Sunday, November 29, 2009

family

Earlier this year during a conversation with my mom, she mentioned something to me that I promptly forgot until this past Thursday, American Thanksgiving. She wanted me to think about how I could do a better job of staying in contact with my brother and sister-in-law on my own without her. Meaning, having a relationship with them as well as my sister that could and would continue even after she was no longer here with us. At the time, it seemed like work and I wasn't interested in that kind of relationship-building work.
However this Thanksgiving, my parents were visiting my sister and her family out in the Mid-West, so I knew my brother and his family would not see my parents at all over the holiday weekend. It seemed important to me to make sure my brother and his family knew I was thinking of them even though I was not having the day of celebration with my family here in Ontario. I called and had to leave a message conveying my Thanksgiving wishes to them. The afternoon ended, my husband returned from work, we finished our dinner and were in the midst of our usual evening routine when my brother called back, this time leaving a message while my husband was on the phone. I was pleasantly surprised that he took the time to call and I immediately called him back. The conversation that followed between he and I for the next half hour or more was jam-packed as we moved from one topic to the next. It was wonderful to have so much to discuss and share. It wasn't work at all. In fact, if Baby L had not been in such loud distress we probably could have talked for much longer. I mused over the conversation for the rest of the evening and was still thinking about it the next day. I was so thankful that I had taken the time to call in the first place and realized that my mom was right: I need to keep in better contact with them and not just rely on my mom's updates to keep me in the loop. I am thankful for my family and they need to know I care.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

just asking

He's sitting on the couch drawing a picture. I ask him what he's drawing and he replies as he holds up the partly finished picture, "They're getting married." Unsure what "they" are supposed to be, I nod and smile. A slight pause and then I ask, "Do you think you'll get married someday?" He peeks up from his work with a small grin, "Yes", he quickly answers. Now it's his turn to wait and then ask, "Do you have get kissed?" Smiling, I respond carefully, "Well, most married people do." He makes a face, "That's a-scusting." More smiles from me. Then he says, "Well, I'd still do it." Brimming with laughter, I simply continue to smile. He then quickly adds, "I'll have to get my license first."
I love this kid.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Ancient words ever true, changing me and changing you

Unhappy with my constant state of weariness, I grab my Bible and wait in the darkness of my bedroom. Waiting for a restless baby to find rest in the soft blanket and quiet dark. I grow weary of the waiting yet even more tired of the tiredness. I tell myself to turn on the booklight and read a little bit from the Word before I lay down. Emboldened by my growing dissatisfaction with the current schedule of life, I whisper to myself, "Yeah, like reading this book is going to change the situation at all." The next thought comes before I even have time to think it, "It's about changing you, not the situation. " And I know it's true. The growing stack of borrowed library books are about improving the situation, but there is only one read that can really change me. Smiling a bit now, I pick up my Bible. Thinking of the verse that has moved me over the years (long before I knew anything of interrupted nights and busy days at home) I decide I might as well read the whole chapter tonight.
"Comfort, comfort my people", says your God. Yes. Comfort. I've been longing for comfort. I read on. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.
How did I so easily cast aside the eternal Word of the Eternal God for words written by a withering and fading people?
He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. Words for me. A mother sheep with young. He's leading me. Gently.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. Never. Ever. What must that be like? Here comes the anticipated promise.
But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40) This is for me too.
The words of my son's catechism question ring in my ears.
Do I have a soul as well as a body?
Yes, I have a soul that can never die.
I have been given three everlasting souls to nurture and love. I don't want to grow weary of doing good.
So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4)
Forever. Comfort, comfort my people.

*note: I have found much clarity in the New Living Translation (NLT) from which these quotes were taken.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I'm in love

enough

"I could have bought trays to line up everything neatly in rows, but I didn’t want to buy more stuff to hold my stuff. It’s just one drawer and it’s not out in the open."
That is exactly how I feel about keeping our home clean and organized. From Small Notebook for a Simple Home: The Lost Rule of Organizing
This reminded me of what Mary at Owlhaven wrote last week.
"In the middle of that movie, while watching a man offering gracious hospitality in the doorway of his 5 x 6 foot shack, my longing for new dishes and new floors in my comfortable home seemed as stupid and frivolous as socks on a turkey."
Use the link above to read the whole post.
photo: the living room of my childhood dollhouse

Monday, November 16, 2009

sad but true

I have accidently used my husband's toothbrush so often these past few months that he now stores his in the mirrored medicine cabinet so that mine is the only option unless you count our six-year old son's chewed up one. Yuck.

Friday, November 13, 2009

When I can

I am enjoying listening to Pastor John Piper's current sermon series from the book of John. Between missing some of our own pastor's sermons while tending to the girls during church and not having much of my own Bible reading time, I need to hear the Word while I work here at home. And who better than John Piper. Follow the link and just start wherever you want.
The Gospel of John Series

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Monday, November 09, 2009

Douglas Wilson encouraging parents

A Deeper Level of Worship
Many of you are here as parents of little ones and, in some cases, many little ones. For you, the worship of the Lord is a far more arduous task that it is for the rest of us. All of us are engaged in the work of worshipping the Lord, but you are carrying young ones in your arms as you perform the same labor that we do.

The work includes great things, like keeping everyone in fellowship throughout the whole service, and trivial things, like finding your place in the psalter. The work is daunting, and it is sometimes easy to forget why you are doing it. There are three things for you to keep in mind as you continue

The first is that while you sometimes need to be reminded why you are doing this, God knows exactly why you are doing it. Do not grow weary in doing good. God sees, and your labor in the Lord will bear good fruit. Your labor is before the Lord—He sees, and He rejoices. When you need to be reminded, there is one who can always remind you. You are here with your little ones because God calls you to worship Him together with all the children He has given you.

This means, secondly, that God receives, as true worship, every distracted shush, every spilled cup of wine, every dropped hymnal, and every time you have to take your child out to have a little word with him. You are not taken away from true worship by these things, but farther into true worship than most of are privileged to go. If Christian discipleship consists of "my life for yours," what is worshiping with four to seven little ones?

Third, do not think of this time as the time of distraction, but rather as a time of fruitful planting, and trust God to be kind. He will bestow a time of fruitful harvest. The sun is hot and the soil is hard—but it will all come back to you, thirty, sixty and a hundred fold.