A lesson on fish and deep thoughts

This morning Lloyd and Njori arrived just after 8 for their lift to Sandy Bay, bringing with them six or seven bullseyes for us. Nick brought them back from church shortly after ten, and after a cup of tea, Lloyd very kindly filleted the bullseyes for me, outside. He showed me how to do it, so if I ever have a whole fresh fish again, I’ll know what to do. His method did not involve chopping heads off with axes! I didn’t have to prepare lunch today, as we had been invited to Anthony and Elaine for lunch. We ate a hearty lunch of veggies, cauliflower in cheese sauce, gammon and drumsticks. Pudding was chocolate peppermint stuff and a peach flan, all very delicious. The conversation flowed around church topics mostly, and Anthony is very keen to improve the worship. They also have an idea to open a coffee bar in the schoolroom. A discussion of the role of the Pastor’s Wife always seems to come up, as in years gone by the PW was very active in the community, church life, and various ministries. I always maintain that the PW is not employed by the church, and there should be no expectations put upon her, other than the expectations of any normal church member to be involved in ministries. It bothers me that there is this undefined and unsaid rule that she is a Super Member and should be doing more than the Regular Member. But then I always have to wonder if I should be doing more, and what I should be doing, and where I will find the emotional energy after a morning of homeschooling! My role as a PW is to look after and help the Pastor, which I am doing (the Pastor concurs). If anyone has any thoughts on this, drop a comment on the blog!

Last night we had chicken burgers for supper, and did one of our favourite things, which is to take our supper to the docks and eat while we watch the sun set. It was great, definitely something we’ll miss one day. We sat on top of a big flat wall next to the cannons, with our feet dangling over the edge. Caleb climbed onto the wrong wall, so I instructed him to climb down and climb up again on ours, cautioning him “not to even think about jumping across”. “I’m thinking about it,” says he, “but I won’t do it.” Our supper finished, we walked further around the docks and threw some bread out for the fish, but the sea was very rough and we didn’t see fish. Then Nick and the boys clambered over some rocks while I sat watching the sea. It’s intriguing how the waves keep on breaking over the rocks with such force, and have been doing so for centuries, and will continue to do so as long as the earth remains. Not quite an infinite cycle, but very long anyway. As I was sitting there, watching, I realized that I had been staring mindlessly at the sea for some time, just enjoying it, and not getting bored, and then I thought about heaven. The fact of its infinity is a scary thought, but probably because we’ll be enjoying it so much, we won’t think about how long it’s lasting.