Christmas Dinner

If you plant your seed potatoes about now you will have your own home grown new potatoes for Christmas dinner. Reuben (aged 3) and I planted ours today. We included the 'let's have a look to see if they have started growing yet' test; it was fun.

I hope Reuben eats them for his Christmas dinner. Me? In Thailand mine will surely consist of rice, and if Ginette thinks she can get away with it again, the lining of mature pigs stomach or decomposing gumboots, they both taste about the same and have the same consistency!

So why am I crying?

When can you regard your parenting as successful? Well, one of the clever people said that when our children are fully capable of independent living we have done a good job.

James and I have 4 capable-of-independent-living children. Our children have all moved out and we are enjoying the tranquility, peacefulness, predictability and tidiness of our own independent living.

So why am I crying?

Let me take you back nearly 100 years to when I was a student nurse in the Maternity Ward at Burwood Hospital. One day a small, bright, sparrow like, lady obstetrician came in to do a delivery. It was the first time I had seen Miss Croxford and I was charmed. If ever I had babies she was the one I wanted to deliver them. Yes, she was really special; on retirement she received the OBE.

Later I had 2 beautiful babies but they were born in Dunedin while Miss Croxford worked in Christchurch.

Ten years after that another baby was on her way and we were in Christchurch. Miss Croxford was in attendance when, on that unforgettable evening, 8pm, 30th August, 1980 Sharyn Elizabeth was born. She weighed 10 ½ lb and was born with a hand coming first thus increasing the circumference but not a problem for Miss Croxford.

I hardly slept that night waiting for the morning and our first live baby in 10 years. When they brought Sharyn to me my first thought was “YES! She is as lovely as I remember from last night!” All day I played dolls with her, what a precious day leading to 25 wonderful years. She is dearly loved.

Sharyn is capable-of-independent-living. She is getting nearly all A’s at University with a view to putting right world poverty. She works to support herself, drives her own car, lives the Christian life and has a great friendship group. She went flatting a couple of months ago. Today is her birthday. Happy, happy birthday Sharyn!

So why am I crying? No reason.

Happy Birthday Simona

Today is Simona's 21st. We celebrated it about a month ago so she could include special people who are not in NZ today. Now I have time to focus on her on her special day instead of wondering what I will wear to the party and how many people will be there who have seen my party clothes before!

So I focus on Simona and I marvel at the young people growing up in our midst today. In the news media we learn so much about the 'youth of today,' drug taking, sexual 'freedom', too much alcohol consumption, boy racers, anger or road rage and on it goes. How seldom we hear about the Simonas. At university, getting A's in almost everything, choosing a no alcohol life style, quiet, supportive, caring, hilarioursly funny, witty, kind, unobtrusive, appreciative, and I see these qualities among so many of her friends as well.

Being like this at 21 what will she be like at 60? I was 21 the day before yesterday, last year I had my 60th birthday. When I was 21 I graduated as a nurse so I gained the respect of those around me, but I feel like I did not have the common sense and openness to discuss my life values that the Simonas have today. So with the advantage of this freedom to express their thoughts and discuss them, these younger ones are surely a step ahead of where I was. I admire them so much for it.

Go for it Simona. Have a wonderful day and next week when you celebrate your 60th you will surely have a sense of fulfillment and achievement which your commitment to Christ and Christian ideals will bring. This life is not a dress rehersal, it is a one off opportunity, you are doing well so far.

Happy Birthday Simona! xx

When Has-Beens Pray

At the beginning of the year I was given a special title and set free to do good. (It hasn’t worked and I haven’t done much more good with it than I would have done without it.)

A couple of months later a very nice member of the Board suggested to me very nicely that one of my duties is to lead a Saturday morning prayer meeting. I am just like you; I know that according to the Kiwi culture I have things to do at home and with family on Saturday mornings. Prayer Meetings and Saturday morning were not my thing.

However I complied and went to see how they did it.

I was blown away!

Present were many of the saints from days gone by. The smart young intellectuals may call them the has-beens and they are right. E has been a long-term missionary in a country somewhere near India. A & G have been teaching Bible in schools forever and G, now knocking on 80, still takes 5 classes a week. B has been a teacher and a doctors wife, G has a brain like a lawyer or an accountant and was a teacher too, B & N were long term missionaries in Thailand and also adopted Thai children while they were there, A and his wife have been living by faith for many years, and have 2 cars and a nice house to show for it and so the list could go on.

We had a page of things to pray about and after some engcouragement in praising God we got right down to it, every aspect thoroughly prayed through, from 2 of our young people who were drifting away and some who want to go to Bible College in Africa, to a new Bible Study for Asians and the members or the Board plus much more.

I left on a high. I had been in touch with God in a godly group. There is nothing I would rather do on Saturday mornings once a month than pray with people who have been there, done that and, through experience, KNOW THE VALUE OF PRAYER!

Hello World!

So now I have a blog, but I do not have it for any noble reason like improving the world, I have it because so often when I want to comment on someone else's blog I need my own address. Ah well, guess I may as well write on it too.

I have called it 'Out of the Wilderness' because a young friend of mine has her address as 'inthedesert' ~ you will find her on my list as Townley. When your Christian life is in its black and white, experimental, is-He-really-there, am-I-really-going-anywhere stage, and you are sincere in your seeking, then it does seem so often that you are inthedesert. I have been there. I have lived there in a very established kind of way. It became so familiar that it was the place I expected to live in forever until those pearly gates opened, (did you realise that each of those gates are made of one giant pearl! Revelation 21:21) One day a path opened up and I came out of that wilderness, as the Scripture says "leaning on the arm of my lover" as in 'Jesus, lover of my soul!' Ten or so years on I am still thrilled with this walk in His love, so my blog is called, especially for all those precious ones who are still 'inthedesert,' OUT OF THE WILDERNESS! It is a growth thing, when God leads either place is an okay place to be :-)

try time