Simple Pleasures: A Ringing Phone

Well, a ringing phone may not sound like a Simple Pleasure, but it entirely depends on who's on the other end of the line.

This morning my friend Eve called; I had been trying to call her earlier this week, so it was with relief and gladness that I heard her voice. We both had homeschooling stuff to discuss regarding next year's studies: should her 9th grader do a full literature AND a full grammar course? Should she cut down on the history she's requiring? And I had been wanting to discuss whether I should put T and J in the same grammar program which will lne up with their history and literature studies. Eve warned me of some anti-Catholic bias in the history book I'm using for the boys and promised to send me her notes when we get to that portion of the Middle Ages. I warned her about some gaps in one history book and the benefits/detriments of the American history series E used.

We watch each other's back in curriculum choices, providing a sounding board for each other as we consider how to raise children who are committed Christians and are also culturally literate people. She's Catholic and lives in the Midwest; I'm Protestant and live on the Left Coast. We discuss everything: religion, politics, NFP, school, finances, children, and "birthin' babies;" no subject is taboo for us.

Years ago I watched Eve's process as she converted to Roman Catholicism from a Vineyard background. Her trek to the Tiber, with all her honest wrestlings with theology and practice, has affected me more than words can express. I count her among my dearest friends, even though we've only seen each other a few times IRL (in real life) when she used to live in So Cal. I wish I had made more of an effort to see her when she lived a few hours away, but we now talk on the phone and e-mail even more than we did when she lived closer.

So when that phone rings and it's Eve on the line, I know I'm in a very safe place and can share anything and everything. And that's a Pleasure that's both simple and profound.