden. He left my son, Jake, who carries his name. He left all of us a little changed… for the better. He left this world a better, brighter place. He left us an example to follow. He left a legacy.

Today is his birthday. I’m not sure how it all works, whether this “Happy Birthday” will reach him in Heaven, but I do know that he will be celebrating his special day with Jesus. I miss him so much it hurts. We all do. He was a good man, a loving father, and a playful grandfather. If I could talk to him today, I’d tell him thank you.

Thank you for watching all of my puppet shows when I was a little girl.

Thank you for sharing your secret stash of Peanut M&Ms with me.

Thank you for teaching me about Jesus.

Thank you for making me laugh.

Thank you for keeping your faith; for never giving up, for fighting strong, especially at the end.

Thank you for seeing the best in people.

Thank you for being my “Grandpa Green.”

Thank you for all you left behind, including your garden.

My Daddy Says...

"My Daddy says, 'A real cowboy never takes his boots off!' Which is why when the temperature outside hits almost eighty degrees, we just trade in the blue jeans for shorts."

"And Momma says she doesn't care even if we do look silly wearing boots with our shorts. She's just glad it quit raining so we can run around outside!"

Rainy Day Blues

It has been raining non-stop since Thursday afternoon, and the forecast is the exact same for today, tomorrow and Monday. Last night, as Cody was blessing our pizza dinner, I had a twinge of guilt when he thanked God for the rain. I know we need this rain, but I couldn’t help feeling anything but grateful for the saturated yard, the puddles in the driveway, and the return of the cold weather after so many beautiful, sunny, warm-weather days.

I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t being selfish… that I was really thinking of the kids. It was my empathy for them, not my own selfishness, that got me thinking about how many hours they’d been cooped up inside. It was my concern for their well being, not my own mental health, that caused me to grow weak when I considered that we were looking at three more days of rain. But I will be honest…. I am going crazy!!! We (and when I say “we,” I mean “they”) need to be outside, running and playing, swinging, blowing bubbles, chasing the neighbor’s dog, running and playing, riding in cars, swinging golf clubs, running and playing, feeding the horses, … did I mention running and playing?

So this morning, determined not to have another rainy-day-headache, we built a fort. Pillows, blankets, an extra large sheet, and a little rearranging were the perfect recipe for a morning of fun.

Jake and Lilly read Daddy every book they own. Then Lilly started gathering all of her stuffed animals, and dragging them into the fort. When it got crowded, Jake made a break for it! Everyone had a blast! I think Daddy even managed to sneak in a morning nap!

A Momma's Prayer

Motherhood has taken my world and flipped it on its side. I see everything now through a new pair of lenses. I can’t tell you how many times I heard, before I had kids of course, “Just wait until you have children. Then you’ll understand.” So much that was never on my radar before has now hit me right between the eyes.

Like, for example, the hitchhiker who now touches my heart because he is “Somebody’s Jake.” I don’t know him, but someone does. I can’t drive by any longer without wondering, “Does his Momma know where he is and where he’s headed?” And even if his Momma has no clue, God knows. God knows his story, because God made him…. in His image. And He loves him.

Or the child living in poverty on the other side of my world who may not get a meal today. It breaks my heart not only for the little girl with the empty belly, but I am torn over the helplessness her mother must feel, knowing that there is nothing she can do. I wonder, sometimes, how I would react if I knew Lilly needed something (even something as basic as food) and I could not provide for her. But I am reminded over and over that God knows that mother’s need. And He hears her prayer.

This morning I was looking up a passage in 2 Timothy that was referenced in another book I am reading. I skipped back up to the very beginning, just started reading, and there it was, staring right back at me, almost jumping off the page:

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5

I am sure that I have read this before, but never before have I let it really sink into my soul. In this letter that Paul is writing to Timothy, the very first thing he mentions is the “real or authentic” faith of Timothy’s mother and his grandmother, and the evidence of that faith being passed down to him. I believe that God wants to speak to us through His Word, and I received such an encouraging message in that one verse.

The message I heard was this:

A mother’s prayers for her children are so vital. God listens to a Momma’s prayers, and He is faithful. When I think about how much I love Jake and Lilly, and how I’d do anything for each of them, I am sometimes overwhelmed to think that God loves them even more than I am even capable of. And the most significant gift I can pass down to my children, and my grandchildren one day, is my faith. Faith that they can see… real faith, not the kind we just talk about. What an incredible responsibility and honor to be trusted with teaching my children to walk in His truth. And on those tough days, when as a mom I don’t even know what I need, God knows. And He hears my prayer, even before I speak it.

A Peculiar Pattern

Lilly has this little obsession. She is constantly gathering up toys that are alike and transporting them from their original place to a new place. Here are seven cases of this odd behavior:

1. A few months ago she started this habit of taking all of the ABC blocks and moving them to her reading chair in the play room. It took her forever to diligently carry each block from its storage bin to her chair across the room, but she remained devoted until that last block was safe with the others. When all the blocks had successfully been moved, she abandoned them and started playing with something new.

