Tag Archives: children

Diaries of the Heart

WHAT MORE COULD WE ASK FOR…

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We all know that raising children is hard work. It requires consistency and discipline not only of ourselves but also of our children. Children are definitely a blessing and given to us by God to raise up for His kingdom, but I must admit…

Some days I get so tired of reminding the children to pick up their clothes.

Some days I get so tired of finding odd socks outside, even though they have been told not to take them off outside.

Some days I get tired of the kitchen floor being dirty, no matter how many times I sweep it.

Some days, especially in winter I get tired of all the dust that the wood heater keeps producing.

Some days I get so tired of preparing meals and being on top of the groceries.

Some days I get tired of battling through bad attitudes with lessons.

No 2 daughter and son
No 2 daughter and no 2  son

But on the other hand…

My husband had the opportunity to catch up with an old school friend this past week.

He is about the same age as my husband (close to 50) and we think he is married, he has a partner any way.

He drives the latest model of a most expensive car, and I am sure that he doesn’t have to worry about the floor being dirty.

He doesn’t have any children. He has been working all of his life for his bank balance.

Now I am sure that he can buy himself anything he desires, I bet he even has ducted gas heating in his house, and in a worldly way, that would be great, but we don’t want to be of the world.

So although we struggle to pay our bills some months and we don’t drive a fancy car or have a fancy big house with ducted gas heating, we have so much more.

We have 4 beautiful children, 1 lovely son-in-law and 2 beautiful granddaughters.

So I have to fight battles at home with school and clothing. So I struggle to keep the floor clean and am constantly cooking to keep everyone fed.

I would rather be tired of these things than never have experienced them.

We are blessed to be able to be raising children to love the Lord and follow Him with their whole heart.

God has given us more than we could ever have asked for.

Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

 

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Diaries of the Heart

WHEN YOUR CHILDREN ARE GROWN

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If you have been around this blog you will know that we have two older children and two younger children.

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It has been a wonderful blessing to have the little two who are now 10 and 7 years old.  We also have a married daughter who is 25 and a son who is 20.

It is wonderful to see how these children have grown from infants to adults. Our relationships have changed as well.

With our older daughter and her husband we are good friends and have a great time together. We discuss all types of things and we just love getting together with them and laughing and having fun.

Our oldest son now 20, is a wonderful young man. He is caring and loving and very giving. He can be infuriating at times, but he can also be a lot of fun. Our relationship has changed as well and we are all good friends but we are still his parents and his guidance counsellors while he stills lives at home.

Now our son is and moving forward to leading his own life, he has plans to marry and start a family of his own one day and I feel it is only just around the corner (he doesn’t have anyone to marry yet, just plans and ideas).

What will it be like when he goes. If I think too much on that one I must admit tears come.

Now please don’t get me wrong, we would never hold any of our children back.

When our daughter got married we struggled, not with her marriage but after she left, we missed her.

My husband was told by an acquaintance that if it was so hard for us when our children left then we had put too much effort, too much heart  into the relationship, or we had too much skin in it.

In thinking about that it makes me wonder how you couldn’t have that type of relationship with your children. To love them and care for them for 20 odd years, to develop your relationship without them becoming entangled into our emotions, how would you do that?

How can you raise your children, have a family with out them weaving themselves into your hearts. It is the tapestry of family life, where you all live together, work together, learn together.

I would rather be devastated when our children leave home than to not have a relationship with them at all. To not feel the love.

Understand this as well, my husband feels the loss just as much as me, we both struggle with this.

So as we watch our oldest son grow and prepare to step out on his own one day we prepare our hearts, somehow,  to handle not having him at home all the time.

We pray for his  future wife (whoever that may be) and we pray that God will guide him along life’s journey.

We do know one thing though and it is because of the relationship we have with him, the ties that bind us together as family, that he will always be our son and we will always be there for him, no matter what, and that goes for all our children.

Psalm 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

 

Diaries of the Heart

FROM OUR FRONT VERANDAH…

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The view from our front verandah is beautiful and peaceful and there is so much that I can see to be thankful for.

IMG_0379[1]Here is our front verandah.  You can just see that I hang up my washing there.  It is protected from the weather when it rains and it doesn’t fade in the heat of the sun.  I am thankful for this as I don’t have to rush out and get it off if it rains.

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This is the paddock next to the house that I can see from our front verandah.  If you look hard you can see a couple of pigs out there. The sows and boar are there at the moment.  I am thankful that they provide us with meat for our table.

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Here is the garden bed right in front of our verandah.  When we first moved here it was a beautiful fish pond and we were quite nervous about it.  Our No 2 son was only 3 years old at the time and a young boy about the same age in our local town had drowned in their swimming pool.  We were concerned about this for our son so we decided to fill it in.

Over the past few years we have put stones in it but never totally filled it in, so there are pockets of water in there from when it rains. Although we were concerned about it, this pond has now become a breeding ground for frogs.  Our No 2 son has enjoyed this area here so much and is out there most days checking on his tadpoles which are almost frogs now.  I am thankful that he has been able to have this experience and has learnt many things about tadpoles.

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Here is a picture of our driveway from our front verandah.  This is where are visitors and friends drive down from the main road to get to our house.  Just next to this drive is our vegetable patch this year, with tomatoes, potatoes, corn, carrots and pumpkins.  I can just see this patch through the trees.  I am thankful that we have the ability and land to grow our own food and hopefully grow enough to share with others and sell from the roadside.

IMG_0383[1]Here is the other end of our front verandah where the roses climb up the trellis and shade the seat where I sit and gaze around at our front yard.  You can see the windmill that my husband and No 1 son put up and underneath there are the flowers that No 2 daughter planted by herself and are now flowering.  I am thankful for this peaceful and prosperous place that the Lord has given to us.  I am thankful that our children can run freely on the beautiful green grass and learn and grow together.  

So you can see I have much to be thankful for, my family, our home and land and our friends.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.

What do you have to be thankful for and what can you see from your front verandah??

This post is linked up here…

Nourishing Joy