To Charlotte with love.

 
Dear Charley,
At this stage we don't whether you are going to make it or not. You have had a major heart operation, two days ago you went into multi organ failure. Your kidneys have stopped working and dialysis is not helping anymore. So much has happened to you in your short 5 months of life.   You have spent more time in hospital than out.   You were born with Down Syndrome and 4 heart defects.
Are you aware of how much you are loved? Do you know how many people are praying for you?
Although you have done nothing good or clever and can barely breathe on your own, your parents and sister love you more than you can ever imagine. People you don't even know were willing to donate platelets for you. You parents love you because you are their daughter and because of who they. They will do almost anything to keep you with them.
In the same way, our Heavenly Father loves us, not because we are good or have kept all the commandments, not because we have done or can do anything to earn His favour, but merely because we are his children. We are sin-sick and helpless to cure ourselves but He will do anything to keep us with Him forever......and He did.
"For God loved the world so much, that He gave His only Son so that Whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting Life."
Charley, you are an inspiration to us all. We are begging God for a miracle and we long to see you healthy and growing. You have already enriched the world and we love you.  Be strong little angel.

Mom, thank You for all the things you taught me.

 

You taught me to pray when I was quite small. I can still remember that night time ritual. “In my little bed I lie, Heavenly Father hear my cry, Lord protect me through the night And bring me safe to morning light.”

You taught me to sing and to love music. The singing game was one of my favourite ways to pass time in a car on a long journey and I’ve passed it on to my children.

You taught me to use my imagination. I remember stories while we washed dishes.

You taught me to be creative and to think outside the box. Remember pea pods attached to string as a pounce toy for cats?

You taught me to do my best in whatever I tackled and you always wanted the best for me.

You taught me to love the outdoors. I remember camping holidays. (It’s true that John and I had to share the back seat with tents and chairs and who know what else and that wasn’t quite so much fun.)

You taught me to cook and to love baking. I remember when I was very little that I there were areas in our back garden that must have consisted mainly of clay. When the mud dried in the sun, it cracked and I used to imagine that the flakes were biscuits.

You taught me to love and respect animals. Davy Crocket was my cat but I remember Mitzi too, our water spaniel. There was a brief interlude with a white mouse which I think we put overnight in the old washing machine but as far as I remember it disappeared and perhaps the cat got it anyway.

You tried to teach me to be tidy. “A place for everything and everything in its place”. That lesson didn’t take so well and I am still untidy.

You also tried to teach me not to cry so easily, a lesson you had taught yourself at a very young age but I’m afraid that one didn’t take either and it is still one of my problems and embarrassments in life.

When I was the right age you sent me to Brownies and then later you became a Guider and ran a Girl Guide Company. Thus started one of the happiest periods of my life. I loved being a Guide and learned so much. I tackled as many interest badges as I could and learned such varied things as how to change a tyre, first aid, camping skills, axemanship, and even a couple of words of Portuguese.

You gave me the opportunities to try different things, ballet and tap dancing, speech and drama, singing lessons and in whatever I did you were my strongest supporter. You learned to make ballet tutus and dancing costumes and attended all my eisteddfods and concerts.You encouraged me in everything and helped me grow in self confidence.

You taught me to sew. I remember spending my pocket money on some yellow foam rubber and sewing myself (very badly) at least a skirt and I’m not sure if there was a top and a hat. You made me lovely dresses and watched magazines to find out what was the latest fashion. (Unfortunately I was a particularly un-fashion-conscious teenager so you put aside your fashion sense and made me dresses I liked (with a waist and a skirt))

Besides skills, you taught me attitudes. You said you had to “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.” You taught me to be positive and not negative. When Dad was out of a job for a while you saw it as a challenge and learned to make fish cakes out of tinned fish. We were never very rich but we had all that we needed.

You taught me by example. Whatever you set your hand to, you excelled at. You joined the writer’s club and have had a book published. You soon got yourself onto the committee and ended up giving workshops and seminars. When you joined the Woman’s Institute, you tried everything and won several prizes. When you joined Trim Gym, you ended up leading the classes when your instructress was away. You learned Calligraphy and did wonderful pieces of art and sold your work at Art in the Park. I could go on and on, but this is supposed to be a greeting for your 80^th birthday card.

