Home Improvements

I moved into my house on April 2, 1993. I've painted, replaced the carpeting, finished rooms and generally just maintained the house for 25 years. This year, I decided to make a drastic change. I was so tired of the dust from carpet that I finally buckled down and made a decision to put in hardwood flooring. I knew it would be tough choosing it and moving everything around to have it installed. 

I picked the color and style in December, taking my Dad along to be sure it would look okay. :) Installation began on MLK day and was to last 4 days, however it lasted 5 days. My Dad came along every day to be sure everything turned out great and he even stayed Friday so I could go back to work as planned. Then he went to Home Depot for felt and non-skid pads for my chairs. Isn't he cool?

Mom helped me several days moving things around and when she offered to help put things back in place, I asked her to dust the floors instead. I think she made her step goal that day. ;) The kids helped too, clearing out rooms and closets. 

When you literally 'clean house', it's hard too put all the stuff back where it was. You don't want to mess up the place with clutter, with things you don't really need, with things that you are better off not keeping. 

Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Now the task becomes separating the wheat (good stuff) from the chaff (junk). Is January too early for a yard sale? :D

Healing for the Brokenhearted

I attend a very large church with about a dozen pastors assigned to various groups or programs. Late yesterday we got the news that one of our pastors "passed on to glory", as my Grandma would say. It was a shock. He was 5 years younger that me, with a wife and 3 children. His youngest and mine are the same age. Pastor Sterling was also the one who baptized my younger child just a few years ago. 

I have never been involved directly with his ministry, but I did participate in an online Bible study with his wife a few years ago. She was a great teacher and motivational person. They had a strong union, with Danielle and Sterling celebrating their 25th Anniversary last summer. 

Pastor Jeff gave a sermon today entitled "When There Are No Words". He was correct. The kind of news we got yesterday leaves a person with a multitude of thoughts and nothing to say. It hurts. It makes our everyday concerns seem trivial. Life is not about stuff or work or status. It's about people and Jesus, and pointing people to Jesus. 

Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the  captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

A New Year

Welcome to 2019! I stayed up on New Year's Eve just long enough to watch the ball drop, or at least watch it disappear into the smoke created from the fireworks. I actually missed the 00 on the countdown clock because I kept trying to figure out where the ball was on it's journey down the pole. :D Anyway, it arrived and I went to sleep. 

I don't typically make resolutions because I don't want the pressure. However, I do try to step back to look at the past year and determine what I would have changed or if I learned anything to make this a better year. 

I spent 2018 making one Facebook post each day about Joy. It was a lot of fun because I got to talk online to some people that I don't often see. It was also difficult because it was a daily thing. I checked Hawaii off my bucket list in 2018, even though I'll probably try to go again. I had a very demanding year at work, which made me talk about retirement an awful lot. I spent a lot of time with my 17 year old during the first half of the year, but hardly saw him the second half because his friends began attending college with him. I got more involved at church by joining a very diverse Sunday School class of ladies between the ages of 19 and 80. Overall, I would call it a very good year!

I'm looking forward to 2019. I have plans to get new flooring, be more active, remove clutter from the house and really pay attention to my kids, my family and my friends. I don't want to be a spectator as life speeds by. I want to grab on and seek the joy in every detail. I want to be grateful for all of God's blessings on us - family, friends, living in the USA, a home, a job, a car, basic needs, and the extravagant living that we take for granted.

Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. 

Happy New Year! Make it a great one!