How a Fire Goes Out

Over the past 5 months, we have been clearing a fence for replacement. I hired someone last September for the job. He said it would only take a day or two. He underestimated his ability to do the job with the equipment that was available to him. I don't even know how many hours it finally took. Along the way, there was a broken down tractor in my yard, wrong things dug up and barbed wire found in unusual places. 

We seeded the area a few weeks ago, and are now down to burning the brush and reinstalling the fence. My neighbor told me he would install the fence if I paid for the supplies. Done. [Happy Dance!] Saturday, I was finally able to get a burn permit and three of us worked all day to burn the 6 piles. At 9:30 last night, the rains began and we put out the two remaining fires, or so we thought. This morning, smoke/steam seeped out of those two. Somewhere deep underneath, wood remained with its hot coals still smoldering. 

Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

In searching the online Bible for the word 'fire', I found this verse very interesting. A talebearer would be a gossiper. Strife could be arguments, tensions, stress, etc. It seems obvious that a fire would go out with no wood, but I never really thought about arguments, strife, or stress going away with no gossip. I need to spend some time making sure I'm not keeping these fires burning and causing strife for anyone. 

Lows and Highs

It's been an interesting week for my 12-year-old daughter. It began with too many Flaming Hot Cheetos. She was with a friend and I suppose they tasted great, but 10 hours later we discovered that she could not digest the red dye or whatever made them so hot! Her body reacted so violently that she developed a petechial rash, which looked like red freckles covering her face and eyelids. Of course, we didn't know that until we visited the doctor on Monday morning - ending 4 years of perfect attendance at school. 

On Monday evening, I was at the local City Council meeting voicing my opposition to a grocery store and strip mall being proposed across the street from me. Unfortunately, the proposal was passed. (I see lots of tree planting in my future.)

After a few tough weeks at work and the stress of the meeting, I finally decided to take a personal day on Friday. I even had a massage - a big treat for me! That evening, we attended a Youth Art Gallery at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center where my daughter had one of her sculptures displayed. She received an Honorable Mention among the 6th graders. I was so excited for her to get 4th out of the dozen 6th grade pieces from the area schools in the competition. This week was memorable, ending on a high note!

Psalm 3:1-4 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. 

Seven

I finished and filed my taxes yesterday. The last few years I have done them electronically, but this was the first year I had to add a self-employment business to it. It was relatively painless and I was relieved that I did not need to find a tax preparer. :)

Yes, I'm still working full time at the same school I have worked for the past 27.5 years. At first I was looking at this new business as gravy - like paying for vacations; but now I'm really seeing the potential for how I can transform it into a full-time retirement job. Perhaps retirement isn't the correct word. To me retirement is no longer working, but that's not what I want to do. A career change is really more like it. I've always said that I would stay working at my job as long as it was fun. Over the years, I've actually changed jobs within the school 4 times - whenever I was struggling with continuing in the given role. Being a teacher overlapped with institutional research, then directing an office switched over to a technical position. I just realized that I seem to go in close to 7 year segments. 

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 

Seven is a special number in the Bible. Jacob worked 7 years for Leah then 7 years for Rachel. Debts were cancelled and slaves were freed every 7 years. The law was read to Israel every 7 years. Joash began his reign as King at the age of 7. I think I'm going to contemplate 7 for a while. 

Random

I've been contemplating what to write about this week and I haven't zeroed in on a subject. It happens occasionally, especially trying to write something each week. So, I'll just tell you about my week. On Monday I decided to clean off a credenza in my office. This was no easy task since I'm notorious for just placing something there as I walk in the door, with good intentions of dealing with it later. Of course as things sit for months they become irrelevant and outdated, so I can simply toss them.

That method doesn't work quite as well at home and I had the opportunity on Saturday to see just how poor my housekeeping skills were in recent weeks. I'm pretty sure it's been at least a month since I did any major housework and I paid dearly for it. I scrubbed and scoured for hours. At one point I was even flat on my back in the floor, staring up at the ceiling fan, wondering if I would ever finish cleaning. 

Did I finish? Not completely, but I was more than happy to say, "Good enough." I worked on my business a little while and discovered that I had made enough in the last 2 months to send a kid to church camp this summer! (I'm donating 50% of my commissions to that cause over the next 5 months. It is $350 to send one 6th - 12th grader to camp.) I've decided I want to use what I make to be a blessing to others.

This is one of God's promises to Abraham:
Genesis 12;2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 

I don't want a nation or a name for myself, but I would like to share what I have in a meaningful way. I'm hopeful that sending some kids to camp will change some lives for the better.