Most of all, Mom, you have been a wonderful mother and I am so proud to be your daughter. I just hope I can be as good a mother to my children as you have modelled for me. I love you very much. Happy Birthday for the 6^th. Jenny

Story for Emma’s 4th Birthday

For my Granddaughter's 4th birthday, I refurbished and painted the house my daughter, Mandy, was given for her 5th birthday by my Mom and Dad.   I wrote the following story to go with the house.

Once upon a time there lived a pretty girl bear called

Bronny.

 

 

 

Not far away, lived a handsome young bear. He was clever and strong.

His name was Paddy.

Before very long they fell in love. They walked in the forest together, collected berries together and shared their hopes and dreams.

One day Paddy had a surprise for Bronny.

“Let’s go on a picnic,” he said.

“You bring us some nice muffins and juice and I’ll bring a blanket to sit on.”

After a scrumptious lunch, Paddy got down on one knee and said,

“Bronny, my dear, I love you very much. Please will you marry me?

 

 

Of course Bronny said yes, and just before Christmas, there was a beautiful wedding in the forest chapel.

Mr and Mrs Bear were very happy together. They lived in the forest in the hollow of a big old tree. Bronny made it nice and comfortable and knitted a big pink blanket for them.

They worked together collecting food and Bronny would serve it nicely on big leaves.

 

After about a year, Bronny became pregnant and one day a fluffy baby bear was born.

They called the baby Honey, because she was so sweet. She had reddish fur and a cute white snout.

 

But Honey was quite a nervous cub. As she grew older a lot of things scared her. Spiders frightened her.

When wise

Mr Owl said, “Hoo hoo!” she got such a fright that she started to cry.

Paddy Bear, who was now Daddy Bear was worried. The forest is no place for little bear cubs, he thought. I need to find a house for my family to live in. When Bronny Bear, who was now Mommy Bear, told him she had another baby in her tummy, he set out to find a house for his family.

Daddy Bear talked to his friend, wise Mr. Owl. “You fly around a lot,” he said. Have you seen a house that would be suitable for a bear family?

“Well, “ said wise Mr. Owl, “there

Is a house about three days journey to the east. I’ve never seen anybody going in or out of it, so perhaps it is empty.”

Paddy walked and walked. Every morning he faced the rising sun and tried to keep going in that direction.

At the end of the third day, he saw it – a lovely wooden house with a red roof. It needed a bit of paint but it looked just perfect for the Bear family.

Paddy took a good look around the house. He noticed that the roof was leaking and when he climbed on a ladder to look, he saw there were some tiles missing. He would have to get some new tiles.

Just then he heard someone calling, “Mee-ow. Anybody home?”

Paddy climbed down to see a glamorous cat. “My name is Miss Kitty,” she said. “I live down the road. I have brought a pot of tea. Are you moving in?”

Paddy explained about Bronny and Honey and the baby on the way.

“I

see you are looking for some tiles,” she said.

I have some left over in my garden if you would like them. Paddy was overjoyed and he invited Miss Kitty to come in and have a look around the house. Miss Kitty poured them each a cup of tea.

Miss Kitty used to be a film star. “When I was just a

Kitten,” she explained,

I played the part of Hello Kitty. I was very famous.”

Paddy showed Miss Kitty around the house. She loved the bathroom. “I wish I had a bath,” she said. “People think that just because cats lick themselves clean, they don’t need a bath but I would love to just lie in a nice warm bath.”

Paddy offered to make her a wooden bath in exchange for the tiles she was giving him.

The following week, Paddy was very busy tiling the roof. It took longer than he thought, as building always does. When wise Mr. Owl flew by to see if he had found the house, Paddy asked him to take a message to Bronny, telling her about the house and the repairs he was doing.

“But before you go,” said Paddy, “there is something bothering me. Who owns this house?”

Well, said wise Mr. Owl, “It used to belong to a little girl called Mandy. But that was about 25 years ago.

She would have grown up by now. Perhaps she even has a family of her own.”

“I’d like to show you something,” said Paddy. He took wise Mr. Owl to the bedroom. It was a little room, only big enough for a double bed, two bunk beds and a plastic chair. On the wall were two photos. One was of a little girl with dark hair and her mother.

“Is that Mandy?” asked Paddy, pointing to the little girl.

No, said wise Mr. Owl, “That’s Mandy, the mother.”

“I remember she always had lovely red hair.”

