I wrote this free-verse poem and submitted it to the beginner level writing contest on Faithwriters.com. The prompt that week was "up and down" and the poem is based on John 4.
Refreshed
Heading to the well
I wished I had a servant girl
With the balance and strength
To complete this task quickly
But I knew these thoughts were
Just thoughts
I would never have a servant girl at all
Up and down
The well trodden path to Jacob’s well
Today at the sixth hour
Hot in the noonday sun
My throat and spirit
Parched
My mouth dry
As in a barren land where there is no water
My soul cracked and arid
I hoped to see no one
The women’s quiet whispers
Shamed me
Sweating
I thought for a moment
About my lover, hard at work
Laboring in green fields
Toiling in the field of another
I prayed he would find rest this night
A worker sleeps well
But one with a burdened heart
Carries his worries deep into the night
Arriving at the well
A few women ahead
I waited my turn
Then up and down
The bucket filling
Upended time and again
To fill my vessel
A man with compassion in his eyes
Asked me for a drink
But you are a Jew
And I, a Samaritan woman
I said to him
If you knew the gift of God
And who it is
Who asks this of you
You would ask for living water
And never thirst again
Sir, you have nothing to draw with
And the well is deep
So how do you judge yourself able
To offer a me drink?
You drink this water, he said
Clear and sweet
And yet thirst again
The water I give is like a spring
Within your soul
Living water welling up to life eternal
I want this water, Sir
Bring your husband, he said
And I will tell you both
Glancing down, I said quietly
I have no husband
Quite true
You have answered correctly
Five husbands
And the one you live with now
Is not yours
Sir, I can see you are a prophet
telling me everything I have ever done
I thought for a moment
then asked a question
I had pondered many times
Shall we worship
On the mountain as my ancestors said
Or in Jerusalem?
And I wondered
Would you deem me fit to call upon your God?
His answer surprised me
Not where, but how
The time is coming
When the Father will be worshipped
In spirit and in truth
I thought about this
Then said
I know that the Messiah is coming
And when he comes
He will tell us all that we should do
I, said the man with love in his eyes
I who speak to you am He
Filled with joy
Leaving my vessel I ran
Up to Sychar
Down the path to the marketplace
Then even further on to the green fields
Telling of the Messiah
Unashamed
Worshiping even as I ran
I had no well water
But I, with soul cracked and weary
Found myself refreshed
By the life-giving, soul-quenching
Water of life
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Babysitting Co-op (What I learned from Monika and Angie)
I recently received an email from a new friend. It went something like this:
Hi! I hope you are all having a great day so far. Do any of you have a babysitter you would recommend? My husband and I have been really lazy about looking for a babysitter and haven't gone out on a date night since our daughter has been born. If you know of anyone I would love their contact information. Thanks for your help!
Friend, I feel your pain. As a person with eleven and a half years of motherhood under my belt, I still am a bit lazy about securing babysitters. I'm also mildly ticked off that I am the one that has to secure a babysitter for every date night, but that's a topic for a different post. For this one I will say, but for the intervention of Monika about eleven years ago I would have had far fewer date nights in the history of my marriage.
When my firstborn was about four months old, I started attended a weekly baby playgroup. Monika approached me at one of the meetings to see if I wanted to be part of a babysitting co-op. She reported that a friend of hers had a group with three other families and they swapped babysitting duty on Saturday nights. One night per month each family hosted a babysitting night in their own home. Children from the other families would show up during designated hours and the parents would go out on a date night. Based on this model you'd get three date nights for the price of one night watching kids at home! Monika wanted to use her friend's example and create a babysitting co-op that her family could use.
Besides me, only our friend Angie decided to participate in this with us. The rules we decided on were pretty simple. At the end of every month Monika, Angie, and I would decide which Saturday night each family would host the kids during the next month. On the designated evening, guest children would arrive any time after 6 pm in in their pjs having already been fed dinner and with whatever items they needed for the rest of the night, including bedtime. Parents needed to return by 11 pm to pick up their kids. Viola, free date night.
At the time we started this, each family had one child and they were about 6 months, 10 months, and 1 year old. Starting this early made it easier to get the kids used to going to sleep in a foreign environment--the first few months there were some tears but eventually everyone got used to the situation. Things changed as the children got older and our three families were blessed with additional children. "Feed the kids before arriving" turned into "pizza night". Portable cribs turned into sleeping bags and pillows. But, the general model remained the same.
We were flexible within the basic rule structure we had created. Just say one couple had tickets to a concert and wanted to stay out late-- that was OK if agreed upon in advance. In that particular scenario we decided that the babysitting parents could go to sleep and the concert-going parents could pick their kids up as late as they wanted and lock up when they left.
We created new rules as they were needed. For example, when the first new baby came into the picture we decided that she couldn't stay with the babysitting group until she was old enough to go to sleep at about the same time as her older sibling. That meant that little sister went out with her parents on their date for about six months, until her schedule fit in with the others.
When picking friends for and adventure like this it would be wise to choose carefully. Angie pointed out a huge benefit of this arrangement--that our kids would grow up having other adults to interact with who were trustworthy and shared our values. In the best case scenario as the kids grew up they would have other adults in addition to their own parents to ask important life questions and to seek counsel. Another benefit of picking good friends for the co-op is having the chance to visit with each other on a regular basis. We frequently chatted and visited with the other parents during pick up if it was not too late in the evening. It was fun to connect with others we enjoyed and respected who were in our same stage of life.
Things you might want to discuss with other couples before beginning a babysitting co-op:
Do you have any pets? Have they ever bitten anyone?
