Saturday! Saturdays! There is no other day like Saturday!

For many children this is a day to wake up late, lounge around in PJs while watching cartoons.  Have pancakes for breakfast rather than the quick bowl of cereal before heading off to school.  For some it’s a day to lace up their sneakers to compete in their favorite sport of soccer, basketball or football while their parents cheerfully support their every move from the sidelines.

For these kiddos… this last year of their lives, Saturdays have taken on a new meaning.  Saturdays is a day of reunions.  It’s a day of completeness.  Saturdays are a destination day.  A day, their whole week builds up to.  A day, they eagerly wait for.  A day, which seems to take endurance and perseverance to reach!   A day, which holds greater meaning than cartoons, sports or pancakes loaded with butter and syrup.

Saturday is a day to relive a fading memory of what once was an everyday occurrence.  Saturday is the one day out of seven two brothers get to giggle, snuggle, admire, observe and adore their older sister.  Saturday is also the one day all three of the children are allowed the right to hug, speak, wrestle, laugh, cry, play and spend two whole hours of this precious day with their dad.  For only one of these kids is he their biological dad. For the other two, it is the only person ever willing to be their dad.  However, for all three, it’s the only dad they have ever known and biology makes no difference at all!

Saturday is Finally… Family Day!

Last Saturday.  Troy, myself Keatyn and Derek packed into the car and drove to the McDonalds on the other side of town to pick up their sister Julie from her foster parents. Julie eagerly hopped into the car and wiggled her way in between her brothers! Each Saturday it is such a joy to see the gentle care between these two brothers and their sister as they unite with one another.  Each of them waits all week for this day… A few short hours where they are all three together again.

They leaned into one another so their bodies’ stick together.  The tightness of the car seems perfect for them.  In typical situations you would hear the whines “stop touching me!”  But not today!  Instead these three embraced with such tenderness!

Derek laid his head on Julie’s shoulder, clasped his hands in hers and wore a smirk of utter contentment on his face! Julie sat between her two younger brothers appearing too wise for her young age.  She acted like a proud mama fluffing the feathers of her little chicks. She spoke only praises about how smart and talented her brothers were.   “Keatyn is so smart, even smarter than me!” She exclaimed! Keatyn began to explode with confidence by his older sisters praise!

I marveled at their tender genuine love for one another, but at the same time I took a gulp of grief knowing the depths of pain their last year of life had brought them.  “What is a small child to do?”  No control over what is happening to them and no idea of why?”  That gulp was hard to swallow, so instead I shifted my mind to the moment.

For yet again on another Saturday morning, all I saw was contentment!  The boys seem to jockey for position with their sister.  Back and forth she held one hand then another’s as if to be sure to measure out her affections with equality. How sweet are Saturday morning car rides!

Last week these same exchanges took place amongst all of us being tagged with an over abundance of bug stickers that Julie brought to share with us.  Faces covered in stickers as they wiggled in delight with their sister’s touch.  Eyes were sticker bugged! The end of the short drive to explore Rattlesnake Bridge resulted in bedazzled noses, ears, checks, arms and even the seat belts.

Rattlesnake Bridge… The name alone creates wonder in the mind of a child!

This bridge caught their attention one day as we drove by it.  Its ominous image left them with many questions of what it might be like to walk inside the belly of a snake.   So on that Saturday with faces bedazzled, or as Julie would say… Not bedazzled, but “Pezazeled!

“Our faces are Pezazeled, auntie Lisa!” She gasped in giggled delight!

With “pezazeled” faces we began our first of many to come of Saturday adventures.  We walked through the belly of a snake… A simple exploration, yet a lasting memory made!

On our next Saturday we went hiking.  Not just an ordinary hike though.  That Saturday we were climbing up a giant “A” that stands as a destination spot in Tucson.

We were heading out to climb the infamous, “A” Mountain.

This mountain is a marker place just off the highway.  Fireworks are released here on every Forth of July.  Students from the University of Arizona use this location to display their school spirit by painting the “A” different colors at different times of year.  They demonstrate their identity as being Tucsonan’s at heart.

As we arrived at the scene, Julie announced she had never ever climbed a mountain before.  Keatyn stared at the giant vertical “A” with a subtle stark of terror on his face.  He seemed to be communicating, “I am not sure about this?”  Derek, the youngest of the three, took off like a Billy goat up the white rocky stones that were plastered in place.  His skill and agility masterly evidenced his natural athletic abilities.

At the top there was a view that spread out Tucson like a painting.

