Lemon Juice

On Wednesday nights, our church hosts dinner in the fellowship hall before the evening classes/studies. It's a cheap, healthy, social excursion that gives me a break from cooking and helps us go deeper in our church community.

Sometimes I've wondered why I do it, since it's always easier to stay home and I actually love to cook. But then I think about the little rituals that have sprung up around Wednesday nights - listening to All Things Considered on the way to church, being surprised by what's for dinner, catching up with the sweet seamstress I only see on Wed nights, the random hallway conversations that always make me late to class, the hot tea I carry into the window room and sip with the chocolates that circulate, discussing Filson's apologetics teaching with Josh after class, picking up a sleepy but excited Aaron in his pj's, riding home alone in Josh's car (Josh drives the boys home)...and Noah's excitement over what dessert to eat after dinner.

Church Wednesdays are the only regular weeknight he gets to eat dessert, so it's a big decision! Yesterday, I asked if he wanted the apple pie or ice cream. He thought about it and said, "Can I have juice?"

"Juice? Sure. You want juice for dessert?" Turning down ice cream for juice?

"TODAY!? I can have juice TODAY?" (he usually only gets juice on weekends)

"Yes, you can have apple pie, ice cream, OR juice for dessert today. Which would you like?"

"Juice!"

So we walked over together and he held the cup while I poured in the lemonade. With both hands, he walked it back over to our table but couldn't wait to sit. So he stood by our table and drank it all down in one long chug.

Then he started talking about it, and he talked about it all the way to the nursery...

"I LIKE that lemon juice. It's my favorite."

"I'm so glad! It's called lemonade."

"I like it. I like lemonade. I drank all of it. I pushed it all out of the cup and into my body. It's all in my body now..."