Dennis meets Mr. Wilson

Have you ever been in the right place at the right time? I'm not talking about talking about walking past a $20 or catching a fly ball at a Rangers game, although that would be cool. No, I mean relationally have you ever had those interactions with your fellow humans that you know were just meant to be? Some people call them "God Moments". I am going to call them pogo sticking when your pregnant moments.
Like the time I was in Wal-mart over Christmas, 8 months pregnant, and eyed that pogo stick. It was calling my name. Without thinking about what my stomach looked like, (like there were 3 basketballs stuck inside) and how that may effect my balance, I jumped on. First jump 80 degrees, second jump 45 degrees, then there was that moment when Paul my brother-in-law "had my back Mississippi" and slid right under me for the most amazing prego catch Wal-mart has ever seen. There it is, the pogo stick while your pregnant moment. OK, so maybe not as much a relational story, but a fantastic salvation message.

Anyway, there are times when our souls cross with another person's souls, and we know we are right where we are supposed to be. For instance, this week the kids and I went to the library. This lady comes right up to me and asks me if I home schooled. I guess Landon looked pretty out of place at 1:00 in the afternoon. She had really been thinking about homeschooling and really needed someone to talk to about the thought of doing it next year. It turns out her son has many of the same needs that Landon did last year. It was pretty obvious the exact person that she needed to talk to about both of these issues was me. "I knew I was suposed to talk to you," was her reply. That is not a coincidence. There are no coincidences. Just God.

Then the next day, at the last minute, our plans to babysit for friends were changed and we found ourselves outside our front yard. It wasn't hard to spot my 80+ year old neighbor on a ladder trimming his hedges. His wife sitting on a bench under the tree watching. We don't see them much and have not had many opportunities to get to know them. It has sort of been a Dennis the Mennace / Mr. Wilson relationship up until this point. Toe headed Landon climbs the fence and peeks his head over every time he hears John in his back yard. Then screams at the top of his lungs "HI NEIGHBOR!" John grunts and keeps on working. Well, this meeting was different. I walk over to say hi and Betty scooches over on the bench to let me sit by her. John is obviously tired and struggling from the 90 something degree weather he is working in, and I being almost 5 months pregnant and starting to have contractions am not exactly in a position to be of much assistance. I try to convince him that, if he could wait a few minutes, Jason could finish trimming the tall part, so that he didn't have to get up on the ladder, but John used to have a farm up in East Texas and there is no convincing him to slow down. He would work for about 3 minutes and then rest for 5. The sun was setting and there were cut leaves everywhere. Meanwhile, Keaton is running around in her training pants and a t-shirt making both of them laugh and smile while the other kids Landon, Kelly, and our other neighbor Lauren, are all riding bikes providing entertainment for us bench warmers. I asked John if he could get some of those grass clipping paper sacks out, then we could get the kids to pick up all of the leaves and cuttings. Finally, after insisting 3 times, he goes and gets some bags. The kids run into the house and get their winter gloves on (work gloves) to protect their hands from the prickly leaves. Landon uses some for his feet too, providing more entertainment and then Keaton gets into the action with her winter hat. I guess she was trying to make a connection with the other kids and the gloves, but did I mention that it was 90 something degrees? John and Betty had the best time watching the kids and before too long those kids picked up 3 huge bags of leaves for their neighbor without any fussing or complaining. It was like they knew their neighbor needed help and he probably wouldn't have accepted it from anyone but them. John was obviously touched by them and their hard work and ran inside to pay them each .50 cents. That is more than most of their allowance for a week. They were so thankful, but didn't do it for the reward. Later on I told them how proud I was of them for "loving their neighbor as their self." It was a great concrete example of loving their neighbor since John actually is their neighbor. You know how literal kids take things. Keaton stole their heart by climbing up on the bench in between the 2 of them to eat her snack and getting everybody water. We had a great time enjoying each other's company and watching the kids finish their bike ride across the street in the cul-de-sac. Keaton joined the others in the cul-de-sac and then stripped down naked after a potty accident providing more comic relief. While I was trying to clothe her again, Lauren crashed big on her bike and John jumped up and ran across the street to help her. We had broken through the barrier and into their hearts. It was a pogo stick while you are pregnant moment, and I was elated with God's timing. We had a bunch of these moments while Jason and I were in Europe last April, but those stories are for another time.