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Giving thanks - for hidden things that reveal themselves at the most unexpected times. Our oldest daughter and her children recently had a lengthy sleepover at our house. She was (and is) dealing with an acute back injury, and she needed a considerable amount of support and help with the kids and taking care of herself. It was easier for everyone, for them to just stay here rather than trying to care for two households. So they stayed here for a couple of weeks. She slept in our guest room which has a queen size bed originally purchased for her when she was a teenager. At some point she asked if I would consider letting her have it to take home. The request caused me to reflect on the purpose of the room; had it been used, or was it often vacant and could benefit her more? 


Thinking back over the last year or two, I realized how often we were able to welcome friends and family into our home for overnight stays, and the guest room was frequently occupied. It has served children and adults alike, sometimes for a single night, but more often for a lengthy stay. 

Do you remember the Karate Kid? You know how Mr. Miyagi’s method of teaching Daniel didn’t look like he expected it to look, yet in hindsight Daneil came to understand that he was doing exactly what he wanted him to do? Yeah, I have come to realize in life, things more often than not look very different than we anticipate. We have a plan and a vision of how our marriage will be, what kind of parents we will become, what it will look like to have a certain career or home, etc. When it doesn’t look like we thought it would, we can suffer deep disappointment or disillusion. It’s only in hindsight that we realize that we got what we wanted or hoped for (and in some cases needed). God is a good father, and as a good father he responds to our desires with what he knows is best. 

One of my long held goals is to always offer genuine hospitality. We do that in the time and way that God deems it rather than the way my Pinterest board might suggest. 

All that to say, I am giving thanks for a peek at our circumstances through different eyes. It changes my perspective and smooths over the sense of disappointment. 

Outside my window - It’s not quite 6:00 am and it’s still dark. Actually, I stepped outside on the deck and First Light - wow! - the colors of First Light are sometimes as spectacular as sunset. The thermometer says it’s 67 degrees currently and the forecast for today is 84/66. The highs have not reached into the 90s all week, and initially I thought that was strange, but then I recall the last couple of years thinking the same thing. So August isn’t the month from hell after all. LOL 

The garden is starting to die off. We turned the watering system off when the rain was coming daily, and failed to turn it back on. Honestly, it is so overgrown I’m actually ready to pull it all up and winterize anyway. 

Clothing myself in -  new pajamas. It’s Saturday and it’s early. I can wear my pajamas as long as I want to. :-) But I’m meeting for coffee later, so I will find my way into something else. Oh, I got my haircut! I missed this length and the volume. Yep, I missed it a lot. 

In the kitchen - The counters are full of things that need to find their way home. I processed that last batch of tomatoes for the season. The canner can go back to the basement. I claimed a second Instant Pot when my daughter tried selling it (a dirty Santa gift still unused). It will go in the basement but I suspect it will be used often enough to justify keeping it. The collection of kid friendly kitchen tools awaits its new spot in the cabinets, and the wine lingers from our visit with family this past week.

Rachel cooked dinner last night while I finished cleaning up the garage (again). John helped by cooking the fried potatoes. Yum! Carb overload, right? I’m considering the best way to go about offering basic cooking lessons to the adult children that are interested. I think both in person and videos are a great idea and I hope to do just that. 

Writing - my husband is such an incredible encouragement to me in this area. He believes in me more than I believe in myself. I may be deluding myself but my honest hope is that as the spaces in our home need less of my attention to restore order, I will actually work on some writing projects. Our mastermind group has decided to return to basics and resume the focus on writing specifically. I needed that.

Reading - I’m actually reading. I have discovered that I can read while the tv is blasting in the background if I can get over the initial hump. I’m making progress on the book that I’ve been trying to read for months - or has it been a year? Rachel and Christina said to just lay it aside and start something new - thinking that lack of interest is the reason I haven’t been reading - but I am interested and want to finish this book and be ready for the next when it is released in November. I have been given a long list of other titles to keep me busy after I’m done.

Watching - We’ve been watching some older movies. Some of our conversations have informed us that Rachel has not watched many of our favorites. This must change. We also realized there are many that we have not watched that we also enjoy. So, more movies and fewer series. September is around the corner and cooler weather naturally lends itself to a different season of movies. Strange perhaps, but true none-the-less. (My homeschool students hate that term because it was so overused in the science books we used - what a strange recollection!!LOL)

Listening - Rachel just keeps on bringing more songs and artists to my attention. She has a playlist that she shares with me and I know I can count on it for my favorites - old and new.

New song - Argh! There’s a song that Rachel shared with me in the car but I can’t find it on the playlist. She’s sleeping and you have no idea how much I want to wake her up to ask her if she remembers the title. That would be mean, right? I shouldn’t do that :-) We usually keep the titles in our text thread but it’s not there. Now it will drive me crazy until I can remember it.

Making - It is my hope that there will be more “making” in my future since the spaces in our home are starting to shape up better. I have a terrible fear though. I’ve been asking myself as I labor (and I do mean labor) to clean up and organize all our “stuff” - again. What will be different this time? I have been running on the hamster wheel for decades, literally, trying to accomplish a sense of peace and confidence that somehow “this time” will be different. This time, order will remain and I can go on about the business of living. This time, things will be put back where they belong when they are used. This time, things won’t multiply because of purchases made on a whim. This time, the neighbors won’t have to shake their heads in disbelief - there she goes again. I truly don’t believe that everyone has this problem. Sure, plenty of people do, but I want to be done once and for all with having too much stuff and spending precious time managing too much stuff.

Camp - Nothing on that front. We did discuss the possibility of a container home with Chris. If it’s on wheels, it’s possible. Still, that’s a topic for further down the road.

The week ahead - it’s already filling up. I’m so looking forward to the beach and some serious down time next month. If ever we needed it, it’s now.

Love God and love people.



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