Category Archives: Family Friday

Testimony Tuesday. Norming and Storming Brings Unity.

Posted in Family Friday, Healing, Holiday, Ireland, My thoughts, Restoration, Testimony Tuesday by

In earlier years some children left home for university and others were still at home.  At holiday times those at university would return home to Ireland with their luggage.  They would have to find a spare bed or share with others for the duration of the holidays.  We all had to adjust to being in close proximity again.

When children leave they have more space in their new surroundings.  So returning to a confined space stretched their patience and they had to sacrifice their own comfort.  They usually were stressed out after exams at university and tired after all the activity student life demands.  They would crash in bed and sleep late.

I had other expectations.   I looked forward to their company and some help to give me a break from working in the home.  Instead I had more work to do, more cooking and shopping.  Home was somewhere for them to get their batteries recharged.  My batteries were running out.

In my dilemma I would get frustrated with the children and made demands they were not able to meet.  Children would get frustrated with each other and disputes would have to be settled.  All this was too much for me.  I would call on my husband to talk to any child  who was misbehaving and settle disputes between me and the children, or between each other.

Brendan had his work cut out.  He called these times “Norming and Storming.”  The children were disciplined and reconciled.  Often I felt disciplined when I had to be reconciled to my own children.  The father has the ability to do this for his family.  He can bring unity.  While living together as a big family we had to get on with each other and forgive each other.  We had to go through the process each time we were together.

Despite all the Norming and Storming at the beginning, holidays always turned out to be refreshing times when we could spend time together at meals and at play.  My husband and I were stretched at these times.  When everyone left we needed to take a break ourselves to forget about our troubles and spend time together.

When any group of people get together to do a task, they have to take time to know one another.  Each one’s skills and gifts are needed in the Christian life to help each other.  I needed others to help me get healed.  Someone with the gift of healing helped, another with the gift of prophecy encouraged, a deliverer, the doctors, nurses, family and friends were all needed to love me back to health.  God works through people.  We are his hands and feet.  That is why it is important to get on with each other and forgive each other.

We make up the Body of Christ.  Where brothers dwell together in unity The Lord commands a blessing.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” (‭Psalm‬ ‭133‬:‭1, 3‬ NIV)

Family Friday. Confusion with Airports and Flights

Posted in Family Friday, Holiday, My thoughts, Travel by

Brendan and I were visiting our daughter in Edinburgh in July of 2012.   She and her husband had just returned to live in Scotland from Switzerland.  We had flown with Easyjet to Edinburgh from Belfast International Airport.  We were happy to see Ruth and Stuart again after she had settled into her new accomodation.  It was nice to relax and catch up with them.  Brendan needed a longer break so I suggested he stay on for a few days.  

I arranged to pick him up on his return.  I headed off to Belfast International Airport in good time.  In Belfast the traffic was held up.  It was the Twelfth of July and there were Orange Band parades through Belfast.  I had to wait while all the parade passed.  I got anxious that I would be late getting to the airport.  After an impatient delay I eventually was able to be on my way.  I reckoned I would get there on time.

When I arrived in the airport carpark I got a call from Brendan.  He was outside the front entrance waiting for me.  I told him okay,  I was just parking and would meet without further delay.  I walked over to the entrance but Brendan was nowhere to be seen.  I called him on my mobile phone.  He kept explaining he was at the entrance to the airport.  I was perplexed.  He was nowhere to be seen.  I got more exasperated.  He got more annoyed at the other end of the phone.  

Then it dawned on both of us.  I went to the wrong airport to pick him up.  He had arrived into Belfast City Airport on Flybe.  He had changed from  Easyjet to Flybe to get home.  We were both upset with each other.  He suggested he would get the bus home.  I said ” Go ahead. You may get home before I do.”  

I drove off in the car still upset.  After a short time I settled down and called Brendan and said I would pick him up on the way through Belfast.  We decided to forget about the misunderstanding of not going to the right airport.  From then on I make sure I check which airport I am to go to if I have to pick someone up.  Once bitten, twice shy.

We were returning from Canada recently.  We had to get an inland flight from Vancouver to Toronto.  We arrived at the airport in good time to get checked in.  We stood in line at the Westjet desk waiting to check in our baggage.  There were quite a few passengers ahead of us.  When we gave the attendant our tickets she said “I am sorry sir you are flying with Air Canada and pointed us in the direction of the check in desk.”  We had wasted precious time at the wrong desk.  

