Book Deal?

You know that popular book called Conversations with God? I haven’t read it (and don’t intend to – the Bible covers it all) but I think I could write my own: Conversations with Kids. I know it would sell. I mean, I only write down a small percentage of the amazing conversations we have, mostly for the humor in them, but there are so MANY that would be worthy of the book!
The kids and I made a trip to Austin yesterday to visit Mammy and Bub (they went to Bub’s, I went to Mammy’s), and on the way home had some very interesting conversations. Here are a couple of them.
#1 – Out of the blue…

Levi: Mom, do you hope Bub goes to Heaven?
Mom: I do.
Levi: I do, too.
Luke: I hope Mawmaw goes to Heaven!
Levi: She prob’ly will.
Luke: With her candy! That dies. And it rots.

#2 – Somehow we got on the subject of the Vietnam war, of which I know nothing. This is quite a long way into the conversation.

Jake: Whose side were we on?
Mom: I don’t really know, son. I don’t know anything about it, and don’t remember ever even studying Vietnam in school. (That doesn’t excuse my ignorance, I’m ashamed to say.)
Levi: I hope it was the men’s.
Jake: Levi thinks it was the girls against the boys. I hope not, or the boys would all be blown up by booby traps and mines.
Mom: Why do you say that?
Jake: Because girls are more crafty, and boys are more violent.
Levi: No, boys are smarter and stronger!
Jake: Who says boys are smarter than girls?
Levi: God, prob’ly. (Said in a VERY matter-of-fact way)

Now, see, THAT is good reading material. It could be in the one-a-day format. Every morning, you read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds to the date, and a ‘conversation with a kid.’ That would start your morning off with sound Biblical wisdom and a good laugh.

The boys and I just returned from the nursing home in Blanco, which has become a regular visiting place for us. I hesitated to write about it at all, for fear that I would drop it before we really established it as a routine in our week, but we’ve done pretty well. I take the boys up and just go around and talk to the residents, and it makes them SO happy. (The residents – the boys are still a little uncomfortable, but we’re working on that.) Today when we went, I said hello to one of the ladies and she started telling me “Bible. I want a Bible.” Well, that was the opportunity I had been waiting for. I asked for a Bible and sat Jake down right beside her to read, and she was thrilled. She kept telling me she loved the Holy Bible. She doesn’t have much speaking ability left, and no teeth, but she can sure smile, and she got very excited. I asked her what she would like to hear and she said, “about Jesus.” So Jake read a chapter from Matthew, then she followed him up by reciting the 23rd Psalm with tears in her eyes. Of course, it was much more touching to me than to Jake, but THAT is why I take them.

One of the staff asked if we would read for another woman who isn’t doing well, so Levi volunteered and read a chapter to her, then we took turns. We also sang a couple verses of Fountain Free for her before we left, and I took the boys aside and made sure they knew how much it meant to serve our elderly in these ways. I hope that in a few weeks, they will be comfortable enough to go around and visit on their own, but I know they will be in for some heartache when we lose friends that we’ve made. It will all be a good learning experience for them, though, and it was the best way I could think of to help them really understand unselfish service. I know I need to do more of it, too!