{"id":1269,"date":"2011-07-29T11:05:26","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T15:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1269"},"modified":"2011-07-29T11:18:28","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T15:18:28","slug":"back-steps-picnic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/back-steps-picnic.html","title":{"rendered":"Back steps picnic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of my favorite childhood memories is having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for\u00a0lunch on the back steps of\u00a0our house.\u00a0 Often my brother or sister would be sitting beside me.\u00a0 Occasionally,\u00a0one of my parents would join the conclave.\u00a0\u00a0Some days when\u00a0our numbers grew to\u00a0four or five, \u00a0someone would have to leave the steps and prance around the back yard balancing conversation, silliness, a glass of iced tea and the treasured sandwich.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Picnics were normal during our childhood.\u00a0 Because we never had potato chips or Cocoa-Cola in our home, the three siblings knew that if either item appeared\u00a0in the weekly groceries, purchased on Friday, a picnic was coming on Saturday.\u00a0 Usually on those Fridays, Mama would not let us go into the Piggly Wiggly to see her buy the groceries.\u00a0 We would stand outside waiting.\u00a0 As we saw her approaching the check out register, we would press our faces against the window.\u00a0 Our hands would shield our faces from the piercing sunshine.\u00a0 As soon as one of us saw the picnic items being processed, we would let out a victory cheer and the fravolity would begin.<\/p>\n

As soon as the Saturday chores were finished,\u00a0\u00a0our\u00a0family of five would\u00a0squeeze into\u00a0our mini-auto; and we\u00a0would ride down Dorchester Road.\u00a0 Daddy\u00a0parked\u00a0off the road where\u00a0one of the many creeks flowed under the\u00a0highway\u00a0and we spent the day at Daddy’s fictitious Kalamazoo.<\/p>\n

Daddy and the three siblings would splash in the creek while Mama\u00a0laid out the blanket and the lunch.\u00a0 Sandwiches were\u00a0our feast.\u00a0 Chips were our delicacies and Cocoa Cola was the most delicious drink ever created.\u00a0 We never shook our Cokes until they spewed out of the bottle.\u00a0 The caramel mixture was too precious to waste on foolish games.<\/p>\n

Mama saved the cellophane-wrapped\u00a0Twinkies for our afternoon snack, eaten feverishly after another two or three hours of splashing and pretend.\u00a0 We licked the cardboard backing and the wrapper because this much sweetness had to be good for soul, mind and body.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Some of this simple fun and laughter is what I find attractive about The Special Gathering members who are mentally challenged.\u00a0 We are a ministry within the developmentally disabled community.\u00a0 Even though our mission is evangelism and discipleship, playing with our members\u00a0is an important part of our lives.\u00a0 Richard Stimson, our founder and executive director, said recently, “If I have a few minutes on Saturday, I’ll drop by bowling.\u00a0 I don’t have to do it.\u00a0 I do it because I enjoy playing with our folks.”<\/p>\n

This morning I read an article about the medical and spiritual\u00a0benefits of giving your brain a vacation.\u00a0 Perhaps that was the attraction of\u00a0 Kalamazoo and the back steps picnics.\u00a0 Even as a child, I yearned for times of simple delights.\u00a0 The same remains true with our members and all of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

People\u00a0who are intellectually delayed\u00a0are adults.\u00a0 They have all the worries, concerns and responsibilities of most other\u00a0adults.\u00a0 However, they have not lost the adventure of a back steps picnic.\u00a0 Most important, given a few minutes and your permission, they can take you to Kallamazoo with all the splashing and delights of a growing child.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0appreciate that God calls us his children.\u00a0 Somehow, it takes nearly all the pressure off of our relationship.\u00a0 He is the father and he knows best.\u00a0 Of course, he wants us to grow up and not act like childish brats.\u00a0 However, when I take my lunch and iced tea into the back yard,\u00a0my father waits for me\u00a0under the trees. \u00a0I take special honor that I can include the Lord as I close my eyes and softly mumble my short prayer.\u00a0 Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches still taste better in the back yard having a picnic.\u00a0 But they are especially delicious knowing that the King of Creation\u00a0loves to join\u00a0me for lunch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite childhood memories is having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for\u00a0lunch on the back steps of\u00a0our house.\u00a0 Often my brother or sister would be sitting beside me.\u00a0 Occasionally,\u00a0one of my parents would join the conclave.\u00a0\u00a0Some days when\u00a0our numbers grew to\u00a0four or five, \u00a0someone would have to leave the steps and prance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,40,186,49,16,215,8,41],"tags":[690,688,7,701,694,229,57,692,6],"class_list":["post-1269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-love","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-picnics","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nBack steps picnic - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/back-steps-picnic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back steps picnic - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of my favorite childhood memories is having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for\u00a0lunch on the back steps of\u00a0our house.\u00a0 Often my brother or sister would be sitting beside me.\u00a0 Occasionally,\u00a0one of my parents would join the conclave.\u00a0\u00a0Some days when\u00a0our numbers grew to\u00a0four or five, \u00a0someone would have to leave the steps and prance…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/back-steps-picnic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-29T15:05:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-29T15:18:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/07\/kidsOnSteps1-300x120.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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