I asked an attendant could we skip the queue because our flight was leaving soon.  She said,”I’m sorry Madam, the desk is closed.  You are too late to check in.”   We are going to miss this flight and the next connection to Ireland from Toronto!  I ran up to the desk and asked could someone help me.  Thank God a lady helped us.  She opened her desk again and checked our luggage through.  She even gave us a ticket to fast track the security gate.   Phew.  That was a close call.  

We had a very pleasant flight with Air Canada to Toronto.  I was so stressed, I hadn’t realised we had taken off and were airborne.  I was so thankful to God we did not miss the flight home.  God promises me I am under his daily care so I don’t need to fear.

Psalm 71:15. I cannot count the times when you have faithfully rescued me from danger. I will tell everyone how good you are, and of your constant, daily care.

Family Friday. We Move to A New Town

Posted in Family Friday, My thoughts, Nature, Prayer by

 

Brendan and I moved back to Ballynahinch, Co Down where I was born.  Nine children moved with us.  Four other children were at university.  One was married.  Friends were perplexed at us moving away from Coleraine with your big family.  “How were we going to manage?” they asked.  “You will never get good schools like here.  Where will you live? Your children will miss their friends.”

I had been praying for five years that God would provide a bigger home for us.  I knew these young children would turn into teenagers and would need more space.  I believed that God would provide for me.  He gave me my children, and I believed he would help me.  When the children of Israel went into the promised land they were given land according to the size of their tribe.  I had a big family and I hoped that God who helped the children of Israel would do the same for me.

You must distribute the land among the clans by sacred lot and in proportion to their size. A larger portion of land will be allotted to each of the larger clans, and a smaller portion will be allotted to each of the smaller clans. The decision of the sacred lot is final.  (‭Numbers‬ ‭33‬:‭54‬ NLT)

We moved to a modern, warm bungalow.  There was plenty of room for us all.  My son John loved his new home and town.  He made friends easily at his new school.  He loved getting outdoors.  He would spend a Saturday with his new friends walking along the river behind our house or wandering over fields and forests beyond.  There was a corn mill nearby that was still working.  The boys went down there and looked at the large wheel turning with the water flowing over it.  I remember going there when I was a child with my father.  He was getting bags of corn bruised into oats.  The river behind our house fed the wheel that turned the grinding stone in the mill.

John’s adventures reminded me of Robert Louis Stevenson’ poem,

Keepsake Mill.

Over the borders, a sin without pardon,
Breaking the branches and crawling below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,
Down by the banks of the river, we go.

Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,
Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under
Marvellous places, though handy to home!

He would head off down the back of our garden, through a hole in the hedge to meet his friends.  They went fishing and swimming in the river behind the garden.  He would not return till late.

John started a new school, and travelled nine miles by bus to it.  His older sister went to the same school.  Settling into a new area and a new school can be daunting for any child.  John looked on his experience as an adventure and was enjoying a whole new world, new countryside, meeting my extended family, and making new friends.  He never looked back.

I later found out that our new neighbours’ son was bullied on the bus and at the school John went to.  He left and went to another school.  My daughter and son did not face any trouble on the bus or at school.  Because they had each other, no one dared pick on John because his big sister would soon respond and not take any hastle.  She was used to dealing with her siblings.  On any bus full of teenagers there will always be banter.  John and his sister took it all in their stride and didn’t make any enemies.

We all had a family holiday to Spain in the year 2000.  On the flight over to Spain John met a girl who went to his old school.  She was telling him that many of the children in his old class were using drugs.  I was so glad we moved when we did.  It was good for my daughter as well.  She was getting to the age where she was being influenced by friends to rebel.  She was made head girl in her new school.  Both my children found favour when they moved to a new town and new school.  I knew God was with us and he would look after us just as this scripture says.

And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child.  Now he has brought you to this place.’ (‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭1‬:‭31‬ NLT)

Testimony Tuesday. Enduring When Suffering many Trials

Posted in Cancer, Family Friday, Healing, My thoughts, Prayer, Restoration, Testimony Tuesday by

It was my grand daughter Eilish’s birthday on the thirteenth of March.  She was five years old.  She is an inquisitive little girl.  She asked me “Why is your hair white?  It is dark in the photographs.”  She lives in Slovakia and calls our home “The Irish House”.
I remember well the day she was born.

