Load of Old Rubbish

No laptop means no blogging! I managed to post the last one on an old iPad. It's one of my favourite things, that old iPad. It doesn't really do much nowadays, hence the lack of blogging. It has it's own little flaws; It doesn't let you go back to see what you've already written. Maybe that's a good thing; I could just go for it, no regrets, but the grammar police would get me, and what if it's too funny, (if there is such a thing) or too serious (I doubt it), or too honest (nah honesty is good for the soul) or it just misses the point...

Anyway, editing isn't really possible, neither is photo transferring, and it is soooo slow.... But I love it. I love it because a dear friend of mine bought it for me, (one of those friends who doesn't have spare cash). She bought it for me when I said I was thinking of blogging, and she wanted to encourage my writing gift. How kind is that?! I also love it because of the valuable lesson it taught one of my boys when he smashed it. (Take a look at iBroke). And of course the valuable lesson it taught the husband. Thirdly, it is a glorified babysitter. It will show countless annoying episodes of Peppa Pig, and totally perfect episodes of Topsy & Tim, literally for as long as I tell it to. 

I guess it's easy to assume it's rubbish now, seeing as it doesn't do what it was maybe designed to do. It's probably monetarily worthless. There are much better models out there. But it's mine, and I'm fond of it...

My mother in law had a wonderful parenting revelation for me recently. I was explaining the attitude you can get back from the kids, along with the burdens and upsets they carry, and how hard that can be. (She parented the husband, so experienced a bit of backchat). He always has to remind me not to take it personally, which I totally do. 
And then she said, "Well of course, you're the dustbin. They're meant to unload all their rubbish into you, so they feel better, and then they don't have to carry it around themselves. You mustn't hold onto that rubbish either. It's not yours to keep".

Well...that revelation of course brought me to tears. It was just such a simple picture of what it can feel like to be a mum; the days when they're sad and you can't fix them, the days when they're mad and you can only try to understand them, the days when you're to blame, even when you're technically not to blame...whether it's a two year old's tantrum, or an older child's outburst, whether it's injustice to one, or heartache for another, this is all offloaded to you the parent, which of course can feel a bit rubbish. 

But like my mum in law wisely suggested, we mustn't keep hold of that rubbish. That wont do us any good whatsoever. We will simply go off! We'll rot. We'll just stink! We need to offload it ourselves. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Matthew 11v28-30

God the Father said these words to us, to encourage us to come to Him, to give our junk to Him, and receive His rest instead. My youngest daughter LOVES the bin lorry. Monday mornings rock her world, as she watches the man take our bin, attach it to his bright green truck and empty the contents into it. They have a weekly wave. It's a very joyous occasion. 

And this is how we should be, with our kids' rubbish, gladly offloading it to The One who can fix their sadness, The One who does understand why they're mad today, The One who took it all and put it on His son's shoulders when He died. Jesus who wasn't at all to blame, not even just a technicality, took it all so that we could live abundantly, so that our kids could live abundantly, even in the midst of their woes.

Sometimes I think I'm a bit rubbish, a bit worthless; there's much better models out there. But when I start thinking like that, I realise I've kept hold of some rubbish. I've started to go off and stink a bit. That's not how I'm designed to be. God is very fond of each one of us. I will look at the bin lorry itself with fondness this week. (Maybe not too fondly, in case I freak out the bin men). But it will be a reminder for me to not keep any rubbish, but to gladly see it carried off, never to be brought back.