The Pain of Death - and The Hope of the Gospel

At church we've started a sermon series on Genesis. Today's sermon was about the bit where Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden of Eden for disobeying God.

During his talk, our minister discussed how death came onto the scene and how wrong it is. He said something that really struck me - that death terminates relationships. How true this is. And how painful.

Thankfully, the story doesn't end there in Genesis! He also referred to Romans 5:17: 'For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ'.

A crop!

I planted a few potatoes some months ago, and have been watching their progress with interest. Only one plant ended up growing well, and I was disappointed to see it die back in the heavy rain we had recently.

Today on a whim I had a poke around to see if it had sprouted anything under the soil, and was very excited to find some potatoes! Only a handful really, but still - wow!

My mind is now filled with the possibilities of a larger crop...we eat potatoes all the time so the thought of growing my own is very appealing.

Play

One thing I've always found quite difficult with my kids is playing with them. Sounds silly, but it's not something that has come naturally to me in the past. Looking back on the first year or so with Hamish, I think a lot of my stress came from not knowing what to do with him to fill in the long daylight hours.

However, a few things lately have brought change in this area. Firstly, both boys have reached ages where play is easier - Hamish is into imaginative play, and will run with ideas quite easily, and Michael is old enough to join in a little and to play alongside his brother more than he could as a baby. Secondly, I've realised that all I need to do is to get down to their level, and get over the idea that I should be doing something else with my time. Play is so valuable - it's not simple babysitting - I need to engage with them and enter their world in order to teach them about mine.


Here's a few things we've been playing at lately:
- The Story Bears. Adam and I thought we needed a 'filler' activity in between brushing teeth and bed, just a few minutes of me occupying the kids so he could get some things organised to make bedtime run more smoothly. So I got a basket and put all the toy bears I could find into it. I told the boys they were the Story Bears, and they would tell us a story before bed. It's been such a hit - I sit down with the boys and we choose which bears will be involved, and which story they will act out. Hamish loves hearing Goldilocks and the Three Bears (he likes playing Goldilocks and gets into bed at the right point in the story, then pretends to jump out the window when the bears return!). I've been using the time to teach them some bible stories too, so we've had the bear version of Zaccheus climbing a tree to see Jesus, Jesus calming a storm, the battle of Jericho, and Noah's ark. Michael joins in by running off with various characters and crying when he isn't allowed to get into the basket (normally because Hamish is already in it!)

- Dress ups. We were given some good dressup costumes for Hamish's birthday, which we have added to by making some monkey costumes from an old stocking, and we bought a doctor's kit. This afternoon, Pooh Bear dressed up as various people (policeman, pirate, fireman) and Dr Hamish gave them each a thorough medical checkup.

Michael modelling his monkey ears

- Outdoors play. Hamish loves pretending to rescue random objects from the 'deep dark forest' - aka the bushes near our front door. Michael loves riding his bike and eating chalk (when he gets away with it...)

Overall I've been surprised by how easy it is to play when I put my mind to it. And how enjoyable! The time passes much more quickly, and I feel like I'm making memories with my kids instead of wishing the hours away.

Beach with the boys

We went to Terrigal Beach today, had fish and chips for lunch, and then played in the sand for a while. Hamish enjoyed digging the sand, while Michael seemed to get plenty of enjoyment out of eating the sand. Hmm.

We saw some pelicans, which Michael was quite taken with, and we also saw two large black stingrays cruising along the shoreline, which was very exciting.

To dispel any ideas you may have about this being an idyllic family outing, let me share that the car trip home was less than relaxing - Michael complained loudly most of the way, and Hamish kept up a constant mantra of 'IwantadrinkIwantadrinkIwantadrinkIwantanappleIwantanappleIwantanapple..." (you get the idea!)

Still, overall it was a good afternoon!

Tucked in

Hamish has a habit at the moment of going to sleep at night completely covered under his bedclothes. As it's winter, there are a lot of bedclothes!

This evening, once again, I checked in on him to see, not a boy asleep with his head on the pillow, but a lump halfway down the bed, under quite a few layers of quilts and blankets. I don't know how he even breathes under there!

I put him back up on the pillow and tucked him in. He barely woke up.

A Special Moment

I had explained (probably quite poorly) to Hamish that Papa had passed away and gone to be with Jesus. I don't think he really understood, but I felt I had to say something as we had previously been praying for Papa while he was in hospital.

A few days after this conversation, Hamish and I were reading a children's bible together and we saw a picture of Jesus holding the hand of a boy. Hamish asked who the boy was, and I said it was a child and that Jesus loved him, just like He also loves Hamish.

Hamish looked at me with very big, excited eyes, and declared "when I go to Jesus, he will hold my hand!"
 

A Few Hamish-isms

Me: We're going to drive on the freeway now.
H: I don't want the freeway, I want the two way!

Me: You're a funny monkey.
H: No, I'm a boy.
Me: You're being very literal.
H: No, I'm big!

Beach

My grandfather passed away on Tuesday night. Not unexpectedly, but still, a difficult time.

The boys are at daycare today, so I went out to Terrigal Beach this morning for a bit of time to myself. Here's some photos I took there:

Ill health

We've all ended up unwell the last few days. It has had its moments, but in a strange way it's almost been relaxing, as I have lowered my normal housework standards. And I decided to just play with the kids and meet their needs as best I could.

And you know what? I quite enjoyed myself. Made such a difference to get down to their level and join in, rather than vaguely participating from a distance and wishing they'd look after themselves a bit more. I'll try to do this more often I think - good for them and great for me! Not so great for the housework, but hey - that's hardly the end of the world, and I'm hoping I can be a bit more efficient at it in the windows of opportunity I get. Working smarter, not harder.

Having said that, I am exhausted. Michael has been really clingy and it feels like he's been permanently attached to me, one way or another. Hamish has been quite contrary - which I know is because he's feeling ill, but still challenging to navigate through. Luckily we cooked a big batch of risotto on Thursday night, which took care of quite a few meals, and sleep hasn't been too bad, given I've been getting up to both kids each night.

I hate it when they cough, especially when it's to the point of throwing up. Michael has done it a few times and it is a bit scary. I think he just gets some mucous caught in his throat, nothing really serious, but still - will be glad when it's over.