Thoughts come and go – some of them are very profound and OUGHT to be shared – but they fall out of my brain before I get to the computer. Maybe I should have a computer on the end of Victoria’s cot then, if I had enough hands, I could write while I was using the pump, or holding Victoria’s bottle in place….
Last evening I was listening to some messages by Steve Demme of Math-u-see. I downloaded them from his website. I listened on my MP3 player (how very thankful I am to the Lord for providing me with this amazing vehicle of encouragement, instruction and exhortation) while either getting milk for Victoria or feeding it to her. The message on his experiences with Johnny, his now 18-y-old son who has d.s., reflected an attitude of joyful resignation to the genuine struggles of raising a child with health and developmental problems. This set against his natural optimism and dedication to his family makes great listening. If you want to , you can download this and two other messages from the mathusee website.
He mentions a subject which has been close to my heart recently – fighting amongst boys. When they were all small (that it to say, when all the children I had were under 4 and half feet tall….) it was easy to say ‘no fighting’. There was one incident where one boy goaded another boy and there was a fairly fierce bundle where I couldn’t’ see it – but I never heard of any other incidents. Now most of the boys are over 4 and a half feet and they are determined to fight. My concern is that some of them get VERY angry and one has been found to be waving a knife at another (isn’t this SHOCKING!!! – I was and am horrified). I have no confidence that a similar incident might not occur again. Now, I listen to Steve Demme talking about how he and his sons have rubber-band wars and shoot PAINTBALLS at one another and I feed that into the ‘processor’ and conclude something which is essentially different between the Demme family and ours. The default position is that the Demme family LOVE one another and spend more time expressing that love in practical ways and against that background they do their fighting. This, I think, would make fighting acceptable.
Until my lot learn to love one another, they are not safe to fight one another. Steve mentioned that he used to wrestle with his boys (I guess he gave it up as they got too big for him to beat!). My dad (not a Christian) used to romp with my two brothers and myself on a Sunday afternoon sometimes. Of course, being a girl, I usually got injured early on and was sitting on the settee watching for most of the time.
I ask ‘how can a family who are supposed to be Christians routinely show an attitude of criticsism, and unkindness to one another?’. It is a rhetorical question, I know the answer but beyond praying I am (I THINK) powerless to effect a change. Perhaps I can limit the damage…
That’ll do for this message – I will not digress to another thought now but will save it for next time…