In haste it can all go to waste

This weekend we were out with friends for our annual outing to De Hollandse Molen. Everyone was super excited for the day, especially the children. The moment our feet touched the grass the children wanted to swim, I kept on telling them to wait till after breakfast, but oh no, I was being the odd mother out and finally said, "well then go" My son could not contain himself and went rushing off with the speed of light, much to my dismay.

They were not in the water even 10 minutes when he came screaming like a pig to slaughter, come one I know you all know that sound, where other people look at you and your kid and you want to pretend he doesn't belong to you and you look around as well. So there he was screaming with an open cut on his foot that needed stitches. The thing about De Hollandse Molen is that it is a camping spot nowhere near any of our usual Trauma centers, so firstly we had to call and find out where the closest Dr's surgery was. With knowledge in hand we head off to a Carecross in the town of Franschoek, thankfully not too far out.

With my little potbelly in the back of the car I had to think of a way to keep him calm so the Dr does not think we raise farm animals for a living or kidnapped him. So I asked him nicely that everytime it hurts he must please press my hand as hard as he can instead of screaming like a mad pig. With this in mind the Dr did his thing and my son pressed our hands and all was well in the world afterword.
Unfortunately as per Dr's orders he could no longer swim that day and had to keep still for the most part if possible. What a disappointment to him, his cousins were all swimming and enjoying themselves and all he could do was watch from the side.

How many times are we not hasty in our decisions when we can clearly hear that Voice of reason telling us to wait. Then instead of squeezing and holding tight to Gods Word we want to turn into farm animals and scream at our family, the pastor, our husbands, our children, our colleagues and even God, because our hasty decisions has now put us in an uncomfortable position.

Lets all try to heed His Voice of reason.

Ecc_3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 
Ecc_3:2  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 
Ecc_3:3  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 
Ecc_3:4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 
Ecc_3:5  A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 
Ecc_3:6  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 
Ecc_3:7  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 
Ecc_3:8  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 
Ecc_8:9  All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 

What I learn about God from being a parent...I reprimand because I love!

I never got this when I was a teenager. You punish me because you love me...???
Well, I finally know what that is about, its about the lessons of life, that we love our children so much we want them to grow and learn and become the fulfilled person that they need to become. So when they tread off the path we reprimand them, so that they can learn and grow.
So why do we get angry when God reprimands us when we know its for our own good.
So my thought for the day is, take the punishment, learn the lesson, stop sitting in the corner moping and move on with God for a wiser walk. :)

What I learn about God from being a parent - Personal Space

Thankfully I was born with no personal space, I dont have an issue if you walk into my so called "bubble" and touch also does not bother me. So when my son started becoming a toddler and wanted to be all over me I had no issues. Ok, when I'm busy cooking it becomes a little annoying if he hangs onto my legs, or wants to play crawly through my legs, but hey to him its a big adventure. There are other bits that is not so, well lets just say, fun! Like having a snotty nose rubbed in your face or dirty little hands being stuck into places where one shouldnt have hands stuck in, specially when you are in public. When he sleeps by me the druel is endless and most of the time ends up somewhere on MY cheeck or MY pillow or sometimes in MY hair. He also by now knows that his finger fits perfectly in his nostril and that if he wiggles it around a surprise might come out...ugh and he always feels the need to run to me and show off his findings.
And somehow even though it is kind of disgusting it doenst put me off or love him less or makes me think he is less worthy of my love or even that I want him to first clean up before he comes to me.
With that being said, I felt this warmth of confirmation in my heart that this is exactly what God does for us, that is why He says come as you are! I can get up into His space, He doesnt mind in fact He wants us to be in His presence at all times and that with all my little wierd habits and dirty faced.

What I learn about God from being a parent - Punishment

So Bryan gave us an extremely difficult night last night. I am still feeling the affects and I'm sure as the day progresses my energy will deplete even quicker. Between the morning hours of 00:45am - 03:15am our beautiful son woke up and realised that he is sleeping alone and remembered that he has a slight cold. The combination seemed to elevate his need for either Kegan or myself to sleep with him in his bed or otherwise just stand and stare at him or in his words, "Mamma, staan!" He also pulled out all the stops when it came to being deliberately non-compliant and testing our patience and non-patience to the max with that being said , I am now honestly too tired to deal with him tonight and wonder what I will do when this working day comes to an end. I know it sounds really bad, but hey everyone needs a break. As i thought this thought it struck me how many times I test Gods patience, how many times I am deliberate and "non-compliant". Yet He never tires of me, day in and day out He has time for me and my  obnoxiousness and waits patiently for me to feel the quickening of the Holy spirit and repent and as we did last night I have to realize that my actions will have consequences, I must not be surprised when I receive a "spanking" or get sent to the corner ;) 
Thank you Lord for being God and I pray to be more like You in the way I deal with my son and the way in which I conduct myself around him. Help me be a better mother for my boy...and if I may ask, please can the next one be born with sleeping skills.

What I learn about God from being a parent - I will catch you even when you dont realise you are about to fall

So Bryan was playing on the bed this morning, jumping up and down. He was having such fun!
The biggest smile on his precious face, then in a millisecond his foot is on the edge, he tilts back and I know... He is going to fall off.
With reflexes from nowhere??? I hold out my hand and slightly pushed him back on track, he didnt even realize that he could have been lying on the floor right now.

I wonder how many times God has slightly pushed me back on track without me even knowing I was heading for a fall?
Thank you my Dad for catching me when I dont even realize I am falling.

Help

OK so we were gone for 5 days, giving all our attention to Bryan and each other. Now we are back home and Bryan is a terror. He woke me up at 4 this morning to play. HELP! I know exactly what I am suppose to do, but when you have constant screaming that early in the morning...aaahhh. Then on the way to daycare he falls asleep in the car, wakes up with a fright when I picked him up and I left him screaming with the day mother...my heart almost fell out of my chest.