I had just come back from visiting one of our sons in hospital in Glasgow.  He had contacted a infection while playing football.  He grazed his shin and thought nothing of it.   But he developed a fever and was rushed to hospital and needed intensive care to combat an infection he had.  I flew over to see him.  I wanted to pray for him for God to heal him.
When I visited him he was quite happy and oblivious to any danger he may have been in.  Some friends, the Bowers, let me stay with them and they encouraged and prayed with me for my son.

When I got back to Belfast I stopped off at my daughter’s home for a cup of coffee and let her know how my trip had been.  She shared with me a dream she had the previous night.  She dreamt I had died.  She was upset and I reassured her I was okay.  But I wasn’t okay.  I was bleeding and I was getting worse.  My son being sick upset me as well.

Then the phone rang.  It was another son to tell me his wife had started in labour and was on her way to the hospital.   We prayed for a safe delivery for mum and baby.  We got news later that the new mum was rushed into theatre when she arrived at the hospital and had a Caesarian Section to deliver the baby.  Something serious had gone wrong and mother and baby’s life were in danger.  But Praise to God he preserved their lives.  They were traumatised but mum and baby were alive.

I began to realise we were under attack from our enemy Satan.  He was trying to take my son’s life, my daughter in law’s and my grandchild’s life and I wasn’t feeling too well myself.  But he didn’t succeed.  Six weeks later I was diagnosed with cancer.  More suffering.  How much more could I endure?  I was weak and feeling hopeless.  I couldn’t fight any longer.  It is when we are helpless God moves.

We came through many trials in the springtime of 2010.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.”

People often ask why they have to suffer.  Will we just believe in God when times are good, when he is blessing us?   Going through trials makes our faith strong.  When we see Jesus, who went through horrible suffering when he was whipped, pierced, bruised, and crucified for us, it will give us courage to continue to believe and hope in his help to bring us through our suffering and heal us on the other side.

“So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭6-7‬ NLT)

God preserved my life and my children’s life from death.   I am able to say God is good and merciful.  He is faithful to care for us as we obey him.  I have joy instead of sorrow and crying.  I now don’t look at the suffering but I hope in the joy after we suffer a little while, until God brings the answers to our prayers.

Psalm 91 says God will be with us in trouble and deliver us out of it.

Are you going through pain or despair at the moment? Are you hoping for God’s promise to you being fulfilled and it looks impossible for that promise to come about. Be patient in your trials. Your faith is being tested. Will you still believe God or give up and doubt and have unbelief?  He will give you strength to go through and come through to the other side. May your hope in God’s help be renewed.

Family Friday. We Needed a Van for our Big Family

Posted in Canada, Family Friday, Ireland, My thoughts, Travel by

Brendan and I were having coffee in a country farm house built in 1871 outside Vancouver, Canada.  We were having a late St Valentine’s treat.  It had a wooden veranda the kind you see in cowboy movies.  There was a big chestnut tree in the garden and underneath was a long wooden carriage.  We were enjoying the first of the spring sunshine sitting outside on the veranda, just as the original family would had done all those years ago.

I noticed a photo of the family who lived here on the wall inside.  There was a note below telling us the history.  A family with twelve children lived here.

The carriage has sat dormant through the years of change.  Modern city dwellings are all around this old house.  Modern four by fours speed past on the highway nearby.  The city has overtaken the country.  I imagined the family of the house going into town or going to church in that old vehicle.  It would have been their version of a four by four one hundred years ago.

As our family grew so did the size of our vehicles.   When Brendan and I had two children we lived in town and didn’t need a car.   We travelled by bus or train. The only four by four I had then was a pram.  We had a big Pedigree pram.  There was space to put the groceries underneath and two children sleeping, head to toe.  We had bicycles for each of us and the two children.  Then our family became six.  We had a child seat on each of the adult bicycles.  We went for bike rides along the river, where we lived.  Two more children arrived.  There was no time for bike rides.

