Little flock...

Austin and Mason in Texas

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." ~ Luke 12:32

On the two-day drive home from Texas last month, I had a lot of time to think. I listened to my iPod and read and napped, but my thoughts constantly turned toward those two little boys I kissed goodbye and wondered how I could nurture a grandmotherly relationship with them from so far away.

Their lives are surrounded by many good and wonderful things - especially parents and grandparents who love and care for them deeply - but that does not diminish my desires to love on them or release me from the God-given responsibilities that come with being a "mimi."

Gavin in my Pollywog Creek Backyard

I thought about the time I am blessed to have with Gavin - the books we read, the games we play, and the things we talk about while sitting on my backyard swing, and I grieved knowing that those same experiences with Mason and Austin are not possible with so many miles between us.

So I prayed. And I dug into scripture (even my ESV Study Bible went with me to Texas) and though I was inspired and encouraged by many familiar passages that point directly to generational relationships, it was Luke chapter 12, verses 22-34, that grabbed me.

Aside from the leading of the Holy Spirit, I'm not even sure what trail I was on that led me to that particular passage or why I was compelled to consider it in light of my study topic. It might have been the tender words of Jesus in verse 32: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Jesus was (and is) clearly speaking to His followers, but the words "little flock" made me think of my own "little flock" of grandsons. So I re-read the preceding verses and that is when I began to understand what God might be showing me and I how I could use it to build relationships with my "little flock".

"Consider the ravens: they neither sew nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" (verse 24)


"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!" (verses 27-28)

Months ago I began creating a coloring book for the boys from some of the flower and animal photographs I have taken here on Pollywog Creek. A little gift for their Christmas stockings, I thought. But as I meditated on the verses from Luke 12 and thought about this post from my archives (you might want to go take a quick look), I realized that I could do so much more than a coloring book.

"Consider the Birds", "Consider the Flowers", "Storytime from Mimi's Backyard Swing".....

Beginning next week, I will begin posting a weekly "Letter from Mimi's Backyard" with a printable coloring page. The posts will likely (hopefully) be early drafts for a project in the works, and though they are initially intended for my "little flock", I hope other mama's and mimi's will feel free to use them (and kid test them), as well.