Summer Blessings

A number of blessings have come my way lately.

First, the boys have been having what Joe called “the best summer ever.” That really hit me hard. Melissa got sick when Joe was 2. The summer just before he turned three he had to go to day care all summer long, a place he had never been. We had tried to keep the boys from having to go to day care. So when Joe had to go, to be away from mommy, to not get to roll around and snuggle, play at her feet… There he stood day after day when we left him, confused, crying, and John standing there with his arms around him, trying to comfort him. It was hard for John, too. He was a little older, but was also used to being at home, having lots of attention.

So, the summers: 2004 had brought the huge change of moving to Louisville and a kind of ministry that was not so family-friendly. 2005 was the abrupt change to others taking care of them. 2006 brought Melissa’s first long absences and the devastating physical impacts of bone marrow transplant. 2007 was trying to live with her death. So four summers have been pretty much a wash for them. Lots of back and forth. It has been an incredibly trying time, balancing all the things going on, but trying to stay focused on the little guys, carving out good chunks of time with and for them.

So what is it about this summer, 2008? For all the changes, it’s business as usual, the way it ought to be. When Jessica became something of a fixture in our lives, when she and I thought it would be safe for her to be around, something in the little jokers smoothed out. And when we were married and she moved in (her “sleepover” the boys were waiting for), things got calm. Not like they quit being energetic rambunctious boys, but little things you notice when you’re around them a lot. Things like Joe being happy that he can be in the middle when he comes into our bed in the morning. Both of them needed a woman to cuddle up next to when they wake up, can’t sleep, or get hurt. They both have had something restored. They have a mom again, and that means a lot to them when they go out; they can say they have a mom. She has gone from being “Jessie,” to “Ica-mommy” to “mommy” most days.

Yesterday John said, “now that we don’t have to deal with school, every day is like Saturday. Yesterday was Saturday. Today is Saturday. Tomorrow is Saturday.” It’s getting up late, playing outside, going to the park or pool, coming home to rest and eat, taking two baths because they’re so nasty that one won’t do. Jessica stays home with them, and they get to know her, she gets to know them, and they have that place of peace and calm and love.

Another thing: they are fascinated with anointing oil. I have some at the house, and they like to kneel with me at my prayer altar. They anoint me with oil. Joe says, “Thank you Jesus for beards and mustaches.” John says, “Lord, please forgive Daddy of all his sins.” Can you ask for any more than meeting the boys at the prayer altar and being anointed by them?