Mary had a Little Lamb

I have never read “Mary had a Little Lamb” written like this before – have you?

Mary had a little lamb,
His fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day,
‘Twasn’t even in the rule.
He made the children laugh and play,
To see a Lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became,
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His name.
Everyday got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gunshots and tears.
What must we do to stop the crime,
That’s in our schools today?
Let’s let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray.

My Nanna was like my Mum

My nanna was one of the most genuine people that I have had the pleasure of knowing, and she brought me up for many of my childhood years. She was the one constant in my life, and I knew that if I had done anything wrong (not that I ever did anything wrong – not much – cough, gasp, splutter!) she would be the first person there in my defence.

The first photos that I have of her are when I was two weeks old, and I cherish these photos for they bring back such wonderful memories.

When I was eighteen months old, we moved from Broken Hill to Adelaide by car, and I was carsick all over my grandfather, so Nanna nursed me in the front of the car – I still get carsick even to this day in the back of the car, or if I try and read in the car. It makes for interesting conversations when I am asked to read a street directory, such as,“Tell me where we’re going.”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you’re the one with the street directory.”
“Not anymore.” (throws street directory at husband) These days I drive and my husband reads the street directory – much easier!

My mum went out to work, as my dad joined the South Australian Police Force after working in the North Mine in Broken Hill. The first memories I have are of my nanna taking me shopping with her in Adelaide, eating out at a cafeteria and riding the rooftop rides. I remember climbing the wall on King Willliam Street where the bus stopped. Oh, such happy days they were!

I remember that once my brother and I spent the day clambering through storm drains, and I slipped and fell. We went home, scared to tell anyone what had happened, but Nanna was staying with us; when I lay down in the afternoon, she stroked my head, and I jumped. She knew that something was wrong, and it turned out that I had concussion. Nanna was the one who knew me inside out – probably better than I knew myself.

When I went to school, I spent much of my life in hospital due to asthma, but my nanna was always there, brightening up my days. Then in grade five I was admitted to hospital, but I didn’t go home when I was released from hospital. Instead I went to the Red Cross Home, where I spent much of grade five.

I remember visiting my nanna during the last part of grade five, and my mum being there – she took me on a long walk around the back of Blanchetown trying to drill my social studies into me, especially dates of important events in history and hitting me if I gave her wrong answers. I remember saying that I wanted to go back to Nanna’s, and that my mother was mean, but I wasn’t allowed to go back to Nanna’s until I answered every question correctly! However, I scored 95% in the final exams, so I guess that it was all worth it. It proved to me that I could do it, if I put my heart and mind to it.

I remember putting hydrogen peroxide through my hair, then going to the hairdressers to have a darker colour put into it, and finally being sent up to Blanchetown to stay with Nanna until my hair colour lightened. I remember Nanna washing it gently every day with Velvet soap, sometimes several times through the day, and gradually it lightened. Yet, not once did she admonish me! Her love for me was unboundless.

When I gained my driver’s licence it was wonderful to visit Nanna, and I have fond memories of driving her back to Blanchetown in my rattly old Datsun Bluebird. It was a very old car and it vibrated very much, but Nanna never complained – in fact, I don’t think I ever heard her complain about anything. Sadly, she had breast cancer, and during radiotherapy I remember her being afraid that she would smell of body odour if she didn’t use deodorant, – she was always thinking of others first. She died of a massive heart attack when she was 70.

Nanna was the mainstay in my life, and I have such happy memories of her – I miss her so much and…

…Nanna was like my Mum, and I love her with all my ♥!

What do you do when you are sick?

The last four weeks have been so difficult. I have had a shocking cold, and my asthma has really flared up, after the cold moved to my chest. Two courses of antibiotics have halted, but not cured the chest infection, so I have been using my asthma nebuliser every three to four hours for the last four weeks.

School has been more than a little bit challenging, trying to work the use of the nebuliser in to times when the children do not need my help.

I have used the time (when using my nebuliser) to read up on Bible prophecies, so I believe that the Lord has brought this about to draw me closer to Him.

What about you? What do you do when you are sick?

I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26