Come Together

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44, New International Version)

I have three things on today’s agenda. I know that’s not right for a Sunday Inspirational post, but sometimes, the calendar is just too full.

First and foremost, I need to honor all of the veterans out there on this Veteran’s Day. Your service to this country has not gone unnoticed.

The second item goes with the first and is a follow-up to last Sunday’s post. The current climate of society is one of intolerance. Those politicians running our country don’t seem to care what is best for everyone; they just want to vote against each other on every issue. So many people across the country are following suit.    

There’s a saying that goes something like, “don’t be too open-minded or it will all fall out.” It is possible to be too open-minded, but maybe we still need to open our minds a little bit, enough to see the opinions of others. It’s okay to disagree, but other people have a right to view things their own way and it’s not okay to shoot them down because of it.

Speaking of shootings, we desperately need to become a nation of love and not of hate. Another saying is, “this is the way the world will end, not with a bang, but with a whimper.”  All those bangs from those shootings are just a whimper compared to another country raging war on us. Any enemy countries wanting to attack the US know they don’t have to; we are killing ourselves all on our own.  We need to stand together in peace and unity. We have to stop all this nonsense, stop acting like first-graders and learn to get along.

The third thing is only slightly related. I’m asking you to tolerate yet another plea for help. I’m asking everyone to vote for our nonprofit, Tumaini Volunteers, in the My Story Giving Campaign. Click here for the link which will take you to my story and the little button you need to click on to vote. You can vote once a day, so watch my other social media for your daily reminder.

That’s all, Folks. Praise God that we have all the freedoms that we do. 

Drapery Dramas

     

     On Wednesday’s blog post, I showed you the before, during and after pictures of our living room paint job. You may have noticed that the curtains hadn’t been hung yet. I had to wait for a sunny, warm day to throw them in my washing machine and then hang them on the line to dry. It took me forever to iron them after that. They are hanging back up over the picture window and the patio door now, so that’s all I’m gonna say about that. But there’s a better story to tell.

In the spring of 1999, when we were remodeling our house and my sister Pat was dying from her cancer, Mom and I took a break from our vigil at the nursing home to pick up fabric for those curtains. Mom was an amazing seamstress. Sewing lined drapes was nothing for her.

She didn't get right on them, for whatever reason, so it took most of the summer to get them done. She sat in my living room one day working on them while the neighbor boy was in the backyard in a bathrobe on top of our kid’s fort in the backyard eating our trail mix out of an ice cream bucket. Mom got the biggest kick out of him that day.

She had taken the curtains home to finish them and brought them back one night at dusk. About a mile from our house, she hit a deer. This was before cellphones, so I can’t remember if she walked to someone’s house or if someone gave her a ride. But somehow, she called us and we went to pick her up. Our curtains were rolled up in a sheet, and she was mostly concerned that we moved them into our vehicle before the police arrived.

Really, Mom? Yes, that bundle did resemble a body when we lifted it into our backseat, but I really doubt anyone would have been suspicious.

These curtains already reminded me of my sister, thinking of her laying in that nursing home bed while we were out shopping for the fabric. But now that Mom's gone too, I think of her also every time I look past the drapes and out my window. 

Finally. The Painting of our Living Room

     Here is the blog post you’ve been waiting two months for. Yes, here it is. Our painting project from the first of September. Only a fraction of the before, during and after pictures which I took.

We put this addition on the house in the spring of 1999, turning the garage into our family room. This paint has been on the walls since then. Not much color at all.

Before we painted the ceiling – ok, before Hubby painted the ceiling, we got most of the furniture ready for an early Halloween. Looks like the ghosts of furniture present.

Alice is not impressed. Mostly, she wants us to stop spending all our days and half our nights in the living room.

As we started working on the walls, Dino also wondered what was up. “Mom, you took a week off of work to mess up the house like this, instead of just spending all your time with me?”

Three of the walls had taken shape. Then there was that fourth wall.

Hubby’s been watching too much HGTV. “Oh, I want an accent wall,” he kept saying.

 To which I answered, “what were we thinking? It’s the color of baby poop!”

Too late to turn back now.

“Oh, man, do you really think a second coat is going to fix this????”

 Even Dino was skeptical.

I wasn’t at all happy with it until the pictures were on the walls. What a difference they made!

All that was left was to put up the curtains. But you'll have to wait until Friday to hear about that.

So Many Pre-Election Questions

     My Sunday posts are usually more inspirational than this one will be, but looking at the calendar, I only have two days left to share these thoughts.

