Thoughts of a Sojourner

I am a little behind in my writing this week, but for very good reason. I have had the blessing of spending the week with my precious grandkids, John Patton and Molly this week. I made the trip over to the small town of Franklin, NC last weekend to meet Lillian and Brandon at one of our halfway points between Fayetteville, NC (I plan to write about my couple days exploring and seeing the majestic mountains of East Tennessee, SW North Carolina and North Georgia next week after my return trip there this weekend) to pick the grands up and bring them to Alabama for a week in what we, in my family, call Pop’s Fun Zone! Over the years, Kim and I always cherished our time not only with John Patton and Molly, but also getting the opportunity to see our oldest baby girl Lillian and our hero soldier, son in law Brandon. Of course things are a little different without my partner in crime where the fun zone is concerned since my bride went to be with Jesus, but we continue to navigate this new normal. I have made it my goal to make each trip for them fun and adventurous as it always was when Sugar was the ring leader of the fun and adventure. I have had to learn how to brush hair, put hair up in ponytails, make sure actual showers are taken daily, teeth are brushed, meals are cooked to specks and I think Sugar would be proud of my progress…lol. We have had the best week! There is never a dull moment in the fun zone that is Pop’s house! Whether we are doing a little gardening, feeding the chickens (that are nothing but feathered pets), playing with and wearing out our miniature schnauzer Baxter, watching wrestling, building legos, going to the woods for a hike down a trail in the wildlife refuge nearby or visiting with Great Ma, Grammie & Pappy, Grandpa and Grammy (Brandon’s parents) and of course spending part of a day riding the combine & grain buggy with Justin and Elizabeth who were harvesting the corn crop. As I sit here and share my thoughts some things and thoughts come to mind. First, as parents and grandparents always make the most of the time we have with our kids and grandkids. Time is fleeting and passes so quickly, make sure and invest it in your grandchildren if you are blessed to have grandchildren. As a kid, I have such great memories of times spent with my grandparents. I want to make sure that my grandkids have memories to cherish that were spent with Sugar and Me & now me going forward. We can give our kids and grandkids material things (and we should to a certain extent), but the greatest investment that we can give them is time spent and especially time spent just having fun! Even this week, my youngest daughter Olivia had surgery to have tonsils removed today and she will spend the next couple days with her Ma and my mom getting nursed back to health. Those are moments that you can’t put a price on because time is priceless. I have also been reminded that even today kids still like simple things. Whether it’s walking a nature trail through the woods and them asking Pops all kinds of questions about what they are seeing in many cases for the first time, puling up a chair in a pen with my chickens and having one of the diva chickens hop in their lap to be hand fed a handful of blueberries, gathering eggs that have just been laid or simply planting a seed in a mound of dirt in a pot, tray or garden bed. These are simple things that teach us so much about life and our God, the giver of life. This past Sunday, I was reminded how precious it is to attend worship at church on Sunday with them and seeing them enjoy their time in God’s house. In this instance, I was reminded that the greatest legacy we can leave our children and grandchildren is a legacy of faith and a life of walking with the Lord through times of joy and even sorrow. As our week at Pop’s FunZone comes to close tomorrow evening, I hope memories have been made that will transcend my life on this earth and bring them joy when they think about when they are grown and hopefully have kids of their own. When Saturday rolls around and we complete our trip back to the Appalachian foothills to send them on their way back to their home, we will start to mark the calendar, looking forward to our next time together if the Lord allows. I am truly blessed to have two angels that call me Pops and for that I am grateful to God.