One of the sweet, spontaneous traditions that follows the benediction at our Sunday worship service is the attack of the grandchildren. As soon as my husband finishes the benediction, our grandchildren take off to greet him as he descends the steps. He usually just sits down on the stairs to give each one a hug. The grandkids are learning to let the smallest go first, and sometimes non-grandchildren in the congregation join in the festivities. But some of the little members of the congregation see what’s going on, but are too shy to run up. Now follow closely.

This afternoon Doug and I drove the forty or so miles south to Costco to gather up a few things related to Christmas. When we got out of the car, we saw our friend Scott who had moved his family last summer from Moscow to Oregon. He had driven his family north to Costco, and we converged. It’s such a fun happenstance to run into people you don’t normally see. So we had a brief catch-up in the parking lot. But when we went inside, we saw the rest of the family sitting down to Costco pizza. Lottie, the oldest of their girls who is five or so, took one look at Doug, hopped off her seat and ran around and gave him a hug. Her mother was surprised, and said she had never had the nerve to dash up after church. But she saw her chance today, and she took it! Now that was worth our whole trip!

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