I was out on the sunporch today for about one hour just sitting and looking at the snow which is melting very slowly. Today is another cold day -- right now it's only 16 degrees outside.
It never ceases to amaze me that the porch can be so toasty while just past the windows it's so cold. The floor of the porch is really decking and without the "rugs" I have out there the cold air would seep up and make the room a lot colder.
I recall as a child that on sunny, winter days I would go out on the back porch -- which was unheated and got only the heat the sun provided on cold days -- and played school. Dad had put up a blackboard. It was a nice size. I had an old school desk. You know the kind that has an inkwell hole in the right-hand corner, and the seat that goes up and down on hinges? Ours had a back seat and a front seat. In front of the front seat was a children's table. There was also a bookshelf out there where I was able to "store" my "supplies". We didn't have Rubbermaid containers back then, so I had a box in which my supplies were stored.
I think my father was happy I was playing teacher and school all the time. He was a teacher, at heart, and his teaching was something I wish I had appreciated more when I was younger. It wasn't until I was in my late 20s, away from home, thirsting for teaching from the Bible, that I realized what a treasure my father really was.
I must say that I have rarely heard Bible teaching as in depth and thought provoking as my father's teaching. He would give the background to almost every word in the text, whether it was Hebrew or Greek. He knew both. And while I found that rather boring as a youngster, today I recall a lot of his teaching including the Hebrew and Greek sources he quoted.
If anyone ever says to me, why teach a child anything from the Bible, I retort and say, "Because when he is older he will remember it." And that is so true. I remember the things I learned from my father, and other teachers in that small church he pastored, and I know I am not alone because several of my long-ago friends are still able to quote verses we all learned in Sunday school when we were 7 or 8, or even younger, and I can still talk about my father's preaching and they concur and will say, "Remember when your father said ....." or "Remember when you father said ....".
So you see, the sun porch is a place of reminiscing and remembrance for me, and I know I've bored you with this before, but I'm getting old and boring people is something I'm allowed to do, because that's what old people do -- they become repetitive to the point of boredom. Sorry 'bout that!
ttfn
1 comment:
Hi again :-) I loved your mom's back porch. We've got one very similar- no heat, but in the winter the sun makes it very warm. Hers was filled with plants by the time I came along. She also had a box of bubbles and bubble wands and pipes for us to play with. It always smelled so good! Living things, dirt, and miracle gro.
I also loved your Dad's teaching. There is one other preacher that I used to hear that taught like your Dad did. That's it. One. With all the ones I've heard over the years. Though I have to say, the last time I heard my brother Jamie speak in church, his style was heading in that direction.
How did he learn the Hebrew? I'm very slooowly learning the Greek by using the New Testament as my textbook, but the Hebrew??? Gasp. Greek is lovely, though. It reminds me of a cross between Spanish and Russian. ;-)
Back to the sunporch. Mine is doubling as a laundry room as the thought me of lugging a clothes basket back and forth to the basement made my husband think of hospital bills. He was right. Those steps nearly undid me. So, no plants out there for me yet. I do like to go out there and look at the mountains and feel the sun.
Have a great week!!
jrs
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