"Mommy...I HAVE to Make Mud!

Reading With a 5 Year Old

--I apologize for the poor formatting.  I have been struggling  for several hours with this post.  Seth's words are in green font.  The rest are my words or some background narration.Tonight I was reading Seth a story before bed.  He chose the biblical story of Rebecca--how she met the stranger at the well, married Isaac and bore twins, Esau and Jacob.

I start reading and as I come to the part where Abraham's servant is in the home of Rebecca amidst her family.  Seth interjects:
"Mom, we sit around a table in Sunday School and I was sitting beside ____________(insert name) and he put glue in my hair here, here, but not hear (as he points to various parts of his head).  And I didn't yell at him."
"That's good Seth, now lets get back to the story." We continue to read and soon Seth interrupts again.
"Mom, what if just you and me were in the house and a badger came and grabbed me?"
Thinking he wants an insanely heroic action scene, I tell him, "I would run and grab a pitchfork and stab the badger.  Or I would stomp on his head and kick him until he let you go."
"Or...you could grab the lawnmower and blow grass in his face."
"Ummm, yeah, I suppose I could.  Let's keep reading." We read how Rebecca was a real comfort to Isaac when his mother, Sarah, died.
"Mom, are there witches in heaven?"
WHAT???!!!  Where did this come from?  "No Seth,  There are no witches in heaven.  They will all be thrown into hell.""Will Satan throw them into hell?"

"No, God will do that."

"Oh, well, that's really good.  Keep reading mom."
Alrighty then.....I continue on to the part where after being barren for 20 years, God gave Rebecca not only 1 baby, but TWO!

"That's what happened to Dora the Explorer!"
"Dora the Explorer had babies???"

"Yup!  She had 2."
"That's so totally crazy that I hardly believe it.  Let's just keep reading."
I continue with the story and come to the place where we learn that Isaac is going blind.  I tell Seth to close his eyes to see what it's like to be blind.
"Mom, I can still talk when my eyes are closed."
"Yes, Seth.  Isaac could still talk too.  There was nothing wrong with his mouth or his voice.  Only his eyes.
"Oh."
"So Esau went out to kill a wild animal for his dad.  It was probably something like a deer."
"OHHHHH, I'm really scared of deers, Mom.  They run REALLY fast.  I run fast too.  And dragons can run fast.  Dragons breathe fire too.  They can puts lots of trees on fire."
"Are we done the story now?"
"Do you want to be finished?"
"Yes, because I'm thirsty."

I wish his kindergarten teacher the best of luck in September.

Poor Lincoln

 

Everyday my favorite guy leaves for hours.  It didn't always used to be this way.  We used to play all the time.  I've tried pinning him down to keep him here.  I've tried to be especially playful in the mornings.  But still he leaves--and he doesn't come back for hours.

 

 

Sigh.

My Grandpa Boots

I am Courtney.  Yesterday my grandpa brought me some new boots.  They are colorful.  They have piles of shapes.  They are crazy--just like me.

I have been battling fevers all week long.  My mom ended up using almost this entire bottle of Advil to keep my fever down over 5 days.  In fact, when grandpa brought me my new boots, I was lying on the couch and just not up to anything--and that includes greeting grandpa who ALWAYS puts candies in my house.  

But as I went to bed that night, as feverish as I still was, I INSISTED that I wear my new grandpa boots downstairs.  I also INSISTED they sit on my dresser all night where I could see them.




Anyways, today my mom brought me to the hospital.  My fever just wouldn't come down and I guess she wanted the doctor to give me some medicine.  I wore my grandpa boots to the hospital.  The annoying lady put a thing in my ear and a sticky thing on my finger and a beeping thing by my jaw.  I was so brave but then the lady wanted mom to take off my coat and boots.  That's when I started to cry.  They made me sit in a seat to see how heavy I was.  I continued to cry.  Even mom didn't get it.  I mustered all my strength and looked at mom with tear-filled eyes, "I need my grandpa boots."  So I got my grandpa boots right back again.