“Do you think they would mind if a bear family stayed in their house?” asked Paddy a little nervously.

“I am sure they would love to have a bear family stay in their house,” said Mr Owl.

What do you think?

Paddy spent some time painting the outside of the house.

He also noticed that not everything in the house was bear-sized. For instance, the stove was very high. Bronny was quite a short bear and she wouldn’t be able to reach the top to cook.

Paddy cut down a tree from the nearby forest and made a wooden step that Bronny could stand on if she wanted to cook on the stove top.

Although she was best at baking and would easily be able to reach the oven

The bath was also big. That wasn’t a problem though. Paddy thought that the whole family could probably fit in the bath together.

When he was happy with the repairs he had done, Paddy went back to fetch Bronny and Honey. They were very excited and didn’t stop asking questions for the three days that they walked to their new home. They got there just in time because that night the new baby came. It was a little boy bear. They called him Bubbles, because when he was born, there was a bubble at the side of his mouth.

Honey was overjoyed with her new brother.

“He can sleep on the bottom bunk and I’ll sleep on the top bunk,” she announced excitedly.

“Talking about sleep,” said Mommy Bear, “it has been a very long day. It is time for you to go to bed.”

Mommy Bear tucked in her two bear cubs in the nice fluffy blankets she had knitted.

“Night night, Honey,” said Daddy Bear. “You have been a star today. You walked a long way and didn’t complain at all. Remember, we love you very much. “Don’t be scared of the new noises in a new house,” he added.

“I’m not scared,” said Honey. “I’m a big sister now. I am going to be a brave bear cub and look after my brother and make sure he doesn’t get scared.”

Bronny was also exhausted. She and Paddy went to bed soon after. “This is a beautiful house,” said Bronny. “Thank you so much. You are such a clever bear and I love you very much.”

“You are the clever bear,” replied Paddy. “Look at the beautiful baby you have given us. I love you very much, Mrs Bear.”

It wasn’t long before they were fast asleep in their new house.

A few days later the Bear family had a party. They invited all their friends around to meet the new baby. Miss Kitty brought some toys for Bubbles and some hair clips for Honey. Wise Mr. Owl brought a big blue pot for the family so Bronny would make some vegetable soup on her new stove.

“Hoo hoo!” he said. “What a handsome baby bear.”

Honey remembered that she was a brave big sister, so although she got a fright at Mr. Owl’s loud voice, she didn’t cry but just smiled at Bubbles so he wouldn’t be scared.

Honey never forgot that she was a brave big sister. When she saw a spider, she told Bubbles not to be scared because they were much bigger than any spider. When she fell down and hurt herself, she didn’t cry because she didn’t want Bubbles to worry about her. When she was scared, she silently asked God to help her be brave and she put a smile on her face.

Paddy Bear remembered his promise to Miss Kitty and made her a lovely wooden bath. Miss Kitty was very excited about it. Now she has baths every day and is the only cat I know who would rather have a bath than a lick clean.

The Bear family lived happily in the house that Paddy had found. The children grew up and had lots of adventures and Bronny and Paddy lived happily ever after.

January 2013. Dear Zach

Dear Zach,
Today I went to visit your grave again.   We will only be in New Zealand another week and while we hope we can come again, it is by no means sure.   We brought you a little teddy bear - made of procelain, holding flowers, and left it next to the cross.

How I wish we could have bought you a fluffy teddy bear - and watched you play with it (or chuck it aside).   You would have been be a year and a half now.

Just to let you know, we will never forget you.   We will always love you.   We've met your brother, Nathan, for the first time.   He's cool.   You would have had fun together.   However, you are with Jesus in a better place.   Your grave is amid lots of other graves of babies - a new one commemorates twin boys.  So I'm sure you have enough company and children to play with.

I would just like to ask Jesus to bless all their parents, those that brought toys at Christmas time, those that will also never forget.   Please may they have other children in this life and may they get to know Jesus and inherit life eternal.


                                                       Lots of Love,
                                                             Granny

Grey Day

The world is grey. It is the middle of winter. Grey clouds hover menacingly over the drab landscape. Mist obscures the details of anything cheerful. We are driving to Bloemfontein. The nurse at Bayswater Village spoke to Brian last night about Dad. Verwag die ergste,” she said.
On the CD player bagpipes are playing “Whispering Hope”. “Look for the sunshine tomorrow, after the breaking of day.”