2. Then it was books. She could not ever just take one book from the bookshelf in her room. She needed all thirty books, so she could effectively decide which one she should select for her bedtime story. She piled them up and toted them off to another spot in her room. Thank goodness, the “Only One Book at a Time” rule has stuck, and we no longer have to replace dozens of books each night before bed. When she wouldn’t nap, I reluctantly allowed her a few books in her bed so that she would settle down and have some quiet time even if she didn’t sleep. Every day, after she decides she is finished reading and ready to sleep (even if it’s only for 20 minutes), she gathers all of her books in a heap, then falls asleep laying on top of them, like a mother hen sitting on top of her eggs, waiting for them to hatch.

3. She has always been fascinated with stuffed animals. She can’t ever just cart around one. She needs all of them at the same time. She gets so frustrated when she can’t slide down the stairs while holding three of her “friends.” That’s what brought about the “Leave the Friends in the Bed” rule. We are still diligently trying to implement that one.

4. At Christmas, when Jake got a tool bench from Auntie Bri and Uncle Dave, Lilly drove me absolutely crazy taking every screw and nail from the tool bench and stuffing them into the microwave in their play kitchen. Every single morning, it was the first thing she did. One by one, she would take all of them from the place they belonged to a new and better place: the microwave. I would try to put them back and she would get so mad at me, so finally I decided that Jake’s tool bench needed to be moved to another room away from their kitchen. So far, she has not come up with a new home for Jake’s hardware since “The Relocation.”

5. Lilly loves when I fold clothes, which usually involves at least five loads of laundry. Small confession: I HATE doing laundry. It’s not the washing/drying part; it’s the folding. So I do the washing and the drying, (OK the machines in the laundry room do that part) and then five (or more) loads of laundry sit in the laundry room until I can’t stand looking at them anymore and decide to fold them. I share all of this to explain why there are always two laundry baskets present when folding occurs. Lilly is thrilled to take each piece of laundry from one basket and move it to the other basket. The only time this becomes a problem is when the article of clothing she decides to transport has already been folded!

6. Another favorite hobby of Lilly’s is coloring. When she sits down to create a beautiful piece of art, she is adamant about having every single crayon within her reach. Sometimes, she will scoot the pile of bright colors closer to her, just in case I decide to pick them up before she can save them. She does the same thing outside with chalk. She is not happy with one piece; she has to have every single one of them laid out in front of her. At least she hasn’t started hiding the chalk in the bushes… yet.

7. This week, she’s on to something new. For three days now, I’ve watched her gather every single piece of play food, from pizza to broccoli, and take it from the kitchen area to the little red wagon. I’ve posted plenty of stories about the little red wagon, so if you know my child, you know what’s coming next. After all the food had been dumped into the wagon, she then hopped in on top of the food. Now I’m not sure why she prefers to sit on hard, plastic food, but yesterday Jake pulled her all over the house as she sat perched on top of her stockpile of food.

Strange habit? Harmless quirk? Early signs of hoarding? I'm not sure. I have to admit I do see a pattern, but most of these instances can be categorized as merely "rearranging" or "gathering."

However, the following definition makes me a bit uneasy:

hoard- to accumulate for preservation, future use, etc., in a hidden or carefully guarded place

I'm still sticking with innocent quirkiness!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Dear Dad,

We won’t mention your age today, (because we know you already consider yourself old and it drives Mommy crazy since you’re not) but we just want to tell you how much you mean to us. We couldn’t figure out exactly how to tell you, so we made a list of all the things we appreciate:

Thank you for building towers with us and not getting mad when we knock them down.

Thank you for singing silly songs with us every night before bed.

(From Jake)Thank you for taking the day off from work to take us to the zoo even though I was cranky and screamed the entire time.

(From Lilly) Thank you for making room for me (and all my stuffed animals) to sit next to you on the couch.

Thank you for always making time for us when you get home from work.

Thank you for letting us help unload the dishwasher even though it takes twice as long.

Thank you for singing all the words and doing all the motions to our favorite song, “Elephants Have Wrinkles,” even though it gets stuck in your head for at least three days afterwards.

Thank you for taking us to the park and helping us down the slide.

(From Jake) Thank you for having patience with me when I refuse to eat my grilled cheese unless you cut it into tiny pieces and hand me a fork.

(From Lilly) Thank you for reading me book after book after book.

Thank you for letting us get you all wet when we splash in the tub at bath time.

Thank you for carrying around the two of us at the same time, even when Mom says we’re getting too big for that.

Thank you for pushing us in our swings while you are grilling dinner.

Thank you for telling us every night how much we are loved… by you, by Mommy, and most of all, by Jesus.

Thank you for being the best Dad in the whole wide world.

Love, Jake & Lilly

P.S.

Can we celebrate your birthday every month? We are having way too much fun with all these balloons! We’ll let you kick a few around when you get home from work, we promise!