We Had a Thing Going On

On By Lady GIn Spirit

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“Mama, I’ll be right back!”

Everyday at twelve o’clock, I had a standing lunch date with handsome Mr. Jones. Did it matter that he was married or that he had twelve children?

Nope! Not to me.

As far as I was concerned, his marital status was of no consequence.

Why?  Because his wife knew all about our midday meetings. In fact, she orchestrated them.

Ok, so let me stop you right now before your mind wonders too far in the wrong direction.  You see, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were our neighbors and I would ride my tricycle down the hill to their house each day to eat lunch and chat with Mr. Jones.

By the way, Mrs. Jones, who always prepared and served the food, usually did not join us as she had several daily chores to complete.

Now, you might find this hard to believe, but I did ALL of the talking and Mr. Jones did all of the listening. I remember how he would shake his head in agreement as I lamented over my three-year-old trials. He silently commiserated with me as I spoke about the difficulties of making mud pies.  He smiled and listened intently as I gossiped about every last one of his twelve children—who, by the way, were all in school.

Sorry Jones kids, now you know who sold y’all out 😉

And so it went, everyday, me and Mr. Jones!  We had a ‘lunch thing’ going on-right up until the day that my family and I moved across town.

After we left, The Jones family missed us and we really missed them.

As I grew older, I would often think back on my time with Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Mama and I talked about them all the time.  During one of our conversations, I remember asking Mama why she allowed me to eat there everyday; I mean they had twelve children to feed.

I asked, “Why was I allowed to be the thirteenth mouth?”

“Wasn’t I a burden?”

Mama smiled and replied, “Girl, if you didn’t go down there for your sausage and grits, Mrs. Jones would call me wanting to know where you were and when you would be coming.”

Eureka! Right then, it occurred to me that I was just as much a blessing to Mr. and Mrs. Jones as they were to me!

How’s that?

Well friends, Mr. and Mrs. Jones understood a very important spiritual principle.  In essence, they knew that generosity breeds abundance.

They shared what they had, so they received much more!

It is written in Proverbs 11:24-25 (ESV):

24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
    another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
    and one who waters will himself be watered.
God Bless the Jones Family!

24 thoughts on “We Had a Thing Going On”

  6. You had me going there for a moment – I’d already dialed up Billy Paul on the playlist and was going to listen with a gender switch “Me and Mr Jones then I pulled up on the tricycle. WTH I thought is this story about to take a dark turn – I’ma find Mr. Jones I got something for his a***.

    But I should have known better, my favorite story weaver has crafted yet another excellent piece that true to form baited me in for a rewarding literary experience.

    And with a very wonderful takeaway. – to give is to receive even more.

    Thank you for this – so timely!

    Liked by 3 people

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  7. ronbrownx

    Billy Paul ain’t have nothing on YOU! Me. And Mr. Jones remind me of the Hueys who lived down the street and ” baby sitted” us. Thanks for the beautiful story and superb sharing of your magical memories!

    Liked by 2 people

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  9. Hey Carol!!!!!
    Now you know good and well that you and Connie had to share that baby spot with me! LOL!
    You got that right! Your parents were parents to everybody!

    Once I started this blog, I knew that I was going to HAVE to address the kindness of your family!
    Signed,
    Gwinlove!

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. Carol Jones Yancy

    Wow…and all this time, I thought my twin and I were my parents’ babies! You have some “spraining” to do! God is so good! My parents had 12 biological children together but they were parents to the entire neighborhood!

    I find it amusing explaining how the Jones family is related to so many people. Blood doesn’t make people family.

    Liked by 3 people

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