Friday, October 30, 2020
Philbrook Family
Levity
Hi St. John's Family,
Here we are eight months into the pandemic of 2020 and heading into a very divisive political election. And while the global issues alone are enough to make most of us stressed and anxious, it isn't like our own personal struggles are muted. Joyous is not how I would describe this year.
I'd love to sweep away this year's grief and offer up some enlightening macro silver lining. Unfortunately, I haven't found it, and I'll admit that I really have been searching.
What I have found is that once you start processing the darkness, your eyes adjust and cracks of light start to appear. Most of us can't tune out the world and sweep aside the hurt of today's realities. But, for me at least, reaching out and considering another view, it may start to feel just a little bit lighter.
For us, it starts with simple things—the decision to turn a birdbath into a bird feeder. It has essentially become the front yard all animal gathering spot and terrific mess for Randy. I've also learned what greedy little eaters squirrels are when there is the opportunity for sunflower seeds. Everyone finds entirely too much amusement in my daily battles to limit the squirrels' feasting.
Amelia decided to help by starting an "acorn factory" at school. During recess, she and her friends gather all the acorns they can find for the squirrels. The next phase of the factory is cracking them. Randy is hoping for an early winter so that the acorns disappear in the snow before the factory moves into distribution and they all start coming home. He seems to feel that cleaning up the sunflower shells is more than enough and isn’t really embracing the coming wave of acorns.
It is our first year at Saint Patrick's, but they quickly figured out our kids love "all God's creatures." Henley proudly announced in the first days that "jumping spiders" are his favorite creature. (Father Rob gets the credit for encouraging this one.) He then sadly told us that his teacher says the school's jumping spiders prefer to stay outside. And, of course, Connor constantly surprises his class with facts on animals and where to find them. Maybe not surprisingly, we did get a reminder that "wild animals" are not appropriate for show-and-tell.
My dad always said, "Children can sense things unknown to adults." He loved to walk around the yard with Amelia, Connor, and Henley to listen. I try to do that even more now in the days since his passing. They chitter-chatter away about things completely unrelated to politics, COVID, or Uncle Jeremiah being sick. They do talk about what Grampy said or think of things they want to ask Uncle Jeremiah, but it is a stream of happy chatter related to nature and, more recently, with Saint Patrick’s, how God's love shows up.
When you are 8, 5, and 3, you aren't consumed with worry about the political environment or nervous about COVID. They are excited about the changing seasons. Building the "biggest" pile of leaves and getting your parents to jump in it is nirvana. The only thing better is thinking about the next season and how much snow we might get. [Randy Philbrook: Starting, quite possibly, this coming Friday!) My dad was right - kids do sense things adults don't, and the opportunity for joy is around every corner.
Let your light shine!
Love,
The Philbrooks