Loaves and Fishes Moment

Photo credit:  clarita from morgueFile.com

On Monday, the kids’ school celebrated grandparents.  I read once that grandparents are like moms and dads, but with lots of frosting!  (hee hee)  Or, it can be said that they are just antique little boys and girls.  Either way, we wanted to show our appreciation for the perfect love that comes from grandparents…so we fed them!

Heck, besides all of the hugs and kisses from my own Omi, Granny, and Grandpa back when, food is the other biggie that comes to mind when I recall the memories.  There wasn’t a visit to their home that didn’t involve a trip to the cookie jar.  And, my Grandpa always had homemade bread and sausage on hand.  Yum!

Okay, so it was the school's first time to do the Grandparent Breakfast and we weren’t sure how it all would go.  How many grandparents would actually be able to come?  Was it too early in the morning?  It was a trial run…kinda like a first born, huh?  (Kidding!  Only kidding!) 

As parent volunteers, we served a simple meal of sausage rolls, juice, and coffee.  My new friend, Carissa, coordinated the décor and made some precious arrangements of fresh and dried naturals.  For a personal touch, there were blank handmade cards for the children to fill out and give to their grandparents.

It was all set.  Carissa was playing the piano in the background; other friends were serving juice; and I was in charge of the sausage rolls.  Echoes of Papa, Popo, Grandpa, Pops…Mimi, Momo, “Grandma rocks” started to fill the room.  I couldn’t believe the long line of grandparents!  It was amazing to see the silver in their hair and the gold in their heart.  I soaked it all in for just a moment and then I got to work.

I opened the lid to the silver warmer and grabbed my handy tongs.  My four-year-old was helping out by giving me the plate and napkin combo to put it on.  We had a rhythm going and certainly felt like a dream team.  In between happy “Good mornings” and “So glad you’re here,” I noticed that as the line grew longer and longer, my pile of rolls grew shorter and shorter at an alarmingly faster rate.

“Hmmm….is it hot in here?”  I began to wonder.  And pray.  “Okay, Lord, I need a loaves and fishes moment.  Seriously.  There is no way that these ten sausage rolls in my warmer will feed the rest of these sweet people.  Do your thing.  I trust you completely because I have not yet mastered sausage-roll-making-in-five-minutes-or-less.”

I truly believed in my heart that the Lord would come to my rescue.  He had done it countless times in my life and in other’s too.  So, my question wasn’t, “WOULD He do it?”  It was, “HOW would He do it?”  Would He just make more rolls appear in my pan?  Or would the line get shorter?  Or would the rest of the folks just want juice and no roll?  All of this while I’m smiling and serving Granny and little Billy.  Crazy what goes on in my head…

Anyway, I kept opening and closing the warmer.  Still no extra rolls.  The Lord would have to work quickly because I only had two rolls left in my warmer.  Two.  Dos.  Then, out of nowhere a glorious lady with a tray of sausage rolls appears.  I am not kidding.  I’m assuming she came from the kitchen, but to me she was a heavenly angel who sauntered down Heaven’s staircase and appeared by my side at just the right time.  I hugged her, poured the rolls in the warmer, and continued on my merry way.  And, you know how the story ends…we had several rolls left over.  No lie.

“Oh Lord, you rock!  You so rock!  I was told this warmer held all the rolls we had.  Oh, You are good.  So good.”  I thanked Him quietly.

Afterwards, I chatted with the juice gals and come to find out, they had a loaves and fishes moment of their own.  They were down to their last few sips of OJ and therefore poured smaller and smaller amounts in guests’ cups to make it last.  One poor Grandma looked in her cup and back at them and said, “Really?!”  My friend, Keri, said, “Oh goodness…just kidding,” and nervously filled Grandma’s cup with the last of the juice. 

About that time, a parent walked up with three gallons of juice.  Yes.  God is just that good.  No one left the breakfast hungry or thirsty and it was a smashing success.  We couldn’t have possibly guessed that the café would be filled to the gills.  But, lasting memories were made and that’s what matters.

As we cleaned up, my heart swelled with the thought of how blessed I feel that my children have a Mimi, a Pops, a Nanny AND a Popo to love them so dearly.  I want to thank each one of them for teaching my children…for playing with them…for listening...for sharing in their accomplishments…for being proud of them…for your faith…for letting them make a royal mess of your home with paper and tape and for displaying with pride all of their pictures and artwork.  I love you and appreciate you more than words could possibly say! 

There are so many quotes out there about grandparents and grandchildren.  Here are just a few I thought you might enjoy:

• Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.  ~Welsh Proverb
• Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because Pop-pops have only so many horsey rides in them.  ~Gene Perret
• Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete.  ~Marcy DeMaree
• Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies.  ~Author Unknown
• Grandparents hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown
• If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first.  ~Lois Wyse
• Grandfathers are for loving and fixing things.  ~Author Unknown
• My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world.  And after two or three hours with them, I believe it, too.  ~Gene Perret
• Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.  ~Mary H. Waldrip
• Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap.  ~Doug Larson
• To a small child, the perfect granddad is unafraid of big dogs and fierce storms but absolutely terrified of the word "boo."  ~Robert Brault
• Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple.  Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love.  ~Author Unknown
• No cowboy was ever faster on the draw than a grandparent pulling a baby picture out of a wallet.  ~Author Unknown
• I would love to go back and travel the road not taken, if I knew at the end of it I'd find the same set of grandkids.  ~Robert Brault
• Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a grandmother.  ~Edward H. Dreschnack
• It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the world calls her grandmother.  ~Author Unknown

As for me, I feel that the blessing of a grandparent is like the loaves and the fishes.  They always miraculously find more patience, more cookies, more time for you, and more ways to express their love even when you think there couldn’t possibly be any left.

May each of you have a loaves and fishes moment this week .  Be looking for it. 

Have a great week, Sunshines!