Heart Reflections Live

We spend most every Sunday afternoon and evening, after Church, at my parents' place. First and foremost it's the Lord's Day, but for our children, it's also Grandmother and Poppy day.

As he reads the Sunday paper, my Dad always pulls out the childrens'section- comics and articles- for the children to look at just while they're there. Usually they just contain stuff like Bob the Builder, The Wiggles or the like, but lately sometimes the editors have slipped in stuff like Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Hannah Montana, Bratz etc- things we don't want them looking at... So hubby and I try to do a quick censorship first before they see it.

Anyway, last Sunday, they got to the kids' section before we did, and they were intently studying something quite seriously, saying, "I know him!! Do you know who that is? I know him too, but I can't think of his name." Mum and I tiptoed over behind them, just to check what they were looking at, and guess what- It was these guys- Beethoven and Mozart!!! It was an article on classical music! They love to listen to what we play at home and must have studied our CD covers.... I'm glad they're classically minded girls. I'd much rather they recognize Mozart and Beethoven, than Britney Spears or the like!

Labels: family fun, funny things

Oh my, what wonderful lessons I'm learning as a full-time wife and Mama, and now a homeschooling one as well.

Life is wonderful, though often challenging and not always easy. Homeschooling is a dream come true for me (though we are still trialling it) and I'm seriously loving it, even with a very strong-willed but intelligent 6 year old student. She can be so incredibly passionate- worshipping the Lord with all her little being, working hard to learn her hymns and memory verses one minute, learning to read simple books in 3 weeks, and then falling prey to her sin-nature (flesh) the next and struggling with basic obedience the next in a more mundane task... But she is so precious and loving and she's OURS for now to train up and be disciplined in the ways of the Lord- what a priveledge!!! It's our hope and prayer that her passionate nature will be used for the glory of God.

Homeschooling is a wonderful lifestyle, but it's Mama training and character training for me too. (STOP PRESS: Our children have a friend from church over, and they are happily banging pots and pans, marching around the living room VERY LOUDLY- Praise the Lord!!!)Those pressure cooker moments are the perfect place for me to be and for the sweet Lord to bring me face to face with my own short-comings and sinfulness.

I consider it sinful if I lose my temper with my children, when bringing correction. There is nothing so ugly as a Mum yelling at her children. I believe this firmly, and yet I still lose it at times and am so aware of my sin, my bad example and my need of Grace. I desire my children to see less of me and more of Christ. And yet these moments are perfect for demonstrating in lack of a perfect example, an honest repentant heart, and what person on the face of the earth doesn't need to learn this.

Just yesterday I was about to do a cooking lesson with Miss 6, when Miss 4 woke up from her nap. I agreed to let her help, but I was stressing inwardly about the time, as we were expecting people over after dinner, and I was really pushed for time. Miss 6 was doing well and I decided to let Miss 4 help measure the ingredients, as she is good at this, quite tidy and loves to help. Miss 4 had just completed a lovely neat job with the flour, and then triumphantly flicked the scoop into the air, along with a heap of flour onto the already cleaned carpet. The volcano erupted!! (Now I know why Psalm 37 says fretting leads to evil...) I apologized for my outburst feeling ashamed and asked for forgiveness- and our little treasures are soooo forgiving. Happy she had finished her job, Miss 4 went off to play. Still disappointed by my outburst, I said to Miss 6, "I feel awful having snapped at Zara like that..." "Never mind, Mummy", she said. God will forgive you!".

Thank God for grace and for the precious gift of His Son. I thank Him for the pressure cooker moments as much as the peaceful and easy days. They all keep me close to Him. And GRACE is the seasoning that brings perfect peace even in the pressure cooker!

Labels: Faith, family life, homeschooling, keeper at home

Labels: Poem

What a weekend we have just lived through! It started off nice and peacefully. I was enjoying my weekly sewing lesson with our neighbour, Pat, and listening to the joyful sounds of our children helping their Daddy in the garden. I came back home through our back door, delighted by the sight of 2 of our home-grown roses arranged beautifully in our crystal vase on the dining table.

Hubby had indeed been very busy in the garden for a couple of days. The weather had been lovely and fine, but not too hot, after extended periods of much rain. I began to prepare lunch, the children came up, and then I heard my darling hubby scream in pain and he came running inside for an ice pack. He'd been pruning bushes and had totally forgotten about a large hornet or wasp nest that had been hidden on the inside of it.

The ice took the swelling down somewhat straight away, and the pain eased after about 5 minutes. He'd been badly stung 3 or 4 times. Saturday night/Sunday morning, he awoke between 4 and 5 am with tachecardia, he checked himself with his stethascope, and as he did so his heart slipped into A.F.: time for the ambulance... and to pray up for his 23rd cardio-inversion. I sat with him as we waited for the ambulance, and not considering the stings, I said, "I hope it wasn't the spaghetti and meatballs I cooked for tea!" Sounds weird, I know, but food poisoning can set this off in Max's body too- his heart conditions are extremely rare and unusual...

Just the week before, I had asked him, "What do we do about church on Sunday, if you fall ill on a Saturday night?" "Carry on as normal" he said, "And call Michael to be on standby to preach if the hospital won't discharge me in time." Well, now I was living the scenario I hoped would never happen! I stayed up praying for hubby and for wisdom, contacted Micheal and arranged for him to pick up most of equipment and the hall keys to set up while we went to the hospital. Thankfully hubby was "fixed" heartwise- (again)- no-one at the hospital believed that the stings could have played any part in it and they didn't pay much attention to it. After a quick drive home for a change of clothes and a last minute job on the laptop, we arrived just in time for communion and for hubby to preach- still with his circles stuck on him from the hospital!!! That's dedication!!

He still wasn't feeling too well that afternoon, and the hand began to swell badly again. After praying he managed a restful night's sleep but went to our local GP to get the swelling looked at. She removed a sting and sent him home with some antihistamine tablets and cream AND the firm opinion that the poison caused his heart emergency, as he had no other warning signs this time...

This afternoon I drove him passed the wasp nest, and he took dominion over it with a can of spray- from the car for safety- then I drove around the house so we could enter safely in the back door. We hope that's the last of the wasps or hornets we see around here for a long time.

HORNETS BEWARE- YOU CAN'T STOP MY HUBBY FROM PREACHING!!!

Labels: Faith, family life, testing times