It had been a lonnggg Sunday in October of ’87. Our boys of 7,8 & 9 had provided us with many irritations & frustrations. My wife and I collapsed on our living room couch, too tired to make dinner or go out for it.
At this point, our boys announced that they were going to make us dinner. The initial look of horror on our faces prompted them to reassure us that they really wanted to bless us this way. Our oldest son, Bryan, came over to us with a dish towel over his forearm, like a hi-class waiter. He asked us what we would like for dinner. Patti & I looked at each other, then back at him and said,” What do you have?” His eyes got really big and he rushed into the kitchen to consult with his brothers. We heard them frantically talking….buzz, buzz, buzz. He came back and said, “Chocolate covered peanuts, apple sauce, Timmy’s salad (our 7 year old), hot dogs, ham sandwich and turkey. We ordered it all.
Our middle son, Chris, came out with the same towel wrapped over his forearm and asked us what we wanted to drink. We looked at each other, then back at Chris and said, “What do you have?”. His eyes got really big and he rushed into the kitchen to consult with his brothers….buzz, buzz, buzz. He came back out and said, “Milk, Kool-Aid and wa-ter”, in his best French accent. We went with the water for obvious reasons.
Our youngest son, Timmy, brought out the wa-ter in 2 wine glasses on a silver platter that he single-handedly came out swinging, dipping and dancing with (and nearly causing us to have heart attacks). Miraculously, the wa-ter made it to us without being spilled. Then they all brought us dinner on the same silver platter, without all the swinging, dipping and dancing. During dinner, Chris turned the lights down low while Bryan softly played the piano. After dinner, Chris announced that dessert would be ice cream or something like that. We pointed out that we didn’t have ice cream or something like that. His eyes got really big. He rushed back into the kitchen to consult with his brothers….buzz, buzz, buzz. All 3 boys came back out and announced that dessert would be hot dogs and turkey.
After dessert, we read to you boys and put you to bed. As Mom and I came back downstairs, we looked at each other, thinking “Dare we go into the kitchen?” We opened the kitchen door and saw….the love that our boys had shown us. We decided to clean it up the next morning. We had a wonderful sleep that night. I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised. If God can make life-giving water come out of a rock (Numbers 2:2-11), He can make blessings come out of irritations and frustrations.