March 17, 2003
DOWN HOME:
Sneaking a peek at the quiet nest
___Joanna and I recently peered into the future. I may go out and buy a parrot.
___For six days, our "nest" was empty.
___Lindsay, our 19-year-old, is away at college. You may recall that I whined about her leave-taking all last fall, but I've adjusted pretty well. In fact, I hardly ever wake up with that dull ache in my chest, created solely by her absence from our home. Recently, I even offered consolation to a father whose oldest child departs next September. "It's much worse waiting for your kid to go to college than actually watching her go," I told him, and I didn't lie.
___Molly, our 16-year-old high school sophomore, provided the occasion of our empty-nest experience. She and the rest o
f the Lewisville High School Farmerettes drill team flew to Florida for a competition. They left on Tuesday and didn't come back until late Sunday night.
___I'll never forget the first time both of our girls went away and left their mama and me at home alone. It happened the summer Molly went with Lindsay to our church's children's camp. Somebody asked us if we wanted to go to camp as chaperones, and we just laughed.
___By then, we'd been parents for going on 10 years, and I'm not sure we'd ever spent a whole night at home without at least Lindsay or Molly around. We love our girls to pieces, but we were excited. We slept late. We went to movies. We went out to eat. (The only kitchen appliances we used all week were the fridge and the coffee pot.) We had a ball. And we were even more excited to watch them come marching home after five days and four nights away.
___Since then, Joanna and I have had a few occasions when Molly and Lindsay both left at the same time. I always looked forward to those times and enjoyed them immensely. Sort of like an extended date night.
___But this time, well, it felt more like a sneak preview of our life in just a couple of years, when Molly also goes off to college. Every time I remembered both girls were gone, I realized both girls will be gone.
___That's not all bad. When both girls are gone, I have a much better chance of watching what I want to watch on TV. We buy a whole lot less milk. We go through tons less laundry, and none of it comes out of the dryer with hairballs the size of chihuahuas. We have an easier time deciding where to go to eat. I could come up with more if you gave me a few more minutes.
___But I'm not sure I'll ever get over how quiet the house is without children. That's why I think maybe I'll have to get me a parrot or a yapping little dog in a couple of years.
___As I sat in our quiet den one night, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could understand why God wants his children to gather for worship. Not because he needs praise so much as he enjoys joyful noise.
___A certain amount of noise makes a house a home.
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|