Tonight at around 7:00 was a balmy 65 degrees inside…but we turned on the fireplace. See, yesterday my two boys and I were at Cracker Barrel for breakfast when our little guy noticed the dying fire in the fireplace. A few minutes later, one of the staff there brought a load of wood and started piling those in the pit. Within minutes, there was a roaring fire toasting up the dining area and holding full well a three-year-old boy’s attention. Hubby’s voice cut through the mesmerizing moment, “Did you know, Bud, that we have a fireplace at our house? And you know what, tonight we will turn it on and read stories by the fireplace before you go to bed. Does that sound like a good idea?”
“Wooaah!” was all the little guy can say with a big smile on his face.
While Hubby was putting the nap-less drowsy little guy to sleep last night, he shot up with a burst of energy in his voice and said, “Oh no, Daddy! We forgot the fireplace!” To which Hubby said, “Well, let’s do that in the morning soon after we wake up because it’s sleep time now, okay?” And the little sleepyhead answered with a tired, “Oh, okay.”
Today was another one of those let’s-get-up-and-do kind of days. A lot of practice driving for the Momma with another bonus Momma-only-time at the bookstore while the two boys monkeyed around in the garage, getting all psyched up to start the ‘Tidmouth Shed Project’ for the little guy’s train set. Needless to say, we didn’t really wake up and have storytime by the fireplace.
However, right before bedtime, Momma remembered the fireplace idea and so we gathered ourselves near the fireplace. Momma turned off the lights and Hubby turned on the fireplace. Yes, we have one of those fireplaces lit at the flip of a switch…well, almost. For a minute or so all we heard was a “tick tick tick” sound. Even the little guy was wondering where the fire is! Then “phoom!” and a bluish based orange flame appeared. Hubby gave the very important safety spiel on fireplaces, particularly the one on not ever ever touching the surface of the fireplace when he sees the fire going. The little guy said, “And little boys only stay near Mommy and Daddy when the fire is on.” That point went through!
I was seated with our son, facing the window on the north side of our house and in the darkness, I can see the orange glow of the sunset above the mountains. Hubby started his story of a guy named Steve when he lived in a far away land called the Philippines. The little man stared at the flames…like a magnet. He just didn’t move his head away from staring at that thing, even as I gently moved him closer so he can lean his body on me to relax.
“The end” came Hubby’s voice.
I gently moved our son’s head towards my stretched leg so he can lay flat and listen to the next story about to begin. He was still fixated on the flame but his body started to relax as he was lying down. Hubby was in mid-sentence when the little guy blurted, “Wow! That is a cool fireplace!”
So it was that Hubby’s second story about four young kids going on adventures in an island called Corregidor got interrupted but with redirection was finished with a scene where all four boys pitched their sleeping bags in a place called “The Musuem” under the blanket of a dark sky magnificently lit by billions and billions of twinkling stars.
Thankful for a warm house tonight. Thankful for moments of being together as a family, sharing stories of our lives near a warm fireplace. Thankful for a beautiful sunset. And thankful for a BIG God who made all these things possible.