Unspoken trusts

Halloween finery

It's totally secular, Halloween.

Some people decorate their yards with enthusiasm, ghosts, and fake skeletons. Or maybe in the window just a string of pumpkin lights from the Dollar Store.

Kids creatively attired scamper from door to door for treats.

The young man in the amazing tall hat prepared a great spaghetti dinner last night. We had dropped his brother off at soccer practice and I suggested that he be the chef, and I would be his helper. He could tell me what to do.

He rolled that idea around the back of his mind while he talked about other things on the way home. I was careful to give him space to do that mental rolling. Could he trust me to really let him be in charge? Would I really do as he said?

Once settled in the kitchen, he asked, "So, what are we having for dinner?"

He viewed the spaghetti ingredients, then said, "OK, Grandma, you can slice the onions." I sliced and diced cheerfully. Thus began a delightful dinner preparation time together.

It's significant that I'm learning to really pray about each encounter with the grandchildren. It's especially important that our times together be good ones, because the boys are beginning to find their own activities now. We don't have overnights every week like we did when they were younger.

When I am able to really glimpse something of the oneness of God's good purpose, and to be clear that only one intelligent and caring Mind is in control, things go better.

Sometimes things go wonderfully.

The chef/helper idea was, for me, an inspiration from that one Mind. When it popped into my thinking, I realized it had come for a purpose. So I tossed it into the conversational mix.

The result was spectacularly joyous. I am incredibly grateful for these small gifts, these little joys, that add up.