where does the time go?

thinking about blogging takes a lot less time that sitting down to do it. i've had so many posts running through my mind that haven't made it onto the keyboard. some fun ones about sophie (who i can't wait to play with tomorrow!), and one about planning a wedding with mandy, and one about monsoon season in carefree, arizona, and one about my second grade teacher. i promise to share them all some day; soon i hope.

but today i'm going to write about sons-in-law. fred and i are blessed with probably two of the best ever. they are both brians. they both adore our daughters. they both know how to handle our daughters. (now that's just terrific... our job is done!) they are both high achievers, hard workers and goal setters and reachers.

we've had katie's brian for 5 years, and we've had mandy's brian only 10 days. katie's brian is an outgoing extrovert with passion. mandy's brian is more an intoverted, steady, thinker. i love a good conversation with both of them. though different in personality, they are both fun to have around.

when you lose your son, no one can replace him. but having such amazing sons-in-law is the best substitute. i love our brians!

sheets on the line

there is nothing quite like drying your sheets on the clothesline. the freshness they gain from being outside in the sun, with a gentle breeze. just seeing them out there makes me smile.

actually, it took several years for me to talk fred into putting up a clothesline. he kept asking where we would put it... i kept saying ,"between the house and the garage." he couldn't picture it, but last spring i bought the line and 2 packs of clothespins, dragged him (not literally) into the backyard and showed him: "from here" (pat the corner of the house) "to here" (pat the edge of the garage). it worked! he hung it right then and there.

it was great through spring and summer, and then into fall. but with our rainy winter, it's been months since i've gotten to use it. then came last monday. beautiful, dry, sunny, slightly breezy... the perfect day for sheets on the line. and it just happened to be sheet day!

it was so fun to squint my eyes from the sun as i reached up to squeeze those clothespins around the edges of my (well, our) sheets! aaah... spring is here and that means summer's a-comin'.

am i easily pleased, or what? :)

a nap

i just took a nap. it was short, but it was wonderful. couldn't sleep last night, and got up early. shopie was taking a nap, so why not me too?

i used to take naps all the time. when our kids were little, i often napped when they did (a little sanity, you know). and i used to nap almost every sunday afternoon (the day of rest, you know).

it's been a long time, though, since i've had a nap. the days are long at work so that i can play with sophie on wednesdays, saturdays are filled with housekeeping, grocery shopping et al, and sundays just go too fast... by the time i'm ready to take a nap, it's 4:00; too late!

so i'm thinking a nap every wednesday is a good idea. or a great idea.

time's almost up

tomorrow is the last day of my 2-week stay-at-home vacation. it's been wonderful. i forgot how wonderful it is to be a full-time homemaker. you get to go for long walks, pay your bills when you're wide awake, keep the kitchen clean, get the laundry folded, vacuum and dust and scrub the bathroom, pull the weeds and trim the bushes, keep the piles of paper in order, grocery shop and buy the shower and birthday gifts... and do it all when it's light out.

i didn't sew a stitch or organize the attic. i'm not quite finished getting the taxes done. i didn't clean every closet and drawer and cabinet. i didn't blog every day, and i didn't finish my study of 1 peter. there's still a lot i was hoping to accomplish that is not done.

can i have 2 more weeks?

pain

as i sit here with one of those heat-in-the-microwave bean bags on my upper back, i am reminded of a book i read (and loved) many years ago... pain, the gift nobody wants by dr. paul brandt and philip yancy. i've been trying to figure out how this pain i've had since before christmas is a gift. it started as just a little annoyance after a long day of work using my computer's mouse. graphic designers don't get carpel tunnel syndrome because they don't spend the day typing. we spend our days using a mouse, and when your eyes are going bad and you have to lean into the screen to get your bifocals at just the right distance to see clearly, you mess up the muscles in your neck and shoulder and back. by last friday it was excruciating. (you know... the really scrunched up face on the "how much does it hurt?" charts?) so i emailed my dr for some advice. his advice: make an appointment.

so here's the gift i received from my pain. i went to a (wonderful) physical therapist who not only gave me some exercises and scolded me on my nutrition (or lack thereof... i lose it in the winter months when i'm cold and want to sip hot chocolate and munch cookies to go with it!) ("your body can't heal when you aren't putting nutrients into it!" said she.) but she also explained the situation going on with my muscles when my body is so contorted for long period of time. that was a gift!

all this has made me think of the many different kinds of pain in our lives. our pastors are currently doing a series on genesis and revelation. it's been fascinating to learn of the connection between the beginning and the end. God has got it all in control, and when we mess it up, He's not surprised, He has a plan, and He still loves us deeply. We cause ourselves a lot of pain. God wants to use that to draw us to Him.

this morning as steve took a break from the expository teaching of the 2 books, and took us through a journey of the Bible, and the journey of his own life, i was moved by the amazing fact that God uses our pain to draw us to Him. like the children of israel, i keep going back to my "idols", doing things my own way, striving for solutions to problems, trying to figure it all out myself, wanting my own way... you know what i mean? and like the children of israel, God keeps forgiving me, taking me back, binding my wounds and loving me.

i come from a very happy family, and fred and i have had a happy family... but i've definitely had some pain in my life. i've hated it, never asked for it, and don't want any more of it. but i have to admit, it's always been a gift. it has caused me to run to my Father, God. it has made me thankful for my very life, and the gift of eternal life through Christ. it has given me new perspective, it has made me learn to trust (still working on that one, for sure!) it has shown me God's sovereignty, and has made me stonger (i think).

so yes, pain is a gift... i guess we'll just have to keep receiving these gifts until heaven. looking forward to that day, for sure!