A Christmas Thought

Here's a poem for you on Christmas day:

IMAGINE FOREVER

Imagine a hand as small as your thumb
That can hold up the earth and light up the sun.

Imagine a face with tiny blue eyes
That saw angels dance at the birth of the skies.

Imagine plump toes on podgy soft feet
That have lead mighty armies down heavenly streets.

Imagine a little button-like nose
That gave breath to life and smelt the first rose.

Imagine a mouth that’s gentle and small
Yet uttered the words of creation’s great call

Imagine a baby with gentle soft breath
Who possesses the strength to overcome death.

Imagine a mother who cuddles and sings
And holds in her arms the King of all Kings.

Imagine the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts
Wrapped up in a manger ‘mid cattle and goats.

Imagine a child who may hunger and cry
But yet had the courage to come here to die.

A baby called Jesus, born in the hay –
Born long ago, but alive to this day.

He came here and lived in the humblest home
To give us the chance to sit near His throne.

Imagine the day when we’re called home on high
To see Him in glory in the great “by and by”.

Imagine “forever” in the warmth of the love
Of that gentle baby who came from above.

- Mark H (DelightInLight.com)

Note: This is one of a number of poems for Christian children that I have posted on this blog. If you want to see more of them, please have a look at this post: "Fun Poems for Kids"

You can also email a link to this post by clicking the mail icon below...

Words

Some words from Lucia (aged 22 months):

• "Up-a-lator" - translation: "escalator"
• "Negum" (her version of "welcome") - translation: "thank you"
  

Pet Fish

In a discussion with Kathleen about pets:

• Dad: "How's about a fish?"
• Kathleen: "That's a no. They don't even know you have them. All they do is swim around the tank and blow bubbles. It's hard to even say you have them!"

Daughters

Quote from Abigail (aged 3):

"Do you know Angeline's daughter? The girl daughter, not the boy daughter."

I'm Not Young!

Abigail (aged 3) marched into my bedroom this morning, having found out that we had woken her two older sisters to see the "shooting stars" but had not woken her, and announced:

"I'm not young! I'm three!"

Along the Past

I took Joanna out for breakfast on her birthday (she was turning 5). While we were sitting waiting for something to be delivered, she said: "While we're waiting, maybe we can chat about things that have happened along the past."

Getting a Life

Time to turn to myself for a quote this time - I was planning to go out for the evening (bowling) with a group of people from work. However, I didn't have a car and I needed a lift, so I emailed a (female) colleague to ask if she would be able to give me one. Unfortunately, however, I mistyped and actually sent an email saying this:
"Could I get a life with you?"

The funniest thing was that she didn't notice the mistake and sent am email back:
"Yes of course".

Just a Minute

Joanna (aged not quite 5) was told the other day that she would have to "wait a minute" for something.

"I can't wait a minute!!" she shouted, "A minute is too long! A minute is too long!"

This protest continued for about 10 minutes!

China Dolls

We were talking about China the other day (the country), and Abigail (aged 3) assumed that we were talking about China Dolls. She frowned (obviously thinking about the fact that her two older sisters have miniature China Dolls) and said:

• "I never had a China when I was growing up! I never had a China at all!"
  

Cool

From Abigail (aged 3) talking about Jesus coming back to Earth:

• "Then we'll see Him and touch His hand - that will be cool!"
  

Wake Up for a Treat

Two from Kathleen today:

The first one came after Kathleen came and gently woke me up after I had a rest during the day (I hadn't slept well last night). A little while later, I was thanking her for waking me nice and gently.

• "Yes, I woke you gently, didn't I - I didn't say 'WOOO, WAKE UP'! They do that in some families, you know - I don't know how they cope!"
  

• Kathleen: "Dad, what would you like as a treat?"
• Dad (thinking): "Hmm - what would I like as a treat..."
• Kathleen (rolling her eyes) - "I know, I know, good behaviour is also on my list, but what else would you like as a treat?!"
• Later - after patiently waiting for me to write this: "Daddy, what do you want??"
  

Swings in Abigail Land

Abigail (aged 3) recently told us that in "Abigail Land" there are swings that "swing all the way up to heaven" - sounds great to me!

