The Hunt

Life has been busy lately - really busy.  Tonight, for the first time in a long while, Jason was home by around 6:30 and no one had plans to go anywhere.  Shortly after dinner, Caleb announced, "Maybe we can all go outside as a family!"  Everyone agreed that was a good idea, so as the dusk began to overtake the day.....we headed outside.  Anna Ruth was contentedly snuggled into the Ergo on Papa's back. "What are we going to do?" we asked Caleb.  "We're going to hunt!" he proclaimed.  Caleb and Emet handed out weapons.  Our arsenal included 2 Nerf swords, 1 short red plastic stick, and a wooden ping-pong ball gun. 

We set out with Caleb in the lead.  Around the outbuildings, past the garden, down to the woodpile and behind the shed, across the creek, to the far corners of the property, along the blackberry bushes, alongside the creek, up over the hills and through the long grass......we trudged on and on.  Often stopping for a "Shhh....I hear something!"  Our instructions from Caleb were clear, "If you see something, kill it." When Papa asked "What if it's a good thing we see?"  Caleb clarified, "If you see something and it's bad, kill it."  Well, we never had to use the weapons.  Somehow, we made it through the dark night unscathed. 

When we returned, Caleb and Emet wanted to play games. After some fencing matches, He and Emet agreed we should race back and forth from the cedar tree, and so we did.  A few tears were involved as the winner was contested, but in the end everyone had a chance to win at least once. 

We headed inside for family story time, then upstairs for night time routines, where Caleb asked if I could be his helper tonight.  Anna Ruth went to bed, but we and the boys snuggled on the bottom bunk for a while, all the while Caleb asked questions such as "Do angels have bones?" and..."Is Satan a kid?" and..."How much does he weigh, do you know?".....and "Where do they hide bodies once our spirit goes to heaven?" :-)

As I consider my life, the things that keep me "busy" are wholly unmemorable.....processing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making meals, picking up, racing around on this errand and that, yet they consume most of my time.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have recently made the time just to stop and make memories with my children.  Time is passing so quickly.  Given a typical life progression, of which one should never take for granted, over a quarter of our time with Caleb at home is gone....and for at least another quarter, he probably won't want to spend the time with us he does now.  So, the days of begging for our time and attention, of wanting to play family games and cuddle at night asking endless questions are fleeting. 

Jason commented tonight, "It's funny how very little it takes to make their day shine.  They'll probably always remember this."  I hope they do, and I hope I can remember how very little time it takes to make memories that will last a lifetime.

.......like tonight and The Hunt.....