Wednesday 29 April 2009

Completely Embarassed


I felt the heat rise, and my cheeks getting flushed. I felt like such a fool, but still couldn't think of another way to stop the impending doom. I had jumped to my feet and yelled out, perhaps louder than really necessary, "Jonas, don't you dare!" I watched as my enraged 2 year old took hold of the hand of another little boy in the cafe's play area, mouth open, teeth bared.


My outburst had caught him just in time, he dropped the hand and looked at me with a quizzical look, "Something wrong, mommy?" I marched over to the ball pit and simply looked at my two boys. My 3 year old walked slowly over to the table to put his shoes on, no questions asked. Jonas, still puzzled by the turn of events, followed his brother to prepare to leave. I could feel the eyes of the Spanish mothers as they looked our way. I'm not sure my quiet "Discupla" and "Perdoname" was enough to cover the outburst.

It's interesting, and frustrating, to watch the boys' very different ways of dealing with conflict and strangers. Bramwell will most usually back down and give in. Jonas, as experienced today, will fight tooth and nail to get his way. Not that much time between the two birthdays, same parents, same living situation, but still so different.

Needless to say, I'm not sure I can show my face at that cafe for a little while....

Monday 20 April 2009

What do you write when you don't want to write?

The rain has let up for today. I got some laundry done. And I've decided that I should update the blog. I'm sure when one stops updating very regularly, the number of visitors and comments surely will dwindle....and one could never have that??

I've been contemplating the Ministry lately. (I use a capital M because I mean ministry in general, not necessarily a specific one.)...anyways... Too often I tend to define the Ministry by flashy programs that capture attention, 'wow' the community, so good they create 'waiting lists'. Or define it by the number of seats filled or the attendance to those flashy programs...

I know that these are not what Jesus defined Ministry by, and it's important to remind myself that neither should I. My ministry within the Ministry is to live like Jesus in front of the people around me. I must choose to simply be an example of what Jesus calls each of us to be, that's the Ministry. Each 'ministry' within holds various responsibilities, but the definite purpose is to show Jesus through it all. Regardless of the tangible results.

Monday 6 April 2009

Q: How do you make sure it rains? A: Hang your laundry on the line to dry.

It's going to rain....again. It's been raining off and on for a week now. My parents arrived a week ago, and its been relatively rainy since. I haven't had much to write about either...so here's a few pictures.


We played on the beach today...it was a little too cold. On Saturday we went to Guadalest. A town high in the mountains.


We spent time walking on the boardwalk in Javea.


And we've been having a pretty good time...when the sun is out.