ouch

One of the fun aspects of being pregnant is interpreting the movements of my baby. This is a highly subjective process that is easily worked to my advantage. If the baby moves while I'm eating chocolate, obviously baby enjoys chocolate and would like some more. (Of course if I'm honest, most of the time I have no idea what the movements really mean - other than knowing that baby wants to move his/her limbs.)

A night or two ago, I work up at 4.30am absolutely ravenous. This isn't that unusual, and normally I get up and eat a banana or a couple of dried biscuits and go back to sleep. Except this time I decided that I really couldn't be bothered getting up and tried to just go back to sleep. At this baby moved, and it wasn't just the usual gentle kicking - it really hurt! So I took the hint, got up, and ate something and baby settled right back down again.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

Friday Proverb - the fridge man

Recently Andrew and I purchased a new fridge in anticipation of our soon to be expanded family. His old "bachelor fridge" that he brought into our marriage was barely big enough for the two of us, and required creative stacking when we entertained, so we concluded that it was time to upsize.

As sometimes happens with new appliances, our new fridge wasn't everything we hoped it would be - the vegies kept on freezing. Bad news for us and our furry friends in the backyard. So we rang the manufacturer, and the fridge man came to take care of things for us.

Although the fridge man eventually proved to be an able mechanic, he did not score highly in the emotional intelligence department. He didn't really communicate well, disappeared mysteriously for a while (though when he returned he smelled strongly of cigarette smoke), and was quite rude and arrogant in his manner.

Now here is where we turn to what I should have done in response, which contrasts somewhat with what I actually did. Proverbs 12:16 says:

Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.

Given the fridge man's obvious competence in the matter of repairing fridges, I should have just left him to it. Andrew, who is a more even tempered individual than me, was at home and was happy to deal with him.

However, I stayed, showed my annoyance, argued with the fridge man and then stormed out into the backyard. Those who know me personally may think this out of character, although one or two who know me very closely may not be surprised at all.

There are moments in life when it is much better to overlook insulting behaviour, especially for the sake of the gospel. When the fridge man came into our house, he would have seen a large cross over the doorway that goes into our kitchen, a pile of Bibles on the coffee table, and numerous missionary prayer cards on our fridge. How much better would it have been had he also seen an example of Christian patience and love at work.

Hopefully I will do better the next time something like that happens. Thankfully, God's grace to me in Christ is more than big enough to deal with my ungracious behaviour.

Sunday bunny - flat out Honey Bunny

Captured by Andrew - Honey Bunny lies flat out in a self dug trench. Like many mature girl rabbits, she has a ruff of loose skin around her neck, which adds to her somewhat peculiar look.

toxic penguin?

Alas, no Friday Proverb as I've hardly been able to get off the couch all day. However I thought I'd put in a link to a not terribly disturbing article about the big penguin in Penguin, Tasmania.

Hopefully I will post something more meaningful soon : )

Sunday bunnies

Friday Proverb - house building

Proverbs 14:1 The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

This one looks like a no brainer, after all, only an idiot would tear down her own house! However, while I don't go around demolishing my living quarters (though Andrew describes my approach to gardening with the phrase "rip rip woodchip") there are plenty of times when I figuratively do tear down my house. Times when I speak or write or act hastily without thinking through the consequences of my behaviour for others and even myself. Or simply times when I just amble on with life without considering what I'm doing or what the end effect of my choices will be.

So how do I change? I need to work out how to build my own house. This involves catching myself before I act destructively. Asking questions helps. Am I just needing to vent, or can I say words that will bring healing, growth or change? What is the ultimate direction of my plans, big and small? Am I just aimlessly doing stuff, or do I work as a builder? This applies in physical, intellectual and relational realms, among others.

A few examples:

• physical - getting house ready for baby. Am I making preparations that will actually benefit our baby? How many of the things on my list are going to build our family in the right kind of way? Is it being done in such a way that we don't ruin our budget, or, less obviously, our spiritual lives?

• intellectual - am I seeking to love God with my mind? Am I thinking about things that will help me to see the world more and more as He does, or am I filling it with rubbish?

• relational - if I give vent to my emotions now what will the end result be? How can I work to resolve the problem so that this relationship improves?

when things look shaky

With regard to Hebrews 12:28, F. F. Bruce says

... in a day when everything that can be shaken is being shaken before our eyes and even beneath our feet, let us in our turn give thanks for the unshakable kingdom which we have inherited, which endures forever when everything else to which men and women may pin their hopes disappears and leaves not a wrack behind.

p. 392 of The Epistle to the Hebrews by F. F. Bruce in the NICNT series, published by Eerdmans.