Brendan invested in his first car.  It was a white Hillman Hunter.  We called it Nimrod.  That is the name of a character in the bible.  He was a mighty hunter.  Our children were very happy with the up grade.  We felt so proud of ourselves with our first car.  Back then wearing seat belts was not necessary.  My six children packed into the back seats.  We didn’t have to use a baby seat either.  One of the older children nursed the youngest child.

Brendan had the opportunity to buy a Peugeot 505.  It had three rows of seats with space for seven children.  Number seven child arrived soon after to fill the extra space.  I remember going on holiday with the Peugeot packed to the gills with children and goods.  We thought we would be pulled in by the Garda as we crossed the border to the south of Ireland for being overloaded.  Some of the children hid as we crossed.  What a relief we weren’t stopped.

When number eight child arrived Brendan bought a Volkwagon van.  We took out a loan to buy it.  Our young children became teenagers and needed more space.  We needed  a van.  Also seat belts for passengers became the law.  It was our biggest outlay.  I learned to drive in our new vehicle.  I often took my children and their friends to the park and to the beach after school.  It is surprising that not many children from the town get to go on holiday or go to the beach.

Unfortunately the power steering went on our beloved van.  It was going to cost too much to repair.  A friend bought it, but we still had to pay off the loan.  We learned from the pain of losing our Volkwagon.  Any vehicle we bought after that was older and we paid for it in cash.  We would pray and ask God to guide us.  One Ford van was an ex Police van.  It had special protection underneath, so a bomb would not attach itself.  That van lasted a long time.  Another van had been used as a school bus and was in pristeen condition.

And so on it went.  After the Volkwagon we got a Ford van which can carry fifteen people.  We have our seventh Ford van at the moment.  Even though our children have  left home we still have a Ford van.  The good thing about the Ford model is that the seats can be removed.  We use it to help people move house, move furniture, take lawn mowers to get fixed, collect fire logs, take the dog for a walk and trips when my grandchildren come to visit.

A friend of my daughter called us the “Minibus” family.  She envied us going off on holiday with everything but the kitchen sink packed.  So we progressed over the years from having a pram to having a minibus.  I think we will continue to have a van even though we are pensioners.  We will remain “The Minibus Family.”

I said to Brendan,  “That would have been the family van back in the nineteen hundreds”.  We finished our coffee.

Family Friday. We Didn’t Get Invited Out to Dinner

Posted in Family Friday, My thoughts by

While in Canada recently, a young man called David, picked us up from the airport at Dawson Creek.   I remembered him from my last visit.  He came to a meeting with his wife and four small children.  They were like little mice playing quietly, not wanting to disrupt the meeting.

This couple reminded Brendan and I of times past when we would attend meetings with our young children.  I had eight children at the time.   The children joined in the singing and were well behaved when someone was speaking.  We were the biggest family there.

Our host was telling us that David and his family don’t get invited out to dinner, because people think a family of four is too much to cope with.  They can cope with adults but not young children!   I sympathised with David.  Wouldn’t the parents feel loved and accepted it someone had their family over for soup even.  

Getting everyone ready for Sunday meetings became stressful for us as our family increased.  We had to be up early, get dressed, be on our best behaviour, sit through services and then come home to make dinner for all of us.  When we had ten children we decided to stay home on a Sunday morning.  It was more relaxed for us all.  Brendan taught our children in the relaxed atmosphere of home.  I had plenty of time to cook dinner.  For seven years we stayed home on Sundays.  Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, and Angela were born in those seven years.

We remembered the love of God for children. 
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭11‬ KJV)
We knew God was carrying us in his arms.

In the earlier years when I had seven children we met up with friends for picnics.  We would meet in each other’s homes for lunch.  The other ladies were great cooks.  Our children were around the same age, and played happily together.  But as number eight child, number nine child, etc arrived the invites for dinner stopped.  We were alone on Sundays together with our growing family. We lived far away from our parents or extended family, so no aunts or uncles to give a helping hand.

I will always remember the kindness of a friend, Rose Rodgers, who invited ten of us for dinner.  She knew my husband was away on a trip.  He was working on a mission and often I would come under attack from the enemy, the devil, when he was away. The enemy would use these tactics to wear me down. If I was not able to look after the children at home then my husband would have to stop travelling. I was determined I was not going to miss this dinner.

