Social Distancing Diaries: Day 27

Dear Diary

Perhaps Eden loves foot washing so much because of the hugging…

Sometimes we fight like cats and dogs. Sometimes we wash one another’s feet.

It’s starting to feel like Easter! What I mean is that it feels like we are anticipating a holiday celebration and I think it’s great that in these strange times we can still find joy in traditions. Even if those traditions are a little untraditional!  Our family *really* likes Maundy Thursday as observed at our church. If you’re not familiar with this observance, you can Google it and read more. In Anabaptist traditions we observe a simple meal and footwashing to practice Jesus’ command to love one another as he did. The girls were enthusiastic about practicing footwashing here at home, so we did this morning during our family devotional time. I shared with the family Michael Card’s song, “Basin and Towel” which has such rich lyrics related to Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. And we washed each other’s feet. It was simple and not particularly somber; there were giggles. There was even a minor injury with an ensuing squabble over whose fault that was. But I always get choked up at footwashing. There’s something so profound about performing an outward sign of an inward heart. If this is not part of your faith tradition, consider joining sometime. Observers are always welcome at our church’s service.

Another part of the Maundy Thursday service that the girls insisted we not miss is the meal. The church always serves a beef and rice soup (really thick with rice!), crackers, cheese cubes, carrot and celery sticks, and a cookie. I planned ahead and bought some beef stew cubes last week so all day long the beef simmered in the crock pot before I put the rest of the soup together. The school lunches from yesterday provided an abundance of baby carrots (no celery). I cubed a block of cheddar (BONUS: none of us like Swiss Cheese. At church they serve a variety of cheese cubes and as careful as we are, someone inevitably pops a Swiss cheese cube in her mouth. No chance of that happening at our house!). We didn’t have sugar cookies, but Lily baked us a cake today! Lily has aspirations of competing on The Great British Bakeoff. She made a sponge cake and flavored the cake strawberry and the icing orange. It was delicious! I think she’d at least make it through Round 1!

Footwashing induced injury. Tip: trim your toenails lest another family member accidentally trips over your foot and slices hers on your dagger nail.

Around our dinner table we share highlights every night we eat together. We’ve been doing it for years. We write them down in a journal. It can get out of hand some nights. Some of us are very long-winded and don’t completely understand that a “highlight” is not a minute-by-minute rundown of your day. So I proposed a format change and it’s been going pretty well. We start with the oldest and proceed down the line. You are allowed to share one highlight. Then we back it up, youngest to oldest, and you’re allowed to share a second highlight. Some of us require more rules than others. I’m not saying who’s who.

Best quote of the day:  “You are done eating. Your mastication is not successful.” 

Deliciousness!