It is well with my soul

by chuckofish

Well, VBS was a timely reminder that it is a good thing to get out of one’s comfort zone every now and then.

And I have to say, being with all those smart kids kind of restores my confidence in the future somewhat. For example, I had a really engaging conversation with one of the boys in my group about his first name. I asked him if was Welsh and he said Gaelic. This led him to ask if I had ever heard of Tombstone, because he is a descendant of the McLaurys and I was able to jump in and say, why yes, they were participants in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. (I had, of course, already been wondering about his name.) He said ‘they’ (his family) hated the movie Tombstone because of the way the McLaurys are depicted. He admitted that the McLaurys were the bad guys, but argued that the movie was not fair. I said he should tell his father to get the movie My Darling Clementine, which is an old movie made in 1946 starring Henry Fonda and is a much better telling of the story. He nodded, and being an intelligent lad, I am hopeful he will pass this information on to his father.

He went on to tell me that his father is a pastor at a downtown church. Then the boy next to him chimed in and said he also went to this church where his mother is the Music Director. We had a good conversation about animals we have seen in our yards. They were impressed that I had seen a coyote.

Anyway, I was glad to meet a boy who is interested in his genealogy and who can talk about it intelligently.

It was also a joy to see my grandchildren in the thick of things and to get hugs throughout the morning when we met in passing. They did great and I think they had a lot of fun.

Can you see them in the front? It did my heart good to hear those babes singing “It Is Well With My Soul”!

I had hoped to see them in church on Sunday singing with the rest of the kids at the beginning of the service, but Lottie broke her arm on Saturday at a pool party. She spent the afternoon in the E.R. We FaceTimed later that evening and she told me, “I’m okay, Mamu!’

She goes back to get a cast (purple with pink sparkles bien sûr) next week.

And lest we forget: we wish a belated happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful fathers out there!

And happy Juneteenth!