ARE THE CHILDREN ALL IN?

 

Monday, November 21, 2022

(A personal memory of the holidays)

 

ARE THE CHILDREN ALL IN?

 

Ezek 34:12

12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. KJV

 

          My calling took me farther from home than my siblings, but it was in that far country I found a wife and a life. Year after year we would return to that last house I called home. It seemed to never change. Dad seemed to be always fidgeting and Mom always seemed to be waiting for something, or someone.

 

          When the car lights swept the front door, Dad would be standing there, and Mom would be in her favorite chair. A question hung like a mist just inside the door. Are the children all in? Words cannot describe the joy in the answer to that question. Yes, they are finally here.

 

          Someone named anonymous wrote a poem, thus stealing my thunder. I also wrote one but can’t find it in my archives of forgotten thoughts so I will borrow from Mr. Anonymous.

 

Are All The Children In

 

I think oft times as the night draws nigh

Of an old house on the hill,

Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred

Where the children played at will.

And when the night at last came down,

Hushing the merry din,

Mother would look around and ask,

“Are all the children in?”

 

‘Tis many and many a year since then,

And the old house on the hill

No longer echoes to childish feet,

And the yard is still, so still.

But I see it all, as the shadows creep,

And though many the years have been

Since then, I can still hear Mother ask,

“Are all the children in?”

 

I wonder if when the shadows fall

On the last short, earthly day,

When we say good-bye to the world outside,

All tired with our childish play,

When we step out into that other land

Where mother so long has been,

Will we hear her ask, just as of old,

“Are all the children in?”

 

Matt 23:37

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! KJV

 

Dear Lord, in this nostalgic season of returning, let us make certain that all the children are in. AMEN