Home For Dinner

The back of my neck was dripping with perspiration, but the rest of me was quite chilly. It was 5:30pm on a cold Friday night in the middle of a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and dinner waited for me at home. The sun had already gone down and I was hunkering down for the journey. Walking home from Bruce’s house was a bit of a haul in the middle of winter, but I really didn’t mind it that much.

With a fresh coat of snow on the ground, and that ever pleasant ‘crunch crunch crunch’ of my boots breaking the top layer, I reveled in each step. I don’t exactly understand why this is, but snow seems to damp out ambient sound. Not even the dogs around the neighborhood ventured out on cold nights like this. I could hear cars ‘woosh’ from a distant highway, but it seemed that all other life faded quietly away: it was just me, the occasional auto, and my trekking boots.

The smell of freshly burning timber also permeated the walk home. I loved that smell as well as taking in the deep breaths of that really cold air. I was alone to think about my coming weekend and dream about the arrival of Christmas. Wow was this nice!

In Ohio, really cold wasn’t when it was overcast. Really cold was when the sky was crystal clear. In the night, you could see every star. I would look up mesmerized by the menagerie of little lights. I will fly to them some day, I pondered boldly to myself.

Our house sat squarely on the corner of Cherry Bottom Road and Nob Hill. It was the first house on the street and it was a grand house that my father designed and built. He crafted the house, but my mom made it a home. I could always see it for a few blocks before actually getting to it. Reflectively, I love it as much now as I did then. The white brick and black roof were beautiful against the snow-filled fields behind them.

I’d walk up the driveway past the piles of snow that my dad and I had shoveled, to our front door. My walk was over, and I was really ready for it to be. By the end of the journey, my nose was running, my feet were a little numb and soggy and my ears as well the tip of my nose hurt a tad from the cold. Shivering and weariness replaced the great joy that I had at the start of this trip.

The front porch light flips on as the front door swiftly swings open… hmmm… this can’t be good. “Where were you young man?” My loving mother asked with a look of concern that told me all I needed to know. Think Doug think!

“I was at Bruce’s but I got here as soon as I could mom!” Kind of true, but I certainly could have played a few less games of Stratego, Monopoly, Tripoli, or whatever Bruce and my game de jour was.

“I was worried sick about you! I was just about to grab Trish and get in the car and start looking for you”.

“Sorry mom, but it really was a beautiful night!” My best smile came forward. My cheeks ached a little, but I had to maintain it. I wasn’t lying here: the night was wonderful. Now for my mom’s moment of truth: Spanking / Grounding / or the loving stern look. Smile Doug, just keep smiling.

“No matter! Come on in, and get warm”. Stern look with hugs! YES! My mom rocked. After the virtual eternity of unshedding from all of the winter layers, it was time to move into the welcoming abode.

Our home was lit for Christmas, and there was the inviting smell of something wonderfully cooked coming from the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to get some of whatever that was. The rich smells of freshly cooked chicken, buttery rolls, cinnamon, chocolate, and other spices had hypnotized me.

My dad wasn’t home yet, but I knew he’d be soon. “Doug, can you help set the table, please?” Mom was in the kitchen, busy concocting something as brilliant as any blueprint to a maniacal contraption. She was a cook among cooks.

“You got it mom!” My sister and I carefully set each place. All the time my nose would catch whiffs of what was to come. Dinner was so close now and my stomach let me know.

I heard the garage door opening and I knew my dad was on his way in. My sister charged to the back door where he was going to come in. She beat me, as she usually did, and we waited for him to enter. With his entry into the household, dinner wasn’t far behind! “Hey Daddy!” Great! He’s home! Let’s eat to celebrate! With a smattering of hugs and kisses, we would go to pray and eat at the table. Love and joy surrounded us in this place.

Our journey through life will take us to some wonderful places, but like walking home on a cold winter night, we are not designed to stay out here indefinitely. As we ‘walk on’, our final home may very well be in our sights, but we are still not there yet. Through prayer, praise and worship, we may rest a spell, in the arms of our loving father, but we still must leave this warm cozy place and sojourn on, completing the walk.

Have you ever entered into worship and were swept a million miles away? Or were in a service praising with hundred of others, yet in your mind, you were the only one there? It is in these times of heartfelt worship that we can embrace the goodness of God and come before His throne. As much as God loves us, and we love being there with Him, He still knows our purpose on earth, and we, in human form, were also not designed to reside with him indefinitely. He will lovingly lead us back into the fray of reality, with the promise that it won’t be too much longer: keep up the pace! Soon we will be of a form that can reside with Him forever.

I can’t wait for the day those doors swing open and our heavenly father will tell me “I’ve been waiting for you, young man!” With a smattering of hugs and kisses, we will go to praise and eat at His table, while love and joy surrounds us all in His place.

God Bless
Doug