Everyday, in our house, begins too soon and ends too late!
We home school, my husband studies at uni and is constantly ill, my mum, who is disabled, lives with us and we have 6 kids. Chaos is often the most apt word for describing our home. Happiness is another.
We fight, a lot. I don't think this is a problem. Mess ebbs and flows, especially in the kitchen and laundry. We have good days, and bad days. Most of all, we love each other and love God and that means everything ends up working out in the end, sometimes miraculously!
I thought I would write what we did today, just a typical day in the life of, well, me.
9:00 I woke up to a snuggle with Toby (3) and his request for lemon toast and a drink of milk. Audrey (8 months), who usually wakes me up at 7 was still asleep, awesome!
9:15 I remember Eljay (11) came in at 8 and said she felt sick so I told her to go back to bed. I checked Eljay, she was asleep. Also awesome.
9:30 I check the sounds I hear coming from Lochie's (8) bedroom, I can hear him reading Ali Barba and the Forty thieves. I walked in to find he was very sweetly reading it to his little sister Bella (4), again, awesome! It was at this point that I realised this was going to be a great day! I walked away saying "Oh thank you God!" My heart was so bursting with joy that I actually did a little danced as I walked.
10:00 At this point most children were fed and clothed and the dishes done. It is weird but even when I get up at 7 this seems to be the time we are actually ready for the day to begin!
10:15 I set Molly (7) to a writing task which was begun the day before and involved her having a complete melt down because she doesn't think she can spell (which she can't but really doesn't matter, she just needs to keep trying) but today no melt down. Lochie was also to continue his writing task which he also had a melt down over the day before and again no melt down! Thank you Jesus!
10:30 I decide that I can't put off having a shower any longer and today is the day I must have a shower! Yes, I hadn't had a shower in about 5 days! I am not going to even tell you how long my kids go with out baths sometimes!
11:00 I decide it is time for my husband to get out of bed, so I sweetly wake him. Awhile later he is awake and watching tv in bed. Sometimes I wonder if sickness is actually nicer than health?
11:30 I have no idea where the kids are or what they are doing but I am on Gumtree looking at beds for Molly because since my mum moved in a month ago Molly has been sleeping on the couch in the upstairs lounge room. My poor little pookie. Eljay comes in about 10 separate times with a piece of paper with her attempt at spelling different words for a writing task she has set herself so she can have computer time like Lochie and Molly. She is usually a terrible speller but she got 8 out of 10 right! She loved all the praise she got. Molly and Lochie finished their tasks and lapped up all their positive feed back too.
12:00 Lunch time. Agh. Eating again, really? Do we have to eat 3 times a day? And dishes, again! I took a coffee to my husband in bed. He loved that and actually got up!
1:00 There I was at the sink having a whinge about how my veggie patch still hasn't been made and all my seedlings are dying when our best friends walk through the door! We all instantly lit up and almost yelled "Ay!". The mood quickly shifted to absolute joy as we all vied for our guests attention! I would feel rather overwhelmed if I had 8 people do this to me but gladly our friends are used to it!
3:30 Our guests leave and I realise the day has completely slipped away without my permission and I now have to 'do something'. I get washing off the line and put more on. Move the guinea pig. Water the plants. Finally decide what we are going to 'do' today!
5:30 Leave for fishing trip and chips on the beach. We invite our friends, because they are more like family than friends so we always invite them! We decide it is too cold to go fishing so we eat our chips, have a play and go to Maccas for dessert.
8:15 Home again. Get kids in their pj's. Eljay reads to Toby and Bella, who share a room, and puts them to bed. Such a lovely big sister! Such a good mummy in training. Thank you God, how many times is that today God? Only about 100 moments today that I have squeezed God's hand and given him a big goofy smile to say how blessed I am. I feel so loved.
8:50 Read Little House on the Prairie to the eldest 3. Said goodnight, ignored the huge mess everywhere and came up stairs to sit here in the dark listening to flies buzzing about as I type and tell Toby and Molly "shhh, no more talking, it's sleep time!"
That is probably a really boring read, but it's honest. Yesterday my house was spick and span all day long. Today it was a mess from breakfast time on. Tomorrow, who knows! Today I was able to appreciate all the beauty of the moments and not worry about the mess and chaos. Tomorrow I might sit Chris down and tell him I can't cope! I am a complicated woman!
