Supper At Grandpa's House and The Value of Four Grand

"Supper At Grandpa's House and The Value of Four Grand" Kathleen (Kasper-Kat) Armstrong, (w)Holy Ghostwriter ? 5 24 2022

I didn't realize I rose early in the am when I was young, until today. Now that I am older, I still enjoy this time of day. There is little stirring at this time of day, when get up. The day I wrote these notes, it was late in the am for me: five-fifty am to be precise, a good hour later than the norm. I know of a man who wrote a whole book about writing notes at this time of day. He called them "Morning Notes," I called mine "4 AM Notes" when I noticed that I was consistently waking up aroung this time and these thoughts would come flowing in.

I regret to write that I have yet to read those "Morning Notes" by Hugh Prayther; though I do pray at this time of day everyday also. Maybe one day I will get a chance to read this well known book, particularly because of the glowing reviews I've heard regarding this book.

My description of the first supper I remember at my grandfather's house (that I described in my AM notes this particular tuesday) was in fact breakfast. Calling this a supper May make sense in reading the rest of these notes.

The First Of The Four Grand:

In recalling our time together that day, it's earie that I don't remember seeing the faces or figures of my grandparents in the room with me. Instead, what I remember is the glow from the kitchen and the smell of coffee flowing into the parlor where the dimly lit hatch held her flower laden china set.

The house belonged to grandma ever so much as grandpa, yet for some reason she allowed hymn to highlight the home when I was there with them. I don't know for sure if it was cinnamon bread they had in the early am hours with their coffee, I only know that I remembered the communion they had with one another, when I had a warm piece of Alvarado Street Cinnamon bread and a cup of Cafe Cesero coffee the day I wrote these notes; that's when the memory came flooding in.

"Water colored memories of 'The Way We Were..."

They lived in a cottage off the Hudson River in New York, upstate New York. I remember this detail per my mother; who was born and raised in New York. In these parts of New York, the moist air has a way of penetrating everything to the marrow of one's bones.

The two (my grands) were my eldest kinfolk I visited; honest to goodness, they were my great grands who lived off a channel of the great Grand Lakes, imagine that! My two other grands lived in the south; one set on the east coast and one set on the west, near the great Walt Disney parks.

The amazing thing I learned about "the happiest place on earth" is that (often) the happiest place is found in learning to be present. What a gift to see this in action, and understand that this is a gift.

I've heard it said (or rather sung) this being present isn't "Easy" like sunday morning. What exactly do you think the Commodores meant when they said that?

Knowing the scriptures, I do know that Jesus said "..For?my?yoke?is?easy,?and?my?burden?is?light." Matt 11:30 KJV

Do you know what this coming Sunday is? The sunday before Memorial Day, and Pentecost Sunday. During this season, Jesus was said to have risen from the dead and in his third appearance to the disciples, he prepared fish and bread for them on the shoreline, early in day, before they had a revelation from the Holy Spirit that Pentecost Sunday.

The scriptures don't tell us this was "breakfast," they only tell us that this happened early in the morning. Infact, during this super time of day, when having a chaat with the disciples in the "Delta Dawn" that day, he gave Peter instructions to feed his sheep (John 21). So, what most scriptures note as the Last Supper, may in reality be the Last Supper before the Last Supper.

Three of the four grand poignant memories of this communion presence I was remembered included a time of sharing a sweet *flour substance with others, and the fourth included a game.

The Second Of The Four Grand:

My grandpa and grandma who lived in the southeast were very busy, with much caretaking to do, and though I loved going to Walt Disney World and Epcot with them, I often remember the enjoyable time I had meeting their friends to play shuffleboard.

How is it possible, that everything I remembered, aligned with what the scriptures say about that day when the disciples had one-last grand supper with the disciples? Here they thought the cards were stacked against them, and Jesus is there to instruct them once again, telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat...where there was a (full) GREAT number of (game) fish to bring in. Do you see them shuffling from one side of the boat to the other, in order to see if what he said was true that day?

The Third Of The Four Grand:

Though grandpa highlighted the home in upstate New York, the highlight of my time with the grands in southern CA, was preparing cookies with grandma. For the life of me, I don't remember the type of cookies we baked; I do remember the value of our time together. What I observed my great grands doing, I participated in doing with my grandma in the kitchen; Today I am able to see, that there was wisdom in her choice to teach me a useful skill using ingredients she knew I'd appreciate when we were present for one another.

The Fourth Of The Four Grand:

Jesus said it long ago, when a group gathered together alerted Jesus that his mother and brother were wanting to speak with him, and he asked them...

"And?he answered?them,?saying,?Who?is?my?mother,?or?my?brethren?"

Likewise, the fourth grand person in this story, the one who helped me understand the gift of what I observed when my great grands supped together, was this:

There is a way of tasting the satifaction that comes in the completion of an activity that takes root in your soul, when you pause and recount everything that has been done.

