Love

I feel really awkward writing this post, because it seems like I'm bragging. I'm not. Or, I don't mean to be, even if it comes across that way. I'm not a perfect parent, and this is in no way a "how to get your kids to be amazing" post. Disclaimer done, I'm going to stop beating around the bush, or making excuses in my head now and just get into it.

It hopefully it does not come as a surprise to you that I read my bible. Last year, I read through the New Testament, which was a much slower pace to how I usually read the bible. Because I was reading slower, I got to really think about more things. So, something I did was to write verses I wanted to dwell on in my kitchen.

I just wrote them on the tiles with whiteboard pens, which works perfectly, in case you were wondering. It comes off just fine when you are done. Then, when I was cutting up veggies for dinner or making lunches, there was the bible verse, ready for me to read over. It had the bonus effect of being very visual, so the girls asked what it said.

The first verse that I had up was 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. I don't usually enjoy verses that are "cliche" or well known, but I had been listening to a Bible Project podcast on God, and they had pointed out something about love that I found to be revolutionary. Love is a verb. Love is something that happens between two or more people (or things). You can "love" alone. So for the bible to say "God is love", really highlights the idea that God isn't just solitary.

God is Father, Son and Spirit. That perfect union of Father, Son and Spirit together is love. When Jesus talks about knowing the Father and how the Father loves him, it really brings new understanding when you think about it that way. And the invitation of God is to humans, to also be in a relationship with him, and experience that love. Amazing!

So I was thinking about how "God is love" and reflecting on this verse in Corinthians, and up it went on the kitchen tiles for me to learn.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I've heard sermons before when you read the passage and replace the world love with God, because God is love. The next step is to think about how we are supposed to be becoming like Jesus, and so putting our names in where love is. I've never gotten past: "Paula is patient and kind" before, because I know I've failed miserably there.

Anyway, having children, we talk to them all the time about how they can be loving, and this passage, up on the kitchen tiles, was the most practical thing we have ever used on the subject. It's easy to say "love your sister!" or "Be nice to that person", but what does that actually mean, or look like? What does it look like for a five year old? Having this verse was a really hands on and easy to understand way to teach them.

When the girls were getting upset with each other, we could say "are you demanding your own way?" If they were grumbling about not having the same toys, we would talk about how love is not jealous. Most often, we were explicit in expressing how to be patient and kind to each other. How we take turns, and share. How we put others first.

Sophie in particular was keen to memorize the verse, and because kids soak up learning like sponges soak up water, she had most of it in about three days. Even now, she likes to practice writing the first section out every so often.

What really made me excited though, was the day she was trying to explain to one of the younger day care kids that I look after what love was like. There was some altercation between the kids, and Sophie took the little girl by the hand and into the kitchen. She pointed to the verse and said: "Let me teach you how to love. Love is patient and kind. So we need to be patient with our friends. That's how we love them."

I know a lot of it is just parroting the repetition that she's heard from us, but my heart was full. I know we all still have a long way to go before we can love like Jesus, but I am encouraged. Maybe we can even change the world, one little person at a time, by simply resonating on this very idea: to love.

It is Finished!

Our water tank is in! Project complete. You can re-read or catch up on Part One here, or Part Two here. Check out this finished side project. So good right!

Steve has been amazing with organizing this whole thing. So much planning and thinking involved, especially with the plumbing side of things. But there he is confidently rerouting our down pipes into the tank and back out again.

What a champion husband I have. And  you will be pleased to know that the rain did end up filling the tank all the way up. Hooray!

I'm also really excited for the new things to grow. I got to plant some things in pots as well as the garden bed there too. It looks like there should be enough space for some more things in pots too, but no rush. On advice from a gardening friend, we planted some more flowers to keep the garden bed dirt alive and happy while we wait for summer to cool off and we can plant real things again. Some of the things from our initial planting have survived, but the carrot and cucumber plants did not like the heat.

The break has also meant I've been able to keep an eye on the garden bed a bit more too, and have noticed one end gets significantly less sun than I originally thought. So much so that I'm not sure anything but lettuce will grow there, but we will see. I can always prune the tree back some more I guess.

