Living in a Glass Bowl

Have you ever felt like a goldfish?  Have you ever had the feeling that someone was watching you?

Our son Luke has a fish jar by his desk.  He only has one fish and he enjoys watching it swim around.  No matter where the fish goes, he can’t hide from Luke’s sight.

 

Do you ever feel like this fish?  We often do, especially on Saturdays, Sundays and school vacations.  Our house is like a magnet for kids of every age.  Why?  Well maybe because our yard is the village playground.  In our yard, kids can play basketball, volleyball, badminton, play on a tire swing or on the “ninja warrior course” Luke built.  For the village kids, our yard is like Disneyland.  Do we mind?  Not really.  We designed our yard for the joy of our own kids, knowing it would attract the village kids.  Often you will see Jonathan pushing a village kid on the swing or Luke officiating a group of kids through the ninja warrior course or Abigail and Rebekah hitting a beach ball with the smaller kids of the village.  With the kids outside playing, it is often difficult for Stephen to work.  So what does he do?  He joins them for a game of volleyball.  It is the weekend, after all.  Time to play!

All in all, we are thankful that the village kids want to come and play.  They don’t fear us as kids once did many years ago.  However, at times we do feel like a goldfish.  When the village kids want to take a break from playing, they look in our windows to see what is happening inside the house.  Whether it is Ginger making dinner or writing letters, village kids are watching us.  Whether we are having family devos or washing dishes, kids are watching us.  And guess what we feel like?  A goldfish.  It really isn’t that bad, but as Americans, we do enjoy a little privacy and time alone as a family.  Thankfully, the sun goes down over the horizon about 6pm and all the kids go home.  And tomorrow, we do it all over again.