It is time we came to an understanding. I have always said that if there is one thing I wish our family could do without, it's the internet. Not e-mail, but the whole rest of the world wide web. There was a time when we did without, and enjoyed ourselves. Can we get there again?
Today I sat on the couch and informed my daughter that the old run-down house she wants is up for sale. There I was with Sarah on my right, Elijah on my left, and Tom across from me on the chair. We began a conversation about how we could buy this house for Sarah (we can't but it's a nice dream) and it would be a nice dowry for her. (No, you do NOT hear wedding bells yet, don't even think it.) That led to a discussion about what dowries biblically are meant to be (protection for the bride, and something for her to fall back on in case her hubby died or turned out to be a wife-deserting scumbag) compared to what they became in American history (totally turned over to the husband to enhance his estate, leaving her with nothing if he turned out to be that worthless scumbag).
Tom got up, to go do whatever pastors do on Saturday nights (go to bed early), leaving me to supervise the bath/shower routine. Josiah took his place on the chair, then Lizzie snuggled up between me and Sarah, and Abby snuggled in on the other side, between me and Elijah. We continued to speculate on how we could get that house for Sarah, with Josiah adding a half-dreaming plan or two of his own. (Seriously, if I had the money I'd get it, if it were structurally sound enough to be worth fixing--old houses are so much more "alive" than the factory made, cookie cutter houses of today.)
The point of this post is not to discuss the topic of tonight's conversation, but to emphasize the fact that a conversation took place at all. Sarah did NOT have her laptop in her lap, I was NOT on my computer, and NObody had mp3 players plugged into their ears. I was snuggled up with some of my most favorite people in the whole world, just talking.
It was nice.
If, in a year or two, you come back here and still don't find anything new, it's because I'm doing something more important: spending time with the people I love the most.
P.S. In case you think I'm being extreme, here's a good video to watch: A Journey Home. Set aside 45 minutes of your time to watch this with your family. Seriously. I've been praying for a long time for something similar for our family. Tom hardly ever watches a video with us, but he found this one, watched it, recommended it to me, we watched it with some of our children, then I watched it yesterday with the rest of our children.
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2 comments:
What I could see of it was very good. It kept "buffering" and then stopped altogether. Daddy has been talking lately about getting back to a simpler life...He talked about going to visit the Mennonite people that lived up on the farm by Reibers. They are somewhere in Kentucky. They sold all their things that took electricity when they left here. We aren't to the place where we could get all our belongings in a covered wagon, yet. I wonder if in these communities they have any old folks?
Hello Cathy,
I'm wondering if we might be related. I'm working on a family tree and noticed your blog when searching the web.
Here are a few details of my family tree.
Samuel Thomas Newton - Margaret Brown
William John Newton - Sarah Ann Marshall
John Frederick Marshall Newton - Alice Duke
Originally from England, migrated to Scotland, son Samuel Thomas was born on the Irish Sea.
Migrated to Canada and settled in Gormley, Ontario, and later a farm in Violet Hill, on the Mono-Mulmar town line.
William John Newton married Sarah Ann Marshall, daughter of John Samuel and Elizabeth Marshall.
If a match with yours, would you please get in touch? I have lots of additional details, but don't want to clog up your blog.
Sincerely,
Laurie Newton (Keit)
keit@sbcglobal.net
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