Dad is 90. I suppose that is not all that old in a country whose icon and inspiration, Nelson Mandela, is almost 94, but it is certainly more than the threescore and ten that the bible talks about, He started following the Lord as a boy as a result of his parent’s faith. Grandpa Howard Young was a Methodist minister –“ a little man who served a great God.”

As a result of the war and his father’s influence, Dad too became a Methodist minister. It is a tribute to him and mom that all 3 of their children are dedicated Christians, serving God in different ways in different church’s in different places.

Dad served faithfully as the minister of many small town church’s, retiring to Bloemfontein and continuing to serve as a supernumerary, sowing into the lives of the people at Bayswater Village.

After Mom’s death 8 years ago, Dad lost the will to live. He pined away, getting weaker and frailer until he was saved from certain death by an angel in disguise called Adie. She admired him, loved him and married him, making it her life’s mission to take care of him. Dad left frail care to get married and then bloomed like a flower given water after a long spell of dryness.

Towards the end of last year, despite Adie’s valiant efforts. Dad had to move into frail care again, visiting Adie in their little cottage by day where he would be loved and cherished. Now the spectre that he managed to evade seven years ago has caught up with him.

We don’t know what to expect when we get to Bloemfontein. We’ve packed for any eventuality and cleared our schedules for the next 3 or 4 days. We are in God’s hands.

On the way to Bayswater village we are going to get some helium balloons to release at 5pm to co-incide with when the rest of the family in Randburg is going to do the same to celebrate Zachary’s short 11 hours of life.

How incongruous. Colourful balloons into a grey day. Messages of hope and inspiration into a gloomy midwinter world.

The message of Christ still stands. “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.”

Happy Birthday Zach

To my Grandson




Zachary, you would have turned one today. How much anticipation goes into a birthday. Perhaps you would have started to walk and say a few words. If things had been different.

But now you are in heaven. You are happy. You are loved and cared for.

I am changed. I am changed by your 11 precious hours of life. I am changed by the fact that you were. I will always be sitting next to a pool of tears.

We are releasing 22 balloons into the air at 5pm.   22 for the date.   These balloons are for you, to celebrate your life…..to remember……..how God was so close…..how your Mom and Dad were carried by the Grace of Christ and the love of friends. Because I believe, I know I will one day see you. Meanwhile, Happy Birthday. Say Hi to Jesus for me.

Photos

                First born son
           David Jonathan Young.
          Beloved gift of God.
          How we love you
          And you are God’s gift to the world.
          The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
           Blessed be the name of the Lord.


          Goodbye
     Never easy.
     How we miss you.
     But you have gone to a better place.
      There’s an empty place at all family celebrations.
     And I am left with albums full of photos and memories.
This is what the Lord says.  “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.   See – I am doing a new thing!   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?   I am making a way in the desert and streams on the wasteland.”


      New  Mother
     You didn’t know how hard it would be.
     When you saw that first scan, felt that  first bubble of life, gazed at miniature baby clothes, you didn’t know.
    All your dreams for your child, 9 months of bonding, of loving, of anticipation.

You didn’t know you’d have to kneel at his graveside having had only had half a day to show your love to him, to touch him, to know him.   You didn’t know you’d be called on to watch him die.   You didn’t know what motherhood would demand of you.
But you have a mother’s heart and only the strength of God will get you through.



                                   First born son
                 Zachary Samuel Young
              How you love him.
            His little life was God’s gift to the world.
            The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
            Blessed be the name of the Lord.


Goodbye
     Never easy.
     How you miss him.
     But he has gone to a better place.
      There’s an empty place in your lives
    And you are left with only  videos, photos and memories.

            New Daddy
  You didn’t expect the hard demands of fatherhood.    The hardest things you’ve ever had to do.
“I can do all things through him who gives me strength”

But you took the challenge and  turned a funeral into  a celebration because you know that your son is with the Lord and you will see him again.   You know that his life counted and that it was not all in vain and this is not the end.
“Be still my soul; thy God doth undertake                                                              to guide the future as he has the past.                                                                Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;                                                           All now mysterious shall be bright at last.”



    Balloons and paper planes.
    Symbols of life and celebration.    How dichotomous is our experience.   We can only trust the Lord of Life and Death.