Stormy week

This week we have had stormy weather, with a storm just about every day. Yesterday topped it off with three storms in the same day. The evening one produced small hail so it was a blessing that we were at home. We also blessed our neighbours by putting out our old hail blanket on the footpath for kerbside cleanup this week, which they used to cover one of their teenager's cars. The blanket wasn't in great shape, and the hail didn't end up being too large, but I hope it helped them out a little bit.

Our dogs have been finding it hard to deal with all the storm activity. The boy dog gets a bit barky when the thunder starts up. Telling him to be quiet doesn't work, so last night things were loud both inside and outside when the hail was coming down. 

The girl dog has a quieter type of anxiety. The curl-up-in-foetal-position-and-shake type. She likes to find an enclosed space so she feels a bit safer. We've found her hiding in the furthest corner under the kids' beds, and last night she chose the toilet for her hidey hole. At least she knew that the smallest room in the house was the safest place to be. Today we've had a relatively small storm in the afternoon, just a few thunder rumbles and a bit of rain. She's been curled up between our kitchen dresser and one of the dining room chairs the whole time. We've tried giving her cuddles and lots of reassurance but she just seems to be happy to be by herself in her enclosed space. I can relate.

The Bureau of Meteorology tells me that the run of storms is perhaps coming to an end after tomorrow. I think the dogs will be grateful. Although there seems to be more forecast later in the week, just as the First Test is getting underway in Brisbane.

Image from here.

Great library find

Chris found this book at the library a couple of weeks ago and since then, I have really been enjoying reading it with Rosie. It's quite different from some of Julia Donaldson's other well known books (eg. The Gruffalo) but it's a great book for 3-5 year old little girls. Not too many words, lots of great illustrations to fire up their imaginations, and inspiration for non-crafty types like me to make paper dolls with the kids since we have some rainy weather on the way here this week. What's not to like?

We're also big fans of some of Julia Donaldson's other books here. Stick Man and Tabby McTat have also been given a big workout this year after we gave them to Rowan for his birthday last year. 

Highly recommended reading.

Attention Rowan....

Please stop eating the dog food.

That is all.

I know he can't read this, but I do feel much better having vented about it....

Saturday night Muppets

Ah, the Muppets. It's been a while.

Posting this because one of my children is currently memorizing Jabberwocky for this term's school poetry reciting. Such a strange poem it is too...

Contemplating life's (un)important questions here...

Today I spent at least fifteen minutes gazing at the discounted wool in Lincraft wondering whether Paton's "Classic Totem" is the same as Paton's "Totem." The former was the only wool I could find in the shop with "Totem" in its name, the latter was the wool recommended in my knitting pattern (but only as a substitute for "Fireside," of which there was none at all).

After that excessive amount of contemplation (which was only possible because my husband is still on holidays and I had left the little people at home with him, after previous embarrassing episodes with a two year old pulling lots of balls of wool off the shelves) I eventually decided to risk it and use "Classic Totem." I'm going to have a go at knitting my very first tea cosy (not exactly the same as the one in the picture though, I'm using a pattern that involves three different coloured stripes).

Image from here.

This morning's amusement...

I was watching two elderly ladies from the Jehovah's Witnesses trying to leave their magazines with the volunteers at the Salvation Army second hand clothing shop this morning. I'm sure I heard one of the JW's say, "You can just leave them on the counter for people to collect."

So when I went up to pay for the shorts and T-shirts I was buying, there the magazines were on the counter.

I hope the volunteers were planning to take them away once the JW's had gone. Probably not the kind of material they'd be wanting to promote.

I did find it a little bit funny though.

Thinking about....

...Christians who choose to marry non Christians.

A close relative of ours (single, early 40s, similar age to me) has just announced her engagement. My husband told me that when he spoke to her, she sounded happier than he had heard her sound for many years. I think she has been really lonely for a long time.

But we have mixed emotions about it all. She is a Christian. My husband clearly remembers when she was converted to Christ. But her fiance isn't. This is his second marriage/partnership. We haven't met him yet. He has met some other members of the family, all of whom say he seems to be a really nice guy. He even asked permission from her parents (both Christians) before he asked her to marry him. They did say yes, but they also told him they weren't happy that he wasn't a Christian.

I'm finding it hard to know how to be supportive in this situation. I think there are other members of my husband's family who might refuse to go to their wedding. I think we will go, but I have this feeling that I'll find it very hard to watch. She has a lot of non-Christian friends who I think will probably make up for the mixed emotions coming from her family's direction.

We're not on the kind of terms where I could say to her upfront, "Look, if you think you were lonely before you got married, that's nothing compared to what it could be like AFTER you get married if you marry someone who doesn't believe what you do!" I'm probably not the right person to say it anyway, she would just see it as coming from the smug perspective of someone who's been married for many years and doesn't understand how hard it is to be single. And on one level, she's right.

But at the same time, I think single people find it hard to believe that even in a marriage where the two partners are both believing Christians, there can be lonely times. I have had them. But I do know that if I pray about things that are bothering me, then my husband will pray with me and we will work through it because we share the same perspective on life. We believe God is in control of what happens, that He has a plan for our lives, and that despite our sinfulness, He loved us more than any other human being could possibly love us. I don't know what I would do if the person I was choosing to spend my life with didn't share that view.

My husband and I decided to pray for her husband-to-be each day, that he will come to know Christ. We know there is no guarantee that this will happen. But I think it's all we can do right now without causing a family rift.