I’m feeling not so great in so many ways for a variety of reasons. Thankfully my dear sister-in-law Martha is here, and she’s graciously picked up some slack. I hope I can do the same for her another day. The children are blessedly distracted, for the most part, although I have sick ones who want to be held more than normal.
I started reading Little Pilgrim’s Progress to David. He’s enjoying it, and I did have opportunity to discuss Pilgrim’s “burden” a little bit. Normally I’m not a fan of adaptations of literature, but I think this one is well done and appropriate. By presenting the story from a child’s perspective through a young “Pilgrim,” Helen Taylor really does make the meat of the story (the whole point) accessible, rather than just the adventure story in the original version.
I’ve enjoyed the recent comments, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to respond this weekend! Thanks for all your prayers on our behalf.
I can relate…have had the flu going around here. ENJOY the help, you need it. It took me awhile to get up the courage to ask for help and accept it and now I wish I had it more! I still struggle with asking for it, but it really blesses me when it is here. Something to ponder….I have a friend who is “good” but I don’t think she’s a follower of Christ perse yet she is the one who most often asks me if she can come help me so I can take a few moments away from the kids to get things done, or do some errands or just be by myself. What does that say about our faith when my non-christian friend is the most “christian-like”?
Laura,
My husband has made that same observation. He has secular work, but also does side work for believers. A line from Anne of Avonlea comes to mind…my paraphrase: “We are not exactly known for our compassion, though we are polite enough to each other in public” (Mrs. Harris about her “Pringle” relatives). I think we all need to spend more time in 1 John to get this right. =)
For the record, Michelle, I took last week off (mostly). No outside responsibilities, and very low on the online activity. No school (we school thru the summer, so no biggie). Extra reading. I had to. Glad you have some help there.
Actually, to be technical, I blended two quotes (see…I need more rest!), one from Mrs. Harris and one from her daughter, Pauline.
Glad you have the helpful kind of company right now.
On a side note, I cannot “read further” on the older but recent posts. The one about salvation, for example is a blank page when I click to read more. Anyone else have this problem? Maybe its just me..
Maya, I have the same problem.
Laura, what you say is very true. Why do you think this is? Are we as Christians so focused on ourselves that we cannot even help one another? I also have some unsaved friends who have said on multiple occasions they would help me, have offered to bring over meals when my children were very sick, and have even offered to help with my kiddos when I had a big work deadline and was running on very little sleep (work from home is rough with a baby!) Yet the Christians in my circles do not seem to care. I struggle with bitterness in this, because I have needed help recently, and cannot find anyone to ask if I could get over my pride in asking.
Michelle, I hope you feel better and can get some rest while you have company. Still praying for you.
Nicole,
I know on the one hand one of the reasons, at least in my circles, is that many of the Christian moms I know homeschool so that makes it tough, but not impossible. I know even though I homeschool I have offered to watch other’s kids so they could run errands or go to the Dr. or whatever. I wonder if the mentality that many have that they are “earning” their way to heaven plays into this. I know some will let me drop the kids off for a short time, but I always have to ask. It’s not the same as someone offering is it. Are we taught as Christians that our first priority is to take care of our home that we get so myopic we don’t see those in need around us. We have struggled with the whys of this as well.
I truly enjoyed Little Pilgrim’s Progress when I was young! You are right–it is a fine adaptation.