Vacation

We were on vacation last week. Well, I was. Dave ended up working every day, even being at a ground-breaking ceremony in town with President Obama. How's that for working? Anyway, since being back at work, I've been asked repeatedly about my vacation and how had it been. It was a strange vacation for me -- I had no motivation to do anything. One day, I seriously went no further than from my 1973 motorhome (next year to maybe be sporting flowers on the sides), to the camground bathroom and to my sister-in-law's trailer. What? That's all the further I went for an entire day? Yep, it was. What? I didn't go to the beach and swim in Lake Michigan when the water temperature was 75? No, I did not. I didn't move. So I wondered if I had wasted the time. Did I? I don't think so, but I wonder why I feel the need to justify myself? So, I'll justify myself in this way.

I sat quietly for a week and listened to that cardinal sing at the top of his lungs day and night -- and sometimes swoop into my vision to see if I had left any morsels lying around. I heard families laughing together over board games being played. I heard fire snapping in the fire pit. I tasted the gooeyness of marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers. I ate wonderful pancakes and french toast and tacos and hobo pies. I felt the quiet still breezes blow past me on a rare occasion, like a breath of fresh air or the spirit of the Lord. I woke up to the smell of coffee and shared that over long conversations with nieces and nephews (their dad's coffee was too weak -- they knew where the good stuff was). I never had to wait for a shower and the water was hot. The sleep was good and restful. I spent time with one great-niece who wanted to learn to knit -- and so I got her started and watched the excitement of knitting and her beginnings of learning the relaxing aspect of the craft. The hugs from the little great-nephews who have now learned who I am and call me "Aunt Sally" or in Dave's case "Uncle Fluffy". The stress was gone and I could just be -- reading a good book or knitting or napping. Being with family in the outdoors.

I guess I've learned that a vacation doesn't have to be "doing" and I shouldn't feel like I need to justify just "being". Because "being" is how I spent my vacation and it was glorious!

Now I Know Why

I hate to vacuum and don't enjoy cleaning much at all, but I really hate to vacuum. The main reason is that no matter how I try to do it, I always get twisted up and trip over the cord. I mean seriously, how hard can it be to push something around in a room and move on to the next room? For me, it's serious and always a mess.

The last time I vacuumed was particularly a bad day. I was working my way around the dining room, chairs pulled out from under the table and off from the rug ..... when all of a sudden -- stopped. The cord was not only wrapped completely around one chair, but also around my own two feet. How could this be? I angrily unwound the cord and marched into the living room to take on another space.

I was "happily" pushing the vacuum around the room and things were going rather well until --- stopped! I had wrapped the cord all the way around a space heater that wasn't even on the carpeting. How could this be???

By this time, I was really ticked and I snapped the cord around and got it "unstopped". I was done! No more vacuuming no matter if other rooms needed it or not. I was tired of being stopped and tired of tripping. So I began winding the cord up around the pegs on the vacuum -- you know how those uprights are -- the little hooks for winding the cord up and the little clip on the end to snap it in place on the cord. And that's when it hit me! That's when I noticed! That's when I realized that the getting all twisted up was NOT MY FAULT. But I couldn't believe it? Who would create this and why did it take me so long to figure it out? But there it was, right in front of my eyes! I own a RIGHT HANDED VACUUM SWEEPER!!! And, of course, I'm left handed!!!! The cord comes out of the LEFT side of the sweeper. Now, think about this ------ when you vacuum, if you're right handed, you hold the cord in your left hand and push with your right hand. Therefore, with my being left handed, I hold the cord in my right hand and vacuum with my left hand -- all the while pulling the cord across the front of the vacuum and slowly but surely, wrapping the cord around everything, including myself. It was no longer me, it was the darn vacuum. So, I ask you again? Who created this prejudice monster???

Problem is -- even if I had a left handed vacuum. I still wouldn't like the chore! But at least now I have a little bit of an excuse for being such an un-coordinated mess! Happy vacuuming, everyone!

So many names...................

I could give this posting so many names. Maybe you can pick one after you read this blog posting. Here are a few suggestions. How about -- Watch Out! or Hit in the Head! or The Sun Was Blinding! or Keep Your Eyes Open! or You Could Have Hit Me With a 2x4! Maybe you're starting to get the drift ---------------

It was Friday night and I was tired! After a stop at Menards for boards, Dave and I went to Wendy's for some fast food. Just as a side note -- Dave always says how much he hates fast food whenever we eat it, which isn't often. Me? I could live on the stuff! Anyway, we ate our supper and headed out the door where the evening sun was shining in that blinding sort of direction -- just before the sun dissolves into a nice sunset -- bright, in the eyes, reach-for-the-sunglasses kind of glare. So I did. I reached into my purse, found my sunglasses (all the time walking towards the truck) and just as I was putting them on -- BANG! I was stunned and said to Dave -- "I just walked into those boards!" Sure enough! The boards (all 8 of the 1x6 boards) were sticking out of the back of the truck and I plowed right into them. Fortunately, nothing was bleeding and nothing was broken, but I sure jarred whatever brains I had in there! Obviously not too many! It really wasn't funny then -- but now? I just think about it and I crack up! Seriously! How could I not have paid any attention to all of those boards? You can apply all sorts of life lessons to this episode. For me, the biggest one is just to start paying attention!!! But, once again, my antics have given me something to laugh about and to share.

