Thursday, December 03, 2009

And so the days ran swiftly by



My mother leaves tomorrow to return to her home in Nairobi. I'm hoping that you all will pray and pray and pray for her safe travel. She has become an essential and necessary part of our household over the last two months and we are all staring blankly into the future wondering what life will be like in her absence.

For example, every morning she lets my two eldest get in bed with her, makes them tea and shows them youtube clips of interesting stuff on her computer. Who, I ask myself, will do this starting Saturday? Matt brings me tea in the morning and I have serious doubts about whether he can be persuaded to do it for his children.

This is just one small thing. I could go on and on about laundry and salad and table manners and the use of serviettes at dinner and flowers on the altar when none were previously arranged for and, probably most of all, the organ on Sunday morning. Its been a long while since we've had organ music during the service and I'm going to miss it a whole lot.

So I hope you'll pray, for her safe travel, obviously, but also that I won't loose my mind when she's gone.
Here's her garden, waiting for her.

4 comments:

Georgia Smith said...

What a precious Mother you have, Anne, so full of good fruit and works and what a lovely garden.

May the angels guard and guide her home...and may the Lord smile upon you and your family, bringing you every blessing, comfort, consolation and inspiration to help you adjust and reckon with every challenge that faces your family.

In the Name of Jesus our Lord, Amen

Anonymous said...

I cried like a baby when my mother left after a week of helping us out after our 5th child was born...I was even prepared for it and I still cried! I cried knowing my husband was outside telling the other kids to be kind and take care of me b/c I would sad with Grandma leaving. :o) Gotta love hormones!
You will do great. Know that God's Grace is new every day...even every hour! Be kind to yourself and keep your expectations lower than normal...that way you might have a chance to live up to them. And remember that being together for the moment is more important than anything "schoolwise" they need to know.
I will be praying for all of you...your mom included. :O)
Blessings-
Laura from FL

Dr. Alice said...

Prayers for your mom's safe travel and for you. What a lovely garden she has. I remember spending special time with my grandmother early in the morning when I was about the age of your eldest - it is a precious thing. (She and I were the only early risers in the family.)

Best of luck and as another commenter said, keep your expectations low - just enjoy Advent and Christmas. A First Christmas for a new baby is always special.

Teacher Mommy said...

I remember the absolute terror I felt when my mom had been living with us for a month when my second baby showed up and then she was LEAVING and I would be ON MY OWN WITH TWO BABIES and the future seemed like a black hole waiting to swallow me up. So yes, I sympathize. Though with your track record I think you will likely come out just fine in the end, even if the path is a bit rocky in places.

And perhaps Matt could just use a bigger teapot?