My Son and Me

This post catches me by surprise as I never expected to have this depth of emotion around the relationship I have with my son. My son already holds a special place in my heart as he was my first child and he is the only boy. My son introduced me to motherhood, and it was a really pleasant introduction. I've never had complicated pregnancies or deliveries; as a matter of fact, I gave birth to all 4 children without any pain meds (I'm either strong or stupid!). When I had my son, I can't say I knew what love was immediately, but over time I learned.

My son was a pleasant baby with an easy going disposition. He was always a foodie who ate well. As a matter of fact, because I was a new mother and he was a good eater, I didn't introduce foods properly so when he developed allergies, I was never sure what he was allergic

Providence Not Coincidence

Photo by Andrew Worley on Unsplash

Something happens every morning in a parent's brain when they are dropping their young charges to school. It seems that parents collectively lose their minds - horns honking, speed racing, cutting off each other to get as close to the drop off point, irritability when driving, poor decision making. Does any of this resonate with you? Though I enjoy the little bit of time I have in the car with my child, it's all the stuff swirling outside that is hectic and chaotic. I'm an early riser, but this particular task of dropping children to school, I never look forward to.

Words Are Things of Little Cost

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Life is short and very precious. I am on an impromptu visit to the East Coast dealing with a spate of deaths in the family. Due to the weather my flight was cancelled. As I sit here working from home my dad and I are having sporadic conversation. He's lived a long life but one of the things he remembers is the words from the hymn below that he learned in Sunday School. The first time he mentioned this poem to me was about two years ago. At that time I wrote the entire text down, because I could not find it when I googled it. Today I googled it and found the actual text.

Prayer for Daily Grace- by John George Fleet

Words are things of little cost

Quickly spoken, quickly lost;

Witnesses at God’s right hand,

And their testimony bear

For us, or against us there.

Oh, how often ours have been

Idle words and words of sin!

Words of anger, scorn or pride

Or deceit, our faults to hide,

Envious tales,of strife unkind

Leaving bitter thoughts behind.

Grant us Lord from day to day,

Strength to watch and grace to pray:

May our lips, from sin kept free,

Love to speak and sing of thee

Till in heaven we learn to raise

Hymns of everlasting praise.

My dad learned this in Sunday School and these words, the words of the poem have stuck with him. It is the fact that words are precious, and once said they can't be unsaid. It may be why he appears quiet and tries to be so careful when he speaks. But he also acknowledged we've all made mistakes with our words.
Going forward, I'm sure I'll always hear his voice in my head saying, "Words are things of little cost, quickly spoken, quickly lost.." in that very strong Bajan accent.

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. James 1:19 [NLT]

Are you careful with your words? Is there something you do that cautions you before you speak? If you were reckless with your words, what do you do to correct the situation? 

Life's Little Pleasures

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There is a lot of unrest in the world as I write; without me naming specific incidents you can probably recite them.
Those things can weigh you down, so instead I'll think about life's little pleasures. Not because I'm in denial, but because these things make me happy and when I'm happy I can tackle bigger problems.

So here's some of life's little pleasures:

• The Little One had a friend over; they're doing nothing special but the laughter and enjoyment of each others company puts a smile on my face.

• When visiting my parents in NY seeing the smiles on their faces as everyone was around.

• Having conversations or small talk with my children; extra pleasure - hearing maturity.

• Catching up with friends over a cup of tea.

• Alone time.

• Couple time.

• Holding hands.

• Sunrise - being outside at the crack of dawn.

• Telling a joke and everyone getting it.

• The satisfaction you get from the smell of clean laundry just out of the dryer; actually being at the dryer when it stops so you can still feel the warmth of the clean clothes.

• Exercise.

• Reading - I just completed a variety of books on my vacation which increased my enjoyment.

• Praying - in the moment right where you are; sometimes just to offer thanks or to ask for help.

• Answered pray - seeing solutions in small ways to big things that I've prayed about. 

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Little pleasures for me often involve laughter, smell, touch and memory. Little pleasures put a smile on my face. Little pleasures remind me that even though this world has gone mad, there's still much to smile about and perhaps there's something I can offer to quell the madness. Little pleasures have a huge impact.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

James 1:16, 17 (NIV)

What can you add to the list of little pleasures?

The Generations

I'm sitting here watching my parents in the kitchen baking "Sweet Bread" a coconut filled dessert from Barbados.
It's quite funny to watch as for all my life when I was at home my mom was the baker and made the best sweet bread.  Since my dad retired he's taken up a new hobby - baking and now he's the expert.  It's quite funny listening to the interactions between them in the kitchen.

Last night they made my dad's version, tonight my mom is doing hers.

My little one commented, "Grandpa really knows how to bake!"  I don't know how that went over with my mom, but she knows how to bake also.

In any event, we are the beneficiary of all of this wonderful baking and plan to enjoy it - I'll just work out harder!

If you're curious - here's a recipe.

I'm glad my parents got a chance to visit and spend time with us.

Do your parents have any special recipes that they share with you?