It's All Good

I filled a basket with sheets from the washer and slipped out the back door.

Look at my cornfield!” Joseph was on his knees in the sandbox, playing with trucks, tractors, and equipment.

“Looks like you’re going to have a good crop there.” The tractor sound effects continued from his miniature farm.

Hannah, riding bareback on Glory, waved as she and Jazz, our border collie, helped her dad drive the dairy herd down the lane to the creek pasture. I could hear Elijah in the barn, coaxing the bucket calves to taste the sweet grain in his hands. The sun was warm, and soon the clothesline became a schooner in full sail. In the garden, I gathered onions and peppers for our lunch fajitas. I stretched to ease the pain in my back, and the baby kicked.

“Any time, fella, any time. I’m just as uncomfortable as you are.” I patted my swollen belly.

The children were excited about their ‘surprise’ sibling, and had willingly taken over more of the daily chores as time for the birth drew near. With a new baby, Joseph and Elijah returning to school, and Hannah and Paul’s upcoming wedding, harvest season was especially busy this year.

I washed the vegetables and left them in the colander to drain as I walked down the hall to the nursery. From the closet shelf, I chose teddy bear sheets, and prepared the crib for baby Joshua’s imminent arrival. I couldn’t remember which friend had gifted which child with these sheets, but they had been washed often enough to make a soft nest for the coming newborn.

I sat in the rocker by the south window to rest a moment. Rocking gently, I surveyed the room’s amenities. Multicolored balloons floated around the room on the wallpaper border near the ceiling. The pale green walls and Winnie the Pooh broadcloth curtains were bright and inviting. Under the changing table were mountains of diapers and wipes. Pockets on the side held baby lotion, powder and pins. Little jammies, shirts, and blankets filled the drawers of the dresser. There was a lamp on the table by the rocker.

“Well, Joshua,” I caressed my belly. “I guess your room is as ready as it's going to get. Lets get this show on the road!” I smiled as I remembered the powdery smell of baby sweetness, the coos and giggles of my other little ones who had graced this room. I couldn’t wait to hold this small bundle and learn the quirks of his personality. It was going to be fun, having a baby in the house again.

After lunch, the boys went with their dad to help him finish filling the silo with chopped corn. Hannah volunteered to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, so I retrieved the sheets from the clothesline and began making the beds.

From the sun-warmed mound in the basket, I pulled out sheets and pillowcases covered with green tractors. These were Joseph’s special sheets, the only ones he would tolerate on his bed since this birthday gift came from his favorite uncle two years ago. I fully expected to send them (or perhaps a newer edition) with him to college.

“There you go, buddy,” I smoothed his favorite green blanket over the sheets and tucked the corners.

Stepping across the room, I quickly ran my hand over Elijah’s mattress, just to make sure I hadn’t missed any small screws or pieces of wire. He was my electronics engineer, tearing into small appliances to see how they worked. He had become proficient at repairing toasters and CD players at his workbench in the corner of his dad’s shop. But I often found small parts in the oddest places, as his passion wasn’t always contained to his workbench.

“OK, looks like I got them all earlier. Electric blues, here we go.” Hannah had donated sheets from her high school ‘neon period’ to her brother. “How either of you could possibly sleep with these things glowing in the dark, I will never understand,” I laughed to myself. The ‘highway to heaven’ quilt that Grandma Jones had pieced for Elijah helped tone down the blue a bit.

Grabbing the appropriate pillow cases from the basket, I sank onto the nearest bed for that stuffing project. Tucking each pillow in turn under my chin, I squeezed and smashed and shook the feather sacks into their color coded cases. With the task accomplished, I closed my eyes and hugged their pillows to me, praying over the coming school year, their friends, and activities.

“Need some help, Mom?” Hannah asked quietly from the doorway.

“Just taking a prayer break, darlin’. ” I laughed and threw a pillow at her. We spent a few minutes in combat, but when a tray of pliers and screw drivers took a hit, we called a truce. Hannah quickly replaced the tools, and grabbed the laundry basket.

“I’ll carry this and help you finish the beds. Will you come across the creek with me and help me a bit at the house? I want to make up our bed there and put away some things in the kitchen.”

“Sure, that will be fun.” I rose from my resting place and followed her across the hall. Hannah’s room was piled with shower gifts that hadn’t been moved to her future home yet.

“One more week under the covers here,” she said as we smoothed rose colored sheets onto her twin bed. I grabbed her pillow and tucked it under my chin to begin the stuffing process.

“One more week…” I thought of all the prayers over her pillow, for school and her friends, and relationships. I remembered favorite bedtime stories and stormy nights when all the children would come tumbling into our king size for comfort.

We moved down the hall with the last set of sheets.

“Remember how we used to do this?” I asked as Hannah deftly tucked the fitted corners on one side of the flower covered cloth. “You would crawl in under the sheet while I tucked in one side, and when I came around to tuck in the opposite corners, you were a lump in my bed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t smooth out that lump!”

“I remember. Making beds with you has always been fun, Mom. Such a simple task, yet so full of love and intimacy and connection. I hope I can carry that to my children someday.”

“You will, darlin’, you will,” I hugged her to me and planted a kiss on her cheek. We gathered an armload of kitchen gifts from her room to carry out to the car. “People really can live lives of peace and love and simple pleasure. But only if they make it a point to make it happen.”

We started down the road to the home where Hannah and her groom would start their married life together.

Later, as I snuggled beside my husband in our king size, the fragrance of sunshine enveloped us.

“What do ya think, sweetie?” he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and kissed me gently.

“Life is good. That’s what I think,” I smiled.

“Yeah,” he broke out into a grin. "It's all good.