From My Front Porch ~ a Gentle Breeze

         I am delighted to team up for a front porch series with one of my dearest friends in all the world, Elizabeth Ours, who hosts the blog Yes They’re All Ours. She lives on the warm, sunny Georgia coast, while we are nestled in the a little cabin in the woods of the SC mountains.

      Friday on the front porch  ~  after the first string of sweltering summer days, our morning coffee rendezvous was graced by an almost nippy, morning breeze  .  .  .  just cool enough to think you might need a sweater, but just warm enough to wish this morning could last forever.  Every now and then, when you don’t even expect it, a fresh breeze blows through your life and you cannot do anything but bask in it, breathe it in and quietly celebrate all that is right in the world.

     A fresh breeze blew in from Idaho this week.  Dear friends, more like family than friends, trekked eastward and landed right here in the mountains.  Their daughter brought a friend, and as the week went on, we seem to collect more teenagers to spend the week with us.  What unfolded proved to be one of those refreshing breezes that turns your world upside down and fills you to overflowing with grateful, abundant living.

This fabulous group of energetic young people crammed tons of fun into every minute. During the day, boys went one way, girls the other.  The boys enjoyed way too much Xbox (but hey, it was just that kind of live-it-up week), and the girls preferred variety. The baked up a storm: Italian bread sticks (Thanks Annarose), cinnamon rolls (Thanks Mary), and out of this world chocolate chip cookies (Thanks Emily), not to mention three meals a day.  I was up and out with some other adventures each morning, so there is nothing quite like coming home to a clean kitchen and leftover chocolate chip pancakes.  Each day was something different. Someone started working on a knitting project and before you knew it, there were knitting and crochet needles fast at work, all trying to learn to make the same cool things.  Throw in dressy friend pics on Landrum’s historic train tracks and a spa treatment, et voila ~ a week to remember.

Then of course, were the traditions, especially the things you can’t find out west like Chick-fil-a and Cheerwine soda.  Childhood memories of club meetings were revisited with gold fish, oreos (Vitamin 0) and chocolate milk. My husband even made them homemade ice cream down at the lake, just like old times. Although the young whipper snappers enjoyed their days at the lake, we old people joined them for a  feast of hot dogs, watermelon and ice cream.  It almost felt like a beloved old movie, watching kids whoopin’ and hollerin’, swimming, paddle boating ,bravely jumping from the boathouse window, tossing each other back in the water after they were all dried off.  It was a blessed evening of fellowship with old friends and new friends, tying knots like a tapestry that connect to make our days a little more beautiful.
     By night, the excitement burst like fireworks , each event a spontaneous surprise: touch football games, star tipping, mini concerts with guitars and piano and harmonious singing. Board games gave way to impromptu talent shows that gave way to moving the furniture out of the way and swing dancing to the oldies.  They even invited old 50 yo fogies to do the Electric Slide. It was great, wholesome, exhaustion—a good reminder that it is healthy to exert ourselves. Like most things, we were happy to extend a little hospitality, but what a pleasant surprise for the blessing to pour right back down on us.
      By midnight, the loud, and I do mean loud, laughter and exhilarating fun would prompt our sweet, but tired, ole grizzly bear we call Daddy to pull himself up out of bed and say, “I’m glad y’all are having a good time, but some old folks have to work in the morning.” Then came the movies and the midnight brownie baking before the chatter was hushed and teenagers finally crashed to recharge their batteries for the next day. This glorious week will be coming to an end tomorrow as one by one our guests return to their own homes, all worn out, but hopefully refreshed in spirit.

     So it is. Sometimes when we least expect it, a refreshing breeze blows across our lives that is so comfortable, so absolutely deep-down pleasant that we never want it to end.  It is a glimpse of paradise that fades like a honeysuckle, but what a blessing it is to breathe it in deeply and from that time forward compare every other day to its sweetness. Mysteriously the breezes seems to suspend time, and connect us to all that was , is and is to come.

    Lord, may You keep us mindful of the breezes and may we never be too busy to sit a spell and wallow in it. My Your Spirit blow through our lives refreshing and renewing our weary souls that we too might be the gentle breeze for others. Keep us from storming in with our frustrations and selfish ambitions that wound and devastate. May we be a fragrant offering