In answer to a couple questions in the comment section, I just need to get a few things off my chest. I’m sensing that there are some misperceptions roaming about that need to get nipped in the bud.
So first of all, by way of background information, I have and have always had, a terrible urge to make things. It really is something I can’t help, and I frequently get myself in WAY over my head in ridiculous projects. For me, this itching inside to make something, anything, is like a beach ball that you’re sitting on under water. You can keep it down for just so long and then suddenly and without warning it comes rocketing out and you find yourself, oh say, making a mosaic on your kitchen floor or tearing the moldy upholstery off of a chair that you found in a hedge and trying to reupholster it in a matelasse bedspread that you have stuffed in the top shelf of your hall closet because you knew it would come in handy one day. But first you have to dye the bedspread because it’s the wrong color and one thing leads to another and suddenly you realize instead of getting the sheets washed you’re actually dying a bedspread in the washer, and that you forgot to put the roast in the oven at 3:00 like you were supposed to . . . . and the bathroom didn’t get scrubbed because you were so busy spritzing down the chair frame with the mold killer that you were supposed to be spritzing in the shower . . . Continue reading ‘Beanbags’
My husband “quietly mentioned” on his blog that I had picked up 300 white cloth napkins in Mississippi. A small purchase, don’t you think? Especially since they were only twenty cents each! But I thought I should explain why I got them.
We are having our church feast this year as usual in January. This is a dinner that we do with Trinity Reformed and it is quite a bit of fun. Usually we just reserve a banquet room at a local hotel, sell tickets, and someone else does the cooking. But this year the ladies decided to do the cooking themselves, the elders thought it was a great idea, so we reserved a big room, and a bunch of the women have volunteered to prepare food. Even though we have quite a few more than 300 adults in the combined churches, we are shooting high to hope for 300 to attend. We would rather shoot high than low, we don’t want to run out of food, and the more the merrier. Continue reading ’300 Napkins’
So good to be home again and off the airplane. But what a wonderful trip we had to Louisiana and Mississippi. I so enjoy catching up with our southern friends and getting a big ol’ dose of southern hospitality. I practically come home with a drawl just out of pure admiration. Those people really know how to enjoy (mountains of) food and fellowship. And we had absolutely gorgeous weather: brisk sunshine. I know they thought it was cold, but Doug and I thought we had been transported to the middle of May!
We drove home from the airport on dry roads, but now, just a couple hours later, we are on the receiving end of a blizzard. That will be fun to wake up to, but I’m thankful we weren’t driving on and in it tonight. And we went straight to the kids’ homes to say hi to the grandkids. You just can’t blame us for liking it best right here, no matter if we have rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
The Lord is doing wonderful things down South. It was a privilege to get a peek.
(If you’ve misplaced your glasses you can click on this image to have a better shot at actually reading it.)
 ”If we love God, we shall not think any work too mean for us, by which we may be helpful to Christ’s members. Love is not squeamish; it will visit the sick, relieve the poor, wash the saints’ wounds. The mother that loves her child is not coy and nice; she will do these things for her child which others would scorn to do. He who loves God will humble himself to the meanest office of love to Christ and His members.”
“To do duty without love, is not sacrifice, but penance.”
From All Things for Good
It’s January first and everyone knows that we now switch over from the Christmas shopping, decorating, and eating to the January cleaning, organizing, and exercising. Funny how we are all on the same page when it comes to such things. We must all be related after all. The storekeepers know this about us, so down come the decorations and out come the files, planning books, and exercise equipment. And the diet centers know this as well, and they are offering special deals to get us back on track after the big fudge binge.
I don’t think God minds this about us; after all, it seems to be a design feature. He gives us new mercies every single morning, an opportunity to start again, a fresh beginning every day as the sun comes up. He gives us new weeks, new months, and new years. And we find pleasure in that. Our kind Creator is willing to wash away our sins more than daily, knowing that we are the sort of creatures who just can’t stay out of messes. We need ongoing opportunities for the fresh start. Continue reading ‘Clean the Closet’
Recent Comments