An Email from Grandpa Joe
“All done helping Dad clean up breakfast!” Joshua announced as he bounded into the living room. Dad was right behind him.
“I’m off to work. Come and get your hugs!” Dad squatted and held out his arms. Samuel leapt off the couch and flew into his father’s arms. Peter didn’t wait for him to finish his hug and snuggled his head into his father’s side. Dad let go of Samuel and gave Peter a hug.
“Are you going to be my big, happy, two-year-old boy today?” Dad asked Peter.
“Yes, Daddy,” Peter answered. Dad gave him a smile big enough to make Peter laugh.
Joshua and Rebecca came to get their hugs as well.
“What are you working on there, Rebecca?” Dad asked his oldest child.
“I’m knitting a sweater for baby Anna for this fall. I’m just getting started. I should be done before the weather gets cooler.” Rebecca held up her pink yarn and knitting needles to show how much she had finished so far.
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Dad responded putting a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Best for last,” Dad chuckled as he went over to the couch to give his wife a kiss goodbye.
“Have a great day. I think we’ll have big news to tell you when you get home today,” Mom told Dad with a twinkle in her eye. Dad smiled and nodded.
“I love hearing all your news at the end of the day. Can’t wait to get back home! I love you all.” Dad gave a wave as he walked out the door. Mom went back to reading to Samuel and Peter who were cuddled up on either side of her. Rebecca kept working on making a sweater for baby Anna who was sleeping in another room. Joshua sat down at the computer to check the email. The first email he read made his eyes open wide.
“Rebecca come quick!” Rebecca carefully put down her knitting so she wouldn’t lose her place. “Hurry! Hurry!” Joshua shouted excitedly.
“Here I am,” Rebecca said as she walked over to the computer. Mom looked up from the book and smiled at her two oldest children now gasping over the email.
“Mom, did you know about this?” Rebecca questioned her mom.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking at?” Mom replied with a laugh.
“It’s a letter from Grandpa Joe,” Joshua began. “He wants to take us on a trip. He’s visiting missionaries next week in Macedonia, and he says we’re coming with him!”
“Oh yes, I remember him telling me something about that,” Mom teased.
“You knew!” Rebecca exclaimed. She turned back to the computer. “We’re going to be flying with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Kay to Skopje, the capital city of Macedonia.”
“That’s scope-yeh, not scop- gee,” Mom tutored.
“Scope-yeh,” Rebecca repeated and then continued. “We’ll be staying in the Roma village of Shutka with Lydia and Dan Taylor and their baby daughter Susanna. I remember them! I prayed for them when Susanna was going to be born. I decided I would pray for her every year. She was born the day before my tenth birthday. I’ll always remember to pray for her every year in October when we have our birthdays.”
“Hey, that’s neat,” Joshua thought out loud. “I’m going to ask God to give me a special birthday missionary to pray for every year too.”
“That’s a great idea, Joshua,” Mom encouraged. “Would you two like to know some more about your trip?”
“Of course!” the children agreed.
Mom opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out some papers. “These are your plane tickets,” she began to explain. “You will leave from the Philadelphia airport on Monday, August 28th, and you’ll get there on Tuesday. That means you’ll have to sleep on the airplane.” Rebecca and Joshua looked at each other and smiled as mom continued. “You’ll be there for four days. We’ll be able to write back and forth on email while you are there. You can tell us every day all the neat things you are doing. Now, let’s look again at that email and make sure we don’t miss anything. Then we’ll get packing. We’ve only got a week until the big day!”
Rebecca started reading the email aloud to the others. “We didn’t read this last part before. It says, ‘It will be hot like here in Pennsylvania so pack your summer clothes. Also, pack a gift for the Taylors, the missionaries we will be staying with. It would be a good idea to bring some chocolates too. In Macedonia you give a gift of chocolate to all the children in any home you visit. We love you all! We’ll be seeing you soon! Blessings, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Kay.’”
“Presents,” Joshua said out loud tapping his finger on his forehead. “What’s something that would be special, something you couldn’t get if you’re not in America?”
“Something in English,” Rebecca chimed in.
“Something in English,” Joshua repeated as he started thinking again. He sat up straight suddenly. “How about music?”
“Great idea!” Mom decided immediately. “Worship music might mean the most to them. Joshua, why don’t you think about what your favorite worship CD is. We’ll look for it when we go shopping to prepare for the trip. Rebecca, do you have an idea for a gift for their baby?”
“Could I make her a hat? I think I could knit it in a week if I get started soon.”
“Another great idea,” Mom answered. “Why don’t you look through our yarn and see if we have something you could use to get started right away.”
Joshua went over to the family’s CDs and started looking through them. He was trying to decide which he liked best. That would be the one he would buy as a gift for Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.
Rebecca opened a cabinet and pulled out a big bag of yarn. She pulled out a ball of white yarn, a ball of pink yarn and a ball of purple yarn. She squeezed them all trying to decide which she liked best. She was planning for the winter hat she would make for little Susanna.
Mom sat at the desk and took out a pad of paper and a pen. She started making lists. She made one list of the things the children needed to pack. She made another list of the things they needed to buy. At the top of both lists she wrote, “Chocolate.”