First a Boy and then a Girl!

Announcing the arrival early this morning of my new grandbabies!

Twin No 1, a little boy weighing 2.29kg followed closely by his sister at 2.62 kg.

My daughter had a reasonably short labour and managed the double birth beautifully without need of stitching. though some help required to get the first little guy out.

Thank you to all have prayed.

I praise God for a safe delivery at 35+ weeks.

I have ended up in Brisbane in hospital for the last two weeks so, almost unbelievably have missed the momentous event :-(  But God's timing is perfect and I look forward to being reunited with them all in a few days.  I PROMISE to get some pictures of the real babies when I get home.

In sorrow you shall bring forth children.

 As I have aged, matured I hope, I have come to value and appreciate my mother so much more than I did as a rather self absorbed youth.
I think of Mary, our Lord's mother and those verses which say that a sword shall pierce her heart ,  The scriptures tell us that Mary pondered and kept in her heart and memory all that was told to her of her son.  How she must have sorrowed to see him suffer though she trusted in him as the God of her salvation!

Thankfully, when we hold that precious bundle in our arms we do not know what lies ahead for them or for us.  We delight in the new babe and put all our hopes, dreams and prayers into them as we seek to raise them in the fear and nurture of the Lord.

How difficult it is to see our loved ones in pain.

Again, I am loathe to pray, whatever it takes Lord, for fear of the consequence.

One thing I know, I can confidently leave my child, this one I grieve for now and all of them,

 in the Lord's hands,

But like my own mother, and Mary before me, we never stop hoping, trusting, loving.

I ponder all these things in my heart.

Mother hood

my greatest joy and my deepest sorrow.

Pslam 143

7 Lord, let my pray'r prevail,

To answer it make speed;

For, lo, my sp'rit doth fail:

Hide not thy face in need;

Lest I be like to those

That do in darkness sit,

Or him that downward goes

Into the dreadful pit.

8 Because I trust in thee,

O Lord, cause me to hear

Thy loving-kindness free,

When morning doth appear:

Cause me to know the way

Wherein my path should be;

For why, my soul on high

I do lift up to thee.

9 From my fierce enemy

In safety do me guide,

Because I flee to thee,

Lord, that thou may'st me hide.

10 My God alone art thou,

Teach me thy righteousness:

Thy Sp'rit's good, lead me to

The land of uprightness.

11 O Lord, for thy name's sake,

Be pleas'd to quicken me;

And, for thy truth, forth take

My soul from misery.

12 And of thy grace destroy

My foes, and put to shame

All who my soul annoy;

For I thy servant am.

(Scottish Metrical Version)

Sobering Thoughts

On birth, death and everything in between.

Today is my gorgeous and very precious, second daughter's

twentieth birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AND GOD BLESS YOU, DARLING

You can read a little about her here from last year.
Yesterday we had a great morning with all the children and grandchildren,
lots of cake and chips and lollies
and cuddles
to celebrate the occasion.

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Earlier in the week I got the more sobering news that an (extended) relative is in the final stages of cancer.  As this is a case where there was a broken home, back when we were children, I had not seen this woman since we were maybe ten or so. I was really touched that another relative contacted me and told me of the fond memories she had of times with our family and of us kids.She thought she had beaten breast cancer but is now riddled with other tumours.She is forty two years old, with five children.Her youngest is five.

Then on Tuesday, the brother of one of my own brothers-in-law, who was also not expected to survive long with cancer, died after a stroke.We attended his funeral today.Have you ever been to a bushman's funeral?You would only see that many checked shirts and akubras at a rodeo.
This man was a very well known horseman and his funeral was a moving tribute to a man who loved the bush, his horses, his family and people in general.

One of my brothers also lost a close friend this week in a chopper mustering accident.

A young husband with four small children.

I can only wonder.....

How do those who live with out the Lord cope in such times of sorrow?

When we mourn a believer, we do it knowing they have gone to be with the Lord.

We rejoice that a saint has gone to his eternal home.

That their body is resting in the grave until the Resurrection.

It reminds me how fleeting our lives are here on earth.

NOW is the day of salvation!

An Old Favourite.

WORDLESS  WEDNESDAY

A Special Birthday

Wordless Wednesday

Click Here

for words.

The Week that Was...

I described last week as wonderful. This one has been good too but with a few dramas to liven things up !