Is anyone else completely disgusted by the election ads that are everywhere? Has anyone been able to pick up from these ads where these candidates stand on the issues? Or do you even know who is sponsoring these ads because all you ever hear about is how bad one candidate or another is? Are you sick of hearing the Democrats want to do this or the Republicans have been doing that and you wonder why we even vote for real people? Or are these real people in public office or just puppets for their party?

I keep hearing about building this wall so we can protect our borders. I rather see us tear some walls, such as the walls between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Aren’t our elected officials supposed to serve their constituents first and then their political party? Or not even their party at all.

I have to say, I am just as confused as to who to vote for during this election year as I was two years ago. Why have I been feeling that when I cast my ballot it is for the lesser of two evils, instead of truly for the best person?  

Can anyone tell me what has happened to American politics? To our beliefs in a country of the people, by the people and for the people?

Maybe it’s time I close in prayer.

Lord, God, Heavenly Father, be with the United States in these troubling times. Even though You have been shut out of much of what this country was founded on, shine Your Light in the dark places we have created. Bring us together even as we drive ourselves apart. Amen. 

Another Halloween

I’m gonna make you slog through the creation aspect of my Halloween t-shirt before you get to see the finished product.  No need for a play-by-play though, is there?

 Ta-da. I even finished sewing it by 8:30 the night before. That is not even close to the wire, not like I usually am on projects.

 The work-gang.

 One guy deserves his own picture, though it is, of course, totally thanks to his wife.

 The front desk rocked it as Hocus-Pocus.

I really don’t get into Halloween – for a lot of reasons – but it is still super fun to dress up. 

Three Weddings and I'm Done

     The 2018 Marriage Marathon actually began with the first wedding in June, that of one of my good friends. That was followed by the wedding in August at my house and the wedding reception of a former co-worker in September. But then October came. Bring it on. Three out of town weddings three weekends in a row.

First up was my niece’s daughter. 32 miles from home.

It looked like a beautiful day, sun was shining for a change, but the wind was brutally cold.

But one thing I have to say about this couple, they don’t let much bring them down.

Second was my husband’s goddaughter, daughter of one of his friends from high school. 132 miles from home.

We had snow on the drive down, and even though it was still cold and windy for the ceremony, the sun at least came out for a while.

The couple with both the bride’s godparents.

Finally, wedding number three. 186 miles away. But no distance would keep me away from the wedding of my son’s best friend from high school. That’s my boy, second from the left, next to the groom.

Here comes the beautiful bride.

The couple’s first dance, which they had practiced for hours, I heard.

Ahh, thanks to my hubby and kids for getting us all through the last three weeks. 

On to even better and bigger things. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.

A Time to Pray

     There is a time for all things under heaven. There is a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time to sleep and a time to lie awake all night. From Ecclesiastes 3, or maybe not entirely.

Two nights this past week it was a time to lie awake in bed all night watching the numbers on the digital clock do whatever they do. It’s not quite the same as watching the hands on a clock face tick away the minutes.

Why is it? Why do a thousand things stampede into my brain in the middle of the night and then settle in for the duration? Where do these thoughts even come from? What am I going to wear to the wedding next weekend? Am I going to get my costume done by Halloween? What would it be like to win 100 million dollars in the lottery? What if someone I knew won the lottery and offered some to me? How much would it take to make me happy? Why do I think I need money to make me happy? Will I ever be happy listening to my husband snoring? And on and on.

I have a confession to make. When my mind is completely out of control at night and I feel like I’ve totally lost it, that still voice sometimes breaks through the chaos and whispers, “why don’t you just turn it over to God and pray on it?”

So, I try to pray, but if I only pray to God for sleep, well, that takes like two seconds and then I feel like it’s dead air time. You know? Like I dialed His number and only have one thing to say and once I’ve said it, I’m still wide awake. I know God answers prayer, but it’s just not like that.

So, I continue praying, asking for forgiveness, first of all, and then asking for rain where there is drought, sunshine where there is flooding, health for a long list of loved ones. And then I fall asleep. Yes, I do. I always fall asleep when I am in the middle of praying. Which should be a good thing, right? And make me happy? But instead it makes me feel guilty, so guilty that I don’t resort to prayer when I’m trying to sleep because, well, because, I just want to finish one pray in my bed at night and end with Amen. And I don’t remember the last time that happened.

Wow! If anything else, I’ve shown you that someone else (me!) has way more issues than you do.

Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, I really don’t know what more to say. Except that even with all my quirkiness, You love me totally and completely. Amen.