Let The Fun Begin....

   It is Saturday morning. Doug and Dawn and Drew came last night, and the parents left this morning for Florida to catch a boat for a 7 day cruise, leaving Drew with us for a week. We have looked forward to this time with this almost 12 year old, because he is a joy to have around.

   I can predict a lot of what will go on during this period. We will play a lot of games in the condo, board games, card games, Wii games and others that we might make up as we go along. He and I will play a lot of golf, possibly every day, on the 9 hole section where we live. There will be times at the beach, at the park, at the lighthouse and on the bike. In short, we will try to fill his days with things that he likes to do, and he will keep us busy doing just that. He is a player and that suits his Papa just fine.

   As I sit here right now, in the quiet of this morning, I think of all this week might hold, and I voice a prayer to God for these times that will not happen exactly like this again. What do I pray for right now?

   I pray that Drew will have a good time this week, that he will always see our home as a fun place to come to, and that he will always want to come and be with us. It is sometimes hard to see our grand children grow up, because their lives change. They begin to have a lot of stuff to do, and grand parents who live far away, don't always figure into that mix. Interests and schedules do not always lend themselves to time together, no matter how much each may desire that. I would often like to just freeze time so that I could enjoy those moments that we can just be together.

                                           Lucy, Drew, and Caroline (Our Virginia circus)

   I would also pray that Drew would see in his grand parents their love for him and for the rest of this extended family. We have a great bunch of kids and grands, and we dearly love each one, with all their different characteristics, attitudes and abilities. We realize that we are the past and that they are the future, but we do love to be around them and share their lives and dreams.

   I pray for strength and stamina this week as I try to keep up with an active almost-teenager. I pray for wisdom in dealing with everything that comes, and flexibility to not let my plans get in the way of the fellowship that is available during these days.

   There is a lot more that I could pray for, and I will as things come up, even today, but there is an activity scheduled in 10 minutes, one that I promised we would do this morning, so I had better get the clubs out and find some little white balls, so that we can get started on the week in the right way.

   Let the prayers that I have voiced this morning in this time cover me throughout the day's activities, along with all the others that will surface along the way. Help me to be the Papa that I need to be for him, right now in this stage of his life.

   Then let the fun begin.