Chapter 3 Grapevines
As Elizabeth was heading back into the living room from rescuing Dillon from the little Princess she heard trudging up the stairs. She knew those feet without even looking. It's funny how as a mom you recognize the footsteps of your family without seeing their faces. Sure enough, there he was, giving her a quick glance and heading over to put his book bag on the dining room table. "Hi Mama" came the low greeting from her 15 year old Wayne. "Good morning Wayne" Elizabeth responded.
Wayne made his way to the kitchen to start his morning routine. He opened up all the cupboards to see what had changed in the last 24 hours when it came to food. His hope is that he would stumble across a new sugar cereal or maybe even a real treasure, a honeybun. Alas, no such luck. The cupboards still held the usual cereals; cheerios, kix, life, and some oatmeal both regular and flavored. He closed the cupboards disappointed, opened the fridge and poured himself a monster cup of juice and resigned himself to that. It always amazed Elizabeth that he chose just juice every morning. There was bread and bagels on the counter, eggs in the fridge, bananas and apples almost always in abundance, as well as the aforementioned breakfast foods but he would rather forego eating than eating any of that.
After he swigged his juice he grabbed his book bag. "All right, bye Mama" Wayne said as he headed for the glass sliding doors to go out and wait for the bus which would be there in about 5 minutes or so. "Wayne, it's getting cold out there… Don't you think you should throw a coat on? Seeing as it was December now, winter was upon them and it was really chilly in the mornings, especially standing outside waiting for the bus. "I've told you mama, I'm fine." He responded dully as he walked out the doors in his jeans, sneakers, t shirt, and hoodie. Elizabeth sighed to herself. Not only was Wayne at that age that it wasn't cool to wear a coat, but Wayne was her tough nut. He never really bonded with her and most days acted as though he could care less about whether she was in his life or not. It wasn't all Wayne's fault though.
She had a tough time with both Wayne and her oldest daughter Samantha who was now 18 years old. It was almost as though they tag teamed her at times. Things would be wonderful with one, and the pits with the other. Then they would switch, and things would be rough with the other and great with the opposite one. When Bob and Elizabeth got married years ago, Elizabeth dismissed the fact that they would have any family issue whatsoever… Samantha was 8, Wayne was 5 and Bob had full custody of them for years. They were young enough that she thought it would be a piece of cake to get married and be one big happy family. She had been naïve.
When separate lives and families intertwine there always some tangling and mangling. But the fruit in the long run would be beautiful, sweet, and make the most wonderfully flavored wine. Her family was like the grapevines, woven together tightly, almost stifling at times and definitely out of control most days, but the grapes were so large and luscious it was absolutely worth the years of pruning. There may be a year where the fruit is scarce, but then all of a sudden the vines are filled with clusters of beautiful fruit. Those two had been through so much in their brief years. It wears on the heart when your biological mother comes in and out of your life as she chooses. Elizabeth tried to show them that she was there for them no matter what and that she loved them no matter how hard they tried to push her away but sometimes the only thing that heals wounds is time. She knew that someday God would work in their lives and show them how much she cared about them, even when life felt strangling to them.
One of the things Elizabeth had to work on was showing them physical affection. She internally loved them very much, but didn't show them as much as she ought. She came from the upbringing that when you got to be a certain age, it wasn't appropriate to be overly affectionate with your parents. A brief peck on the cheek was enough. Her parents loved her deeply, she knew this, but when you are used to this kind of relationship it's difficult to change. Her daughter Samantha especially craved a physical affection. She always said it's because she didn't get a lot of hugs and kisses when she was tiny. It was a real challenge for Elizabeth to step out from the way she had been raised to hug and kiss her teenage daughter and son. She realized this was one thing that needed pruning in her life and she struggled with it, but she was working on it and hopefully in time it would become easier, before it was too late.
Elizabeth prayed for all of her children regularly. She knew that God was the one in control of each and every one of their lives ultimately. The love she had for each of her children was different but equal. She didn't love one more than the other, but she had very different relationships with each of them. She knew that someday those little grapevines would become big beautiful vineyards and was ever thankful that God allowed her and her husband the opportunity to prune and be vineyard keepers for a time.
Children begging for breakfast brought her back to reality. Time to feed the troops, maybe she would check to see if she had any grapes in the fridge to serve with their breakfast…

Washed Away with Grace Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Early Morning Tendencies


Heavy Footsteps announced the arrival of the cutest little towhead you ever did see. The glass sliding door opened and a man carrying a bundle of coat, hat, and boy came into the house. It was still the wee hours of the morning, so hushed voices exchanged. The boy, a two & a half year old named Dillon snuggled into his father's shoulder, his bright blue eyes peeking out from underneath the knit monkey hat he wore on his head to keep the cold away. Those blue eyes sparkling like the sun shining on the ocean with a little smile playing on lips for he was playing his little game. Lately, when he arrived for daycare in the morning, he would either pretend he was sleeping or shy to evoke a reaction from Elizabeth and today was no exception.
"Are you a sleepyhead today buddy?" Elizabeth asked him as he pretended to sleep against his daddy's shoulder. Dustyn, his dad, and Elizabeth exchanged smirks and glances as Dillon snuggled even deeper into his dad's shoulder. "Would you like to watch a movie and snuggie with your blankie?" Libby asked him (Libby was her daycare name, it was easier for the littles to pronounce Libby than Elizabeth) "Mmh Hhm, where IS my blankie?" questioned Dillon as Elizabeth took the boy from his daddy. "We will find it in a moment, give your daddy high five, he has to get going to work." Dillon gave his dad high five, Dustyn headed to work and Elizabeth undid Dillon's coat and hat and laid him down on the couch. She pulled his soft sage green velour blanket from the hutch and covered him up with it. "What would you like to watch this morning?" Libby asked Dillon to which he responded his almost daily response "The Polar Express!" "Are you sure you don't want to watch something else thing morning?" not that Elizabeth minded, she never tired of Polar Express; it had become one of her favorite children's Christmas movies. "No, I want Polar Express." Dillon vehemently pronounced. "All right, Polar Express it is."


