We are at home. M is clearly upset.
Me: Hey, what's wrong?
M: It's (sob!) Jackson... He says he doesn't want to marry me... (sob!)
J: But Madi, I'm not ALLOWED to!!
M: But why not?
Me: Well, you can't decide who to marry now anyway because it's a very grown up thing to do and, um... when you're old enough to be married, you won't WANT to marry your brother and-
M (Interrupting): Yes I will!
J: You won't Madi, and they won't let us!! (Wanders off with a nerf gun, shaking his head at me)
Me: You won't babe. He'll always be someone very special to you but the love you have for him isn't the marrying kind of love. Plus, when people get married they tend to have babies. So you know that means a little diddy cell from the mum and a little diddy cell from the dad to make a new person yeah?
M: Yes.
Me: But if the 2 people are brother and sister, the baby will be poorly and might die.
M: (Aghast) No! That's horrible, why?
Me: I don't know- it's to do with the blood of the 2 people being too similar. So babies don't turn out right.
M: Oh so brothers and sisters are incompatible then?
Me: Exactly.
M: Oh ok then.
Thank you Dragonvale.
I am at a church leaders meeting where we have an hour just to be with God and have no demands or interruptions. I didn't read the email properly and am unprepared. I have no phone, Bible, nothing. And a million thoughts in my head as normal. Drat. Everyone in the room is ready for this and we're off. OK. Start somewhere. Start with the thing Martin just said. Streams. Being refreshed. Being thirsty. I am thirsty actually. Water is fantastic stuff. Without it we would all be dead in 3 days and it just falls from the sky as a gift. Thank you God. I love water. There are a ton of verses about that. I've read them. I want to read them again. I have no Bible though. Ah but K has his phone. And he's not using it. I'll wander over like this. I'll gently try to take it and raise my eyebrows when his eyes meet mine so he knows I'm asking for it and he says YES you can have my phone. Thank you, I love you. I launch the Bible app and find verse after verse after verse about water and all other kinds of stuff. It's a goldmine in here! Read. Pray. Read. Pray. Read. Pray. And scribble like a woman possessed on the prayer wall. Scriptures, illustrations and song lyrics from ages ago that probably no one but K will recognise. Pray. Scribble. Read. Scribble. Pray. Read. Pray. Pray. Pray. God is real and he's here. Yay! And now K needs his phone back. And the background music has stopped. And there is silence. And more silence. And no Bible- paper or digital. And nothing in my long term memory. How is that possible? I know there are memorised verses there somewhere. It must be a short circuit due to the panic of trying to find them. Like trying to find your keys when you're late for school. Why don't I read the Bible more? And why don't the bits I do read sink down into my brain and allow themselves to be remembered when I need to refer to them? I need the Bible. I need it need it need it. It's just too quiet now. Everyone else is praying or reading or scribbling on the wall I've just moved away from and comfortable with all of this and I'm struggling with the no music and no Bible. There must be one round here somewhere.
Ah you want to read the Bible now then, do you?
Well yes, I do.
How badly?
Really really badly.
You have one at home.
Yes I know.
More than one actually.
Yes... (I know what's coming next)
And you didn't read it this morning did you?
Yes I know. You know too- me and mornings...?
And how about after the second cup of tea that woke you up?
I kind of got busy with work.
I have work too y'know.
Yes, but-
And I have more to do than you do.
Ah of course. Good point - well made.
There's probably a Bible over there- in the youth room.
Thanks God.
Retrieved from the washing machine: Important bits of paper x many. And a nice clean fiver.
We spent an inordinate amount of time this weekend changing all the door handles in the house (so they now match) and replacing the downstairs shower as the old one kept pretending it had low pressure and randomly running cold, usually when the person standing underneath it was all sudded up in Lynx.
So now it's Monday morning and J has NO clean school trousers in his drawer.
E's trousers are about 8 years too big for him and Madi's flair at the bottom and have little silver hearts dangling from a belt loop, so neither of these are options.
The damp back-log of washed clothes from Friday is still at the back door, peg bag positioned on top of it, because we almost hung them out 2 days ago.
I tumble-dry just a pair of trousers in 20 minutes while J eats his cereal in his boxers. He puts them on while they are still warm then we run to school.
Living on the EDGE I tell you... It's exhilarating.
