From Mouths of Babes

December 23, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Sometimes you just trip over great blogs. Other times you have to travel thousands of kilometres to find them.

As well as the many great stories that I’ll be sharing about my trip to Papua New Guinea, I want to share a blog I’ve just discovered. It’s called From Mouths of Babes and it’s written by Katrina Roe who was a member of the media team that travelled to PNG. Katrina’s the morning announcer on Hope 103.2 in Sydney.

So what’s her blog about? Here’s part of the story in her own words.

When I fell pregnant for the first time, I couldn’t have been happier. We had been trying for a baby for a while and I knew I was ready for this next stage in my life. But so often my friends with kids had only negative things to say about becoming a parent. ”Enjoy your sleep while you can!” ”You don’t know what you’re in for!” Or sometimes just a smug smile that said, “You’ve got a big shock coming.” The thing is, my first year as a Mum was the best year of my life. I loved everything about it. That doesn’t mean the adjustments weren’t difficult, but just that the joy of knowing my child far outweighed the difficulties.

So I really want this site to be a celebration of parenting, a celebration of all the joy and love our kids bring us. Yes, we need to talk about the hard stuff too, but let’s talk about it in a way that encourages us to be better parents and better people.

I love that attitude. We had people telling us the same sort of negative stuff when our kids were very young but I can assure you that Emily (14) and James (12) have brought us untold pleasure over many years. Of course there are tough times but I wouldn’t swap parenting them for anything.

Katrina’s most recent post, A Brown River Christmas, tells part of the story of our trip to a couple of villages near Port Moresby. I hope you’ll enjoy reading her account of the trip and that you’ll stick around to read more of her posts.



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How can you find reliable parenting advice?

December 1, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man. – Francis Xavier

It’s the very early years of life that will have the most influence on who a child will become. That can be a frightening revelation. When our children are “brand new” we’re just “brand new parents”. At the time we most need to be getting it right, we’re just feeling our way into this strange new experience of parenthood.

How do you know how to be a good parent? What parenting advice can you trust? Why does it always look so much simpler on television?

Thankfully help is at hand. Every fortnight as part of my morning radio program I speak to David and Charissa Scotford on a range of parenting issues. I’m always impressed by their down to earth, common sense solutions to parenting problems.

They’ve just launched their new website, 4 The Family. If you’re a new parent or even quite a few years into the process, you’ll find some really helpful hints and resources at the site.

Whether you are expecting your first child or have several children at different stages, 4 The Family is a website filled with Resources to help you.

You will find materials grouped according to the main stages of parenting. Some of them overlap and you’ll be able to see a complete list of everything that’s available in our Online Store.

We also have several Resources you can download for FREE.

While they’d be the first to admit that they’re not perfect parents, or that perfect parents even exist, the Scotfords are people who ‘practice what they preach’ and the results are obvious in their own family. I’ve spent extended periods of time with David, Charissa and their four children and I can assure you that the principles they talk about work.

If what you need to know isn’t on the site, they’re always happy to be contacted with questions.

Do your kids, your marriage and your family a favour and check out 4 The Family.



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Where are the crayons?

August 31, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Where’s the little girl that we loved so much?

Pauline and I went to school last night. We attended a meeting where we were told about Emily’s options for courses in Year 10 next year. Within the next few days we must decide, together with Emily, what courses she will study next year. Those courses will then become the platform to launch her into Years 11 and 12, her final school years. We need to make decisions this week that will imapct her journey through university or whatever career she will move into.

Emily’s a very capable young lady and there are many directions that she could take and she’d excell in them all but now’s the time to start narrowing the options.

The odd thing is that it really wasn’t that long ago that school meetings were more about what crayons to choose. It seems like such a short time ago that we were getting her ready for her first days of kindy and then pre-school.

We were warned about how quickly the time passes and so we have tried to make the most of every moment. We’ve seen her develop her own interests and personality, all the while charming most of the people she has met along the way.

Now, at the age of 14, Emily is moving into yet another stage of life. Many fear their young ones entering the teenage years and to be honest we don’t know what waits around the corner, but I can honestly say I’m not all that worried. I know my daughter and I know the God who holds her safely in his arms. I’m just standing on the sidelines watching God pouring his amazing creativity into developing the young woman we have the privilege of sharing with him.

Where’s the little girl that we loved so much? She’s growing into a beautiful young woman that we love more today than we ever thought possible.



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I Get It Now

July 15, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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I’m finding more and more that being a parent myself helps me understand my own parents better. I guess it’s only natural that I’m seeing things through a dad’s eyes these days.

I remember at times when I was ill as a child that my dad would start feeling ill too. He didn’t like seeing his kids sick and so his body would react to knowing that his children weren’t feeling 100%.

Our son James starting feeling unwell just before dinner last night, which is always better than afterwards because I know it can’t have been my cooking. He only ate a little of his dinner because he was getting stomach cramps. A little while after going to bed he became very distressed and then threw up a couple of times.

He’s a whole lot better today but seeing him hurting last night sent my tummy into a bit of a spin. I didn’t just feel sorry for him; it made me feel physically ill.

I only wish that my father was still around so that I could say, “Hey dad, I get it now.”

Have you started seeing things differently as you move through different stages of life? Has getting a little older helped you to see things from someone else’s perspective? I’d love to read your experiences. Please leave a comment or two.



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Father's Day 2009

September 7, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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fathersday.gifI love my kids … and it would seem they love me. 🙂

They put a couple of notices in the Father’s Day section of yesterday’s Sunday Times newspaper.

Emily wrote:

Daddy, thank you for being my stronghold when I don’t know what to do. Thank you for giving me hugs when I really need one from you.

I pray the Lord will answer you every time you pray. And that you have a really special Father’s Day!

Love, Emily

While James said:

Dear Dad, thank you for teaching me how to ride my bike and for teaching me about God’s love.

I hope you have a great day today.

From your loving son, James.

PS: I love you.

I am truly blessed.



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