We got an early start to the day but still had to rush out the door for church. “Get your coats on and get in the car!” I commanded.
I put the baby’s and my coats on. I heard the doorbell ring. I assumed it was my seven-year-old son playing around.
“Mommy! There are two ugly people at the door!” my nine-year-old yelled.
I assumed she was joking again, and opened the door, toddler in arms, ready to walk to the car.
Two female Jehovah’s Witnesses were at the door.
“Oh!” one said in surprise, “I’m sorry, were you on your way out?”
“Yes, we are on our way out to church.”
“Can we leave you some literature?”
“No, thank you,” I said with a sweet smile.
“Cute,” the other said about the baby, and they both walked down my driveway.
Perhaps rudely, I let the car alarm chirp as they passed my car on one side and I got the baby into the other.
Later, my nine-year-old told me that she had dutifully gone out to the car, then saw the strangers coming and ran into the house.
Meanwhile, my ten-year-old opened the door to go out to the car and saw them standing there. One said “hello”, and she promptly slammed the door in their faces!
They had all followed the proper protocol for strangers, and I was proud of them, I said.
My toddler climbed all over me in church. The older lady next to us was very understanding. When the baby wanted the kneeler down, she let it down so she could stand on it. When she wanted to walk the length of it, she stepped back and told me to let her pass her by.
Those around us were quite prompt about picking up the blue and green crayons (“crons”) that flew past them.
The kind old lady behind us must have looked like the type that would have bagels. “Gagels?” the baby asked her, “Apples? Cookies?” loud enough for the entire quadrant of church to hear.
We decided to stop at the bagel store on the way home, but they were fresh out. They had another batch coming in twenty minutes. I put the baby to bed and went back. It sure was worth it for the fresh, warm bagels, to be perfectly topped with Neufchatel cheese. They were so good that I had two, and laid down on the couch for a nice nap.
I woke up refreshed, finally ready to do some work. I made dinner, did a load of laundry, and went food shopping (again- I just went two days ago). When I got back, the girls were still talking about the ladies at the door. They found the whole story so hysterical, and could not wait to tell their friends on the bus and in school tomorrow!
“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”
Genesis 2:3
Above: The Creation, Matthaeus Merian the Elder, 1625-30