That Child

The other morning Abigail (3) appeared in our bedroom and informed us that she had woken up to find that Lucia (1) had crawled on to her bed during the night. "Someone needs to get that child off my bed!", she said!

Learn to Cope with Elbows

A quote from Joanna this time (aged 4 1/2):

• Dad: "Please be careful not to stick your elbow into me." - Joanna: "Ok, I'll try - but parents need to cope with children."
  

Delighted

Quote from Abigail (aged 3):

• "Oh, I'm so delighted that I am going to Granny's house!"
  

On Being a Child

A couple of recent quotes from Kathleen (aged 6 1/2):

• Dad: "I wish you would stop fighting with each other!" - Kathleen: "We are children, Dad, we can't."
• On another occasion, at bedtime - Dad: "Bed!" - Kathleen: "In our family children are not dogs."
  

TVs

Another one from the three year old - we were in a shop on Saturday, and we were buying a bunch of DVDs. She saw them and said:

• "Daddy - you're buying some TVs!"
  

Thank You

My baby daughter Lucia's favourite sayings at the moment are (aged 13 months):

• "Da-kooo" (her version of "thank you") - she says this in a loud, impatient voice while pointing at something she wants.
• "Bsss" - her version of "please" when we can convince her to calm down on the "da-koo" thing and ask nicely!
• "Baa" - Goodbye
  
• "Mum" - means virtually anything, really.
  

Birthday, Eyes & Heart

Little Abigail (who turns 3 tomorrow) at bedtime this evening said:

• "I can't keep my eyes open until it's my birthday!"

Here are some of her other recent quotes as well:

• "My little eye begins with... "
• "I love you with all the pieces of my heart."
  

Mum's Birthday

I seem to be having a run of these quotes, so here's another from my not-quite-3-year-old daughter Abigail - It's what she said she "wrote" on my wife's birthday card:

"To Abigail - I hope Mum has a birthday."

The Time

Today's quote - from Abigail aged not quite three:

"What time is it today, Daddy?"

Boys and Girls

Quote from my 6-year old daughter this time:

"Boys and girls: they're just not a very good mix"!

Are You Talking to Me?

My not-quite-three-year-old daughter announced today (in a miffed voice):

"I can hear someone not talking to me!"

Yours, Exhausted

Really exhausted today - half the family suddenly came down with a stomach bug last night with the result that I spent the night awake shuttling to and fro with buckets of.. well you get the picture!

Guess What I Saw Today?

I am afraid that in my efforts to try to get my photo blog up and running, I have rather neglected my other two blogs :(

However, today there was great excitement in my household, so I thought that maybe I should use that as a catalyst for posting something here!

The excitement was caused by a sparrow hawk that landed in our garden and proceeded to eat a pigeon she had caught. We all watched with interest, and I tried to get some video footage and a few quick shots of it.

Whilst videoing, I was shocked to discover that for the first 5 to 10 minutes, the pigeon was still alive - it was literally being eaten alive by the hawk! I must admit that I was a bit shaken by that. We didn't do anything to intervene, though, since I do prefer to let nature take its course with this kind of thing.

Here is a photo of the said visiter:

What's In A Name?

A quick comment - in order not to embarrass them too much or cause other alarm and despondency, I will, in a lot of cases, used alternative names for other people that I talk about from time to time.

First Post (Well, sort of)

This is the first real post that I have made on this blog. Actually, it's not the very first post - I did some "dummy" posts earlier so that I could play around with the design of the template. However, I've now deleted them, so this is the first "real" post.

I've also come back and edited it a few times, so it's really sort of an adaptation of not quite the first post!

This blog contains (or, at least, will contain) various of my thoughts about life in general and Christianity in particular as well as poems, songs and other bits and pieces.

Now, enough of all that - I'll let you get on and read some of the actual content. I hope that you find something interesting, thought provoking, amusing, encouraging or otherwise enjoyable in at least something that I have to say.

For now, though, let me leave you with this blessing from the book of Numbers 6:24-26 (English Standard Version):

[May] the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.