2:31 p.m. Today's project was to go over to Apria Health Care and find out why Steve is still having occasional struggles with his C-pap machine. The very friendly and courteous technician showed him how to make sure the mask is on tightly enough, especially at the bridge of the nose. That way, no air can escape and cause the racket that wakes me up occasionally. It's always a blessing to receive simple solutions, isn't it?
As we sat down to enjoy leftover antipasto salad for lunch, we laughed over our Mother's Day dinner table conversation, which ranged from the ludicrous to the politically volatile, and everything in between. On the ludicrous side, I, ever desperate for more grandkids, offered $500 to the first married couple who brought me a confirmed positive pregnancy test! The Loves and the Kriss Kruckenbergs were considering this when Heidi announced that she wants a baby no later than age 28--and she'll be 27 next year when she and Pavel wed. "The rest of you guys just lost $500!" I teased. Before you mock me, doesn't Proverbs 17:6 say that "Children's children are the crown of old [wo] men"? Just speeding up Steve's and my continued coronation!
We laughed so hard at our kids' upbringing in our house, like Kriss riding his bike all over the neighborhood, whereabouts unknown, occasionally spotted and reported to me by phone, but always home in time for dinner. Heidi mentioned that we never gave our kids a curfew. Why? Because I always knew who they were with, and every mom in the neighborhood knew the rest of us, and we felt quite free to call one another at all hours, not to mention scold and confront any one of our kids. So we always knew where the kids were. And I pretty much drove the kids and their friends to all kinds of school activities and church youth groups. We moms were active in either Moms in Touch, PTA from elementary through high school and/or booster clubs, or even staying on top of things by working part-time at the local schools.
The neighborhood wasn't perfect--we'd all sorrow at job losses or the occasional divorce. But I must say, that to ensure stability, separated parents would take up residence close by to make sure the kids stayed in their schools. I thank God every day when I see my kids grown now, with the full benefit of having been raised in a Christ-centered, stable, respectable home. "Children live what the learn," secular wisdom states. I prefer to quote Proverbs 22:6, "Bring up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." I have my concerns, but twist and turn as they may, people will generally "revert to type." And with assurances from the Word of God, and His faithfulness to me for 30 years now, my heart can be at rest.
The funniest conversation we had at dinner was whether Kriss and Marisela's "tall" children would be able to best Nick and Heather's "short but sturdy" ones! We kept imagining all kinds of tricks and scenarios that just had us rolling. Heidi and Pavel said that their "medium tall" kids would just sit by and laugh; Sean's boys, Adrian and Xavier, already 12 and 14, would, amazingly, be too grown up by then. Maybe they'll referee. I added, "and they'll be at my house all the time!" Yes, indeed, I just kept reveling in the thought that they are all planning to have children!
My kids' commitment to raising families is a big one, with the general (and well-founded) concern many of us have for this country's economic and spiritual future. When you look at Europe, where couples have maybe one, but mostly zero children, not even replacing themselves--that's pessimism in action, or inaction, rather. Bringing new lives into the world bespeaks a certain level of hope, optimism, and willingness to believe those children have a bright future ahead of them. Think how many couples don't even marry, let alone plan a family together! Men and women who don't know Christ as Savior don't know God's promises; all they have to base judgments on are the facts in front of their faces--they have no real hope.
Our family's choice is to believe Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Thank you, Lord, for Your creation of families!
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