CHILDREN VS PETS

EMPTY NEST SYNDROME/ ..... get a bird

..... or adopt 3 more kids, that' a lot easier.

We inherited a parrot from friends 3 years ago, a parrot, always wanted one, very intelligent and lots of fun to have around! Yeah right ........

Todate I am lucky to have all my fingers and toes, and the scars, well, they eventually fade.

She took over the moment she arrived and then went on to fall in love with my husband, and barely tolerate me. She and I, we have a long standing love/hate relationship. She uses me. If I am eating anything, she sucks up because, despite her less attractive qualities, she knows I have a soft spot for her and will give her some of what I am eating. If I drink anything, more of the same. Parrots have this habit of dunking crusts, buscuits, anything hardish into their water to soften it, but if my coffee is on hand that is even better. As a result, when I get to the end of my coffee I find all sorts of saturated disintegrated food stuffs in the bottom of my cup.

She is very possessive, my husband is hers, my bed is hers, my clothes and make up are all hers. Everything is hers, and I have had to literally fight her off if I get too close to that which is hers. If I try to iron my husband' s clothes whilst she is around, she lands in the middle of it and I have to shut her out of the room to complete my task.

The radio, tv, phone and anyone who wants to speak are all competition for her, and she screams over it all, she will out scream, out damage and out destroy any child. She saves the best for my husband. She fluffs herself up, making the most amazing clicking sound while she flattens her body and puts her wings out. This is the mating call. Then she sees me and becomes quite menopausal and irrational.

This love she has for him even extends to bathing with him. If he forgets to fill a large jug with water and set it down beside him, she lands in his bath with him.

I have to "parrot proof" the flat as even in the bird world idle minds are the devils workshop. There will be the contents of the dressing table, make up, tablets and even the contents of the rubbish bin strewn on the floor. No, she does not have a cage, only a parrot stand. I know, stupid hey.

The best time of the day, why, exactly the same for anyone who has spent an exhausing day with an active toddler, bedtime! She is put firmly on her perch, a sheet is thrown over the stand, and blanket over that.

So, read this when empty nest syndrome comes your way and you are considering alternatives, things are not always what they seem, and sheep definitely come in wolves clothing!

BRING A CHILD UP IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO ......

Twenty three years ago my 4th child and son came into this world.

From the moment I saw him, I prayed that God would take this child back when he was grown, and use him in his ministry any way that He would.

We worship a faithful God who promises much to us. Two weeks ago, my son Brian, made a comitment to the Lord. He felt his life lacking.

My 3 daughters all follow the Lord and raise their children accordingly. I thank the Lord today that He has not only protected them all, but been true to his promise that if we bring a child up in the way he should go, when he is grown he will not depart from it.

Brian boy, you were His from the start, I have prayed for you for 23 years, as I did your sisters before you. Isn't it a wonderful starting point in your christian walk to know that God does answer prayer and that He honours all the promises He has made to us in his Word.

Thank you Kerry (Rivers of Joy-blogspot.com) for being there for him when his father and I could not. You are a blessing.



WOW - WE SERVE A GREAT GOD

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

A thief in the night nearly ended the lives of my loved ones and myself, as we know it, this week.

He is no man, this thief, a man would walk through the front door in broad daylight. HE came through the roof in the dear of night, with a gun, to plunder, kill, and steel that which was not his to take. But to take things that were earned by the hands and minds of hardworking honest people. My mother and stepfather. They are both in their mid 70's.

The alarm goes off at 3.00am. My stepfather gets up to check on the house. The house is large. He finishes up his inspection in the bathroom, all the while on the phone to the security armed response company. He tells them all seems to be ok, then he turns around and there he is, this thief, face to face with my stepdad, gun in hand. My stepdad immediately shouts into the telephone "he's here!" The thief shoots my stepdad through the leg. He locks himself in the bathroom. My mother is in the bedroom but hears all this and she in her turn locks herself in the bedroom.

They wait. And wait. Still the silence goes on.

Slowly my mother opens the bedroom door. Now she is face to face with the thief. She is angry more than afraid and gets a good look at the thief.

He asks her for money, she tells him there is no money in the house and locks the door again.

My stepdad is almost paralyzed with fear not knowing whether my mom, his wife of 30 years and friend of 50 years is even alive.

He got away, this thief, so he is still out there, probably watching someone elses house.

My beloved parents, who are everything to me, now suffer from post traumatic stress. They now have to pick up the pieces of their life and go forward as so many others before them have had to.

I could have lost my mother and father, my children their grandparents, my grandchildren their greatgrand parents. Their friends could have lost their very loyal friends and a community would have been forever changed. Because one thief tried to take what was not his, and had no regard for human life.

I am glad that I have never taken my loved ones for granted. I am glad that I always say "I love you" to them.

I beseech you, never stop showing your love, you never know when it will be the last chance you get.

As for me, I am grateful to God who saw fit to spare them, so that I can continue to say ..... "I love you".

