Friends, there is a little boy on the east coast named Lawrence who is in the hospital today. He's having a tough time. When I heard about him I remembered a Lawrence from my childhood. He was a figment of my dads imagination and the foundation of hundreds of stories he told to my little brother. I had adopted Lawrence myself and made up my own stories for my kids so I decided to put one to paper for little Lawrence. I was just certain hearing about a big strong Lawrence would make him feel a tad bit stronger himself. So, if you read this, send up a prayer for little Lawrence. I know he's very important to God.
A thrill ran through Eden's chest. The farm. She jumped out of the car, stretched her limbs and eagerly beckoned to Nick and Kait who were still rooting for shoes and socks amid the pillows blankets and discarded snack containers. After catnapping through the night they were by no means well rested but their excitement energized them. Finally the younger two tumbled from the car and they all quickly fulfilled obligations and hugged Poppy and Nana. Their distraction was obvious but didn't offend the grandparents. Competing with Lawrence in the eyes of children would be like the moon competing with the sun in the morning. Eyes shining with repressed glee they began hopping like little bunnies with hands clasped in supplication.
"Please can we go find Lawrence! Please!"
Poppy never able to resist a prank pulled a long face and told them there were cows to milk and feed and wood to chop before any galavanting around with dinosaurs.
Nick always quick to show his disappointment dropped his chin to his chest and in a show of good manners said "yes Poppy." Kait squinted seriously, a small furrow in her brow, estimating the chores and began dividing responsibilities in her mind for a quick execution. Eden's quick wit came to the fore and slanting a sharp glance, her eyes twinkled knowingly at her Poppy. "I wasn't born yesterday Poppy! It's 10AM, you are done milking and feeding for the morning and its April... You need no wood!" Her exclamation ended with a triumphant Sherlock like ring. He shouted with laughter and Nana laughed until tears spilled down her cheeks. Kait and Nick grabbed Eden's hands and a chorus of thank yous floated back behind them as they sprinted for the railroad tracks.
Clambering through a hole in the old gate Nicks shirt caught and snagged. He slumped his shoulders in his dramatic defeated posture and Kait deftly loosened it giving him a lecture on being more careful and not getting in such a hurry. The lecture was hard to take seriously from a child only 2 years his senior with a chocolate milk mustache but Nick was quick to cover his smile. Nobody laughed at Kait, nobody.
They dashed across the tracks promising each other they would come back with their metal treasures to press. The second gate swung open easily and closed in a flash with Eden managing it with ease and familiarity. Finally, they spilled across a spring green field of clover and dashed across the hayfield in an earnest and slightly competitive sprint for the river. It was on. Eden pulled away easily, her legs eating up the distance but seeming from nowhere Nick became a ball of speed hurdling past her like a bullet straight for Lawrence's cave. Kait tended to get a sore knee so she ran a more leisurely pace staying close.
Lawrence was scientifically known as a Diplodocus. Nobody ever really talked about it just as we rarely refer to one another as Homo sapiens but there it was all the same.
Nick came to a screeching halt at the opening of Lawrence's cave with Eden and Kait piling up against him knocking him one step further like a pile of minions.
The cave was quiet and orderly without a diplodocus in sight. Eden strolled over to a table and found a Bible laying open to John. The story of the healed blind man she mused devouring the page instinctively. Reading was her first love and leaving something unread was almost physically impossible for her. As she read she came to an underlined verse:
“He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam”. So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”
John 9:7 NLT
By now Nick was swinging in a hammock he had strung up on his last visit and Kait was mixing a glass of chocolate milk.
"Aha! He left us a clue" Eden trumpeted! She dashed out the door while Nick hung in a tangle trying to escape his hammock and Kait ruefully contemplated her fresh chocolate milk. Kait took a gulp and dutifully again extracted Nick from his latest predicament, choosing this time to merely give him an exasperated sigh with her eyebrows raised and her chocolate milk mustache refreshed. Nick ducked his head and dashed out the door without thanks but he also didn't laugh at Kait so he considered it even.
A silvery laugh wafted up from the river and Kait and Nick ran down the hill in time to see Eden seeming to walk on water only to suddenly disappear under the water and come up again dripping wet and screaming from the shock of the icy water. Lawrence's small and wizened head rose from the water 20 feet from where Eden stood and his long neck curled around to her and they laughed.
Kaits eyes roved the bank and found Lawrence's tail and she took the lead dashing straight out to the middle of the river running up his tail just as Eden had. Everyone was given turns hugging Lawrence's head as they clamored for a chance to tell him all of their latest news. But Lawrence soon shushed them and lifted his head listening. "a boat is coming" he said in his deep bass voice. The kids ran down his tail to the shore and began innocently gathering small shells and skipping stones as he melted into the water. A few minutes later a fishing boat drifted by with a couple of old gray haired men quietly relaxing with their fishing poles. Nick was the first to notice Lawrence's tail still draped on the shore and decided to run the opposite direction whooping like an Indian as a diversion drawing puzzled glances. Their boat drug across Lawrence's backbone with an agonizing clatter as it hit each vertebrae. Eden froze in horror staring at the old men agape. Kait fortunately had a bit more poise and perkily shouted a hello and the old men silently waved looking a little vexed by noisy children on their fishing trip. One took a paddle out and dislodged the boat from Lawrence like he was just a rock they had beached on and the boat drifted free and floated on down the river without further ado. Eden and Kait collapsed on the beach amazed that Lawrence hadn't been discovered. Lawrence rose from the water flipped his tail to the children, they clambered on and he began to amble up to the hayfield to lay in the sun and warm everyone up.
Nick was bouncing around like a little ball of flubber. "How did that happen?" The river is crystal clear! How did they not see you?"
Lawrence rumbled with laughter and merely said "I was reading John today... And Jesus once said:
Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.””
John 9:39
It's good you are young and learning faith and truth now. The older you get, the harder it becomes to accept. Knowing an extinct dinosaur is your privilege and responsibility. Perhaps if those men had known me when they were young they would have looked for the truth when their boat lodged on my vertebrae. But as it is, many people in your life will not seek truth, they will live on the surface of life accepting all as it appears never knowing the joy and thrill of knowing Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit and finally someday meeting God in heaven.
The kids laid on their dinosaur and their eyes drifted shut as he began at the beginning of John 9 and told them the story of a time Jesus healed a blind man who didn't even know who Jesus was or why he came.
