It is so easy to get caught up in the busy routine of a large family and not make time for special stuff. Its quite easy to let things just truck along, same old routines because they work, I don't have to think about them and the kids get what they need (food, sleep, clothing etc).
So I'd been thinking for a while that we should do something a bit fun and different. As my kids love television I figured a movie night might be just the thing to create a bit of excitement. So they got to go to the video store (big treat) to choose a DVD they'd not seen and we watched Despicable Me. We had basic dinner which was toast with carrot and cucumber sticks then filled up on popcorn and ice cream sundaes with chocolate sauce and sprinkles.
The kids had a ball and even the littlest one seemed excited as he ate popcorn from our hands and turned around in circles and did a funny wee stamping dance.
At the end of the movie there is a dance scene and all the kids got up and had a boogie, so I got up and joined them and we danced to that and the credit music. It was lovely to have fun and be together doing that rather than having a boring everyone-is-tired Friday dinner.
But because we could do it ourselves, it was all over by 6:30 pm and it was time to have a quick bath and hustle to bed.
Its something that we are definitely going to do more often, maybe even every week. I think its good to bypass the normal routines and do something that is just about fun and being together. And it makes the whole house feel happy and fun too.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
On hallowed ground
On Monday our family farewelled a dear friend and teacher who has had a significant influence over our family for the last four years and even more influence over our local community.
Glennis was a teacher at our kids preschool. But she was more than that. She was a wise counsellor. Gentle advice giver. A woman of strong faith and compassion. She had an awesome sense of humour. She loved the children in her care. She adored her own children and grandchildren.
At her funeral we heard beautiful tributes from her children, her friends and her minister. Both he and another minister visited her regularly over the last few months. They talked about the prayer, the sharing of communion, the talking and laughter.
And they talked about how it was like standing at the door of heaven. During these times of prayer and communion, there was a crack between heaven and earth opening up and a divine presence was there.
For me, through the sadness of a passing of someone I love, it gave me such comfort and hope. I've never had the privilege of being with someone when they die. I've visited people near the end, I've prayed with them and said goodbye, but I've never been present as that person leaves the earth and continues their journey with God in heaven. It was a beautiful picture of what happens when we die. And how the love of friends and family allows everyone to be drawn in and experience some of the divine touch that is present in that hallowed ground between life and death.
It is a challenge too. A challenge that I need to continue seeking God, and in that experience the moulding and purifying that comes from intimacy with Jesus. It is a challenge to reflect on my own way of living and try to make choices that uphold love, grace and hope. And a challenge to parent my children with the same energy, hope and grace that Glennis showed. In her life, she demonstrated what it means to live like Jesus and in her death she showed us how to die with grace and hope as she walked through that door, on that hallowed ground, to her Saviour and Lord.
I would say Rest in Peace Glennis, and while I know you will be experiencing the peace that comes when earthly life is completed and the striving has finished, I think also you'll be having a bit of a party. Maybe there is wine in heaven, I don't know, but I know that you are safe, happy and loved with God, your husband and those gone before, waiting with hope for those you loved on earth to follow.
There is a song called "At the Cross" from Hillsong this is the final verse
"And as the earth fades
Falls from my eyes
And you stand before me
I know you love me
I know you love me"
Standing on the hallowed ground between life and death. What a blessing and sacrifice.
Glennis was a teacher at our kids preschool. But she was more than that. She was a wise counsellor. Gentle advice giver. A woman of strong faith and compassion. She had an awesome sense of humour. She loved the children in her care. She adored her own children and grandchildren.
At her funeral we heard beautiful tributes from her children, her friends and her minister. Both he and another minister visited her regularly over the last few months. They talked about the prayer, the sharing of communion, the talking and laughter.
And they talked about how it was like standing at the door of heaven. During these times of prayer and communion, there was a crack between heaven and earth opening up and a divine presence was there.
For me, through the sadness of a passing of someone I love, it gave me such comfort and hope. I've never had the privilege of being with someone when they die. I've visited people near the end, I've prayed with them and said goodbye, but I've never been present as that person leaves the earth and continues their journey with God in heaven. It was a beautiful picture of what happens when we die. And how the love of friends and family allows everyone to be drawn in and experience some of the divine touch that is present in that hallowed ground between life and death.
It is a challenge too. A challenge that I need to continue seeking God, and in that experience the moulding and purifying that comes from intimacy with Jesus. It is a challenge to reflect on my own way of living and try to make choices that uphold love, grace and hope. And a challenge to parent my children with the same energy, hope and grace that Glennis showed. In her life, she demonstrated what it means to live like Jesus and in her death she showed us how to die with grace and hope as she walked through that door, on that hallowed ground, to her Saviour and Lord.
I would say Rest in Peace Glennis, and while I know you will be experiencing the peace that comes when earthly life is completed and the striving has finished, I think also you'll be having a bit of a party. Maybe there is wine in heaven, I don't know, but I know that you are safe, happy and loved with God, your husband and those gone before, waiting with hope for those you loved on earth to follow.
There is a song called "At the Cross" from Hillsong this is the final verse
"And as the earth fades
Falls from my eyes
And you stand before me
I know you love me
I know you love me"
Standing on the hallowed ground between life and death. What a blessing and sacrifice.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
When it counts
Its really easy to be a good person when life is good. Its easy to give when you have money. Its easy to laugh when you are feeling happy. Its easy to support someone when you've got support yourself.
But what counts is not what happens when life is easy. Its what happens when life is hard. When things don't make sense.
Sometimes life throws curveballs and we don't know what to do. When we start responding my instinct or not thinking before acting or speaking. We got back to a different time. A simple time. A real time. Often, our real self shows. Who are we when under pressure? Who are we when we're at a loss? What is our true motivation? Who is our true self?
