Yesterday I mentioned what joy I find when I watch my kids enthralled in Grammy’s stories. Well, I also find great joy when I watch my kids tell their favorite story with Grammy as the subject. Laughter helps build precious relationships and lifelong memories. This story brought much laughter, and it will be a memory that hangs around for a very long time.
One summer, our family met up for a camping trip, high up in the mountains of Southern Idaho. Beautiful trees, wildlife, and even a creek running right by our “camp site”, but no electricity, no toilets, and no showers. Grammy & Papa brought their trailer and provided a place to cook the meals, refrigerate our food, and they even shared their bathroom. (Thank you for saving us from going out in the boondocks!) We did build fancy outdoor showers out in the woods. What a wonderful invention a “sun shower” is! Warm water after a long day in the outdoors is a beautiful thing!
The kids’ favorite place to play at our secret camping spot was in the nearby creek. For hours they would throw rocks, get wet, build dams, and make boats to send down the “river.” The ultimate joy was found, however, when they came across a frog!
I’m not sure who came up with the idea first, but next thing you know there were giggles and plans being flung all around between the two sons-in-laws and grandkids. For some reason, I was not let in on anything until things were in full swing. I’m guessing they feared that I would let the "cat out of the bag". But when lawn chairs were being lined up along the outside of the trailer, and a row of observers who were ready for a “show” began to appear, I started to question what was going on.
When the giggles calmed down long enough to spit a sentence out, I was informed that the frog they caught that morning, and that had been living in the “frog jail” all afternoon, had found a new home in the soap dish in Grammy’s shower. With a little squishing the frog was tucked away for safe keeping. Everyone was just waiting for the big reveal.
It wasn’t long before the expectant audience was rewarded with a loud, blood-curdling scream. Grammy came face to face with a frog in her shower. I’m not sure who was more scared…Grammy or the frog?!
The infamous frog in the "frog jail"We laugh about this story all the time! I think that it is one that will be told over and over again, and maybe even passed down to the next generation of grandkids. “Grammy, tell us the frog story!” Oh, what joy!
Lord, I give you thanks for the sweet memories in our lives that bring joy and laughter. We are blessed by precious relationships in our family, and we so enjoy our times together. Sweet giggles, belly laughter, and memories to last a lifetime. May we remember to be thankful for each member of our family, and always be willing to do the work of maintaining and mending relationships. Even as the holidays are upon us, give us new memories, abundant laughter, and lots of joy in just being together. You, Lord, have done great things in our lives, and our family is one of those great things.
1 comment:
You didn't say anything about the crisis created by the grandkids wanting to see the end result.
Guess who?
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