Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

It wasn’t two years. Sonya was dead in two weeks — little Sonyawith her bouncy curls and bright face. She used to come in andstart opening drawers and cupboards, and I would say, “Nowlisten, Granddad doesn’t like you to do this. He doesn’t like youto open his drawers and cupboards. Do you know what Grandadwill do to you if you open his drawers?”She would look up at me and say, “No, Grandad.”I would take my fist and gently bop it on the top of her littlecurls. “Grandad will go ‘bonk’ if you open this drawer.”She started calling me “Grandad Bonk”, then dropped theGranddad and just called me “Bonk”. Sonya would come to thehouse and ask, “Where is Bonk?” “Bonk, take me down to thegarden.” Now, she was gone.I’ve heard it said, if a shepherd wants a straying sheep to followhim, the shepherd will pick up its lamb and carry it in his arms.Then, the sheep will follow the shepherd, because he has thesheep’s lamb in his arms.Joe was broken. “Oh, Dad,” he begged, “Tell me everything inthe Bible about children and what happens to them when theydie.” He showed me a little paste pot with buttercups and daisiesin it. “Look,” he wept. “This is the last thing she did. She wentinto the garden and picked these flowers, and I scolded her becauseshe went out with her new shoes on and got them all muddy.Oh, Dad, it was the last thing she ever did, and I scolded her.”Through all of the stress and pain of those days, Joe turned toGod for comfort, and once again, his relationship with The Lordwas restored.Brunswick HouseIn Paddock Wood we lived next door to a large recreation ground.It was like having our own personal garden. We enjoyed livingthere. One day, Archie came to me with a problem. He had boughta large house to use for visitors to the church who would sometimesrent it by the weekend or by the week. Some young peoplehad come who had run up big grocery bills charged to the house.They had also left the electric fires on and burned his carpets,which upset Archie very much.133