It’s miraculous the way blessings from heaven continue to manifest
themselves into our lives. This week we’ve had more than we deserve, so we
accept them gratefully and try to be worthy of them.
But before I touch on our highlights, we were delighted to
see my little brother and his wife, Tim and Kesh, bring their first baby into
their family. They had a baby boy after experiencing all of the pain,
longsuffering, emotion, and anticipation that over 24 hours of labor produces. I
rejoiced (sounds old fashioned but it’s the best way to describe how it felt)
with Tim as we spoke of the sacred sacrifice a mother makes through childbirth.
With no words to describe it, we knew exactly how the other felt. And we remain
in awe at the awesomeness of our wives and their love for us and our children.
I love seeing my little brother have these experiences.
In light of Tim’s news, my week was generally quiet. I didn’t
mention it, but two Sundays ago after Church I spent 90 minutes with one of the
men who felt he was never going to be good enough to get to heaven. I spent
time searching the scriptures with him, teaching him the doctrine of Christ,
and the ‘Good News’ of the Gospel. Kylie quietly waited with the kids. As we
wrapped things up I feared that my time was poorly spent. He seemed dejected,
unmoved, and unresponsive. Last week he approached me and thanked me. He looked
different, and he assured me he felt different. He felt his life was improving
because of the gift of repentance.
Monday and Tuesday were quiet. We re-emphasised kindness and
respect as family principles in family home evening. The children (and Kylie
and I) have been struggling in these areas lately. Wednesday I spent the day
marking. I received a midday phone call from a tv station and spent the
afternoon preparing myself for ‘The Project’ that evening. After an afternoon
of preparation I arrived for the interview and found out they’d changed the questions!
I had about 12 minutes to get my head around the changes. The interview went
well. National television offers opportunities to build my profile that money
can’t buy. A quick aside – I invited the kids to come with me. Ella jumped at
the chance, Abbie was playing with friends, and Chanel knocked me back
immediately because she was going to spend time with the elderly couple who she’s
been visiting each Wednesday for a few months. She is blessing their lives, and
would rather go to be with them and play board games and chat than do the whole
tv thing with me! I’m proud of this exceptional girl.
Wednesday I also booked in a job to be the ‘expert’ at a
media briefing from a technology company about their latest research about
children and the Internet. I felt as though I might be making progress with my
business. And I was interviewed by a Brisbane newspaper about parenting issues
as well. The news got better when I received another booking (for October) on
Thursday. Blessings! And on Wednesday night my friend (who is rebuilding my
website for free) put the new template online and it went live. Such a big
difference. It looks vastly improved and I’m so grateful for his willingness to
help me.
Thursday I rode a personal best on Macquarie Pass (27.01 for
7.7kms), suffered my way through another day at the office (I’m grateful for
the job, but I still don’t like it), before taking the family to Nowra (1 hour
away) to visit Tim, Kesh, and their as yet unnamed little boy. Abbie (aged 9)
made me feel inferior by commenting that Tim had a son who would continue the
Coulson name into the next generation, while I’d had five goes at it and was
still unable to produce a successor. Ouch. Lucky I love her to death! We marvelled
at the miracle of a newborn. We already love the little guy and can’t wait to
watch him grow.
Friday was more banality at work. I rode home to enjoy a BBQ
with Karina and Richie (and the 6 cousins) who were down from Gosford to visit
Tim, Kesh, and the baby. We had a great night. Then I was interviewed by radio
2UE about parenting and sleepovers.
Saturday Kylie and I dealt with diarrhoea and vomit. Lilli
was sick. In fact, during the night I had woken up to Lilli crying. After a
moment I realised she was in the corridor. I heard her fall and dashed out of
bed to be sure she wasn’t near the stairs. As I picked her up I felt something
wet against my skin. Then I smelt it. Ewww. It was her already digested dinner,
coming back up for another peak at the world, all over her front and mine. It
was through her bed, on her floor... Kylie was kind enough to rise from her
slumber to assist me.
We had a fitful sleep as we dealt with Lilli’s stomach bug,
nappies, and crying. I left at 7.30 for a Church bike ride. A handful of men
showed up, braving the threatening skies, and we rode 30kms together. The ride
was enjoyed by all except me... it took more than twice the time I would
normally take to do the ride. But it was about bonding more than bike riding,
so as I watched my day disappear, I thought of the greater purpose and reasons
for the ride and continued. The rest of Saturday was spent marking. Hmpf. I’ll
be glad when I never have to mark another paper. (Chanel spent the day walking
the neighbourhood earning money from the neighbours for odd jobs. She’s saving
to go to Korea next year, and the way she’s going I think she’ll make it.)
Sunday we woke to two sick kids. Annie and Lilli were both
doing poorly. I took Chanel, Abbie, and Ella to church while Kylie stayed home
to nurse the babies. I had an interview with a member of our new Stake
Presidency. He listened more than he spoke. It was a nice change... and I
probably said too much as a result. Our sacrament meeting was uplifting with
some inspiring testimonies shared. All three girls took separate opportunities
to walk to the stand. I don’t encourage the kids to share their ‘testimonies’
but I don’t discourage it either. Each spoke thoughtfully, avoided the standard
clichés so common when children share a testimony, and made me deeply grateful.
I taught the men about how God changes our hearts. Membership
in God’s church is about more than whether our name is on the church records.
It’s about our faithful and repentant hearts (D&C 10:37). We talked about
mighty changes, incremental changes, the challenge to maintain our changes, and
the need for repentance and Godly sorry. It felt good and right. I received
unexpected gratitude from almost all of the class members.
Our afternoon was spent planning our week, planning our
family holiday to Brisbane at the start of July, and preparing a fabulous roast
dinner. Our evening was spent eating the dinner, plus extra helpings of Kylie’s
peach crumble with custard and cream. With a week as good as that, we can’t
wait for what’s in store this week.
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