Came the day to go, I asked one of my daughters to help get the youngest child ready.  She put the child in the bath and turned on the hot tap.  She forgot to turn on the cold tap as well.  I was busy seeing to the others when one of the other girls came running in shouting, “The baby’s legs are scalded.”  I was calm.  I knew this was an attack from the devil to stop me going out with my children for dinner.

I attended to the baby, dressed her, told my other children to get in the van and wait for me.  We drove to the doctors surgery just to check that the baby was okay.  I was praying all the way.  I told the other children to behave while I went into the surgery.  I didn’t know how long I would be.  While I was waiting to be seen, one of the children came running to find me.  Two of the girls were fighting in the van.  I had to go out and restore calm. One was annoyed with the other for hurting the baby and was battering her with a stick. They were traumatised at the thought of permanent damage being done to their wee sister’s legs. I told them God would heal my baby’s legs. I returned to the doctor.  He dressed the baby’s legs with cream and he reassured me her skin was not harmed.  

Praise The Lord.  I drove off with the van full of children to my friend’s house.  We all filed in and apologised for being late.  How I enjoyed that meal.  My friend had a big heart.  I will never forget this kindness from Rose Rodgers.

The Power of a Mother’s Love

Posted in Cancer, Family Friday, Healing, My thoughts by

Mother’s Day is approaching.  I was impacked by a video I watched this morning.  A mother had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl prematurely.  There is always a risk a baby will not make it when born prematurely.  This was so with the little boy.  The doctor gave the “dead” baby into the mothers arms and left her alone with her husband.  The mother laid the baby on her heart, the father put his arms around him keeping him warm with their body heat.  The mother spoke to her baby and told him how much he was loved and about all his extended family that he belonged to.  She continued speaking lovingly and tenderly.  The baby began to breathe and move.  The doctor said “No, he is dead.”  But the little boy lived and is now a healthy five year old.  There was life in the words the mother spoke over her lifeless child.  God is love and as we show love and speak love it brings life.  This speaks to me of a saying that love is stronger than death.

Love is expressed through touch.  When a baby is born he has to go through the squeeze to be born, comes from a cosy, warm place into a cooler room and has to gasp for breath?  Surely it must be stressed, poor thing.  My daughter is an Obstetrician surgeon.  He helps some mothers give birth.  Her hands are the first hands that hold those new borns.  She speaks life over the mother and baby.  Another daughter is a Mid Wife sister.  Her hands too are the first that hold many newly born babies.  

There is a song that goes “Love lifted me” by Kenny Rodgers.  I think of it today.

When my husband and family learned I had cancer their love lifted me and helped me heal and live.  Others showed their love by visiting me and bringing gifts.
Mother Teresa lifted people who were dying from the gutter.  She and her nurses held them and comforted them.  Many widows and widowers enjoy going to the hairdresser.  The hairdresser’s hands may be the only ones that touch them all week.  When a marriage breaks down or one is bereaved the one thing people have told me is they miss being touched.

We make a promise “To have and to hold from this day forward, till death do us part.”  When I made those vows I did not know how important having someone to hold was.  The love between a couple grows into holding a child.  Love grows and brings life and increase.  

Jesus said, “they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ NIV)

Holding someone who is sick brings comfort and love and makes them better.  The power of God is in love and touch.  Nurses do a great job.  When I was in hospital, having children, with a broken arm or with cancer the nurses comforted me, reassured me and drove away my fears.

Family Friday. My Coats did not Wear Out.

Posted in Cancer, Family Friday, Healing, My thoughts, Nations by

As you can gather from my recent blogs, I believe in keeping warm and I like woollen products.

Brendan bought me a beautiful three quarters length coat.  It was made from wool.  It was navy with bunches of grapes in the weave.  It was comfortable to wear especially when I was driving.  It also suited me when I was pregnant.  The children cuddled in beside me when I was wearing it, like a mother hen covering her chicks.  I enjoyed wearing this coat for many years.  The scriptures say that the children of Israel walked round the desert for forty years and their clothes did not wear out.  This coat of mine didn’t wear out!  