I love my grandpa boots.  Thank you grandpa.



When Little Pink Feet Herald Trouble

I came up the stairs and this caught my eye.....little pink feet standing on a stool in front of an open refrigerator.....

 

 

Apparently she needed eggs, though I never did find out for what.....

A Nostalgic Assault

Nostalgia is powerful.  Nostalgia affects people.  It reminds them of simpler days, of more pleasant memories.  Marketers capitalize on nostalgia all the time.  Anything from over-priced baby picture shoots to elaborate vacations, nostalgia has become marketable.  And people fall for it every time.  I don't think nostalgia is a bad thing.  I will say, sometimes it becomes one of those powerful things that hits you unsuspectingly like a load of bricks, and then keeps you in a fierce hold for some time to come.  With that in mind, I'd like to share my own most recent nostalgic experience.

 

In January, hearing that Dr. David Murray was coming to preach in my sister's church, we decided as a family to go down to Monarch to visit the cousins and spend a Sunday hearing this man preach.  The quiet moments while sitting in that church rose swiftly and became an overpowering assault of nostalgia threatening to break me.

 

I had not been in a Free Reformed Church since I was 8 years old.  I was baptized as an infant in the FRC in lower mainland BC and my family faithfully attended 2 services every Sunday, that is, until I hit grade 3 and we moved to Alberta to an area where there were no FRC's. 

 

As I sat in the pew that Sunday, I glanced over and looked out the large window--my eyes resting on the majestic view of the mountains of Southern Alberta.  Why did this all feel so vaguely familiar?

 

As the Consistory filed in , I took notice of the pastor standing before the pulpit in a moment of prayer before he rose to preach.  Ah, yes...I remember that too.  I became rather overcome with emotion as the familiar sound of the pipe organ sounded and those 'oh so long ago' familiar songs played.  I reached for that blue psalter that I had not handled in over 22 years and immediately recognized those song titles which just seemed to jump out at me.

 

Perhaps this is all a naïve childlike romanticism that I am experiencing.  But that Sunday meant so very, very much to me.  It reminded me of a time when life was good, when life was simple and sweet.  Those billowing sorrows were still yet so far away.

 

 

Forgive this sappy post.  It's hard not to get choked up over this.  That Sunday I met and spoke to a preacher who, though I had never met before today, had made a big impact on my life through his ministry.  I worshipped in a church that felt so much like home to me.  We only sang from the psalms.  The preaching was clear and completely Christ-centered.  And the reverence that was upheld throughout the entirety of the service by the congregation was something I had forgotten.  I was finally home again.  There really is no other way to describe it.  This is where I needed to be.  This was right.  This was HOME.  And since returning to Edmonton, I have fiercely missed being in the FRC church.

 

So after the service I acquired the 2 CD's pictured above.  Those CD's are FULL of songs that I learned as a child.  They are psalms that come out of that old, yet familiar Psalter.  I still remember most of them.  And oh, how I treasure these CD's.

I also got these 2 books from that FRC church that same Sunday.  As a result, these little volumes are yet another dear reminder of a sweet, sweet Sunday that the Lord allowed me to enjoy.  Nostalgia indeed.

I miss those days.  Call it what you will --childish sentimentalism perhaps.  But I cannot dismiss the impact that Sunday had on me.  3 months later I'm still thinking fondly of it.  Funny the things that really stay with you throughout life.  I've been in the FRC for 8 years--my 8 earliest years.  I've been out of the FRC for over 22 years--including my most influential years.  And coming back to the FRC is like coming home again.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: Please don't misunderstand me to think that I am unhappy in my current church.  I love the church I am currently in.  The preaching is amazing.  The fellowship is wonderful.  This post is just to highlight how good memories can hit a person and even make them feel a little homesick for the good ole' days.