Regardless of how each individual day goes, I can say that for the most part, I absolutely love my life. I love my husband, even though he is very 'high maintenance'. I love my mum, even though I have to remember everything for her. I love my Eljay, even though we fight like 2 stubborn bulls. I love my Lochie, nope, can't say anything bad about him, he bought me a caramel sundae at maccas, so he is a perfect child! Molly, Bella, Toby, Audrey.... this is what God talks about when he says
1 Kings 3:13
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for--both wealth and honor--so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
and...
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
By golly I love him!
Have a great day my friends! Hope each day feels as happy as mine did today. Bless you.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
A Fairy Tale Ending
Let me tell you a story.
This is a story of a lady I know well. We will call her... Marah, because that means bitter.
Marah has a pretty typical background story for these days. Like most people of her age, she had a happy childhood until her parents got divorced. She was 12 when her parents split. A sordid affair, as they usually are. Up until this point, Marah had been a member of a Christian family, for the most part seemly perfect. The divorce tore a hole in Marah, a painful blow that caused internal bleeding, yet she nor anyone else knew. She seemed fine.
Her teenage years were filled with drugs, drinking and sex. Why not? Everyone was doing the same thing. Her parents seemed too busy with their own pains to notice. Most of these things were introduced through her sister, she wouldn't lead her astray, would she?
A deep loneliness and pain lived permanently in Marah. She thought prince charming and a fairy tale ending would solve her problems. Isn't that what all the movies teach us? So, she set about trying to arrange her happy destiny. Wouldn't you know it? She ended up a single mum at 17. Sound familiar? Does to me. I can't count the amount of young women I know that have found themselves on this path. Just before you go and say "she should have had an abortion", I will let you know that she planned this baby, it was part of her happily ever after. I must tell you, I have known many women who have thought that an abortion was their path to a fairy tale ending only to find it was the worst mistake they have ever made. However, I digress. Marah was still believing in her vision of true nirvana, complete with husband, large house in the country and many more babies. Alone, unhappy but very determined! Although she didn't know it, she was bitter, depressed and lost.
As it turns out she was a very attractive single mum and was quickly taken off the market by a young troubled man. Great, two troubled travelers raising a baby. Don't worry, her story does have a happy ending! Marah and her new husband had the same strong belief in the fairy tale dream. You find someone you love, you get married, buy a house, have children, live long fulfilling lives! The end, right? Well, since Marah had already brought in the complication of a third wheel, they had to change things around a bit. Ok, a lot.
Marriage was much more hard work than they expected. Fighting, crying, depression, more fights, talks of breaking up. There wasn't much of their first few years of marriage that wasn't taken up with these pass times. Was this what marriage was like for everyone? What were they doing wrong? Was it ever going to get better? Marah certainly had become bitter toward her husband, maybe even toward all men. She had also come to loathe herself. Why had she thought any of this was a good idea? She felt trapped. She felt lost. She felt miserable.
Notice a trend here? "She felt....". That was her problem right there. She was always thinking about her. About how she felt, about how she was treated, about how scared she was of everything! (And I mean everything!) She was continually going over in her mind what she would do differently if she could go back and change her choices. She was imagining all the times where she went wrong and what she should have done. She was continually beating herself up about past failings.
She might have needed a hobby, a job, something to give her more to think about. She was too fearful to even think she could work, or study, or have friends, or be good at anything. She didn't have hope. Like I said, she was lost.
One day, a friend, prayed with her about her problem with crippling fear. The change was dramatic, and instant. In her praying, she had forgiven her family, herself and others for things they had done and things she had done. She felt like a fog had lifted and she began to see things more clearly! Although she had a journey to walk ahead, she was rescued that day. Not by prince charming, but by her loving Father God and Holy Spirit and by her good friend, Jesus. She had known these guys all along, but she didn't know how to be free. How to let go of what she had held on to and hold on to something new.
I think by now you know that Marah, was me. But something marvelous has happened over the last few years, Marah died, and I was born.
I now have the most amazing fairy tale ending. I have the blissfully happy marriage, I have the 6 kids, the house in the country, the wonderful friends, the joy and peace that I was longing for. I now feel so complete that I wake up everyday with a smile on my face and praises for God pouring out of my new, clean, unbroken heart! I have such passion and zeal for life and hobbies coming out of my ears!!!
If this strikes a cord with you my friend, know God loves you just as much as me. Talk to Him. Keep talking, He is listening, He will send help. You, are His fairy tale ending!
This is a story of a lady I know well. We will call her... Marah, because that means bitter.