THE WONDER YEARS

As I watch a musical dvd of the era of my teen years of Simon and Garfunkel and Cliffy...swoon,
celebrating their 50 years in show business (where does the time go) I am strolling down memory lane. I am young, my skirts too short and my fringe too long. The world is my oyster, I am at a house party, and parents chaperone. The music blares, we dance, selfconscious, shy. We are discovering boys, first kisses, going steady. All the girls in my class are there, and boys from our brother school. The girls wear hipster bell bottome and boys tight jeans, they flick their long fringes out of their eyes and hold a cigarette in one hand. We all drink soft drink and there are no drugs. The boys inspect the girls and vica versa, as though they had never noticed them before. Talk is of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard and Elvis. My dad is waiting for me out in the car, reading his newspaper. 11pm is my deadline. He always stays up to collect me. The party ends. We go home. I cannot sleep for reliving every little detail of that magical night.

An era ends.

I finish school with the honeymoon of young love behind me. I am 19 now and working. My fiance picks me up in his beetle vw. He is young and handsome. A Policeman in Rhodesia.

Oh, so much to learn, so much heartache to go through, so much joy as each of our 4 children are born.

I am a grandmother now, and if I want to visit that long ago time, I just pop and dvd into the player and it all washes over me again. It was a very special time, but I would not go back, I prefer to stay in the present to love and enjoy the children and grandchildren the Lords has loaned me.

I dedicate this to Victoria-Leigh who is 11 years old and to Tessni who will be 11 in June. It is your time now, enjoy every moment of it girls, but be wise, pay attention to your mom's, they love you and want only the best for you.

I am very proud of you both.

THE WONDER OF DISCOVERY

BETWEEN US, MOTHER .....

A lot lot has happened between us over the years.
We've shared good times that I'll always remember.
We've shared disappointments that neither of us
could have gotten through without the other.
We've spend time together and time apart.
We've shared moments that only a mother and
child will ever know.
There were times when I thought we couldn't
get any closer.
And there were times when we seemed so far apart.
But somehow it is the times we have shared lately
that have seemed the best to me.
Perhaps we understand each other
better now.
I'm no longer a child anymore,
and I know now why you did
some of the things you did.
Perhaps because we're both
more willing to listen now -
to the way each of us things and feels,
and we take such pleasure in being together.
Perhaps because we've been through
so much together
over the years, we have so much in common,
and we are so much alike, you and I,
that somehow it just seems easier to talk
and to share things as friends.

So many times lately, I've wanted to let you
know how I treasure your love.
I only hope these words can somehow relate
all of the feelings I have inside for you.
The wonderful memories you've given me,
the way I look forward to our future times
together,
the incredible thankfulness I feel,
and the never-ending love I have in my heart
for you.

OF ONE MIND

Growing up in Rhodesia was idyllic. My mother was a stay at home mom to myself and my two younger sisters. My father was in the air force and up to the age of 11 we lived in Gwelo, Thornhill, which was the airforce base and married quarters. I was too young at that time to understand the many fears my mother must have had. My father went to cyprus and aiden to help in their war efforts. He was gone months at a time. My only worry was whether he was going to bring me something nice from those far away lands! Dander was not on my radar and my mother hid her anxiety from us well, always reassuring us, I felt safe and secure, I felt happiness for me always was guaranteed.

It was many years later that I fully understood the huge sacrifice she made for us, and what life must really have been like for her.

I married policeman in the British South Africa Police and with the birth of my first daughter, Shirley Ann {Dawn in the home blogspot}, war broke out. It was my turn to be on my own for long periods of time. I went on to have two more daughters Kerry Lyn {Rivers Of Joy Blogspot} and Lisa Jane {Dust to Beauty blogspot}. They were a year apart. Call up babies I called them. I was both mom and dad to them, learned all the tasks my husband did, and did them as well as he did, tried to hide my anxiety and fears to create a safe world for my baby daughters. I had become my my mother. I got it. I hoped and prayed that I was doing as good a job as my mother had done 15 or so years before me.

Then one day an amazing thing happened. We both cherish the memory or it to this day. We lived in a new suburb where telephone lines had not yet been installed and I urgently needed to contact my mother. I fretted and prayed. Fifteen minutes later my mother arrived carrying a pot of half heated soup. "I thought I would come and have lunch with you" she said. For no reasonable reason she had her food off the stove and brought it to me. I needed her and she knew, she was there. I was speechless, but very very grateful. She was still keeping my world safe! Half cooked food? I dont really know what to thing about what happened that day. We did not need a telephone that was for sure!

My mother shared much of the lives of my children while they were growing up, she reaps the rewards.
We left Rhodesia when Shirley Ann was 7. We also went onto have a son when the girls were half grown. He knew what it was was to have a present father all the time, he did not have to go to school in a landmine vehicle, picnics wernt restricted to the garden. Life for him was good.

Thank you mom for all you have done and all you mean to me and your grandchildren. They too love you very much.