7 Quick Takes Friday #7qt
1.
We have had an amazingly warm week here. All the snow is now melted from our front yards! And there isn’t really much left in the back yard either. We have been outside much, which is awesome. There is a little girl a couple doors down from us who is about the same age as Cassia, and now that it’s nice out, we get to visit with her and her mom and see them more often! Winter sure shut up our opportunities for meeting people in our neighbourhood.
She shoveled that water for 45 minutes. Completely entertained herself.
He sat and played in this grass pile I raked and entertained himself for 30 minutes. Complete bliss.
2.
We even cleaned off the deck and had a lunch outside this week. I mean, what’s not to love about this weather? OK, well, truth be told, the wind has driven us indoors the past two days. Just on the other side of the block from us they are developing a new neighbourhood from a farmer’s field. So it’s flat and all dirt, which means that when the wind hits it, all the dust/dirt gets blown into our street (cause the wind almost always comes from that direction). I must say, it ain’t fun when you get attacked by a dirty wind whilst attempting to take a child out of a car seat. Pebbles in the face aren’t exactly what I call fun. I’m too old for that kind of ‘fun’. Now I get my kicks from … baby?
3.
Speaking of baby, I still have one in the tums.
Andy started taking too many pictures…
35 weeks now. And baby is sure fond of kicking. Recently started punching too. My right hip bone has never known such violence, and it’s awkward to react to the sudden hits while in public. Nothing like striking a random pose in an attempt to thwart the sudden fist on your hip bone while surrounded by people… “Oh, er – hi…why did I suddenly thrust my right pelvic area in your general direction, you’re wondering? Um, well, it’s not what you think…you see, the baby inside is punching me…”
The other two kids never did this. This kid knows how to make me uncomfortable already.
4.
I meant to mention this last week, but amidst all the hair re-design of my husband’s, it didn’t make it in. We finally have our new blinds up in the den! We’ve only had them parked in their boxes there since January, so that’s a win, right?
The ugly old ones that never opened or closed properly.
New ones! With a creepy-moustache-husband to go with them!
5.
I attempted gluten-free, low carb muffins from a pinterest find this past week. I have to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed. I have a post nearly ready to go describing in detail what happened, but I’m hoping that there’s a better recipe out there. I’d make them again, but as a last resort.
6.
Did you know that next week is Holy Week? Am I the only one who is a little astonished that Lent ends in less than a week? It’s Palm Sunday this week, folks!
7.
At the Mom’s Group that I attend, Fr. Colin came to chat with us, and decided he’d try to do lectio divina with us. Actually, it worked out fairly well (God was watching out for us, maybe. The kids aren’t usually so quiet and content). It was on the first reading from Tuesday, which was from Numbers 21: 4-9:
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Now, this is a pretty classic read. Maybe this reveals a little more about me than is wise, but as soon as I heard that God sent serpents on them, I started laughing to myself. As I looked around our group I noticed that everyone else had sombre faces, listening intently, and taking it seriously. Perhaps they have more composure, or maybe they’re just in a better place spiritually to read into it with more meaning. I, however, utterly enjoyed the fact that God was not pleased with his children and so he gave them something to complain about. ‘Didn’t like the manna, did you? Think it’s hot and dry out? Well, how about I give you some poisonous serpents to keep you company in your misery, you sorry sods.’ Is this because I relish that God punished his people? No. Au contrair, it fully reminds me of how I feel towards my children several times a day. And yet, when Moses calls God on it, God is all like, ‘Aw, yeah. I love you guys. Here, go make yourselves healthy again.’ But take note – God doesn’t take the serpents away, he just gives the Israelites a way to heal themselves after being bitten. Like a little reminder, ‘Hey, don’t forget to have gratitude peeps.’
If I were to seriously look at this passage, the first thing I’d note is that being in a hot desert with limited water and just manna would be a source of complaint for me. But thankfully, through Jesus, I am not at the receiving end of divine punishment for my fall from grace. I have been offered “living water” and I accept with gratitude this mercy. It gives me the freedom to look back and chuckle on the way things were once, and yet I know that it is only through grace that things have changed in my favour. And it’s a reminder to me that I need to reflect that mercy that God shows to me, especially to my children. Even when they gnash their teeth and complain bitterly about how things are (note to self – do not send poisonous snakes).
But I think Jesus appreciates a chuckle every once in awhile too.