Meet the Pogues

For those of us with children we pray from when they are very young that they will have a wonderful childhood, with limited complications. That when they are adulting someday they will look back and say, “That was really quite awesome. My parents are cool people. Man, I had it good.” Let’s be honest, we all wish that were, or will be, the case.

For some of us we do everything to protect them from having our own childhood experiences—that maybe weren’t so great. And for others of us we wish they could have a taste of a more wonderful, simpler, time like we enjoyed.

Oregon summers were the best. I had an awesome group of friends during my Junior and Senior year of high school. For the sake of their privacy, I will stick to initials only, but A, C, T, L and J made summers the best. I’ve secretly wished my own girls could experience summers like that. Boy did we have some adventures; boating on the Columbia River, hiking Multnomah Falls, campfires on the beach, swim parties, outdoor concerts, and miniature golf.

A few weeks ago, Matt and I binged watched a series, because come on, Quarantine. We watched the 10-episode series of Netflix’s Outer Banks in about a week. It was a great show, in my opinion. Yes, it may be geared for the young adult crowd, but, like I said, Quarantine. No judgement please. We were hooked, and now I want to summer in the Outer Banks.

The show is about a group of high school friends who discover gold hidden on their small island in the Outer Banks. They go on a series of crazy, nail-biting, adventures to stake their claim. Of course there’s a good share of drama, romance, conflict, suspense, the whole package. Each episode gets a little more exciting than the last, and I’m not even kidding, by episode 10, I was pacing the family room and biting my nails.

Our sweet Izzy took note of our raving reviews and decided to watch the series herself. I think she finished in about two days. She told me a few times while watching the series that she wished for a group of friends like that to have adventures with. From her mouth to God’s ears—enter the Pogues. (You’ll need to watch to understand this reference.)

Thankfully this group of friends showed up just when our ‘shelter in place orders’ were lifting in Arizona. And thankfully there were only a total of five of them because the ‘gatherings of 10 or less rule.’ (Oh my goodness, what a world we live in now.) But back to this group. It was just three random boys and two random girls from two different high schools, who had two things in common: They had watched Outer Banks, and they were tired of Quarantine. They started hanging out in parking lots in their cars, social distancing, and then the adventures began. They’ve been exploring at the abandon airplane graveyard, boating at the lake, floating on innertubes down the river, fishing, movie nights, board games, dance parties, and cook outs. You name it, this group has, or will be, experiencing it. And for those of you who are non-Arizonans, we really do have all that outdoor stuff here, and we can take advantage of outdoor water adventures starting in April.

You know what I’ve noticed in this group? Cell phone usage is down, and outdoor adventures are all the rage. Seriously! I think it’s due to the brilliant writers on the Outer Banks production team. I don’t once recall seeing a cell phone or device used in the show. They used paper maps, compasses, and the good old local library for their gold quest. The trend has caught on—at least in this group of Pogues.

Have you ever been looking for something to happen in one part of your life, and it ends up happening in a whole other part? Yeah, me too. I’ve been waiting, praying and hoping for a particular blessing, and I’m still waiting, but the other morning I woke up and realized I had a pretty spectacular blessing sitting right in front of me. My girl is experiencing a taste of my childhood during the summer of 1988-90. (Yikes, I’m old.)

This is a big deal to me. God heard the whispers of my heart. He knew I needed to see His goodness and blessings poured out on my daughter who has experienced some pretty tough times this past year. He knew I needed to remember a good and simpler time in my life. He knew I needed reminding that He’s always there; every age, stage, and season. Always moving. Always working. Always teaching me of His goodness.

Sometimes it’s hard to see it. Sometimes it’s hard to take that next step. Sometimes the questions outweigh the answers. Sometimes trusting the Lord is hard.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

Go on now, it’s time to taste and see.