Saturday Serenade

Saturdays have got to be the best day of the whole week. I love them.

First I get the coffee going, and as the steaming hot water plop-plops through the coffee, a fragrant aroma fills the house.

I listen to Jeff Goodes and Fresh Air on CBC radio in the bathroom while getting ready for the day, then go back to the kitchen to start mixing the ingredients for buttermilk pancakes (Parker family recipe). I'm usually joined at this point by one or two granddaughters from downstairs, who love to crack eggs if they are up in time.

After breakfast I have more coffee with Brenda and we usually move into the big sunny room that looks out onto the fields and maple forested hill that I love so much. Often our chat is broken by phone calls from Peter or from my mum in England, or friends. The whole morning is so relaxed. I've developed a great capacity for ignoring the many other things that lurk in the background, waiting to be done.

Last Saturday's conversation was about the annual church report. Brenda's inspiration about delivering the church magnets followed--and from the response of others it seemed like a "God thing" was afoot. This morning Brenda told me that at Boys and Girls Club she found out that 15 children had given their hearts to Jesus--through the children's ministries in the church--we just didn't know about it. Maybe it's good we didn't know because it was the fact that we didn't that stirred up the sense that we needed to do more, but on the other hand, we need to celebrate every one of those children that opened their hearts to God, in the simple way that children do.

As we thought and talked about the fact that "if we take the magnets, they will call," and the implications of that, another flash of inspiration hit. Call forwarding. There could be a phone line for the calls that come, in response to our outreach--and we could have a rota where we agree to times when we will take the calls and be prepared to respond to needs for prayer or care in whatever form it's needed.

In the afternoon I went shopping. As I drove to Newmarket I listened to the Drew Marshall show on 1250 am. Drew is a Christian call-in talk show host and I enjoy listening to his Saturday afternoon show when I can because he's genuine and often in trouble for being a little rough around the edges. I like the way he covers controversial topics with refreshing honesty. This afternoon he said that he wishes every church had a cell phone number people could call because he takes issue with the fact that when people call churches after business hours,they get a message--telling them the times of Sunday services. If we needed confirmation--it seemed like we got it.

From shopping, Paul and I went to Emily's first birthday party--a wonderfully chaotic gathering of masses of children, family and friends.

It was dark when we arrived home to find a large truck in the driveway. Jay's mom, Marilyn was giving her beautiful Baldwin piano to the girls and it was here. As Brenda and the girls arrived home from Emily's party too, I could hear cries of surprise and excitement from downstairs.

Later, as I sat to write, at the end of this good day, I listened to the sound, one that I love, of someone practising on a piano. I heard such a pretty tune being played that I went downstairs, camera in hand, to find out who was playing. It was Tiffany-Amber. "I loved listening to you playing," I said and she looked up at me as though I had broken into a private reverie. "I made the tune up," she said, and concentrated as she tried to play it again for me.

Brief moments in a day that contained even more joys than I have mentioned. I am so grateful for the blessings of this good, good day.