The Basement

It has been nearly a month since we moved into our new home, but the old one is still not completely cleaned out.  Today I worked on the basement.  In preparation for the move, I had taken a couple of prior passes through the dingy, dirty dungeon, but over 30 years of clutter is just not that easy to wade through.


The endeavor was physically exhausting.  The sorting and cleaning process raised so much dust that I wore a mask.... into which I kept sneezing.  Yuk.  Heavy items needing to be moved in order to get at other items were in abundance.


The process was also mentally exhausting.  Too many questions needed to be answered.
Why did my husband remove some of those tools from the rummage sale pile and keep them?
How many electric drills and levels does one person need?
What environmentally friendly means I am to use to get rid of all this old paint?
How many times did I buy sandpaper, instead of using up what was already there?
Do I need to feel guilty about throwing out two file drawers of woodworking magazines and patterns that belonged to my departed father?
Should I sell the pump organ?  Is there any real possibility that I will ever restore it?
Yes, I have a pool table to sell, but where are all the balls?
How many different kinds of nails are there anyway?  And, why are they always in disintegrating brown paper sacks?
And..
Why, oh why, did my dear dad save old toilet seats?  Did he think he would someday need to construct an outhouse?  Was he planning to use them as picture frames?


Eventually, I was on overload and had to come home, take a shower and put the heating pad on my back.  Sadly, the job isn't finished yet.

Warm Socks

The day began at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire.  I watched the first man in the 1000 Islands Silver Express take off at noon in a miserable fog and drizzle.  The team is composed of 12 men from the Thousand Islands region who are all over the age of 50....my husband and 11 of his running buddies.  One of the other wives and I go along and play a support role.

After slogging through the muddy fields and puddles at the starting line, we hopped in the car and drove down the road to cheer on other members of the relay team.  Then we headed for the campground at White Lake State Park and prepared to serve the guys a hot meal.  The skies had cleared, but the ground was wet and there was no chance of my feet drying out.

The team travels in two large vans with 6 men in each.  One van pulled in around 6 pm.  We fed them, they crawled back in the van or in the tent we had set up to rest.  Later in the evening, they took off and the other van arrived.  We fed them, and they rested.  Because the men were in the tent, the other wife and I huddled around the fire trying to stay warm.  The sky was clear with a brilliant moon and many stars visible through the treetops. Unfortunately, such a clear night is a perfect set up for chilly weather.  We could see our breath.  By the time the second van left and we could break camp, it was 1 AM.  Although I was wearing two sweatshirts and was wrapped in a blanket sitting next to a campfire, I was shivering.

We had made a reservation at a nearby hotel.  My daughter and two little granddaughters, who had come to watch the race, had checked into the hotel hours earlier.  We crept in quietly.  I crawled in the double bed with my daughter.  She stirred and asked how I was.  I said that I was cold.  She asked if I needed a long-sleeved shirt.
"No, it's my feet that are so cold."
She replied, "Oh, I just took my socks off!"
She handed them to me, still warm from her body heat.

Ah...the gift of warm socks!

I fell asleep quickly, thankful for that small blessing.

A Universe from Nothing

Stephen Hawking recently has been quoted as saying that there is no need for God in order to explain the origin of the universe.  Speaking from the perspective of a physicist and mathematician, he states that something could indeed come from nothing.


I am not going to argue that point.  I do not have Hawking's intellect or expertise in those fields.  But, there can be a difference between what "could be" the truth and what actually "is" the truth. Hawking cannot prove that he is right, only that he might be right.  I cannot prove that I am right in what I believe, but I might be.


Here is what I believe.  Colossians 1:15-20  (Phillip's Translation)


Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God.  He existed before creation began, for it was through him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen.  Through him, and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority.  In fact, every single thing was created through, and for, him.  He is both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation.  And now he is the head of the body which is the Church.  Life from nothing began through him, and life from the dead began through him, and he is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all. It was in him that the full nature of God chose to live, and through him God planned to reconcile in his own person, as it were, everything on earth and everything in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross.


How interesting that something written two thousand years ago is still relevant....and still unproven one way or the other by means of man's intellect.

Exercising Free Speech

I consider myself to be an evangelical and a political conservative, but I am troubled by some of the people who, therefore, end up in the same pigeon hole with me.


We live in a country that allows us free speech, including criticism of our government and our leaders.  I appreciate this freedom.  However, I think we need to be careful about how we exercise it.  Periodically, I receive emails or links with content that makes me very ill at ease.  I am appalled by some of the mean-spirited and outright nasty pieces that are circulated about our current president.  Yes, I know the liberals served up the same kind of distasteful mess when Bush was president.  That does not mean that I, as a believer in Jesus, have a right to reciprocate.


