Joe Carpenter sat in his living room. He was exhausted. At times things seem to move so slowly and then at other times life seemed a whirlwind. Now he was looking forward to a simple quiet evening after the whirlwind of the past couple of weeks.
The baby has started to sleep through the night, which has made life much easier. When the baby was waking up at all hours of the night, Joe had trouble making it through work during the day. The regulars to the shop understood, but there were always those who would complain. But now he was starting to get some sleep and that has been making things much better.
Joe had to chuckle to himself, Mar had been getting more sleep, too! Her mood has improved greatly! They really loved their little boy, but he has made life difficult! Things that they used to take for granted, like going out, now had to be planned. And some things were just no longer possible. This little person was depending on them! They had to make sure his needs were taken care of. But when Joe would look into little Jacob’s eyes, Joe knew that things could never be the same. And really, that was alright, Joe would do anything for his little boy.
Joe was just about ready to fall asleep in the Lay-Z-Boy when there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it Mary,” Joe yelled as he walked toward the door. “Who could be here now?” he thought to himself, “It’s late!”
Upon opening the door, Joe was surprised to find three people standing on his front porch. They were dressed as if they were going to a party and they were all carrying presents. These were beautiful presents with shiny paper and big bows. Before Joe could even ask what these people wanted, the woman in front said, “We want to play with Jacob. Can we come in and play with him?”
To say that Joe was surprised would have been an understatement. Actually, Joe couldn’t think of anything to say. To his great relief, his wife, Mary, was standing on the landing of the stairs and said, “Sure, come on up!” And with that, the three people proceeded up the steps.
When Joe got to Jacob’s room, he found Jacob sitting on the floor amid the three visitors. Jacob was laughing and cooing and the visitors were enjoying their time with the little boy. The gifts the strangers brought were opened but laying aside. The real gift in the room was the sheer joy and love between the little boy and the visitors.
As Joe watched the scene, he felt a little guilty. He realized that although he loved Jacob more than he could imagine, he also was a little upset at the time and the things he had to give up for Jacob. Joe was looking forward to getting back into his old routine and back to where things were comfortable. But these people sitting on the floor were opening his eyes to a new reality.
Joe thought that after Mary had Jacob, then things would settle down and return to normal. But things were not returning to normal, the changes were just beginning! Things were not going to ever return to normal. These strangers, sitting here on the floor, were showing Joe a reality he had never even dreamed! The gift was not in a return to normal, the gift was here! Sitting on the floor! Smiling and laughing with the visitors! How easy it would be to forget this simple idea. How easy it would be to consider Jacob just more work, more demands on his time. It would be easy to focus on the things that life with Jacob prevents. And still, life with Jacob brings so many blessings! As Joe watched the strangers and his son, yes! HIS SON! playing, he began to laugh and join in!
What a sight! Jacob, laughing and giggling, his mom and dad, and three strangers; all rolling around on the floor, amid wrapping paper and bows; all enjoying the wonderful love of each other and the wonderful gift of a tiny baby. Anyone who happened to walk by the room at that moment would have thought them all quite mad. But the person who was looking into the room would not have understood; this was not a joy you could just watch, this was a joy you had to live! And live it they did!
Well, eventually Jacob began to yawn and Mary told the guests that it was time for Jacob to be going to bed. Although they did not want to leave, the guests reluctantly went down the stairs. Joe saw them to the door and thanked them for visiting and invited them back anytime. As the strangers walked away, Joe noticed the sky and the stars; they just seemed more vivid than usual. But man, it was getting chilly outside so Joe waved one last time to the guests and closed the door.
As Joe made his way to the Lay-Z-Boy, Mary was walking in from the kitchen with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Joe and then sat down on the couch. She didn’t say much but just look as the steam rose from her cup.
Finally Joe said, “That was certainly odd.”
Mary looked up from her cup and looked squarely into Joe’s eyes. “Yes, it was,” she said. “But it was wonderful too. I have a feeling that with Jacob now in our lives, we will have many more odd and wonderful experiences.”
Joe sat thinking about this. Did he really want his world to change? Did he really want more odd and wonderful experiences? A part of him only wanted things to be normal and boring. But for things to return to normal and boring, his precious son Jacob would be gone too. No that would be too much.
Joe looked up from his coffee and noticed Mary was still looking intently at him. He could read her question in her eyes, was he up to this challenge? Was he sorry Jacob come into their lives? Was he ready to be immersed into the odd and the wonderful? The expectation in Mary’s eyes weighed heavily on Joe. He set his coffee down and got up and sat next to Mary. He kissed her lightly on the eyelids and he felt the tension in her body melt away.
“Yes, my wonderful wife,” Joe said quietly, “this is going to be a wonderful journey. And I suspect you are right, too, in that this will be an odd journey. But God gave us the gift of this child to love and the gift of each other. With all of this going for us, how can we fail?”
And with that, Mary looked up at Joe and smiled. Joe felt the comforting weight of Mary’s head on his chest and thanked God for all the blessings that surrounded him. But just before he was about to drift off, he heard the doorbell ring. Mary stirred and looked at Joe. Joe looked back. The doorbell rang again.
Joe looked at Mary and said, “Do you want to get it this time or should I?”
No comments:
Post a Comment