Joy

An evening walk with the family through the quiet streets of the town. I look up at the sky and the stars are so bright, I almost imagine I can reach up and touch them. The sky is so clear we can see so far, and so many stars. Such joy.

Queensland Flood

My heart goes out to all the victims of the Queensland floods. All those who are homeless, those who are flooded in, those who are flooded out. My heart also goes out to those affected by floods in NSW, Vic and Tas, what a terribly wet summer. My heart especially goes out to those with small children, trying to explain what is happening to them, why they can't go home, why they can't go to visit friends, why they can't do so many things. Even worse, how to feed them, why is there none of their favourite food, why can't we go shopping. And then for those of small babies, how to feed them, yes many mums breastfeed and that is such a relief because they know that no matter where they are, no matter what happens, they have food for the baby or even the toddler. No matter what happens, Mum's milk is there for bub. However, for those who are formula feeding, there are a range of problems, firstly is there enough formula available, and then they need water to mix it with, water to clean all the equipment, and they need power to heat the water. I really feel for these mums, I spent two years in a similar situation, when Possum was a baby he could not breastfeed, with my first three kids I never had to worry about this, they could feed anywhere, and I always knew I had milk for them, with Possum it was different. I expressed for him, and I spent the whole two years worries that I would run out of power, and not be able to express, or the milk in the freezer would thaw or I wouldn't be able to wash my bottles. It is so much harder when you can't breastfeed. Again all my thoughts go out to the Mums and bubs of Queensland, I hope someone is making sure you all have enough milk.

On the topic of Queensland floods, I know everyone wants to help out. If you want to help out, please listen to the requests from the Queenslanders. They have asked that we send them money not things, if you want to help, here is the link to the Government appeal, please send money this way, rather than goods other ways: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

And the rain ....

Came tumbling down

I know it is nothing like the rain they have been having over east, and nothing like the flooding they have been having. In fact it definitely isn't anything like that, because this was fun. The kids had an absolute ball playing in all the water that was all over the street.

However, it was more than just the street, the Highway was covered in water, and cars had to be very careful going through. Traffic was restricted and all the drains were blocked by garden soil. It didn't go down till the next day. Why so much flooding, because we had 58mls in 2 hours, so the drains just couldn't cope with it. Its great though because our dams are full, our sheep will not go thirsty. I love the rain.

Joy

The other morning I was listening to the radio and they were interviewing this bloke who writes a blog about awesomeness. It seemed like such a wonderful idea, posting about all the things that go right in your day and that make you feel great. So I’m going to give it a try. However, I’m not really into the word Awesome, it just doesn’t flow with me, so I thought about it for a while, and then I was chatting with the kids about Joyfulness and it struck me, Joy is the word for me.

As ‘Abdu’l-Baha says:

Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of usefulness. But when sadness visits us we become weak, our strength leaves us, our comprehension is dim and our intelligence veiled. The actualities of life seem to elude our grasp, the eyes of our spirits fail to discover the sacred mysteries, and we become even as dead beings.

Joy is so important and all around us. Hard things seem easier and good things seem better when we are feeling joy. So I am now looking for joy all around.

Rain's coming

I love the smell of rain.

Just popped outside and the air smells sweet, it is going to rain soon.

Big Boy Bed

Yesterday we finally organised a big boy bed for Possum. When you have 6 people living in a 3 bedroom house it can take time to find space for the youngest to have his own bed. He's spent the last 3 years either in our bed (all our babies bed share with us) and then in a small bed touching ours. We used to have bookshelves taking up the end of our bedroom, during the holiday we moved the books, they are now along the passage, in the lounge and a lot of them are being donated to the library. This made room for a big boy bed and some personal space for Possum. yes he is still in our room, but as he is 9 years younger than Techno Boy it doesn't really feel right to have a 3 year old sharing with a 12 year old. He slept happily in his bed last night so hopefully it is a sign of things to come.