It all started early in the afternoon when Heidi sent me a text. Her husband was gone on an overnight trip for work, and she asked if we wanted to join her and her kids at Chick-fil-A for dinner.
It turned out that Ellis was home that afternoon, and that he had already agreed to cook his specialty for dinner that night (which is breakfast). So I called Heidi back:
"Ellis is cooking breakfast for dinner tonight. Want to bring all the kids over and have pancakes and eggs and bacon in the carport? It will be crazy and awesome."
She agreed to join us in our pancake feast. Next thing I knew, I got this text from Heidi:
Suddenly our pancake dinner had become a full out pancake party...complete with live entertainment!
Lee is our church's youth pastor. His wife works in the evenings, so he was really happy for the chance to bring his kids over and hang out with Ellis for a little bit.
And, apparently, the snake was just an added bonus that he found slithering down our church hallway. Why not bring it along?
Dinner was everything we could ever hope for and more. We had eight kids, (five and under), whipped cream, maple syrup, greasy bacon and overripe (really squishy) strawberries...let's just say it was a recipe for unforgettable memories.
I will let you paint your own mental picture of that scene. It was really great that we could just hose down the whole carport after it was done.
After we ate, the kids all played together in the yard for a while. Around 6:30pm I suggested we start systematically bathing all of the kids and then letting them watch a TV show together before heading home to bed.
Apparently Lee saw no reason to take the kids inside for baths. "Hey I'm from West Virginia. Where I'm from we just use the garden hose in the backyard for showers." Ellis thought that was the greatest idea ever. "I can bring the hose around from the front and we'll have TWO showers!"
Heidi and I looked at each other. I could tell by the look on her face that it was a total no go in her mind, but for some reason that night I thought, Hey, why not?
I would like to believe that I would normally veto that idea in a heartbeat, but for some reason that night it seemed like it could work. I mean, seriously, we just let our kids have a crazy, sugar-filled free for all in our carport complete with a live snake. Now they were all covered in dirt...what's a little nature bath going to hurt at this point?
Heidi caved in and agreed to let the guys spray the kids down. Before we knew it, we had eight naked, soapy, wet kids getting washed (in the $8.00 baby pool from Family Dollar) and towel-dried in the backyard.
Sometime around then our friend Katharine arrived, completely unprepared for the scene that she stumbled upon in the backyard. I tried to apologize. "Katharine, I promise you, when we invited you over we had no idea it was going to turn into this."
She was a great sport about it all, and agreed to join me inside to start clothing the kids with whatever pajamas we could find as Heidi towel-dried them and passed them through the door to us.
A short while later, I watched all of the kids playing in the living room and watching their TV show together. It was such a fun evening for them.
By 7:00pm, all of the kids were wiped out and ready to start their bedtime routines. We said goodbye to our friends and put Mac, Corrie and Davey down to rest in their now quiet rooms.
The next morning I woke up and looked out the kitchen window. I had forgotten about our party the night before until I saw the toys in the backyard and the now flattened baby pool. "Wow. That was some party last night!"
I thought that must be what it feels like for people who throw those crazy frat parties and wake up the next day to see the aftermath all over their yards.
I felt a little sad to think that we'll be moving and that these sort of things will definitely be frowned upon in our new town. Then I remembered something a friend said. "We've moved around a lot, and we have a lot of places that feel like home." It made me feel a little better to think that no matter how long we are gone, this special little town can always feel like home.
A few days later I woke up in the morning and turned to the next page in my summer Bible reading: 2 Corinthians chapter 5. The chapter heading said, "Our Heavenly Dwelling." I was comforted to realize that the home I truly long for is with God, and that He has a home with Him waiting for me that will never be taken away.
So, when I feel sad about moving, it strengthens me to know that God uses times like these as opportunities to establish our hearts more firmly in Him...and in a good hope that will never disappoint.
"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him." -2 Corinthians 5:6-9
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