As a Christian, I often feel that people judge me harder than they might others. They look to my opinion on different things to give the Christian perspective and response. They look at how I behave to see whether or not I am being authentic and real or whether my words are simply empty and hypocritical.
Like anyone else, Christians vary enormously and that's even before you get into differing traditions, interpretations of scripture and lifestyles. We're treated like a homogenous group of people but really that's like saying all engineers like chips or all doctors drink red wine. There is a lot of difference.
But unfortunately, if one group is seen to act in a certain way, there is always the risk that anyone else with that same label is going to be judged as thinking and acting the same way regardless of whether they are or not.
At the moment I am seeing first hand what happens when my interpretation of the gospel, of being a Christian, the nature and way of Christ, is so incredibly different to what is being experienced by others. You see, I see God as a merciful, loving, compassionate, caring, grace filled, forgiving God who brings wholeness. A God who desperately seeks relationship. A God whose Son died on the cross so that we could be restored. Its a truth that I know in my gut. This is MY God. THis is the God that I seek to emulate in my daily life. I wouldn't say I do a great job at it all the time, but I'm trying. I hope that sometimes I manage it. I hope that people see my actions motivated by love, grace and forgiveness. I do this because God first loved me, gave me grace and forgave me.
Then I see a group of people who apparently believe the same things as me, acting the complete opposite. The opposite of love is indifference (Martin Luther King Jnr I believe). The opposite of forgiveness is unforgiveness. The opposite of whole is broken. The opposite of caring is... well, not doing anything. Its a messy, broken, unforgiving, indifferent response to a tragic and sad situation and it is breaking my heart.
It makes me angry because the hurt that this is causing is huge. Monumental. Its not going to go away easily. It makes me sad because its impacting on people I care about. It makes me even angrier when I see that this is how my God is portrayed by others.
The Christian life, our journey with God, our walk with Jesus, whatever we want to call it, calls us to become like Jesus Christ. My reading of the gospel tells me that Jesus reached out to those in need. That Jesus was moved to tears by suffering and pain. A Jesus who welcomed children. A Jesus who revealed himself first to the women visiting the tomb. A Jesus who who both challenged his disciples to leave everything and follow but gave them everything they needed and who loved them even in their weakness... Peter denied Jesus three times yet was described as the foundation on which the church would be built. Jesus isn't looking for perfection, but he is looking for willingness to set down our own agendas, our own self and all our crap, and to follow him.
If we don't let go of our own self... well, stuff happens.
To those out there who are affected by this... I don't think what you are seeing is reflecting Christ in any shape or form and I am sorry. Because this is not how it should be.
But what counts is not what happens when life is easy. Its what happens when life is hard. When things don't make sense.
Sometimes life throws curveballs and we don't know what to do. When we start responding my instinct or not thinking before acting or speaking. We got back to a different time. A simple time. A real time. Often, our real self shows. Who are we when under pressure? Who are we when we're at a loss? What is our true motivation? Who is our true self?
As a Christian, I often feel that people judge me harder than they might others. They look to my opinion on different things to give the Christian perspective and response. They look at how I behave to see whether or not I am being authentic and real or whether my words are simply empty and hypocritical.
Like anyone else, Christians vary enormously and that's even before you get into differing traditions, interpretations of scripture and lifestyles. We're treated like a homogenous group of people but really that's like saying all engineers like chips or all doctors drink red wine. There is a lot of difference.
But unfortunately, if one group is seen to act in a certain way, there is always the risk that anyone else with that same label is going to be judged as thinking and acting the same way regardless of whether they are or not.
At the moment I am seeing first hand what happens when my interpretation of the gospel, of being a Christian, the nature and way of Christ, is so incredibly different to what is being experienced by others. You see, I see God as a merciful, loving, compassionate, caring, grace filled, forgiving God who brings wholeness. A God who desperately seeks relationship. A God whose Son died on the cross so that we could be restored. Its a truth that I know in my gut. This is MY God. THis is the God that I seek to emulate in my daily life. I wouldn't say I do a great job at it all the time, but I'm trying. I hope that sometimes I manage it. I hope that people see my actions motivated by love, grace and forgiveness. I do this because God first loved me, gave me grace and forgave me.
Then I see a group of people who apparently believe the same things as me, acting the complete opposite. The opposite of love is indifference (Martin Luther King Jnr I believe). The opposite of forgiveness is unforgiveness. The opposite of whole is broken. The opposite of caring is... well, not doing anything. Its a messy, broken, unforgiving, indifferent response to a tragic and sad situation and it is breaking my heart.
It makes me angry because the hurt that this is causing is huge. Monumental. Its not going to go away easily. It makes me sad because its impacting on people I care about. It makes me even angrier when I see that this is how my God is portrayed by others.
The Christian life, our journey with God, our walk with Jesus, whatever we want to call it, calls us to become like Jesus Christ. My reading of the gospel tells me that Jesus reached out to those in need. That Jesus was moved to tears by suffering and pain. A Jesus who welcomed children. A Jesus who revealed himself first to the women visiting the tomb. A Jesus who who both challenged his disciples to leave everything and follow but gave them everything they needed and who loved them even in their weakness... Peter denied Jesus three times yet was described as the foundation on which the church would be built. Jesus isn't looking for perfection, but he is looking for willingness to set down our own agendas, our own self and all our crap, and to follow him.
If we don't let go of our own self... well, stuff happens.
To those out there who are affected by this... I don't think what you are seeing is reflecting Christ in any shape or form and I am sorry. Because this is not how it should be.
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