in the ironbound section near avenue l
It’s the first day-long rain we’ve had in a while, even with the tropical rains that passed over a couple of weeks ago, as they were intermittent. The event, while relatively common, is still rare enough that it associates itself with specific memories.
Driving home in the dark after our evening meeting at the church, I stopped at a light and fixated on the receding reflection of the tail lights ahead of me in the wet pavement, the two red triangles fading into the ground. It reminded me of car rides during our month-long trips home from France around Christmastime. We would invariably have one or two day-long rains, and being shuffled around from store to store as my parents shopped (most goods are much cheaper in the States than they were in France, so they stocked up) gave me a lot of time to observe the world around. I would stare at the halting trickles of water as they ran down the back seat window, and beyond into the shifting grid of traffic around us. The air felt different. I recognized that as a boy, but couldn’t assemble the words to describe it at the time. Still, my mind was unencumbered by cares, such as they are nowadays, and free to drink in the entirety of the world around.
In the car tonight, I thought about the little boy in the car seat behind me. He has been a chatterbox lately, naming everything in sight, most things multiple times. He’s mastered enough of the basic sounds to be quite confident. But he was silent in the back seat, and I flipped down the mirror to watch him looking around, fixating on various things outside the car. I remembered what that felt like. He has been such a copycat lately that I know that everything he experiences is being hard-wired directly into his developing awareness. So I knew his mind was free to ponder, to dwell on indefinitely, the things he saw around him outside.
Every child deserves for their mind to be utterly free from worry, enough to cling to fleeting sights and moments around them, to experience life. It develops at the very least a capacity to think abstractly, to ponder hypotheticals without the everyday details crowding in. And, in a larger sense, the more they are able to open their widening minds to the intricacies of the world, under the auspices of the parents, the more they will be able to hear, see, touch, taste and feel God communicating Himself through His creation; they will have a more deep-rooted knowledge that, “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
I was, and am, a daydreamer, and I think this was fueled as much by my natural disposition as it was aided by the rock-solid stability of our home. I can’t recall a single time growing up when I was concerned one of my parents was going to leave; I don’t remember ever feeling unloved. All the exclusively parental discussions and arguments were kept from my brothers and me, and if there was ever worry about the necessities of our day-to-day, it was kept far away enough that we never felt it.
I want this for Luke. He deserves it. I want this for our family. And, LORD willing, we will have it.
Uh oh. Matt shaping young minds…what ever is this world coming to?? But it’s not all bad. The world could use more people like you. :)
Just dropped by to say hi. Been a while and i haven’t exactly gone through your backlog of posts, but it sounds like things are well with you. Kristi and i are out here in Kansas City doing the IHOP thing (the ‘p’ stands for prayer, not pancakes, btw) and actually just bought a house. Surprised? Yeah, you and me both. It was one of those God things, you know? It’s not like we wanna live out here, but we felt led to do it and so…we did. Who goes around buying houses anyways? (Well, besides you… ;) So we’ll probably be moving out here sometime next Spring. Not for good. We really don’t plan on staying and i don’t necessarily feel called to join IHOP staff or anything, but i think we’ll have a season out here, perhaps for the next year or two. I think God wants to use the house to bring others out for long and short visits. There is so much He has done in our hearts out here that it’s just amazing. In short: lifestyle change. Yeah. Heavy stuff. But full of life. And when we’re gone from here we’d love to use the house to send others out here. Yup…
Anyways, hope things are well for you and yours. It was good seeing you again at Daniel’s wedding, even if for a few minutes. Remembering the old days and all. Feels weird calling them that, but a lot has changed since then, eh? Yessir. Looking back at it we really were a bunch of strange roommates. Matt the dreamer/mechanic with a day job, Donald the techie/biker who worked too hard and did a little of everything else guy, and me. Hm. The disillusioned college guy with a need to get out of the house and do something on my own? Something like that, i guess. Anyways. Good times. That really was a turning point in my life, you know. Yup.
So carry on. I’ve missed checking back and listening to your take on this whole life thing. I think there’s something in my that’s always been able to appreciate and identify with your insights, observations and feelings. Either identify with it or be fascinated by it. I’m not sure which. Either way it’s a good thing and brings me joy to experience.
We have a website/blog thing up to sort of keep people updates on various things while we’re over here. The address is http://www.kansascityadventure.blogspot.com. Come check us out and keep in touch.
My very best,
John
Hi John. Great to hear from you! I’m excited for you and Kristi about the house! Way to follow God’s lead wherever it might take you :) And it sounds like you are both having an amazing time out there, learning and growing.
It wasn’t that long ago we were all in ol’ M5–just a little over two years ago. I have lots of great memories of late night conversations with you and Donald, watching as you played Halo, MST3K viewings, tinkering with the ’69, the Supra and your bike, among many other things. That was a uniformly great time.
Thank you for the kind words about my writing. I will definitely be checking out your and Kristi’s KC blog. And I will keep in touch.
Thoughts and prayers.