I do not agree with all of the policies of our current elected officials.  I may not respect their opinions.  But, I believe I am obligated by scriptural mandate to respect their authority.  I believe that God moves in human history and that leaders come into power to bring about God's purposes.  Since we cannot see into the future, we are pretty much ignorant of those purposes.  What seems like a huge mistake to us may be a piece in God's puzzle.


Carrying a little bit of truth to it's most extreme interpretation happens routinely by the left in criticizing the right.  Those on the right may also enjoy doing it to the left, but it should not be my game as a Christian.  The truth should not be perverted to suit my purposes no matter how noble those purposes seem to me.


Of course, in this age of too much information, getting a handle on truth is increasingly difficult.  The multiplication of the number of people who are purporting to have the "facts" means we are less likely to get a grip on truth.  People may end up completely at odds with one another, although both have drawn logical conclusions, because they started with different sources for their "facts."


Today I am praying for our nation, for our leaders, for all of us who cast ballots in voting booths.  May God grant us wisdom, and may "His kingdom come...His will be done."

The End of the Wallpaper Saga...I hope

The replacement wallpaper finally arrived late yesterday.  I asked for 5 rolls, although I only needed two, because after all that has happened, I figured the odds were good of something being wrong with one or more of the replacements.  They only sent two....claimed that's all they had to send.


The red, blue, gold and background beige in the paper matched just fine.  The green?  Oh, my.  The green does not match the green in the original rolls which are already on the walls.  I pondered this sad fact overnight.  Finally, I decided to go ahead and use the paper even though the match isn't great.  


The original paper had gone around the entire dining area of the kitchen.  On one side the seam where the change occurs will be along the side of the frig and hidden from view.  On the other side, I'm hoping that between an air conditioner, intercom box and adjacent curtains, there will be enough to look at in that area, that guests won't notice the lack of color match.  Also, there is no area where the green on one sheet butts up against the green on another.  Plus, the border kind of unifies the whole thing.


So I spent the day up and down the ladder over and over finishing the job, including the border.  It really does look lovely.  A few minor mistakes will probably be noticed only by me. I know where I cut corners and cheated a bit.  The border covers some of my mistakes.


It's not perfect, but it is done.  I do like perfection, but I have come to recognize how rarely it is achieved in this world.

The Wallpaper Saga-Part 3

I refer you to the previous posts regarding my wallpaper woes.

When I posted Part 2, I anticipated the paper being sent by the fastest possible means.  Monday I called and was told by the local store that it should arrive Monday or possibly Tuesday, i.e. today.  But, today I was informed that they do have a tracking number, and it will arrive.....Friday.
Oh, joy and delight....Friday is the day we are scheduled to move.
I guess we will move everything but the kitchen and the bedroom.  We will eat and sleep in our present house until I can get the paper on the walls of the new kitchen.  Then we will finish the move.  Good thing we are only moving about 2 miles away.
I guess I am supposed to be thrilled that they are planning to give me a $34 credit as compensation for all my trouble over this paper.
I wish they had spent that $34 on the cost of overnight shipment!
No, wait, that would have actually made sense.
What was I thinking!

A Little Slip

When I dressed for church this morning, I decided that since the day was supposed to be warm, I would only wear a half slip under my denim dress.  My first choice slips turned out to be just a bit too long for the dress.  That narrowed the options down to a black half slip with a lovely lace border at the bottom, but some beginning-to-lose-its-snap elastic at the waist.  I thought that shouldn't really matter as there was a bit of stretch still left, and there would be enough friction between the dress and my panty-hose to keep the slip in place.


All was well until after church.  My friend was getting things set up for the beginning of the new children's church season next Sunday.  She needed to move a table downstairs.  There were only a couple of men around, and they were occupied discussing whether they needed to get more paint to spruce up the handicap ramp.  We decided we could carry the table downstairs ourselves.  It took some effort and awkward positioning to make the turn into the stairwell.  Apparently this was too much for the slip.


As we set the table down in the basement, I thought I felt something strange in the vicinity of my ankles.  Uh-huh.  My lovely lacy black slip encircled my feet on the floor.


I dissolved into a fit of giggles which, of course, drew my friend's attention to the situation.  No one else was around, so it wasn't really embarrassing.  I'm just glad it didn't happen when I was standing up front doing the children's sermon, and that it didn't trip me up going down the stairs.


Life is just full of interesting little slips.