Elizabeth stuck in the movie and made sure the volume was down loud enough to hear, but low enough not to wake the others sleeping just down the hall. Dillon always arrived early usually not later than 6am, so often Elizabeth's children were still asleep when he came so a movie in the wee hours of the morning was a good choice to getting out toys and waking everyone up too early. Too Early meant Too GRUMPY! She sat down on the couch next to him and watched the introduction to the movie when she heard a door creak and tiny muffled footsteps. "Ah, I had a feeling a certain someone would wake up." Elizabeth said quietly. Around the corner came her sleepy eyed, tousle headed 3 yr old. "Is Dillon here? I got up to play with him. OH, there he is, Hi Dillon!" Exclaimed the little girl named Christiana. "Hi Ana" said Dillon as he quickly climbed off the couch. They tiptoed as quietly as elephants down to Christiana's room to play together.
As Elizabeth switched off the movie she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips. There were days that it would have been a scowl to be sure, but today was different. It wouldn't be long before the others were awake and ready to start their days, but Elizabeth took a few moments to think on how much of a blessing that Dillon was even able to come and play. The flood had taken and changed so much so being able to continue watching him was really something to be thankful for. She knew it was longer for Dillon's parents to bring him, yet they still did. Her children loved their "part-time brother" and Dillon really enjoyed playing with them as well. Not to mention a little income brought into the household was a huge deal when she went from having a full daycare to only one child every other week. Every little bit really did help!
The giggles from the other room brought her to her feet. Elizabeth went to shush them to try and keep the other children asleep a little longer but when she looked into the room she couldn't stifle her laughter. They had decided to play dress up, Christiana already had a princess dress on from the dress up trunk on and was in the process of helping Dillon change as well. Dillon was partially wearing a princess dress with one of the arm holes stuck on his head. As Elizabeth took the dress off of Dillon and got him a more suitable outfit she said chuckled "Sorry girlie, I think Dillon's mom and dad would prefer him wearing the armor." "Today is going to be an interesting day" Elizabeth thought to herself as she turned to see her other two watching the goings on through the doorway. She wondered to herself, what was behind door number two this morning. She was sure whatever happened next would be revealed soon enough J


 

A New Blog..

I've decided to write a short novella. I will be posting chapter by chapter on a regular basis... It's going to be a fiction story based on truth, although that seems rather besides the point! :) I hope you decide to join me on this new journey. I don't know how good it will be, but I am looking forward to this exciting new venture :)

Washed Away With Grace

Chapter 1: Silent Reflection


Elizabeth walked into the kitchen, set up the coffee pot and made sure that the orange light was switched on before walking over and plopping down onto the loveseat to wait those long 5 minutes until the smell of fresh brewed coffee would waft thru the air bringing her back to her feet. It was quiet in the house and she enjoyed the few moments of solitude. This was the only time she ever had to herself as of late. Having five children plus doing daycare cut the "her" time down to practically nothing, especially considering two of her kids were teenagers. Used to be, even with a full house, the kids would go to bed at a reasonable time but now that they were older, bedtimes were pretty much non-existent.
Being able to enjoy even just a few minutes of peace and quiet to sip her coffee and reflect on the past, while pondering the future. What a past to reflect on and a future to ponder…To even delve into any of it this morning would be pointless. There was little time today. Her little daycare boy would be dropped off in 10 minutes or less and so much had happened in her life that ten minutes wasn't nearly enough to even start any type of thought processes. This morning she would utter a prayer asking for God to direct her day and keep her family safe and that would be enough.
She pulled herself up off of the blue and white checked plaid loveseat back into the kitchen. She pulled her special mug out of the cupboard and set it on the counter. She always used that mug. Her husband, although always portraying himself as a hard-nosed, unemotional man on very rare occasion would allow himself to slip-up and show the tiny sliver of the sensitive side he had. This mug was one of those slip-ups, a Mother's Day gift given to her after the death of their premature daughter Grace That tan oversized mug with flowers scattered randomly around it, the little angel girl flying in the corner and the words "There's an angel watching over you" meant more to her than many of her "pretties". . Even when she had little time for reflection, holding that mug to her lips each morning when her day began was like giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek and accepting a kiss from her angel girl in return. Every day she used that mug was a daily reminder of the baby girl that her husband lovingly referred to as Gracie. The mug was 8 years old; her daughter Grace would have been Eight and a half years old had she survived. Her mug was so very important to her that her hubby went back for it after the other most devastating thing of her life had occurred… The flood…
From the other room she heard the sound of her littlest blessing stirring. It was going to be a long day if she woke up already. Elizabeth breathed a silent wish that her little daughter would continue to slumber. She saw the headlights of her daycare dad's truck pulling into the drive, yellow beams of bright light breaking thru the dark. "Hmm… It will be a miracle if she stays asleep now, guess we will see soon enough!" Elizabeth murmured to herself.
Elizabeth went from sipping to gulping her cup of coffee down. She didn't want to share this moment of reflection, especially considering she didn't believe she would have time for anything but an uttered prayer this morning and God had provided much more after all. Didn't he always?? There were times that she would forget, but mornings like this would bring her mind around how wonderful her Heavenly Father truly was. Even in the midst of a hurried morning, He provided ample time for her to reflect and ponder after all!