America Needs Porch Sitting Values

America needs more porch sitting. We’ve had enough of the riots, backlash, hate and crime. A stillness for the soul and values to hold you steady can be acquired in the quiet of the porch.

Porch Sitting Renewed

My world once again slows, as I care for my mother in my home. I am reminded of the haven the front porch can be.

Mom and I sit here on my front porch. The bird song surrounds us and the breeze ruffles the grasses that grow nearby. The crowing of the rooster and barking of the dog adds their voice to the birds chirping in the trees. This world filled with hurt, desperation and fear recede and my mind meanders down the long road of memory. Time rolls back to the summer days of my childhood.

Grandma’s Porch

As I walked back the dirt road, my little bare feet stirred up the sand, leaving puffs of dirt in my wake. Grandma’s was my destination. The porch was my haven on those long summer days. Invariably, someone would be porch sitting, whether it would be one of my aunts, grandma or grandpa.

At times I would sit on the long swing with my aunt and listen to the musical click of her knitting needles that she wielded with great skill. The chains attached to the swing from the rafters above, also made music as we moved back and forth in a rhythmic pattern.

As I scanned the horizon, my vision would catch the lazy cows that meandered in the pasture across the dirt road. The buzzing of a bee would at times add it’s own music to the afternoon.

Ordinary days spent with extended family, yet fraught with character growth, though I knew it not. I learned that words don’t always need to be spoken to enjoy the gifts that God has surrounded us with. The afternoon would pass with a smattering of conversations interspersed with a silence that breathed life lessons. Stillness brought the knowledge of a God at work in the everyday world.

Other times, I would find Grandma on the porch of that old farmhouse, snapping beans or shelling peas. Her words were few, but her smile was bright. When she spoke, we knew she had something to say that needed our listening ear. The taste of summer was in the fruit of her garden. When there was work to be done, it was for getting on with.

Tales to be Told

Then there would be days that found me on the other side of the porch. Grandpa and I would sit on the small swing and watch the horses out in the field. He would thump his cane every now and then as he talked of days gone by. Hunting and horse care were a couple of his favorite topics. Answers to prayers that Grandpa shared live on in my memory.

For instance, the summer that a herd of deer kept eating his crops. Grandpa took that problem to God. The next summer the deer had moved on. Never again was hunting very good in that part of Pennsylvania. The hunters that had always bagged trophies in our area couldn’t understand the dearth that that year’s hunting season brought.

Values Learned

Lessons that spread over a broad spectrum were learned as time was spent with the older generation. Some were quotes that I heard time and again, others were values learned from the life they lived.

• “Prayer works.”
• “God cares about the things that matter to you.”
• “Make sure your word is as good as your bond.”
• “Keep the weeds out of your garden.”
• “Preserve your harvest.”
• “Home grown is always best.”
• “Help out your neighbor.”
• “The door always swings open.”
• “Work routines bring balance.”–such as washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, baking and cleaning on Saturday.
• “Share what you have, even if it isn’t much.”
• “Never use more than three or four pieces of toilet paper at a time!”
• “If you eat too small of a piece of pie the point will hurt your belly.”
• “Pull your neighbor out of the ditch.”
• “Be faithful in talking to God and reading His Word.”
• “Spend time visiting on the porch.”
• “A blister means you didn’t put your work close enough together.”
• “Unnecessary work was not to be done on Sunday.”
• “Licking the mixing bowl is one of the joys of life.”
• “Resting is an important part of life.”

Porch Sitting Values

Morals were instilled during those porch sitting summer days. Family ties were strengthened. Time tested concepts became a part of life. Principles of faith became ingrained into my DNA. My grandparents faith was a simple faith. A faith that stayed staunch in spite of the heartache and wars that surrounded them. The God that took my grandparents through their hard days holds me steady in this time of unrest and anxiety.

Life today, seems far removed from those simpler times of my childhood. I savor the memories and time slows as I “porch sit” with my Mom. I thank God for the sunshine, in spite of the darkness. My faith reaches up to a steadfast God, regardless of the shifting winds of our time.

Let’s return to the days of country roads and loving our neighbor. Bring back the work ethic of yesteryear. Take the time to pray. “Prayer works.” After time spent with God, look around you and be that neighbor who will pull another out of the ditch. Lend a helping hand. Find someone who just needs you to spend time with them. Take the initiative and sit with that elderly friend. Furthermore, glean wisdom from those whose age has advanced upward.

In the stillness that is found on the porch, know that God is still at work in the world around you. Incorporate porch sitting values into your life and the lives of your loved ones. America is in need. Be the one to start the shift toward God and down home values learned on the porch.