This marks my third week sick at home, and not coincidentally my third “inside look” at life in the pastor’s home, believed by many in the general public to be “Paradise”. 

 Math

Much of the goings on in “Paradise” have to do with home school, since we began teaching Michael at home last January.  Like children in public and private school, he is about to finish for the summer.

Early this week I asked Michael, for whom math is his least favorite subject: “Do you like this Saxon home school math better than the Abeka math you had at the Academy?”

Michael, after a long pause: “Uh …”

Cheryl: “I think that is like asking, ‘Do you prefer to be slapped on the left side of your face, or on your right?’ There is no good answer to it!”

 Are You My Mother?

Wednesday evening, our daughter Elizabeth Breland wrote a very nice tribute to Cheryl on her blog, www.leaveandholdfast.wordpress.com.  She entitled it, “Are You My Mother”, after the famous Dr. Seuss book.  At one point in the blog, she mentioned that whenever Cheryl would read this story to the kids, she would use different voices for each character.  Well, later Wednesday night I had such a bad headache that I couldn’t read, or do anything, really, and Cheryl said, “I could read you a book – we have some that don’t have too big of words that I can’t pronounce.”  I responded, “Like, Are You My Mother?” 

 Movie Nights

Many nights I have not felt well enough to be able to concentrate and read, so we watched a number of movies and mini-series instead.  The selection of the show was often, of course, a topic of discussion.  For example:

 Cheryl: “Michael, are you going to watch ‘Wuthering Heights’ with us?”

Michael: “No, I’m in a really good mood and I don’t want to ruin it.”

 Another evening, I asked Cheryl, “Are you going to stay up and watch this movie, or are you going to go ahead to bed?”  She asked which movie it was.  I said, “Othello.”

“Isn’t that the one where the husband kills his wife; suffocates her with the pillow?”

“Um … yeah.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to bed!” 

 Ring the Bell

Cheryl admits to having a, well … (I don’t want to use the word “pugnacious”! 😉 temperament.  She says, “Put it this way: if someone rings the bell, I will answer it, and come out swinging!”  The other morning I was out for a brief prayer walk, and Cheryl was driving back from her walk with Merci in her neighborhood.  As she pulled up, I stooped over to pick up the newspaper, which for some reason was in our driveway instead of in the paper container by the mailbox.  “Why did they throw it on the driveway?”, she asked through her rolled down window, obviously perturbed, “Everyone else has theirs in their box.”  “I think they were trying to get a rise out of you,” I responded, “Not that that is hard!”  (In fact, I have done it many times, just for light entertainment, over the years! 😉

 So THAT’s where that came from!

This week I posted a blog on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic book on church community, Life Together.  In it he mentions “The Ministry of Listening”.  He wrote that there is unfortunately a kind of person who does not really listen, but who is only waiting for an opportunity to say what they know to the other person.  I mentioned this to Cheryl, because we have talked about this often over the years.  She said, “We learned in 9^th grade Home Economics that a conversation consists of really listening to what the other person says, and then responding thoughtfully to it.”  “So THAT is where that definition came from?!”, I replied. “How many times have I heard that lecture over the last 30 years!” 

 Garden Work

I’ve got to set up this next entry to “Paradise.”  There is a scene in the recent movie “Pride & Prejudice” where Elizabeth Bennet’s friend, Charlotte, who has married the smarmy Mr. Collins, tells Lizzy: “I encourage him to be in his garden as much as possible” – with the implication that she did it so that she doesn’t have to converse or in any way deal with her husband!

Well, at one point Friday, Cheryl, weary of being cooped up inside, having tended to me all week, said, “I think I just need to work outside today.”  I replied: “Go ahead; it will be good for you”.  Then in a comic voice I mimicked the actress from the movie: “I encourage her to work outside as much as possible!”  🙂

 The Queen of Paradise

This morning, the guys from the sewer company arrived to fix our mechanical system.  (If you missed my first story about that, you need to click here and read the previous installment of “Paradise”!)  Cheryl had gone out to meet the workers, since I can’t be upright for any length of time, and she said that one of the guys seemed to be “checking her out” and was kind of creepy.  Later that day, I gave Cheryl a hug and said, “You know, you really ARE very attractive.”  She smiled and said, “Yeah, all the sewer guys think so!” 

 Well, as I wrap up this week’s installment, I can hear our newly updated and inspected mechanical system just outside the window, with its brand new motor, purring like a kitten.  Ah yes, all is well here in …Paradise!