Okay, so why is it that no one told me how EXHAUSTING it is to have kids?!? We are having a time over here with sick Kieren. Poor thing, she has been sick so long she is just SAD. Actually, as I write this, it is Sunday afternoon, and I don't want to jinx it, but I think she might have made a turn towards health and happiness again because she is actually HAPPY this afternoon for the first time in like 2 weeks. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thursday was a long day, however, and by the afternoon I had just come to the end of myself. We are so blessed to have Granny Jacoba with us, because she helped with Kieren for much of the day, but I was still DONE by the evening, and it was Thanksgiving on top of that. I thought it would be no big deal that we were postponing our Thanksgiving celebration for Saturday, but for some reason not being able to share that day with our families, and then not being able to call because of internet problems was really heartbreaking. Then Thursday evening I had my final Parenting workshop at Ocean View Methodist to lead and I just didn't have it in me. I considered many times just cancelling, but I am working on making my 'yes's be 'yes,' so I put some random things together and dragged myself over there. We ended up having a large crowd and even some men, which made it worse for my then guilty heart. But I opened the night with confession about my fatigue and how this week has taught me only that I'm not sure I'm strong enough for this parenting stuff. We prayed together and spent the night discussing some great scriptures, sharing stories, and just learning and leaning on one another. I prayed with my friend Dalena who also almost didn't come and was having major problems with her adult children, and so we just laid ourselves out before God. We even had a random drunk guy come in and give a mumbled speech to us; which was really sad because he was really telling us that kids follow their parents and to not be like him. The guys prayed with him and escorted him out; but I bet that didn't happen at YOUR bible study this week!! It was crazy, because at the end of the strange night I was revived and encouraged. And then on Friday night, one of our favorite families, who were there on Thurs, randomly stopped by and took Kieren for the night. SO SPECIAL. That's how it works around here, people just pitch up and help out without even asking. It was humbling. Kieren is so loved and we are so cared for, and all that I experienced this week just underscores one of my main teaching points of this workshop as a whole, that we care for kids TOGETHER as a family and church community. It was amazing to experience that for myself this week!
Check out my rand-o notes from the workshop by clicking here.
Lots of (community) love!
Sarah
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