A good friend was relating how a baby in church was entertaining her one Sunday. It is a very good looking baby girl. She has big eyes and readily smiles at strangers and friends. What is special about her is at one glance, those of us who have grown children can tell that she is alert, highly intelligent and is thinking meaningful thoughts. Actually she is Elizabeth's hot favourite, being extremely responsive to a teenager's playful interaction.
The mother of this baby said that she has to work at an admin job just to keep the accounts in the blue. And I believe her. Father and mother are young, just bought their first home and just changed an old car for a small new one.
My friend said that she hopes this young mother will stop work as soon as she can. It would be a waste that she does not have time to build on a good foundation. I agree. The first seven years of a child's life is formative. By the time that a child celebrates her seventh birthday, 95% of her brain has been developed already.
In my own family, I compare Elizabeth and Kenneth. Kenneth had my undivided attention for nine months. I almost did not survive from the experience, was almost suicidal with post-natal depression. When I next quit my part-time job, Elizabeth was 2 1/2 and Kenneth was seven. Today I see Elizabeth as much better adjusted socially and I have been privileged to be given ample opportunity to develop her potential to a high degree. To a different set of circumstances and timing, I had honestly tried my best with each child, and gotten different results. Of course God is still working at both of them. Each faces different circumstances and challenges. The more is given from on high, the more is expected of the person.
As my children leave the nest one by one, I am released to answer my own call. I wonder if indeed God will open a door for Kenneth to teach English in a foreign country. If Elizabeth applies to one college in America, will God sees it fit to give her sufficient financial aid to go? What started out as a hobby like fun time is becoming time consuming. It actually takes me a minimum of two solid hours daily to keep three or four of my blogs going.
Between 23 to 26 Nov I will be in a small town to help out in a Chinese Youth Mission Camp. I have never been to that part of the country before. According to my son, there is no cyber cafe or coffee bean there. So sorry, I am telling you my readers that I will be off line during those few days. For those of you who are new, please go back to the earlier posts. For readers in USA, please tune in to estateenthusiast.wordpress.com for a complete set of posts. For some reason, Americans are responding more to my Interesting buildings posts more than readers from any other country so far. Thank you, my American readers.
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