Yesterday evening, we packed up the boys for a trip to the ice cream shop to meet up with our small group from church. We made it there just in time to beat the summer night rush, and I ordered a strawberry waffle cone for our toddler to try. Needless to say, he liked. Unfamiliar with the licking process, he managed to pucker and kiss little bite after bite of pink goodness. Sticky hands and sticky cheeks and just enough drops on my jeans for a take home souviner. It was sweet. Even though, it may have seemed like a night out for ice cream, I hope our boys will understand it was so much more.
Our small group consists of old friends and new ones. Single, married, others with children, young and younger. People who’ve migrated south and those who’ve always lived just down the road. People who have weathered storms; people rescued; people who’ve met Jesus.
Last night, I watched these people, my friends, interact with our babies. They smiled and tried to get little smiles in return. They encouraged me, and we laughed and enjoyed dessert together. We took prayer requests and shared a part of each others’ lives.
Having our two under two with us, our little bunch was some of the first to head home. As we drove away, I noticed our friends had taken the conversation from the store to the sidewalk, as if it is difficult to say good-bye. That’s the good stuff.
These people have prayed with me and for me, for the little boys who tagged along with us. They’ve hugged and loved us and are a very obvious reason we have a church family. Salt of the Earth.
That is what I want our boys to see – the broken, but repaired; the easy breath of comfort found in the imperfect kids who serve a perfect Father. The lost, but found. I thank my God for fellowship with our brothers and sisters – for friends who belong to our local congregation and friends who are part of His whole church body. I thank Him for sending them to help love on and bring up our babies to know His goodness above all else. Yes, ice cream is good, my little buddies, but I want you to know there’s so much better.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8
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