Sweet Moments in Life

This past week I had several opportunities to be with children. John and I don't have kids, but enjoy them all the same. First of all we enjoy our three nephews and four nieces when we get to be with them. They are each unique and bring so much joy to us.

I had the five youngest a week ago. They are 11, 10, 6, 5 and 3. The house was mowed down with all the fun and gusto they could muster. Dress up clothes, game pieces, toys and books were strewn in almost every corner, and even when they picked everything up, there were tiny items imbedded in the carpet and behind the cushion covers.

But did we ever have fun, and I think my sister and her husband, and my sister-in-law, my brother's widow deserve a round of applause for raising such a fun yet obedient group of kids.

Next, John and I joined our church in a back to school night for an inner city church (http://www.impacthouston.org/), who send children our way to shop for school supplies and clothes. John and I had two young girls, 11 and 12 who thanked us at various times in the evening.

When we returned to the building there were the following reports: one boy wanted to get athletic shoes for his younger brother because his own shoes were still fairly new. Another family had a very shy girl who couldn't ask for much but was so grateful for her goodies by the end of the evening, quietly saying thank you.

Later in the week my best friend, her three daughters and I went to out to eat hamburgers and see the movie "Hairspray," all teen/pre-teen age. We ate lunch at a diner and Cathleen, the youngest and I were the only two to put away the oversized burgers, but we did so with no regrets.

The waiter flirted with the girls and they kindly blew him off gaining us free cokes by the end of the meal for his confessed ill-behavior. Go girls! You three behaved with grace in a very awkward situation. But I'm not surprised, Lisa was the friend whom the boys gravitated to when we were growing up. Her girls, while individual, have the gift of charm and beauty in every good way that would attract young men.

The movie got mixed reviews, but we had a great time. Those of us who liked it liked the energy and dancing, and those of us who didn't like it found it annoying (my word), for the same reasons. However, Lisa was just plain (a Texas expression) grossed out by John Travolta in drag; she gets points for trying to like him as a woman, but it just didn't work for her. I can't say I blame her, but somehow his big momma character grew on me.

By Thursday it was round two of the niece/nephew brigade, this time with the 6, 5 and 3 year olds returning. There was no tearing up of the house as they were tired. We watched a movie, went out to Burger King and got meals with "The Simpson's Movie" talking toys. I plotted to secrectly bury the toys somewhere, but stuck it out while the 3-year old, Audrey, held her finger on the button of one of the toys, the words and voice are emblazoned on my mind, "call me, call me, call me..."

The following day on the trip to deliver them to my sister, we had a talk about Heaven with the 5-year old, Jackson, painting pictures of a place of fun and beauty, all run by God Himself in eager expectation of our arrival. I think he went on for 5 or 10 minutes, and all the while I was enthralled at the now colorful canvas and couldn't dispute any of it; and even if I wanted to, why disturb his little peace when he is only at the beginning of understanding the greatest reality ever.

Finally we had dinner with two couples last night, and five kids total. I got to talk to each kid and enjoyed them very much, but by mid evening, they were tired and wired. We conversed with the couples against a back drop of running tikes, crying and drama dotting time and space. But the evening was a success; an evening of goodbyes with one couple departing in a couple of months and the other couple introduced to us for the first time last night.

So is life, a series of changes, children getting older, friends coming and going; all sweet moments that if too busy can be missed.