I began the week with trepidation in my heart. A study programme that was falling apart was my principal concern, as well as a wife who was feeling low, and a host of other issues affecting our family more generally. Last Sunday I had recommitted myself to living the gospel more fully, so Monday morning I arose on time, prayed, and opened my scriptures. I read in the Doctrine and Covenants about chastening. The Lord explains that he chastens his children (us) and this leads to sanctification. Chastening is a cleansing process, whether due to wickedness or simply as a test (as in Abraham’s case). I pondered this and read other scriptures that outline how chastening develops humility and acknowledgement of our dependence on God. This facilitates prayer, repentance, and changing our hearts towards Him. I pondered the challenges (chastening?) Kylie and I have experienced in recent times and considered our adherence to basic principles. There was a lot of room for improvement – but I was improving.
It didn’t take long for blessings to follow for simple obedience. I was scheduled to meet my supervisors on Friday to discuss my PhD problems. This was far from ideal. It meant twiddling my thumbs for four days until our meeting. They both emailed me early Monday to say they were unavailable on Friday and had to reschedule – to lunchtime Monday! Perfect! Instead of waiting to talk for four days, I didn’t even have to wait for four hours. We talked deeply for 45 minutes before stumbling (being led) upon a potential solution to my difficulties. While it means the work that I have done to date is effectively unusable, that work has laid a strong platform or foundation for us to build upon. The process of discarding the past seven months of work feels terrible, but following our discussion an evolution of ideas means that the work is not wasted. I felt deeply blessed, as I had expected that I would need to design an entirely new PhD programme.
We received an unexpected invitation to a friend’s farm for dinner and family home evening. The children played with their miniature pig, petted the five brand new kids (goat babies!), and ran around outside until dark.
Tuesday was relatively quiet. The children returned to school following a two week winter break. They were excited, and Kylie felt the reprieve. Our home was tidy again! Bliss. Chanel received some sad news – her friend Tanin was to move to Sydney at the end of the week. Kylie and I felt this may be a further blessing as we have had significant concerns about the influence of Tanin on Chanel. Despite this, it is hard for our little girl and we are sorry for her emotional hurt. Chanel has had to say goodbye a lot in the past couple of years.
Annie discovered a new favourite word – YUCK. She loves to say it, and emphasises the “ck” sound with throaty enthusiasm. As the “ck” is pronounced Annie sounds as though she is making an effort to remove unwanted items from her digestive tract. It makes us laugh.
Wednesday Abbie went to girl guides with her friend Carley. Abbie has decided she wants to be a guide. We’re excited for her, and she is enthralled with the experience. Our children are so different. I cannot imagine Chanel as a girl guide, but it suits Abbie beautifully.
Thursday was another day of project evolution for me. Major inroads were made into my research, and a seeming eternity of new doors was presented for me to open. I’ll just open one at a time and proceed with caution. Kylie took Ella and Annie to the lake for bike riding. Ella was delighted! Annie played with Kylie’s purse and left it on the ground, unbeknownst to Kylie. Several hours later Kylie realised and returned. The purse was gone. Prayers were uttered. Faith was answered. A message on our machine from a kind stranger informed Kylie that the purse was safe. Kylie went to a craft night at a local store and has been inspired – perhaps obsessed – with the crafty creativity bug. I thought my cycling was a drain on time and money… but it’s nothing compared with the plans Kylie has! It is wonderful to see her come alive at the prospect of doing things she loves. I am scared about how much it may cost though. Kylie seems most taken with quilting which seems to be about the most expensive craft she could choose. And I signed on with a cycling coach to see if I can learn some useful things and utilise my training time better.
Friday I had the biggest breakthrough of my week. I stumbled across a PhD dissertation, unpublished, that gives me great hope for my studies, and it is likely to inform my work immensely. A student has studied the concept of “calling” as it relates to career in more depth than anyone previously. Her thesis won several awards for excellence. At the conclusion of her thesis, she calls for others to study “calling” in other life domains. It appears that her work may become the bedrock upon which I build my study into calling for parents.
Friday night Kylie went out for dinner with 9 friends – Greek; the dinner, not the friends. Kylie said it was so good that we’ll have to go back together. I like that idea. Going anywhere with Kylie makes me happy – except shoppingL. Chanel organised a surprise farewell party for her friend, Tanin. While Kylie was at dinner I looked after five nine and ten year olds as well as our three little ones. Amazingly the night went perfectly. In fact it went so well I even got to enjoy a game of football on the television.
Annie has begun to develop in two important ways, typical for a baby around the age of two. She has experienced an incredible word explosion. Her vocabulary has increased ten-fold overnight. Her comprehension is still limited, but she is parroting everything she hears. Additionally, Annie has discovered her temper. She relishes every opportunity to assert herself and her desires. She pulls her sister’s hair, pinches, and even bites when she doesn’t get her way. It’s amazing to watch an almost two-year-old beat up her five and six-year-old sisters.
Saturday we farewelled Chanel’s friends and began house hunting. We hope to buy a home for our family and stop renting. It was a good experience, although our preference for good quality neighbourhoods left us wanting a little as we inspected homes. We can afford very reasonable homes in poorer neighbourhoods but cannot afford even modest homes in the nicer areas. Despite this, some possibilities may be on our horizon that offer particular promise, so we approach the new week with optimism.
We finished house hunting and Kylie raced me to my bike race. Chanel chose to rest after her big night with friends. I was supposed to ride in C grade but only a small bunch of men were riding in B grade. I coaxed another C grade friend into riding in B grade with me to “see how we go.” We were a little nervous, and they looked super strong. Somehow, after riding 67kms, much of it into a strong SW wind, I managed to place third. I don’t know how. It was the toughest ride of my life. But it felt fabulous and I was thrilled. We raced home and I changed so we could attend Alma and Claire’s engagement party. After a short visit (around 90 minutes) we left early to meet mum and dad. They had driven down to be with us following their nearly five weeks in Europe. It was great to be with them. We ate pizza together and talked. I enjoy being with them. Logan and Paris also came along and thought it was a treat to be with their cousins.
Sunday, our most important day of the week. Prayers, faith, testimonies, covenants. It felt good to be at church even though I spent most of the meeting in the foyer nursing Annie. Her late night with nanny and poppy was intruding on our Sunday. I brought her home for a nap. It only lasted 20 minutes before a soiled nappy woke her. Our afternoon was quiet as Kylie and I mulled over housing possibilities. It feels good to plan our future together. It’s only 7.45pm and I am exhausted – but smiling. We have lives richer than anything we could ever deserve, and we are grateful.
Pictures will be uploaded to the blog next week.