“During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. (‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭29‬:‭5-6‬ NIV)

The symbol of grapes is very important to me.  When I read in the scriptures that the children of Israel went into the promised land.  They saw grapes and giants.  The grapes were that big it took two men to carry a cluster of them.  But the people were afraid of the giants and failed to go into the land God promised them.  Isn’t that often the case in our lives.   We are afraid of change because of fear or lack of faith.  Joshua and Caleb said “With God’s help we can defeat the giants and eat the grapes.”  But the people did not believe.  I wore my coat as a statement of faith.  I wanted to eat grapes and destroy giants.

Since I read this scripture I decided I would believe God.  With God’s help I have defeated some giants along the way.  For example.  Cancer is a giant.  With God’s help I am healed of cancer.  I believed God to help me.  I am alive to enjoy good food especially grapes.
 
Ten years ago a friend gave me a fur coat.  I was wearing it till recently.  It was full length and made of artificial fur fabric.  I wore it constantly from Autumn to Spring.  It protected me from cold winds, when we would go for a walk.  It kept me warm like the caring arms of my Heavenly Father.  I looked prosperous.  I did not have to get dressed up.  I pulled on my coat and I looked a million dollars.  I have travelled to Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, England, Scotland and Slovakia in my fur coat.  No one complained about me wearing a fur coat. I felt at home when  I was in Iceland recently. Garments made from seal skin and animal hides were for sale.  People who live there need to walk or work outdoors in the harsh, cold weather.

Brendan and I were visiting in New Zealand.  We had to travel by bus to a friend in another town.  We had two cases each, to haul around with us in a strange place.  Tempers were frayed. It was springtime and I was getting hot under the collar pulling my cases up and down hills.  Eventually we found the right bus stop.

We got on the next bus that stopped.  It was home time for the workers.  The bus was full.  Standing room only.  Brendan told me to get in and find a seat while he lifted the luggage up.  The driver was impatient to get on his journey and was not a happy camper.  There was no luggage compartment for the cases!  As I walked up the aisle people looked at me as if I was an alien in my fur coat and red face.  There, Brendan and I stood in the aisle, cases blocking the walkway.  We looked like two mad Irish bears.  No one offered help.  Eventually as people disembarked we got a seat and rested our weary bones.  We laughed at this incident for many days later.

Soon months back I had a dream I was wearing a red coat.  I completely forgot about the dream.  Brendan and I went shopping looking to buy some presents for friends in Canada.  It was sale time.  Brendan found a red coat and asked me to try it on.  Hey presto, it fitted me and was comfortable.  It was made of wool.  He bought it for me.  I remembered my dream.  It came true.  I had to hang up my bear coat! 

Brendan and I are travelling in Canada at the moment.  We flew up over the mountains from Vancouver to Dawson Creek in a Bombardier aircraft.  I felt safe in this plane.  It reminded me of home.  Bombardier parts are made in Belfast, N Ireland.  When we arrived at the small airport I was greeted by the ground staff as if I was a dignitary.  “Welcome to Dawson Creek.  Have a good day lady in red.”  We all laughed.  I am getting compliments everywhere I go.  

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭51‬:‭11‬ KJV)

Family Friday Woollen Blankets are Comforting

Posted in Family Friday, Healing, My thoughts by

When I moved to my present home a friend noticed the curtains in my bedroom, left behind by the previous owner.  She gasped, “What beautiful curtains.  That material is sixty pounds per meter to buy.”  Then I thought, “Yes it is a good idea to have woollen curtains.  It keeps the cold air out.  Wool is a good insulating material.”

When I visited my children at their Scottish universities I would buy a tartan woollen blanket each time.  I now have a collection of blankets in all colours, blue, red, purple and grey.  I use one as a throw over a duvet on a winter’s night.  It prevents heat lose through the night.  They come in useful for ground cover on a picnic or warmth for a baby playing on the floor.  I use one over my settee.  It is useful when one needs to stretch out and put one’s feet up for forty winks in the afternoon.  Even the dog got to have one.

I always tried to visit my children, each one, when they were at university.  One son shared a flat with five other lads in Glasgow.  When I arrived the students were sitting around a play station.  They were concentrating on the game.  The kitchen sink was full of dishes and the garbage tin full of cans and empty bottles.   My son showed me to his room that he had prepared for me to stay.  The situation did not phase me.  I stepped over bodies to get to the room and rested for a while after my journey.  I was so glad to be alive to visit him, after my healing from cancer.  Things that would have annoyed me before, didn’t bother me.  I could have been in the grave and never have seen my boys on the earth again.  What did a few dirty dishes matter.

