Lexi’s breakfast was a bowl of grits, fortified with apple slices, all spice, cinnamon, half’n’half, and something like I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter! , but in the store brand rather than the name brand, and with a title that hints toward what it’s meant to replace without violating copyright law — something like Would Anyone Dare Suggest That this ISN’T Butter??

Like most people, Lexi can’t distinguish between name brand and store brand.

She scarfed her enhanced gruel with great gusto, happily munching away like a someone who was happy to break their fast.  I had my bowl of the same recipe and enjoyed with similar delight.  The spice + apple chunks reminded me of how good it tastes when you have spiced apple chunks.  My bowl.  Her bowl.  Just Lexi and I at the kitchen table.

Meanwhile in the living room, my Curtis Mathes vintage turntable was spinning grooves from Jack White, then a new (old) platter from John Michael Talbot.  Talbot and Talbot (brother Terry) were singing a song called Behold Now The Kingdom whose verses echo the teachings of Jesus: blessed be those who are poor, blessed are those of compassion, etc.  The chorus rises to the new Kingdom that Jesus came to bring, ending with a great lyric: see with new eyes. That’s a hopeful lyric right there.

One of the challenges and joys we’ve had as parents of a kid with special needs is seeing our unexpected experience with new eyes.  New eyes are necessary, otherwise the despair can overwhelm.   In this world, broken as it is, our 10 year old daughter is about 20 months old.  In the coming Kingdom, whatever is broken is fixed, and all that is disjointed will become complete.  Jesus died so that this could happen.

This thought dominated our otherwise inane breakfast chatter.  Just Lexi and me.

What, exactly, is “broken”?  Seems like you’d need to know that before you were to imagine “fixed.”  Scientifically, Lexi’s DNA has some mixups.  Does the coming Kingdom fix DNA strands?  Historically, we have always known and loved Lexi for who she is.  Does the coming Kingdom fix things so much that you don’t recognize a person anymore?  I don’t know the answer to these things.  And I’ve been thinking about them for a long time.  Some things are so complex that they need to be thought about for a long time — longer than what seems convenient.

But back to breakfast.  There we were, eating our flavorful grits.  The record was ready to be flipped to side 2 as these thoughts continued to spin in my mind.  I wiped off her face.  She hugged me and then went on her way to the next joy — something about how hilarious shoes look when you shake them by their laces.