Acorn Trees Along the Trek
I park about a block away from our post office. Walks are one of my favorite things but due to the health of Isaiah’s people, I drive and sit in doctor’s offices and ER’s a lot. I squeeze steps in whenever I can. Getting the mail is one of those times.
God has strategically placed acorn trees along that trek. I will zig and zag and sidestep and jump onto acorns. The crack of those acorns just meets a need. It’s comforting, but sometimes they’re still too green. When I stomp on one, instead of crumbling like a pecan, it drives deep into the sole of my foot—like stepping on an aggie marble. Youch!
I had a banner night recently, I cracked 4 in a row and in my exhilaration, my dad flashed across my mind. It’s October, football has started. I heard that crack and I was transported back to my parent’s home on a Sunday afternoon. In his recliner, my dad holds a rugged wooden bowl carved from bark, the nutcracker and pick close by, tools of the trade. The bowl is full of pecans and he’s barefooted and taste testing nuts as he yells at Dallas after another fumble…
To be honest, I’ve been missing Dad and Mom. There was something sacred about ‘going home’ to their house on a Sunday afternoon. When my world was full of chaos, their house was a safe haven. I didn’t have to be in charge or responsible for anything, except plugging in the coffee pot. That I could handle.
The life my parents lived is gone. No more $15,000 mortgages, gas for .32, or a cart load of groceries for 50 bucks. And then there was Independence Day—fireworks in the backyard, homemade ice cream churning in the kitchen, croquet in neenee’s yard, and aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered around, devouring Dad’s legendary grilled ribs. Those were the days…so thankful.
We were by no means rich or even middle class, but we had everything we needed, delicious food, handmade clothes (okay maybe not those overalls), my own bedroom and even cool things like a minibike. Dad and Mom were incredibly generous too, you know?
I’ve asked God to break my heart for what breaks His. Countless families in our community are unable to experience life’s simple joys, like I did, because they’re struggling just to meet their most basic needs. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.
Mom and Dad would be heartbroken to see how things have changed.
“Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible… we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people.” — Harry Chapin
We can do more. We can do better. Together.
LOVE GOES