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October 31, 2001 - Moon Walks
Welcome to 2TheHeart!
"One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed."
~Unknown
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With tonight's full moon, Ken's story of beginning a wonderful family
tradition is perfect!
"Moon Walks"
by Kenneth L. Pierpont
In our local library is a delightful children's book called Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen. It's about a little girl and her daddy walking through the snow on a winter night to see an owl. Somewhere, in some city, a grown-up girl thinks about her daddy years ago bundling-up his little girl and making a memory while field on field of fresh snow reflected the moon's luminous glow. She writes her memory down and adds full-color illustrations and thousands of us enjoy the walk with her. A wise man. A blessed little girl.
We have a tradition in our home. We call it the "moon walk," but it's not what you might think. It is not a dance step (we're card-carrying Baptists and don't go in for any kind of dancing. When I was a boy I would even get a note to excuse me from square dancing in gym class. The first Baptist preacher, John the Baptist, lost his head at a dance so, you see, we Baptists have a healthy aversion to them). The deal is, I promised the kids that on full-moon nights they don't have to go to bed until I take them on a walk by the light of the moon. They love this tradition. I love it more.
It started years ago on a cool fall night when Yoder, our beagle, now gone to his doggie reward, was just a tiny pup. It was a Saturday night and I picked up my walking stick to go out into the night and pray and prepare my heart for the Lord's day. Kyle asked to go along. Yoder insisted on coming to. The moon was big and bright and the air cool. We walked past tall corn ripening for harvest along a wide grassy waterway. We talked to the Lord as we walked. We followed a lane cut through a wood like a dark tunnel shaded from the moonlight. It opened into an arch of misty light at the other end.
I made the comment on the way back to the house, "We ought to take a walk every time there is a full moon." That was it. It became a cherished family tradition.
When dozens of things that we spent hundreds of dollars on are long forgotten, we will all still remember our moon walks. King's Island and Cedar Point don't have anything like that. I have a snapshot in the album of my memory of a path of light cast by the moon on a surface of a mountain lake a few years ago.
I think the reason we love our walks so much is simply because we love being together. I love to be with the children. And most of all
I love it that they love to be with me, talking quietly or just
walking along in sweet quietness until the sounds of the night calm
our spirits. Usually we just tramp along pulling cool night air into
our lungs. On our moon walks words aren't always needed to communicate. Dozens of delightful things engage our senses as we walk:
The music of a spring leaping from a hillside in the springtime
Cricket and frog duets in the summer
Leaves crumpling underfoot in the fall
The crunch of frozen ground in winter
The wind blowing across an open field
Stirring in the leaves of a big Oak beside the road
A plane droning it's way across the vast night sky
The lonely sound of a truck grinding its way across the valley
Walking sticks tapping on the road.
Blinking fireflies
The perfume of new-mown hay
But these little delights are extras. The real joy of the full-moon
walk is just being with those we love. Listening to each other and
listening with each other. I love to be with them and I love it that
they love to be with me. And sometimes on our night walks I peer into the endless night sky past a thousand stars and out into the place where God dwells alone and I am awed that He loves to be with me and that he loves it that I love to be with Him!
Kenneth L. Pierpont copyright 2001
pierpont@mail.riverview.net
Ken Pierpont is a communicator from Fremont, Michigan. He is the
Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church. He and his wife, Lois have
four sons and four daughters. They sing as a family and Ken speaks at camps, conferences, retreats and homeschool functions or wherever else he can get free food. He plays a little harmonica and knows enough guitar chords to put his children to sleep at night. http://kenpierpont.com
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The Letter Box:
Dear 2theheart,
I get so busy that I neglect to write and tell you how much I love
2theheart's stories. I find they truly lift my day and motivate me to reach for better and higher in myself. "Cabin in the Woods" was
beautiful and captivating.Thank you for this wonderful story!
~JoriAnn
Dear Susan.......
Another month of wonderful stories for me to read and share with my Mum (77 years young) and my Great Aunt (95 years young)......I print them off and send them in the post......a 45 cent (in Australia) stamp can bring so much joy when the envelope brings such wonderful stories. They love them....they read them over and over again......talk to each other about them on the phone, and keep them in a special folder.
~Jean Porteous
tporteous@vtown.com.au
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA
Dear 2theheart,
I LOVED Cabin in the Woods! Our family built a beautiful log cabin in Vermont, where we all gather twice a year for a summer vacation and for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Many wonderful, happy memories are made there. It's an heirloom that will be passed from generation to generation, with each making new memories of their own to cherish. There is nothing on this earth quite like our own cabin in the woods!
God bless 2theheart!
~Jill Miser
Susan, with all that has happened in the past month, I was reminded of this poem of mine about this time of the year "Harvest Time". Please feel free to use it if you so desire.
Hope all is well with you.
fondly, Pat
HARVEST TIME
There are many kinds of good seeds.
Seeds that grow flowers to beautify our lives.
Seeds that grow herbs to season our food,
or ease our aches and pains
A tiny apple seed can give us beautiful blossoms
in the Spring and tasty fruit in the Autumn..
Seeds that attract birds to give them sustinance
and cheer our days with their songs.
Seeds of friendship that if carefully nurtured
may grow into love to make life worth living.
Then there are bad seeds.
Seeds of distrust, sown in anger,
that can reap hurts and sometimes violence.
Seed of hatred that reap crime in its worst form.
Seeds of intolerence against our fellowman
because his skin is not the same color as ours,
or his beliefs differ.
Ours words are sometimes like seeds.
They can reap joy, lighten hearts,
encourage and love..
But they can also hurt, mar, disable
or cripple one's spirit
Sow your seeds with care,
that when the growing season is over
you may rejoice in a bountiful harvest.
Patricia A. Kellemeyer
© 9-12-98
PKellemeye@aol.com
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