A day in the life of Christine’s family

A couple of months ago Cathy posted this picture on our Gospel-Centred Parenting Facebook page. This is Christine on her baptism day.

Christine and Cathy met three and a half years ago at the children’s centre play groups. It’s been a wonderful friendship whereby Christine has looked into the life and claims of Jesus and come to faith in him!

Christine actually came to our church for the first time at the dedication service of our two boys (aged 2 and 2 weeks old at the time). Cathy felt, in what she can only describe as a prompting by the Holy Spirit, to give her an invitation to the dedication, even though she didn’t really know her very well.

That Sunday marked the beginning of a journey to faith. Our church family got around Christine to love and support her through the pregnancy and birth of her little girl; the brain tumour and subsequent surgery of her partner Chris; the ups and downs of parenting her little boy Marcus (who is an utter poppet by the way!) and most importantly of all, her looking into the life of Jesus through various events, courses and 1-2-1s. Our church family is pretty awesome at including new people in our community – shout out to our amazing Grace church family. (I’m going to be corny on here, because we are social distancing! Got to get our appreciation in somehow.)

So that’s a bit of background to our dear Christine. And this is why we’re so thrilled to be sharing her story today.

Christine’s Family

1) Describe your family and what your average day looks like under lockdown.

I have two children, Marcus is 7 and Willow who is two. They are early risers! Marcus gets up between 5-6am and Willow usually gets up at around 6am. We start the day with breakfast, then we get dressed and switch Joe Wicks on. Marcus does this while Willow bops in and out (she does some amazing squats, lol) and I get a few jobs done. Marcus then normally has a 15 minute break and then he starts either maths or English (I usually give him that choice). This usually consists of times table rockstars, purple mash, a booklet or some sheets to do. We then usually break for lunch and try to go back to it but if not I don’t force the issue! Then generally around 2/3pm we take our very excitable 4 year old cocker spaniel, Bella to the park. Marcus loves to take his bike (he’s just learned to ride it) and Willow toddles about, this is our daily exercise and to be honest I think if we didn’t have that we’d struggle.

2) What challenges have you encountered?

The challenges I’ve uncovered are, my toddler wanting Mammy’s attention when I’m trying to home school her big brother; she’s used to so much 1-to-1 time, so I think she’s struggling the most. I’m missing our playgroups and seeing my friends and my family whom we see all the time usually. I’m even missing school runs I never thought I’d say that!! My eldest also suffers with anxiety and struggles to voice things so gets angry and shouts which I’ve found challenging. It’s difficult trying to manage that and keep calm myself when my emotions are heightened because of this crazy situation we are all unfortunately in. Home schooling is hard and when it’s in essence forced upon you it’s hard to swallow sometimes. I get anxious as I don’t wanna let him down! It’s a challenge but we are getting through it!

3) What encouragements have you seen?

I have been so encouraged by everyone; seeing others on our walks sticking to the ‘rules’ set so we are all safe is so encouraging, seeing people coming together helping people less fortunate, seeing the key workers go out to work, not even thinking of themselves just thinking of the help they can give. I’m also encouraged by my friends who are parents and the amazing things they are doing with their children despite being out of their comfort zones. I’m also so encouraged by our church family, keeping in touch with daily videos, talking via zoom and so many offers of help if we need it!

4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?

The gospel is such good news to know we have a God who loves us, who sent his only son to die on the cross for us. To know Jesus knew this was to happen yet he still went to the cross to save us. Yes these times are hard, but it’s so comforting to know we have a God who loves us and I can speak to him whenever I feel overwhelmed. Even though I can’t do this by myself, he gives me the strength to carry on.

A huge thank you to Christine’s family for taking part in this series!

Why don’t you take a few moments now to pray for Christine’s family? Pray for Christine and Chris as they seek to parent a toddler and 7 year old through these challenging times. Pray for Christine as she seeks to home school Marcus and pray that Willow would adjust to having her big brother around too. Pray that their faith will grow during this time.

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