So, now that you've heard the story. You can pick the title of this posting. Or better yet -- you can name it. Just be kind. I am an aging lady with a bit of a rattled brain!

Don't eat in the dark

The restaurant was dark -- very few windows, a couple of candles on the table, low lights -- sounds like a romantic dinner, doesn't it? It was actually a large group of people from the City having dinner together. (There are some privileges for being married to a Councilman!) The conversation was good, there was a nice wine being poured and the dinner was being served. I was delighted to see my plate of food -- pasta, chicken, various vegetables. It looked delicious! I stuck my fork into this wonderful looking plate of food -- white sauce, tomatoes, summer squash, carrots, etc. and began eating. It was so good!!! The meal continued and I kept chatting away and eating this delicious food until I took this one bite and my mouth did a crazy sort of dance and my eyes started watering and I thought "wow, that was some sort of tangy sauce down in the bottom of this dish!". I figured if I didn't dig too deeply into the bowl, I would be just fine as everything else had tasted so good!!! My fork was full of this big piece of summer squash and I put it into my mouth and once again, "wow, that's some sort of tangy sauce in there!" That's when it dawned on me! That was NOT summer squash -- that was a LEMON! I leaned over to my hubby and told him what I had just eaten -- with tears nearly rolling down my cheeks (from sourness and honesty, laughter at myself -- I really wanted to just stand up and tell everyone because it was so darn funny!). What a nut I am! The lemon was there, obviously, as a garnish, I just hadn't really SEEN it! Remember, the restaurant was dark!

Isn't that the way life is sometimes? When the day is dark and gloomy and there isn't much light, the lemons are hidden and the sour things end up being a part of our day. I know it is in my life. If I keep the Light on and keep the focus on the brighter things of God's goodness, I can see the lemons and try to avoid them before their sourness consumes me. If I can focus on Him and the sweetness of His goodness, the devil-soured-lemons of the world stay at bay. I hope today is one of those brighter days when I can keep the Light on! Don't live life in the dark and defintely, don't eat in a dark restaurant!

God showed up

What a day! Today was the designated day to help a member of our community paint her house. There are lots of unanswered questions regarding this person and one of the biggest is why she is painting the house alone without her husband's help and why she needed to ask others to help her when her husband is capable of helping. My friends and I were not facing this day with a good attitude but we decided it was what God wanted us to do and we knew we would at least have fun being together, if nothing else.

The day dawned with a bright and beautiful sun and I got my Saturday morning church work done in record time. I was actually pretty ticked at God because that meant He must have wanted me to paint. So, off we went to paint. We joined our friends at the home and it was suggested that we pray, so we did. The prayer of blessing on us as we worked together, the job, etc. was no sooner over when a couple walked up the driveway. Most of us had no idea who these people were, but one couple did recognize them. It was a couple who was neighbors with one of our friends and our friends had been inviting them to our group. They didn't feel comfortable coming to our group meetings on Sunday evening, but they felt comfortable enough to come paint with us. It was very clear, very quickly, that God was showing up in a big way and in a way that totally surprised us. We thought our job was to minister to a family whose house needed painting. But it turns out we were to minister to a couple He wanted us to bring into fellowship with Himself and us. Now, isn't God something?

I pray for both couples -- the one whose house we painted and the one who showed up to help. Thank God we did what He called us to do today. Just look at the opportunity and blessing we would have missed.

Pumpkin Vine

I saw a pumpkin vine last weekend and it was rather impressive. It was a lush and green vine and was very, very large. After looking at the vine and peeking under the leaves, I was surprised by what I found. There were little blossoms and many stems, but all was for naught. How could there be a stem without a pumpkin at the end of it? Where were the pumpkins? Way down under the green leaves there was one tiny pumpkin. It was still green and might have eventually turned into a pumpkin of some size, but there wasn't going to be time.

The next day, I went for a walk and started thinking about that vine. I realized that my life was a lot like the vine. I was spending a lot of time worrying about this and fussing about that and trying to fix this and trying to figure out that. I was spending time growing my vine. Things were looking good and are flourishing. But then there were the empty stems and where were the pumpkins? Where was the vegetable that I was SUPPOSED to be growing?

Jesus says "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because aprt from me you can do nothing." John 15:5.

So here I am in life, trying to grow a vine. And the little branches without anything on them? They are my attempts at abiding. I get going for a little while, but then I falter and there is no fruit (or in this case, vegetable). And sometimes, I even produce a little "vegetable" and it starts to grow, but it never seems to fully develop. These are both times in my spiritual journey when I'm working on the disciplines and working on listening to God and working on what God would have me do and I'm abiding in Him. He's working on the vine and I'm trying to abide. I'm getting some little shoots and a tiny vegetable, but that's all.

You might remember earlier I said that the little pumpkin in the real vine that I saw didn't have much time. That's because the owner of the pumpkin vine told me that in the morning, he was going to pull out that vine because it wasn't producing any pumpkins. Again, Jesus said "He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit". Therefore, Jesus is going to prune me and prune me until I start listening to him and bearing "vegetables" rather than working on my vine. The vine is God's job, I need to work on my "insides" to grow vegetables that God can use.

So, this is my Listening to God story. And the reason it happened at all was because I was willing to pull to earphones out of my head when I walked that day and God spoke to me. He opened a little window so that I could learn something about my life and my walk with Him. May we all learn how to listen to God when He speaks and learn to provide places and circumstances for that to happen. And in that, may be we all bear "vegetables" to His glory.