Firstly, I have spent a good deal of time at the computer. If you follow you will know that I had all sorts of dramas with posting. It seems to have stemmed from the autosave and date/time functions, well, not functioning. I'd like to say I couldn't care less, but of course that would not be true. I spent way too much time fiddling and faddling, without any result. Strangely, it does seem to have righted itself. When I lost all the gadgets in the side bar I was very disheartened. As you bloggers know that stuff is time consuming and you need to build it up over a while. I was not looking forward to starting from scratch.

Sometimes I feel convicted about spending too much time on the net and I think this has been a good reminder that I don't need to blog so often. Thanks for all the encouraging comments during this trial everyone ♥

The other project which kept me on the keyboard was doing up the calendar for our Homeschool Group. I've done this job on and off over the years and I do enjoy being involved in this way.
We have quite a few new families over the last couple of years. With them come lots of new children and some wonderfully young and invigorated mothers! I had a friend come over at lunch time Thursday to proof read the many phone numbers and details and thought to leave the printing of the pages until after basketball last night. So of course, it was 8pm before I got to the computer, loaded a new ink cartridge and ...... nothing. Zilch, zip, zero. No response. Ooooooh no, they were to be distributed at swimming at 8am this morning! So after a panicky phone call to another friend, who assured me the group would survive without the calendar, I just had to leave it and headed to bed. It had been a big day.

So I awoke early and thought perhaps I'd give it one more try. Voila! The printer clattered into action! It then took me another hour to run them off, collate them and staple them up ~ but I delivered the goods as promised!

And in other news...

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It was another really good week of school and the boys, although not going ahead in leaps and bounds, are enjoying their work and progressing surely and steadily. :-)

We have a regular day to spend time with each of my daughters and their little families. This is special time and I marvel at them anew each time at how gorgeous and special and clever they are!!

Today I watched my eldest feeding her 9 week old, talking on the phone and still helping her little 18month old son with his clothes!!! Hey, I used to be able to do tricks like that. It just goes to show that if you are not using your skills, you just can't keep up the pace. I had trouble juggling a container of food while I pushed the stroller!

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Hmmmm...on posting I see that I have no colours which I added when I bolded in the post. I had noticed that on one or two colours since I went to this template but now I can't change any. Does anyone have a solution for that??

And on a more thoughtful note...

The miracle of new life is a constant source of wonder and amazement! Watching my new grandson is fascinating and reminds me once again of the blessing of fruitfulness. The great blessing of being given children in the first place but also that they are healthy and beautifully formed. We take this so much for granted, don't we? those of us who have them? Think of our sisters who have the great heartbreak of barrenness... Think of those who are battling day by day with special needs children...

I sometimes ask myself whether I am supporting my sisters and friends who are in much harder situations than I am. Once at a Right to Life seminar we were challenged on this very point. Can we protest the aborting of little souls and not follow up with support to young mothers when they keep their babies. Especially the mothers of little ones who are born with physical and mental disabilities which add to the difficulty of raising them. Are we prepared to follow through and put our christian ethics into action?

I know several friends who carry the great burden of God withholding children from them. Think of Rachel who cried to Jacob, "Give me children else I die." I do not know how to reach and comfort these dear ones, but I do know that one or two of them have been a great source of strength and amazement to me and to others. While we see our children along with husbands and homes, as our calling I see these special people shining in other areas. God has brought them through this great trial and given them a special lot in life.

One older lady told me recently that when she realised God was not going to give her children naturally she and her husband looked into adoption and were later blessed with two children in this way. They are in their 70s now and love and serve the people of God tirelessly. I have never heard her whinge or complain about the hand dealt to her, only to rejoice in how good God was to them.

Another friend wrote recently, "The Lord has dealt bountifully with me." How much more meaningful these words are from one who truly has cried to God for the desire of her heart, and yet can say, "Thy will be done" when it seems these prayers are not answered. Those of us with children need to think again before we complain that they take up all our time and energy, don't give us a moments peace, cost a fortune to raise. There are some who would change places with us in a heartbeat.

My own daughter is facing the challenges of having two babies very close together and an older child in the house. I see her dealing so sweetly with them and laying down her own desires for them and thank God for her. I see my other daughter also, so young and sometimes lonely, sacrificing a work and social life for her little fellow. May God do a mighty work in their hearts♥♥
These are rambling thoughts and those of you who read here regularly will have put it together that I do go off on meandering rabbit trails at times!

To everyone ... have a great weekend!

That's the new little grandson at one week old at the top♥

Introducing...

