Patterns of the heart

Mystery woman of numerous names Leya and member of the  esteemed Lens-Artists quartet inspires us to share:

your interpretation of patterns— open your eyes and find new ones! In your own home, outdoors, man made or natural… Use your curiosity and creativity!

Leya please add: your daughter’s curiosity and creativity, as that is what I am doing. I must stress that at the time of her producing this, she was 11 years old and very close to the end of the father hero cycle. Not a product of my parenting skills. Yet I treasure this wrapping paper which she made and wrapped the Father’s day gift in.  I do not have the faintest idea what the gift itself was, just cannot remember. The wrapping paper simply overshadowed it. It must have taken her hours.

“Professional” patterns (construction, computer programming, mathematics) tend to be precise,  predictable even predestined i.e. a bridge being built from the design on the blueprint. Parenting is not such an exact science. I once did a course on financial instruments where the lecturer made this statement: An astronomer can predict exactly  where a specific star will be in the night sky at 10pm. He cannot say the same about his daughter…

I trust you have empathy with me, I have 2 teenage daughters!!

 

Translation: Jesus is dad’s wings, all that dad has to do is fly!

Count the hearts

Count the squares and triangles

Precise , predictable and predestined patterns

I love you from the moon and back patterns

Elrike uses the P of pa to describe me (in Afrikaans). These are not parenting characteristics, these are human characteristics and unfortunately not always present

PaPappa – Dad daddy
Prettig – Fun
Plesierig – Jolly
Praat saam – Talks with

I conclude with another pearl of the lecturer during the course I mentioned earlier. Economist’s tend to analyze and theorize and when asked an opinion the answer is often: on the one hand… but on the other hand. For the average Joe wanting a specific answer, this multiplicity of answers, does not help. Give me a one handed economist!

Maybe that is sometimes how our children feel, when our tiredness, moods or own agenda may lead to inconsistent parenting: give me a one handed parent!

Elrike lists 6 Bible verses, I quote 2

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14