Do you have any guns in the house? If so, where are they stored and how are they secured?
Do you drink alcoholic beverages? If so, will you consume them while watching my child? If so, what amount is OK?
Where will the kids sleep? Will boys and girls sleep in the same room or bed? If so, at what age should we agree that boys/girls be separated?
If your chid needs help going to the bathroom, can either parent help or do you prefer the same-sex parent to assist your child?
Is it OK if just one parent watches the kids on babysitting nights or do both parents have to be present?
If a child is misbehaving, what discipline is agreed upon? Timeouts equal to one minute per age of child worked well for us.
Before you talk with other couples I suggest that you work through these issues (and any others that you think of) with your spouse. This ensures that the two of you agree before you bring up sensitive issues with others.
The demise of our wonderful babysitting co-op began when three children were born into the group in a two week period (one family had twins). We went from having four children to having seven, with three infants. One of the couples had local grandparents who were willing to babysit, so they pulled out of the group. Though the other two families were interested in continuing, this began a slow fade that eventually ended our babysitting nights.
We had three great years getting to know little ones and essentially hosting fun play dates one Saturday night per month, while getting the opportunity for an adult date night two other Saturdays. It really was a sweet deal.
Hi! I hope you are all having a great day so far. Do any of you have a babysitter you would recommend? My husband and I have been really lazy about looking for a babysitter and haven't gone out on a date night since our daughter has been born. If you know of anyone I would love their contact information. Thanks for your help!
Friend, I feel your pain. As a person with eleven and a half years of motherhood under my belt, I still am a bit lazy about securing babysitters. I'm also mildly ticked off that I am the one that has to secure a babysitter for every date night, but that's a topic for a different post. For this one I will say, but for the intervention of Monika about eleven years ago I would have had far fewer date nights in the history of my marriage.
When my firstborn was about four months old, I started attended a weekly baby playgroup. Monika approached me at one of the meetings to see if I wanted to be part of a babysitting co-op. She reported that a friend of hers had a group with three other families and they swapped babysitting duty on Saturday nights. One night per month each family hosted a babysitting night in their own home. Children from the other families would show up during designated hours and the parents would go out on a date night. Based on this model you'd get three date nights for the price of one night watching kids at home! Monika wanted to use her friend's example and create a babysitting co-op that her family could use.
Besides me, only our friend Angie decided to participate in this with us. The rules we decided on were pretty simple. At the end of every month Monika, Angie, and I would decide which Saturday night each family would host the kids during the next month. On the designated evening, guest children would arrive any time after 6 pm in in their pjs having already been fed dinner and with whatever items they needed for the rest of the night, including bedtime. Parents needed to return by 11 pm to pick up their kids. Viola, free date night.
At the time we started this, each family had one child and they were about 6 months, 10 months, and 1 year old. Starting this early made it easier to get the kids used to going to sleep in a foreign environment--the first few months there were some tears but eventually everyone got used to the situation. Things changed as the children got older and our three families were blessed with additional children. "Feed the kids before arriving" turned into "pizza night". Portable cribs turned into sleeping bags and pillows. But, the general model remained the same.
We were flexible within the basic rule structure we had created. Just say one couple had tickets to a concert and wanted to stay out late-- that was OK if agreed upon in advance. In that particular scenario we decided that the babysitting parents could go to sleep and the concert-going parents could pick their kids up as late as they wanted and lock up when they left.
We created new rules as they were needed. For example, when the first new baby came into the picture we decided that she couldn't stay with the babysitting group until she was old enough to go to sleep at about the same time as her older sibling. That meant that little sister went out with her parents on their date for about six months, until her schedule fit in with the others.
When picking friends for and adventure like this it would be wise to choose carefully. Angie pointed out a huge benefit of this arrangement--that our kids would grow up having other adults to interact with who were trustworthy and shared our values. In the best case scenario as the kids grew up they would have other adults in addition to their own parents to ask important life questions and to seek counsel. Another benefit of picking good friends for the co-op is having the chance to visit with each other on a regular basis. We frequently chatted and visited with the other parents during pick up if it was not too late in the evening. It was fun to connect with others we enjoyed and respected who were in our same stage of life.
Things you might want to discuss with other couples before beginning a babysitting co-op:
Do you have any pets? Have they ever bitten anyone?
Do you have any guns in the house? If so, where are they stored and how are they secured?
Do you drink alcoholic beverages? If so, will you consume them while watching my child? If so, what amount is OK?
Where will the kids sleep? Will boys and girls sleep in the same room or bed? If so, at what age should we agree that boys/girls be separated?
If your chid needs help going to the bathroom, can either parent help or do you prefer the same-sex parent to assist your child?
Is it OK if just one parent watches the kids on babysitting nights or do both parents have to be present?
If a child is misbehaving, what discipline is agreed upon? Timeouts equal to one minute per age of child worked well for us.
Before you talk with other couples I suggest that you work through these issues (and any others that you think of) with your spouse. This ensures that the two of you agree before you bring up sensitive issues with others.
The demise of our wonderful babysitting co-op began when three children were born into the group in a two week period (one family had twins). We went from having four children to having seven, with three infants. One of the couples had local grandparents who were willing to babysit, so they pulled out of the group. Though the other two families were interested in continuing, this began a slow fade that eventually ended our babysitting nights.
We had three great years getting to know little ones and essentially hosting fun play dates one Saturday night per month, while getting the opportunity for an adult date night two other Saturdays. It really was a sweet deal.
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