My sweet little grandson at a few hours of age♥♥

Starting labour after mid night, my daughter rang at 2.30 am to get me to take her to hospital. Her partner staying with the sleeping 15 month old, intending to be there for the birth later in the morning. No siree!! On the 10 minute drive from her house to the hospital she had 3 contractions and this little fellow had no intention of waiting for Dad! We got there at about 3.20 and he was born just at 4.03 am.

He weighed in at 3040grams, which is about 6lb 7 so is a wee tiny mite, but he is absolutely, gorgeous and perfectly formed. Mother and baby went home at around 3.30pm. Well, that's how they do things these days!

My daughter was amazingly calm and focused♥ Her first labour was 8 hours long with about 2 hours at the hospital and no drugs or stitches. This time, about 4.5 hours and no drugs or stitches. She is such a beautiful mother and daughter.

My girls' births have been a tremendous blessing and wonderment for me. I had such un-natural pregnancies and births. I thank God that he has blessed them in this way. I also praise and thank the Lord for the dear little grandchildren he has bestowed on us. May He be pleased to use us to influence them that they may know the Lord. Especially today I marvel at this tiny miracle as I gazed at him and held him for the first time after all these months.

We've had the fun of having "Big Brother" here today!♥ He had a disturbed night, Picked up by Mumma in the dark, finally going back to sleep. Up early and a big day. Then finally meeting the baby (Not too sure about him!) What a sweetie. Lord willing, we will be able to spend lots of time with him over the next few weeks.

Truly Grandmotherhood is full of joys and blessings!♥

I have not used my families' names on the blog so I haven't divulged it here but if it is any consolation, the name they have had picked for about 6 months has been in a little doubt today, so I am not even sure of it.

Another Blue One!

Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever!

Psalm 106:1

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I am very thankful to God this morning for the quick and safe arrival of my daughter's baby about two hours ago! Another grandson - thankyou Lord.

We have been up since 2.30 but her little toddler, whom we are minding , has gone back to sleep, and it's a little early here (6am) to be ringing around. So I'll blog it instead! :-) I will head back up to the hospital later this morning and hopefully have some pictures and details later today.

A Special Birthday!

My little princess♥

12 November, 1990

On this day, nineteen years ago, my third child and second daughter was born. Like her siblings she was born prematurely at 35 weeks but she weighed 7lb 3oz and was fairly healthy from the get go. I spent one week in, one week out alternately in hospital from 9 weeks during her pregnancy, due to complications in my diabetic control. We considered her our special miracle, as at eleven weeks my condition was so poor it looked unlikely I would get through the pregnancy to a viable age. But our great God answers prayer! We took her home on day ten and Daddy and big sister were very pleased to finally get us home again.

A cute baby at 18 months of age.

This daughter was a fashion coordinator from a young age! She had clear ideas on what she liked and disliked and would assist me with my wardrobe. "Mummy, that shirt would look nice with this scarf." And to big sister, "You should wear these shoes with this dress." Today she still has great taste in clothing and interior decoration. Big Sister and I missed out a little in that department.

Once a princess, always a princess!

Still loves to dress up!

Both my daughters were great little house keepers. The older would do what ever was asked of her, but this daughter was always able to see what needed doing and just do it. And she did it thoroughly. Today she is just the same and keeps her own home spotless.

Today we spent a lot of the day together which was lovely. Tonight, we had a barbecue tea with her and her partner and their little son. As one of my blogging friends wrote recently, don't blink or you will miss it. (Our children's lives) Where have the years gone? Where did my baby go?

God bless you, my precious baby...

Sister Golden Hair

Twenty-one years ago today, my older daughter was born!

Can the years have flown by so quickly? Like all my babies, she was born with a mop of black hair. Look at her here. Such a sweet cherub. What a blessing this child has been.

Having lost our first baby, it was scary waiting to give birth to No 2, but so exciting when she was born safe and well at 36+ weeks.

Although I was an aunty many times over and had younger siblings, plus worked with littlies I was nervous and uncertain taking her home. Feeding was excruciatingly painful at first, but we soon settled into a long, and happy nursing relationship.

This daughter grew into a typical oldest child. Quick to pick things up, walking, talking early. Once her sister was born she was definitely the leader. She took on responsibility well and became very capable and reliable. She was very relaxed about things like clothing and hair and is still very natural to this day.