Julie and Keatyn were content to sit and observe the view as well as to appease me by being the victims of my amateur photo shoot!  Derek however was in his element.  Discovery was not going to allow him to be tamed to sit and pose for very long.

Off he went down the other side of the mountain.  The other two took off behind him willing, yet a bit reluctant still.  I hollered out.  “Remember…  what goes down, must come back up!”  Of course, it fell on deaf ears!  Well, until later when I reminded them as they whimpered they couldn’t make it.

“I can’t do it!” Julie pouted.

“Jesus said to him, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  ~ Mark 9:23

Keatyn and she had become partners.  Hanging on to one another hoping that if they rallied in togetherness, I might give into their relentless requests to quit.  Troy and Derek left our view far ahead of us, both enjoying the pace of rabbits! It seemed we could spot them every now and then as they streaked around a corner.

Little did these two pouting, sauntering hikers know?  There was no way, absolutely no way! I was going to afford them the opportunity to quit.

I piped back, “if I am 50 and I can do it… certainly, you two can.   Come on keep it up, we’re almost there!”  They made it, parched and tired… But they made it!  

In the end while we all sat buckled up in our vehicle sucking down lukewarm bottles of water.  We drove away discussing our adventure of the day.  Each one of them displayed contentment and confidence in their overcoming victory.

Troy and I listened in delight.  Expressions of personal accomplishments resounded from their lips.  Their deep insight, even deeper than we knew they could express came flowing out.  One by one, they were pleased with the adventure of the day.

Julie the most expressive of the three seemed to take it to a place of personal growth. She expressed how she had “the most awesome day because she, with her family climbed the coolest mountain she had ever climbed!”  Her continued expressions left us wondering of what she would one day become?  She seemed to understand how to form her words to adequately convey her thoughts.

She continued on, expressing how happy she was she continued on, even when she felt like quitting.  She later wrote down in her new journal (in her “Saturday Adventure Journal” which we gave her later that afternoon so she could begin expressing herself through writing).   She wrote…

“I also, experienced that it’s not about getting upset or mad it’s all about having fun and also I can do anything that I set my mind to.  I can do it again another time. I feel great that I got down that hill and got home. I feel really, really happy that I accomplished that.  It was fun when I climbed that mountain. It’s not about being mad, it’s all about spending time with your family.” 

Saturdays have become destination days.

The day all the anticipation of the week has landed.  A day where fear, confusion, sadness, loneliness, fits of rage, moments of breakdowns, disobedient attitudes and smoldering anger is set aside.  Left behind are those emotions, replaced instead with wonder, excitement, contentment, pleasures, happiness, laughter, singing, praises, complements, sharing, affection, exploration, discovery and an over flow of love.

On this one day of the week when three children are willing to let go.  When they band together and seem strong enough to unload baggage of emotions tucked away in their hearts and minds.  On this one day of the week when the car appears absent from the weight of negative and battering emotions.  Emotions temporarily forgotten amongst the presence of sibling unity.  On this one day of the week… This precious day called Saturday!

We determined to capture opportunities.  We determined to build new memories. Great memories!  Adventures that take their mind off the miserable and where they can reach for delight and discover more about themselves than what they have known until now.

A day to discover more about the community they belong and how they are a valuable part of it.  Not only do we get to enjoy the company of one another on Saturdays… We get to explore opportunities!  Opportunities they have yet to discover. Connecting with their community of Tucson.

Observing the glory of God in His creation as it is displayed in a tapestry that is begging for their enjoyment!

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmaments show His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is not speech nor language where their voice is not heard.”  ~ Psalm 19:1-3

Opportunities to achieving that, which can only be accomplish when they put their minds to a challenging task.  They get the opportunity to dream, to live.  To be anything they want to be for that day.  A day to go to places they have never gone before. To unwrap the world of other emotions which may be tucked behind those negative ones.  Emotions that come from places where these three by experience will begin to discover and behold victory, accomplishment, endurance, perseverance, hard work, wonder, delight and amazement.

A day to allow the positive emotions to rise to the surface so they can peer at the grand mystery of how God in His great love for them has more planned than they can at this moment imagine.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”   ~ Jeremiah 29:11

A day to realize that with God anything is possible!

… “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  ~ Matthew 19:26

A day to begin to understand the truth that God can and will make “all things” even the tough stuff, work together for good!

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  ~ Romans 8:28

Saturday has become not just a day of destination to unpack… but Saturday is now a purposeful day to upload!

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”   ~ Romans 1:20

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  ~ Romans 15:13

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”  ~ Romans 12:12

 

“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”      ~Zephaniah 3:17