The house I grew up in, an older bungelow, had a large front porch that stretched across the entire front. On one end, there was a green porch swing and 2 or 3 of those sturdy metal lawn chairs. When I was a child, we spent many summer evenings sitting on this front porch. I am not sure why we did this. Perhaps it was that our house was not air-conditioned, as was the case with most homes in the 50s and 60s and we went out there to cool off after supper. Maybe it was because my parents loved being outside. Whatever the reason they had for doing it, I did it because they did it. My favorite seat, of course, was the swing. Just like my dad, I couldn't sit in it without swinging. Why else would one have a swing, except to swing in?
Fast forward to 2010. I just bought a house a few months ago. One of the things I really wanted was a front porch. The house also needed to be in a quiet neighborhood where there wasn't a ton of traffic always driving by, creating noise pollution. I wanted a lot of trees, too. Well, the house I bought has all that. I had looked for 4 or 5 months for a house, and had all but given up on finding a house with those specifications. God knew right where it was, though, and He led me to it. I love my little house.
Here we are in July, and I haven't sat on the porch a lot so far. We had such a cold winter that went on forever, then *pow!* it was summer, and a very hot one. A few times, though, I have managed to find the time and the inclination to sit out there, like tonight. I heard the frogs (hollerin' for rain) and the jarflies, otherwise known as locusts, from inside the house! The sounds of a summer evening pulled me outside, and the cool breeze surprised me. It was quite pleasant out there, and I found myself sitting there for about an hour. While I was there, I pondered the whys and wherefores of porch-sitting.
We sat outside because it was cooler out there when I was a kid, but these days, it's much cooler inside. There are so many more things to entice me to stay indoors; TV is more compelling than in the mid-twentieth century, due to cable, dvrs, and dvds. The computer is a big draw as well. There is homework to do. Life has become so much more busy than I remember it being when my parents were the age I am now. As I sat there, soaking in the sounds, the cool breeze, and the solitude, I noticed I could think clearly. I could relax, and I know I am more apt to hear God's voice when I just sit like that. Perhaps one of the reasons I got to have my front porch was so I could sit out there and communicate with my Father.
Maybe I've been avoiding it because all the people I used to sit on the porch with are in heaven now. My dad, mom, brother, grandma, and uncle are all gone on. I wonder if they sometimes get to see me, sitting on my porch in the cool of the evening? If so, they are probably wondering why I haven't bought a swing yet. I will take care of that very soon. I will have my porch swing, a green one, to sit and swing in on cool evenings. How can I be so sure it's supposed to be green, you ask? Isn't a swing the same in any color?
You have to understand; my Father God doesn't do anything halfway. When He says He will give me the desires of my heart, He means it. He knows my heart better than I do, too, and He thought of everything. This house is made to order; a product of the desires of my heart.
So, the shutters and the roof on my house are...you guessed it....green.