When I got up later everyone had gone.  It seemed these boys came alive at night and kept a low profile by day.  My son took me out for a meal and we spent a short time together before I moved on by train to Aberdeen to see another son.  He gave up his bed for me.  He showed me around the university and introduced me to some of his friends.  I was relaxed enjoying my visit with him, being alive.

I traveled down to London after Aberdeen.  I shuddered when my son showed me his bedroom.  It was freezing.  The window was single glazed, the curtains were flimsy and the duvet light.  The young mustn’t feel the cold.  I went out and bought my son a woolen blanket.  At least it will give a bit of comfort and warmth.  Only mothers see the need.  The blankets have become an inheritance for my children.  This son still has the woollen blanket I gave him.  He has brought it to his new home in Canada. 

I bought a tartan blanket for another son when he was at Oxford Brooke’s.  He used it for picnics on the lawns of Oxford universities as well as a covering on his bed.  He still has it and it is still in use for his two boys when he takes his family on picnics.  I was talking to him recently.  He was staying in my home while we were away.  He appreciated the woollen blankets I had beside the sofa.  He enjoyed a few siestas with a woollen blanket pulled up over him.  

A thought dropped into his mind, “I wonder could I make a wrap around out of a woollen blanket.”  There is a special warmth that comes from a woollen garment.  He was delighted later that day to find a pure woollen dressing gown in a thrift store for a few pounds.  He will have no fear of the cold winter evenings.

I suppose it is a mother’s instinct to make sure her children are comfortable.  When my children were babies I always made sure they were tucked up warmly in bed.  They slept better that way.  The scriptures make reference to this in Isaiah 66, where God promises to comfort us.
As a mother comforts her child, so I’ll comfort you. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭66‬:‭12-13‬ MSG)

Testimony Tuesday My Son Recovers After a Fall.

Posted in Family Friday, Healing, Holiday, Ireland, My thoughts, Prayer, Testimony Tuesday by

Twenty one years ago I had my baby Abraham, my thirteenth child.   He was born in the middle of August.  We were invited to a Christian Summer Camp in Wicklow, Ireland, the third week of August.  Abraham was only a few days old when we set off for a holiday.  I did not want our family to miss the holiday before they went back to school in September.  I believe having a family holiday is so important.  The parents are away from work and all can spend time together in a relaxed environment.  It is a time to make memories that will be recollected later on dark days.  

We sent off with the new baby and nine other young children in our yellow van.  We were warmly welcomed by friends at the camp site.  Other mothers wanted to see my new born baby.  They couldn’t believe I came after giving birth a few days before.  The adventure was worth it.  There was family and friends around to help.  There were games arranged for children in the mornings.  There were parks to play in under supervision.
We rented two caravans.  My daughters helped me.  Visitors called to see the baby.

My boys loved the outdoor activities. They could let off steam and expend their energies in a safe environment.  One of my sons fell and knocked his head.  He was slightly dazed.  My husband and I agreed not to take him to hospital and prayed for him.  If he got any worse we would go to hospital.  We were staying in the middle of the country a long way from the nearest hospital in Dublin.  I did not like the thought of a long drive to the hospital and the disruption to our holiday.  I believed my son would be alright according to the Word of God.  

I remembered Psalm 91

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (‭Psalm‬ ‭91‬:‭9-12‬ NIV)

I prayed and trusted God that no disaster would come near us in our tent/ caravan.  My son had a good night’s sleep and was alert and his normal self in the morning.  God healed any pain my son had.  He went out to play as usual.  We had a great holiday.

God our Father and Jesus promise that if we obey him he will bless us and protect us under his wings. 

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (‭Psalm‬ ‭91‬:‭1-2‬ NIV)

I would have been a nervous wreck if I was worried about my children.  I learnt to trust God.  I was not in control.  I trusted God to look after my family. 

We learnt from a family who came to stay in our town.  The parents let the children run, play, climb trees and scale walls.  Some of us in Ireland can be afraid to let children out of their sight.  Perfect love casts out fear.