This morning, Hannah had trouble tearing open her breakfast sachet. I saw her pressing her lip in concentration as she attempted it twice. When she could not, she turned to me and said, ‘Dad, please ?’ I tore it open for her.

This is pretty much how Hannah handles the big problems in her life. On a school day, she spends a big part of her wakeful hours on school or homework. School is very demanding of children nowadays and she has a heavy workload. Sometimes I worry that she would be overwhelmed.

But she takes it all in her stride. When she is stumped despite her best efforts, she calls on higher help, ‘Dad, please ?’

Our Father watches over us with the same devotion and affection. When we feel overwhelmed or are stumped, we too can call on higher help – Father, please ?

Jonathan is back in school.

For the past few mornings, he has been clinging close to me in the time before the bell rang. His friends were running around playing and getting to know each other again after the long break.

This morning, I pushed Jonathan out of the nest. I told him that I had to leave already and went out of the school compound. In fact I observed him outside the school fence. Left alone, he started to explore the playground and interact with his friends.

Sometimes, if we feel ‘out of our nests’, God could be letting us learn confidence and to grow. But God is not far away.

There were many a proud parent last Sunday.

I was one of them because Hannah was an angel and Jonathan was one of the three wise men.

Last year, Jonathan was a sheep but he had stage fright on the morning and Mummy had to be a sheep together with him.

This year Jonathan had a line to read and we pasted his line on a piece of paper on his sleeve. After he read his line, he proudly showed his accomplishment to Mummy.

I am proud of Hannah and Jonathan because they have grown. Grown in courage, grown a little in maturity, grown in his reading.

A father watches his children grow with pride.

Our Father watches us grow with pride.

Some gift ideas for Hannah and Jonathan:

• The gift of listening. No interrupting, no planning your response. Just listening.

• The gift of affection. Being generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, and pats on the back.

• The gift of laughter. Sharing funny stories and jokes.

• The gift of a written note. Expressing in a brief, handwritten note your appreciation or affection.

• The gift of a compliment. Sincerely saying, “You are special” can bring a smile.

Source of ideas: http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/12/01/devotion.aspx

Yesterday we went shopping for a pair of dinner shoes for Hannah. Her choices were all shoes with heels although we told her they were not suitable for her. But her disappointed expression told us that it was tantamount to her happiness.
We were sad to have to say No and even sadder that she thought that high heeled shoes would make her happy.
Howerver, it turned out that she did not know better. A few minutes later without buying any shoes, she forgot about them and was instead looking forward to a planned visit to the park and hoping fervently that it would not rain.
The weather did hold up and we did go to the park. At the park, she was truly happy and we were happy that she was happy with things that a child should be happy with.

We hope she would always remember that material things would not give her true happiness.

I love to watch Hannah and Jonathan in their sleep. Sometimes I would sit near them to catch every expression on their face. I think when I do that, I am trying to see what they dream of.

On some occasions I see them smile and I am happy that they are sleeping well and have happy memories in their sleep.

Other times when I catch a frown breaking out, I would gently caress their face, or whisper “It’s ok, Papa’s here” to comfort them.

As I grow older, I need to remember that I still have a doting Father in heaven. Our Father too watches over us and loves to see us sleep well.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?

Matthew 6:27

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

Last Friday, we took Hannah to buy her a ‘Barbie’ bag. She was looking forward to it and we were looking forward to buying it for her.

But when we reached the shop, we saw that the bag was too small to carry the books that she has to bring to school. We told her that the bag was too small and promised that when we find a bigger bag, we will buy it for her. She was deeply disappointed and tried to justify how she should have the bag then instead of later. We told her we would not buy the bad and led her away.

For a long time that afternoon, she was sore and angry at us. She was visibly dejected that she did not get her ‘Barbie’ bag and kept to herself, rejecting our attempts to cheer her up. When she carried on too long, I held her close and told her firmly again the reason we were not buying the bag and that if she continued to sulk, I would be unhappy with her. In my embrace, she cried her disappointment out. After that, she came out of her shell and forgot about the ‘Barbie’ bag.

But we did not.

We are looking out for a big ‘Barbie’ bag for our little girl.

Our Father loves us that way.

If there are disappointments in life, there is a good reason. He would not withold a good thing from us.

Jonathan absolutely adores his father.

He is always on the lookout for a chance to play with his father. In my case that usually is Saturday morning. On Friday nights, he observes that my work bag is not at the usual place and he clues on that the weekend is near.

He checks with me: ‘Tomorrow, we go to church or school ?’

‘Tomorrow we stay at home’

‘You play with me, ok ?’

It is a request I cannot refuse.

A father adores the child that adores him.

Our Father adores us all the more when we show Him the adoration He deserves.

Hannah is going through a difficult time now. I had my suspicions that exams were hard work for her and yesterday, I had a glimpse of the ‘difficulties’ in her life.

When Hannah has to study in her room, she likes to call on Daddy to be in the same room with her. While I am there, I give her an occasional word of encouragement and mostly keep her company.

I am certain she would prefer to spend her time on other activities but she puts in diligent effort because she knows Daddy will be pleased with her. She does not ask me to take away the studying and she does not neglect her responsibility. Instead, she counts on Daddy to be by her side in her ‘difficulty’.

When she grows older, I hope she will learn to count on her Father in heaven to be by her side when she goes through the difficult periods in her life.

In their fights, one of Jonathan’s and Hannah’s most quoted defense is ‘He/She do me first’.

That would be their justification for hitting the other.

While I might not be unhappy with the first provocation act that supposedly started the fight, I am usually also unhappy with the second retaliatory act. It takes two to fight and I am unhappy with both of them when they get into a fight.

I would be happier with both of them if:

1. the ‘victim’ had the maturity to overlook the offense committed against him/her. Sometimes the offense might be accidental and other times the offense is petty.

2. the offender did not offend at all.

There are very few valid excuses for conflict, least of all – ‘he do me first’.