Life is Good

Remember the ringing phone I ignored yesterday? Yes oh yes, it is always one I should have gotten. It was my dad's wife telling me that my uncle was brought to the hospital by ambulance and would be having some procedures done so they had been asked not to go to see him. I was so bummed when I called last night and learned that news. All day I had thought of them and the bitter sweet time they were spending together as siblings, perhaps for the last time. Then to find I had false information. The latest is that my uncle had fluid removed (3rd time) from around his heart yesterday and is hopeful that a drain will be put in place today. Oh, God, bring wisdom to the doctors and relief for Uncle Bob.

Lauri and I got all the baby shower invitations made and addressed. Ken is mailing them this morning. Big job complete. I put finishing touches on the center pieces so they are in a box waiting for their day. How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That is my motto for the month of October.

Laundry disaster. Yes, indeedy, we had a big one. No, it wasn't a red crayon or an ink pen. It was one of those wonderful theraputic pillows that got caught somewhere inside the washer, a tear was made and we had a gazillion little tiny white balls EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING. I tried to wipe them out of the washer and that was hopeless as they have the ability to escape one's grasp. Then I came up with the idea to allow the washer lid to remain open over night so that it dried completely. Yesterday morning, I vacuumed tons of little teeny balls out of the washer. Thinking we were now out of the woods, I told Scarlen she could now do her laundry. When her load was finished, she came to me and said, "Look in the washer, Mom". I looked and saw a huge mess. Her clothes were covered with little white slippery balls. I put her clothes in a plastic laundry basket and brought the basket outdoors very carefully. I shook those things till they were nearly free of balls. Then I decided to just vacuum the inside of the washer another time. I have since washed another load and we are almost free of balls. A hundred of them is nothing when one has dealt with millions of them. The best part of this drama is that the little white balls seemingly do no damage to our clothes.

Tomorrow evening is the annual Harvest Sale at the local Christian school. For school students, it is the biggest night of the year. My youngest daughter told me just this morning that when she was in 7th grade, she got her first kiss the night of the Harvest Sale. You see, the older kids seem to find the woods at the back of the school property. Our live-in grandson commented during breakfast this morning, "Tomorrow is the Harvest Sale!"
"Yes, it sure is, are you excited?"
"Yea, I can't decide if I'm going to play the games or hang out with my friends."
Hmmmm, I can hear it coming. Our big sixth grader is growing up. Kendra LOVES the Harvest Sale and comes home two and a half hours each year to attend. This year is no different except that she has convinced Craig that he should come too. I told her not to expect that he will see this event through the same eyes she does. She said he had better see it the way she does. That brought a big shared laugh.

As my dad said a few days ago, "We were created to live eternally. It wasn't His plan that we should have to die. Therefore we love life. And for a Christian, inspite of what is going on around us, life is pretty good." Amen to that. Praise God for the grace He gives us as we live in this tainted and perverse culture. But the word says, "His glory fills the whole earth". I can attest to that, can you?