I’m feeling a little bit tired right now. Perhaps not physically but emotionally. Handling more than 20 kids ranging from 2 years old to 10 years old even with 4 adults requires much.
Was struck the other day after reading about our present day preoccupation with “meaning” (usually for those who don’t have to think about their next meal) and pushed to reconsider a more biblical word “promise”.
Just had a chat with 2 friends who are having a more leisurely paced life overseas (from my perception), I wonder why is it we often feel so overwhelmed in our Malaysian context. Is it the national context with it’s uncertainties? is it the confusion we wrestled with faced with the immense changes in this globalized world? could it be our inner selves are too empty and dry from resources needed to handle the amount of stuff bombarded to us? Are we just busybodies?
I loved some little moments of grace today. Nice to see a son show his mummy the sandwiches he made. Another boy showed me his origami skills. A few created their own game while walking together inside a hoola-hoop. Another bunch enjoyed drawing … and lots of drawing.
Hopefully after a few more random thoughts my hearts will be more rested. 🙂
a little conversation on cultural identity made me think of the place of spiritual formation in the development of that identity. Or it could be seen the other way round, how does cultural identity impact our spiritual formation? There’s a link in there somewhere.
it’s suppose to be a little more quiet now. The kids are sleeping. May Chin is sleeping. But there’s a party downstairs near the pool … and while the music is not blasting in my ears. It’s a little irritating 😛
I notice some people tend to keep on demanding and asking for stuff before even a word of appreciation. Imagine if we could stop at the appreciation part. Sure, there will be times of making requests known. But words of thanks are still rare. Maybe that’s why when I hear appreciative words spoken it comes across pretty loud.
Glad to see people blessed by the parenting seminar today. There’s many “propaganda” we get from advertising and popular myths where from our cultural background or the don’t wanna lose out culture of today. And when it comes to kids we are vulnerable to swallow a lot that’s offered to us as advice or promises. It’s good to re-examine them honestly and especially in the light of good Christian teaching and perspectives.
Of course, even some of our long held Christians understandings on parenting may need to be re-looked as well. The commitment towards discerning what is crucial and what is peripheral needs to be applauded. And it’s good to beware of dogmatism in secondary matters. And yet, this freedom does mean we need to do some hard work of thinking clearly together and encouraging each other forward.
the word “grace” crops up again … the other word “growth” is not far behind …