Marah has a pretty typical background story for these days. Like most people of her age, she had a happy childhood until her parents got divorced. She was 12 when her parents split. A sordid affair, as they usually are. Up until this point, Marah had been a member of a Christian family, for the most part seemly perfect. The divorce tore a hole in Marah, a painful blow that caused internal bleeding, yet she nor anyone else knew. She seemed fine.
Her teenage years were filled with drugs, drinking and sex. Why not? Everyone was doing the same thing. Her parents seemed too busy with their own pains to notice. Most of these things were introduced through her sister, she wouldn't lead her astray, would she?
A deep loneliness and pain lived permanently in Marah. She thought prince charming and a fairy tale ending would solve her problems. Isn't that what all the movies teach us? So, she set about trying to arrange her happy destiny. Wouldn't you know it? She ended up a single mum at 17. Sound familiar? Does to me. I can't count the amount of young women I know that have found themselves on this path. Just before you go and say "she should have had an abortion", I will let you know that she planned this baby, it was part of her happily ever after. I must tell you, I have known many women who have thought that an abortion was their path to a fairy tale ending only to find it was the worst mistake they have ever made. However, I digress. Marah was still believing in her vision of true nirvana, complete with husband, large house in the country and many more babies. Alone, unhappy but very determined! Although she didn't know it, she was bitter, depressed and lost.
As it turns out she was a very attractive single mum and was quickly taken off the market by a young troubled man. Great, two troubled travelers raising a baby. Don't worry, her story does have a happy ending! Marah and her new husband had the same strong belief in the fairy tale dream. You find someone you love, you get married, buy a house, have children, live long fulfilling lives! The end, right? Well, since Marah had already brought in the complication of a third wheel, they had to change things around a bit. Ok, a lot.
Marriage was much more hard work than they expected. Fighting, crying, depression, more fights, talks of breaking up. There wasn't much of their first few years of marriage that wasn't taken up with these pass times. Was this what marriage was like for everyone? What were they doing wrong? Was it ever going to get better? Marah certainly had become bitter toward her husband, maybe even toward all men. She had also come to loathe herself. Why had she thought any of this was a good idea? She felt trapped. She felt lost. She felt miserable.
Notice a trend here? "She felt....". That was her problem right there. She was always thinking about her. About how she felt, about how she was treated, about how scared she was of everything! (And I mean everything!) She was continually going over in her mind what she would do differently if she could go back and change her choices. She was imagining all the times where she went wrong and what she should have done. She was continually beating herself up about past failings.
She might have needed a hobby, a job, something to give her more to think about. She was too fearful to even think she could work, or study, or have friends, or be good at anything. She didn't have hope. Like I said, she was lost.
One day, a friend, prayed with her about her problem with crippling fear. The change was dramatic, and instant. In her praying, she had forgiven her family, herself and others for things they had done and things she had done. She felt like a fog had lifted and she began to see things more clearly! Although she had a journey to walk ahead, she was rescued that day. Not by prince charming, but by her loving Father God and Holy Spirit and by her good friend, Jesus. She had known these guys all along, but she didn't know how to be free. How to let go of what she had held on to and hold on to something new.
I think by now you know that Marah, was me. But something marvelous has happened over the last few years, Marah died, and I was born.
I now have the most amazing fairy tale ending. I have the blissfully happy marriage, I have the 6 kids, the house in the country, the wonderful friends, the joy and peace that I was longing for. I now feel so complete that I wake up everyday with a smile on my face and praises for God pouring out of my new, clean, unbroken heart! I have such passion and zeal for life and hobbies coming out of my ears!!!
If this strikes a cord with you my friend, know God loves you just as much as me. Talk to Him. Keep talking, He is listening, He will send help. You, are His fairy tale ending!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
A few of my favourite things...
Haven't posted in over a year.
Slack.
Well, not exactly. The last year has been mostly taken up with a precious new addition to our family, meet Audrey Elizabeth....
Audrey likes to take long walks, long baths, long feeds, long naps....long, long, long! She has recently taken up crawling.
Our newest adventure has been our move to the country! I have wanted to move to the country since I left it. The peace and beauty has beguiled me once again. I now have the privilege of watching my children fall in love with the long driveway, trees and general slower pace of life the country affords.
Only 4 weeks and my husband will be on holidays! His uni degree as an engineer should have taken 4 years. So far it has taken 6! Bad health has made it nearly impossible for him to finish, but he is determined to see it through. I am so proud of him. I am also so happy we live in such a blessed country, where government payments have made it possible for us to thrive all these years, without either of us having to work. It is sad that some take advantage of this system and leave tax payers with much bitterness, but I hope to give social welfare a good name!
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