This grand person wasn't a biological grand, May was a grand who was on loan to me during a season of my life. If you think about it, everyone (parents, grandparents, friend and foe) is on loan, with a return date unknown to us. Let us remember that May be our mother and father are called pa-rents because they were gifted to us by our heavenly father for a predetermined amount of time. I'd tell you May's last name, but I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you. I will tell you this, before I moved out of the cottage where I lived, she gave me a beloved china plate she painted and signed, of a lighthouse on the shoreline.

She lived in the Northeast of CA, nearby the headquarters for several social media organizations where people post pictures and stories online (namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin.)

I don't know the exact day and time "bread baking" was done; May was in the know, and so this is when we shopped each week. When all of the groceries were put away, and a crock of vegetables were simmering on the stove, we'd sit at that old wooden table together and break into that fresh loaf of warm Lucky's french bread, not the sour dough mind you, only the sweetest dough was on the list that day.

Still warm to the touch, we'd breath a sigh of relief upon sitting down to relax (to be refreshed) in knowing everything was done. DONE, DONE, DONE Tauren Wells sang about that day too.

When I worked at Safeway, I was sure to ask the bakery when it was bread baking time there, knowing the gift of sharing this knowledge with the coast-la-mar, who May want to know about this manna-dew time.

Precipitation from the sea, gathered together, to feed the israelites bread in the wilderness. You'll find that passage in Numbers 11. In recounting this, how appropriate this is, that Shavuot begins the Saturday before Pentecost. Counting of the Omer is a practice the Jewish people have observed at this time of year every year, counting the for-tea some odd days after Passover; seven weeks, seven-sevens to be exact (noted in Deu 16).

The Value Of The Four Small Grand That Was Given:

Two sets of little grands, one grand son, and one granddaughter helped in showing me the value the grandest gift. She was five, when we took our granddaughter to Walt Disneyland. What I wasn't prepared for (when taking our grand) to Disneland was our granddaughter's reaction when seeing the lines for the "Ride of a Lifetime" She frantically pulled my arm, trying to lead me away from Peter Pan's Flight to a different ride because she noticed how long the line was, only to see the line at the ride nearby was the same. We probably went to three different rides before she decided to try waiting for Peter Pan's flight.

You may call it luck, I'd call it a morsel of Lucky's Sweet French Bread, there was another little one in line, and together they sat on the ground having a chaat during their wait to finally get onboard their flight. Like a proverb in her hand, with the help of a companion, whose interests matched the interests of our granddaughter, the two were gifted with the ride of a lifetime and a companion lesson in receiving guidance for patience.

This leads me to the two sets of grand children that taught me many a lesson when I was gifted the task of leading them.

"Thundercake" by Patricia Polacco is a book I heard many years before finding the book in the shelves of the classroom where I served thundercake. My son's kindergarden teacher played a tape of thunder on a casette tape recorder the day she shared the story.

Many years later, I was asked to put together a lesson on a book I chose from the bookshelf, in order to lead a reading group for middle school aged children.

That's when I headed to Goodwill for the "Thundercake Tea Set" I purchased. Part of the lesson I prepared included a tea party that the children in this special reading group hosted. Invitations were sent out, ingredients were purchased, and parts were chosen for the appointed time when the group presented the story of "Thundercake" to the class. On this grand day a retelling of the story was shared along with the thundercake and a sweet drink they served.

A picture was taken of the set before the set was passed on so that the gift of this Goodwill may be cherished by others. The grandest gift is how this story (that was never told in Storybook Land) was revealed to me when taking communion and reviewing the passage in John 8 again.

"Writing In The Sand" tells the story of what was revealed to me about this passage through three little grand children and this one grandchild gathered on the ground (much like my granddaughter and her companion did that one day in Walt Disneyland.)

After that story was written, a different insight came to me, upon having communion. I became aware that in writing something down, whether on the ground (like Jesus did in John 8) or doing so on a page or online, one is pointing to the place where we want to see the haven of true rest, here on earth.

Here God, here! Bring heaven on earth here. I am thirsty for the communion with the divinity of God, that helps me see and be seen, as one who speaks to a friend, like Moses did (and was noted in Exodus 33). Help me enjoy the learning opportunities that are presented within the recipe you know is sure to delight me, like the finest holy recipe the preists were taught to prepare (noted in Leviticus 6 and Exodus 30). Teach me the way to renew my strength when waiting here on earth (like the prophet Isaiah foretold in Isaiah 40). Help me remember the parable of the grand feast Jesus shared with the disciples (in Luke 14), so that I am prepared to enter the gates to have a grand feast in the kingdom of God (like the one Peter shared with the believers in 2 Peter 1), knowing the satifaction that comes when I finish the task God's given (noted in Acts 20.)