Hearts Made Better

With an office of 10 people, life's ups and downs are always evident.  This week was especially tough for us.  We said goodbye to one who is moving to a new job, tried to cheer one that had been sick for weeks, consoled one who lost her grandmother and, from a distance, consoled another who lost her father.   The losses were so great, I noticed a sadness permeate the office.  It was hard not to feel down with all that happened in just 5 days.

Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

I'm ready for our hearts to be made better.  The one who left for a new job will reduce her daily commute by two hours, get to spend more time with her family and be able to focus on moving into a new home.  The one that has struggled with sickness has turned a corner and is on the way to a full recovery.  The one who lost her grandmother knows that she is now in heaven.  And the one who lost her dad sent a text message saying her father was now walking with the King!  What a blessing it is to be in an office of believers.

Washing It Away

I just returned from another 4 nights away from home.  I was at a conference and just didn't want to be there quite so long.  Most of the time I enjoy the breaks from work, getting to see old friends and learning new things.  But this time, not so much.  I didn't like the location, my room, the food or the number of days away.

I was so happy to get home Friday afternoon!  After eating a good meal, I did laundry.  I wanted all of the clothes I had worn that week to be clean.  Somehow I felt like I needed to make everything as if it had never been on the trip.  I wanted no reminder that I had been gone.

Numbers 8:21-22a And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons;

Once I unpacked and washed my clothes, I let the memories fade and enjoyed just being home.

The Big Sleepover

So my 8-year-old was invited to a friend's birthday sleepover.  Begging doesn't begin to describe what   I heard until I relented and said she could go.  It was a big deal because it was the first non-family sleepover.  I dropped her off at 6 p.m. along with my house and cell numbers.  Fortunately the friend's mom knew this was a big deal, so she sent me a couple text messages to let me know how she was doing. At 9 p.m. my child gave me a call to let me know all was well.

I heard from her again at 9 a.m. She said she got about 5 or 6 hours of sleep because they had stayed up until midnight.  I got the rest of the story later.  It seems that the  other two girls snore, so she went into the living room to visit with the mom.  They talked for awhile and eventually fell asleep on the couches.

Isaiah 66:13a As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you;

That is one awesome mom who would sleep on a couch all night to help a little one make it through her first sleepover.

A Good Name - Part 2

So I took a week off after another relentlessly busy summer at work.  After a few days sitting by a campfire in Pigeon Forge, I came home to a house that could only be described as a disaster.  Cleaning and reorganizing was the name of the game this week.  After weeding out my clothes that no longer fit, I decided to take on the two rooms downstairs where many of my Estate Sale finds get tossed until I can find a new home for them.  After three days, I think I've got it back into some sort of order.

Last year I purchased the contents of half of a room.  I know that sounds bizarre, but at an auction some unusual things can happen.  The room was sort of a catch-all for videos, CDs, albums, photos frames, etc.  It was the last room of the auction, so the big buyers were no longer in the game.  My daughter wanted the Disney videos, so I was going to try for them.  I set my limit at $5 for the box of videos.  Apparently the auctioneer was ready to be done for the day, so after selling the audio equipment he looked around and said we would bid on the rest of the room as one.  What?  There were boxes of stuff, but I decided to go for it.  I had the highest bid at $12.  My dad just shook his head because now we had to clear the contents of the room.  I stuffed my car and his truck.

I went through a lot of the boxes during the next few weeks.  Much of it was tossed or taken to Goodwill.  I did keep the videos, CDs and the photo frames, but what struck me was the number of personal family photos still in the frames.  Then I made another discovery.  In a small box, tucked in with the frames, I uncovered a stash of snapshots of a young family.  A newborn, his youth, his graduation from the Naval Academy, his wedding and his young family.  I didn't know these people.  I didn't know how to find them.  I set it all aside for another day.  That day came this week.  I went through the photos again trying to piece together who they were.  I found his name and his wife's name.  I got on the internet and used the White Pages to search for his name.  There were too many.  I searched for her name and because it was an unusual spelling, there was only one in the whole U.S.

On Friday I placed a call to Virginia Beach, VA and left a message about the photos along with my phone number. I got a call back late that afternoon. I told him the story. It was him. That was his Mom's house. He asked how I found him. I told him it was his wife's name.

Ecclesiastes 7:1a  A good name is better than precious ointment.

I'm shipping the box of photos to him this week. He will soon get to go through the photos that were so precious to his mom.  It makes my heart smile.