On the other side, in the garden bed we moved from the back to the front pre-renovation, the tomato plants that came out of the compost have really taken off, and we have so much fruit. It looks so messy in there now, because I didn't really bother to trellis the plants, but the tomatoes still taste good.

Back to the water tank, now I have to paint all of the new pipes we have to match the house again. The work is never really done.

Still Making Lunches

Here is a lunch box post! Yep, with the new year, I've been making lunches yet again. 

Some of these are actually from last year, but I never got around to blogging them.

Still counts though right?

At this point I'm just assuming you can figure out what food looks like and be excited about it on your own. I'm hungry looking at these.

I guess you could also read some other bento posts to get an idea about what's going on too.

The most notable thing about making lunch boxes in 2020 has been a little help I've had in the kitchen.

Here she is folks. While I make the dinner, I also hand things to Rachel to put in lunch boxes. Talk about prepared.

She's pretty excited to be helping too.

The Work Continues

Though summer has continued to be almost unbearably hot and sweaty, Steve has endured it to labor on the area around the side of the house. You can read about the first installment here. It's now ready for the water tank, thanks to some extra help from Steve's brother with the concreting.

You can see we rigged up some shade for the boys (and the concrete) to help it not dry out too quickly while it was setting.

Rachel gave it a thumbs up.

Most of the ground there was dirt and mud, with only a little of the grass remaining. We talked about leaving it, but in the end, we found we just wanted to finish it properly now, rather than let it go. So, more hard work for Steve, and more daughter watching for me.

Basically we just put in a raised garden bed along the fence, and cleared the rest of the area for a path which we are going to make out of cracker dust, pavers and river rocks. I say "we", but really, Steve did most of that. Although, we did use a date night to get the wood, so I like to think I helped a little.

The girls and I planted a range of veggies here. They were really excited about growing carrots, though I have really no actual hope for their survival at all. We also planted capsicum, cucumber, bok choy and lettuce. I also got a passion fruit, which I plan on growing up and then over the path and training it along the water tank on the other side. The idea is that it will give the water tank and pump some shade from the sun and hopefully everything will last just that little bit longer. The plus is that I'll also get passion fruits and a small shady patch to grow lettuce. Fingers crossed.

The coolest thing we planted was Steve's ID tag from DDD last year, which was made from recycled paper with seeds in it. I'm so keen to see what grows!

Steve finished the path just this week, wanting to get it done before the forecast rain made an appearance. I'm planning on putting some potted growth at the end of the water tank area there too.

All in all, I think it look fantastic. Steve has worked so hard and now we are just waiting for the water tank to finally be delivered next week. Here's hoping the rain will hold off until it's all connected up and ready to go. Or at least, give us a second showing so we can at least get some water in the tank.

Rachel's Turn

As with Sophie last year, I feel I should make an obligatory post about how Rachel too has joined the ranks of children who attend school. Yep. Rachel is now in Prep. Just like that.

Actually, it was not really something that snuck up on us at all, because from the very first day of holidays, and I mean the very first day, Rachel asked us if it was a school day. Kindy finished on Friday, and Saturday morning she said to me: "Am I going to school today?" Six weeks of holiday is a long time to wait for that first day, but it came none the less. Sophie was also beside herself to know that Rachel was joining her at school.

I hadn't really given it much thought, because I was going to be back at work too. In the swing of things, hitting the ground running and whatever. But by some miracle, and I am indeed crediting God for this, I didn't have any of my day care children starting early that first day. Every one of them came at 9am or later.

Such an amazing blessing, because it did mean so many things. We got to have waffles for breakfast.  I didn't have to juggle trying to hold hands of another three children while also carrying two very heavy boxes of school supplies. We got to take our time finding the new classrooms. I got to give quick goodbye hugs without looking over my shoulder to make sure I didn't have any escapees. So thankful.

Steve did the pick up. Hooray for the first day!

Rachel was so ready. With ten minutes to go till the bell she was asking me: "Can I go into my classroom now?" And she loves it. Making friends, learning new things, already with a deep admiration and love for Sophie's old Prep teacher who is now her Prep teacher. Doing it all with a home made school bag in tow.

And still being uniquely Rachel. Here she is on that very first morning, all ready to go, finding bugs on the deck.

Shine bright little Rachel. May your crazy eyes take in all they can as you discover a new world of education.