Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world.
Lawrence G. Lovasik (a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania)
Friday afternoon, the students leave the building, I gather a few things to take & grade, I tidy up & recycle, I drop things off in the copy room & tell people goodbye with weekend wishes…there’s my car with Darrell & Tex waiting for me in the parking lot – we’re off to Austin for the weekend. Jonathan and Erica are there in their new house with their familiar items and some new stuff – putting on their personal touches to make the house their home. What do you like to do with people you love? Sit together & swap stories, share meals, react to the latest political dilemmas and sporting events– just be - together for a while.
Arriving to the usual dog greetings of run and wrestle, when peace was eminent we got the home tour – art nooks, new paint – burnt orange study, red walled dining room, hardwood floors & granite counters, new flat screen TV above the fireplace, new leather sectional where we could all fit & be lazy at the same time, lovely, comfy home. Talk, talk, talk….until yawns & reluctant bedtime – you want to savor all the minutes.
Packing up food & drink on Saturday we headed to the home of Mark & Nicole Dubee & we ended up hanging out there all afternoon – eating, drinking, admiring their babies and laughing at their tales. Back in his days of working at IBM, Darrell was once Nicole’s boss. Jonathan & Erica became friends with them in their early married days of apt. living in Lewisville – now they all live in southwest Austin. We reminisced about the fun time at their wedding – seems a foggy past in the delightful presence of their 2 children under 2 – Weston and Emerson.
On the way home, we toured the neighborhood taking in Erica’s school, Kiker Elementary, Lady Bird Wildflower Center (closed for a private event), hills & trees. We lazed on that new sofa & watched March Madness surprise endings and later ate grilled steaks. Together at the dinner table, Jonathan offered a blessing – not for the food, but for us. Baring his emotional side, he commented of often feeling the need to plan something to show in Austin – but for us there was not a need to show us anything for entertainment – we were very content to just be there in their presence. Joy was found in listening to stories of their work, friends, extended family, travel plans and the new scholarship fund they set up for a graduating senior of Weimer High School in memory of Erica’s mother Charlene Hoffmann.
I have a devotional book that I usually read each morning with the Bible, Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen. Catching up on the 2 missed mornings readings when I got home, I met an appropriate topic for March 26 – Becoming Friends of our Children. Henri says, “Father and mother become brother and sister of their own children, and they all can become friends. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it is as beautiful to watch as the dawn of a new day.”
Malachi 3:10 - …if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
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