A day with Grandson Tommy—August 28, 2016

A few days ago my wife Nancy said she was missing our grandson.  We miss him a lot!  Living only 30 minutes away from him, she called our daughter Emily and asked when Tommy could spend a day with us.  Yesterday, we drove to Concord to pick him up for a ‘play day’.   After a McDonalds breakfast we made the drive to Rio Vista looking at the cows and sheep and the beautiful mountains – Mt. Diablo standing in majesty.   Grandma was in heaven sitting in the back seat with Tommy—and he was all talk and laugher and smiles.   We had a lot of fun thinking of words that start with the letter “P” our favorite word being “POOP”!

Arriving in Rio Vista we drove through the downtown toward city park.  Tommy had to have his morning “fix” on the swings.  Then after a stop at the Farmer’s Market, we were on our way home.

After a few minutes of getting settled along with a small snack, Tommy found his way to my study and desk where he pulled up a stool along with a huge case of Lego’s—Lego’s I have now had for over 40 years.  We spent I don’t know how much time building Lego towers and bridges.  I wonder if Tommy remembers the three bridges over the river we crossed to get to Rio Vista?   The tower was my idea.  The bridges were his idea!

We also managed to get a dozen of his toy cars and action figures out to play on those Lego bridges—with a few trips to the living room to play with Nancy.  Tommy also made a quick trip to the kitchen to locate and bring me a small container of cookies.  With a quiet whisper he asked me:  “grandpa, can I have just one more cookie?”  I was sure, because of his whispering, that grandma didn’t know he had the entire container J.  He managed to talk me into spitting one more cookie.

In all of this Tommy had a full day of playing with grandma and me – complete with blueberry pancakes for lunch.  It’s amazing how much this little guy can play!  I’ve lost track of all the things a three year old can do in a span of just a few hours.

During the afternoon, I had the need for a nap—while grandma took Tommy on a long walk to see the pond, fish, birds – and a special toy train that some of the men where we live had built near the clubhouse.  Then, after watching a movie in trying to get him settled for a nap (that he didn’t take), it was time for dinner and his trip home—still wide awake!

Rather than go on with the litany of events that occupied our day, I’m now spending some reflecting on this blessing of a day I had to spend with Tommy and Nancy.  It was a good, happy, fulfilling day!   I was tired and my hips were sore—worth a couple Ibuprofen.

My reflections take me back to the 30-40 years of ministry and all the opportunities I missed in playing with our daughter Emily.  Don’t get me wrong.  We had our quality times together—just not enough time for play.  Now we have plenty of time to spend together now that we have made the move to live in California.

The message of this blog-post is simple:  Retirement is a special time to play and spend some quality time reflecting on all the blessings God has bestowed upon all of us.  I return to the words that are the anchor of this blog — We are all “BOUND AND NURTURED IN LOVE!”  May God bring to those who read this blog the same love I experienced in playing, yesterday, with my grandson Tommy.   God truly binds ujs together and builds us up—nurtures us—in LOVE!