Later, she was one of those children who would do anything I asked her to, but was too laid back to notice much that needed to be done for herself. She has her own home now and certainly sees and does everything very nicely. She says it is different when it is your own and I suppose she is right.

One of her lovely traits is that she can talk equally well with the elderly as with her peers. She actually did voluntary work at the nearby Nursing Home as a fifteen year old. Though she found the dementia patients hard going, she handled the old people well. She has always loved children and got on well with them. She worked in child care for some time. As a child around ten, she was the story teller among her little friends. Sometimes we'd be going somewhere with another family and she would be in the back of the van with an enraptured audience of children listening to her tales. She has always been an animal lover, especially dogs and horses.

My number one girl is now a mother herself! How quickly my baby has grown up. She is still loving and capable and is turning out to be a great little mother. She has always been and still is a wonderful blessing bestowed on us by God.

I refer to her as Sister Golden Hair because she has lovely long brown hair which has unusual golden blond to reddish natural streaks. The song Sister Golden Hair Surprise runs through my head often when I see it shining. I never knew all of the words but I would tell her, "I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, sister golden hair surprise. And I just can't live without you, can't you see it in my eyes?"

This daughter has had her share of difficult times. As parents we try to give our children Roots and Wings. Roots that grow down deep, like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that keep them grounded and strong. Roots we pray that are firmly planted in the things of God. And wings, to spread out and reach for dreams and goals beyond anything which we ourselves ever aspired to or imagined.

The teacher delights in the students achievements. The parents joy in the growth and maturity of their children. May it please God to call this covenant child to himself and bless her.

Today we have enjoyed a lovely family lunch out with Grandparents, an aunty, the babies! A great day with many happy memories to add to 21 years already stored away!

Happy Birthday, Sister Golden Hair!!

Edit 7~4~2010.

This beautiful and capable daughter is now the mother of two precious sons and step mother to one little girl. As she said to me recently, "I've got a big grown up life now, Mum."

Thank you Lord for her. Bless her and keep her and her family and may she remember her Creator in the days of her youth.

The Ties Have It

Looking through some church photographs today, one of several Ministers and Elders, reminded me of a lesson with my eldest daughter when she was learning to read.

There were several pictures that she had to describe and one was of ten conservative looking men in ties.

"That's a picture of ten elders" she exclaimed confidently!

Little Women, Great Mothers

Remember the warm glow that came over you when you first held your new baby? The feeling that your heart would burst. The feeling that no one was ever quite so clever, and no baby was ever quite so beautiful as this one of yours?

When I set eyes on my first grandchild, I was over-awed by this same emotion. Except this time there was my baby gazing with glazed and adoring eyes at her own little miracle! So when I became a granny the second time round I was more prepred but not any less amazed. God has blessed us with this precious gift, to bare and raise children, and given us this marvellous, powerful love to help us to get through the rough patches when they come.

Today, as so many times in the months of the lives of these little ones, I have been thanking God for the blessing they are to us. Their mothers, my daughters, are not walking with the Lord and this is a great heartbreak to me. Praise God for his comfort and Word to us. I can continue to encourage, be an example and gently rebuke my children even as adults, praying for their salvation. But I can also say, Lord, I bring them before you and trust them to you. And what is more, I can still be an influence for good in the lives of the next generation.

Mostly today, I have been marvelling at the beautiful mothers my daughters have become. They are so tender and responsive, yet organised and so much more confident than I ever remember being. We see a lot of all of them and both girls make a special effort to spend time with their brothers and keep building on their relationships with them, though they have not lived in the same home for some time. They both have the boys over when I need to go to appointments and meetings or just for together time. Best of all I think, they ensure that their brothers are having lots of hands on time with their nephews. This gives the little men experiences they might miss at the end of a family. It gives them responsibility and a need to rise in maturity. It also gives the mums a break occasionally which is much appreciated, and hopefully will lead to the babies having good role models to look up to.

My own mother is a great inspiration to me and a wonderful example of devotion and self sacrifice. I believe her mother was before her though I barely remember her. My paternal grandmother though I knew well and was very close to as a young woman. She was a true pioneering woman of the Australian bush and I spent a lot of time listening and learning at her knees. Having educated my children at home has meant we also have cemented a solid relationship and enjoy friendship as well as a mother/daughter relationship. I am miffed, but actually very pleased :o), at how little my daughters need me! I pray to continue, by God's grace to be a role model to them.

Today, I am just enjoying their lovely company and the delightful grandchildren they have given me!