Today's the Day!

The long-awaited and long-needed basement clean-up project begins today! I'm caffienated and ready to go! There's a lot of clutter in that basement, and I'm ready to deal with it, to sort it all into keep, sell, donate, toss. I'm not sure how long it will take to accomplish this task, but I'm ready to begin - as soon as I finish this post.

And I'm thinking......since sorting clutter is really a "no brain" process, I may have time to do some mental sorting as well and get rid of the clutter that fogs my mind.

I Love Spring!

Catching Up

Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity. I left home on Wednesday, stopped in Asheville to run a few errands and purchase a wedding gift, then on to spend a little time with Daddy. Lots to do there.....his grocery shopping, a quick visit with an aunt and uncle, installing new telephone and tv for daddy, as well as some unexpected time with a childhood friend.

Then came Thursday and on to Columbia. I was running late (due to trying to prolong that time with my dear friend), so when I got to the in-laws house I barely had time to get stuff out of the car and clothes changed before it was off to the bridal luncheon. In fact, Emily (daughter-in-law) ironed the wrinkles out of my skirt while I freshened myself up! Thank you, Emily!! Lunch was great. Then Emily and I ran a few errands, I dropped her back at Granny & Papa's and went to check in to my hotel, get changed again and head downtown for rehearsal.

The rehearsal went off without any hitches and we had a wonderful rehearsal dinner.....complete with a delicious "Chocolate Extreme" cake - YUM!! After rehearsal, Al's plane arrived so went to collect him and then off to hotel for a good night's sleep.

Friday morning Al and Brian went fishing, and Brandon and I went to help set up tables & chairs for the wedding reception. Then time to get cleaned up again and off to the Lace House for the wedding. The Lace House is a beautiful pre-civil war house on the grounds of the SC Governor's Mansion. The wedding was held in the gardens and was absolutely beautiful. It was also unbelievably hot (although thankfully, no rain!).......so hot that I was "glistening" (southern women don't sweat!!) and my glasses kept sliding down my nose! I hope to have pictures posted soon on my Facebook page......that's on my list, but is part of the catching-up process!

Saturday morning we had breakfast together, then we (Al, Brandon and I) left Columbia for Greensboro where we attended a fabulous Gaither Vocal Band Concert on Saturday night. Then Sunday was spent driving back to Asheville to get Al's car at the Asheville Airport, and on home in time to lead choir rehearsal at our church, filling in for the regular choir director who was out of town.

So......as much fun as all that was, the end result - in part due to the fact that I reluctantly admit that I'm not as young as I used to be, and in part due to the heat (mid-90s) which I am not at all used to any more - was that I came home exhausted! Yesterday I tried to at least get some laundry done, but mostly I accomplished nothing. So, today begins the catching up process. I have quite a lengthy list......the "regular" stuff (laundry, etc.), getting ready to begin a new Precept study on Titus tonight, and the basement disaster which I am determined to do something about this week.

I think I need some extra vitamins!

Looking Forward

I'm looking forward this morning......feeling optimistic and excited about the next several days, in spite of the fact that there is SNOW on the ground and it's almost May!!


I'm looking forward....

• to a visit with my dad later today and overnight at his house.


• to traveling to Columbia tomorrow to begin the wedding festivities.


• to seeing my husband tomorrow night........as you may be aware, he travels a LOT, so any time spent together is a treasure!


• to seeing my sons and my grandsons.


• to Amanda's wedding on Friday.


• to spending time with family and friends that I don't get to see very often.

In spite of wind chill in the low 20s and that pesky snow, I'm looking forward.

Clutter

I hate clutter! It makes me nuts!

That does not, however, mean that my home is a clutter-free zone! There is a very big disconnect between what I consider ideal and what is actual reality. The thing that is making me craziest right now is our basement.......it is rapidly becoming a disaster area. Part of the problem is that because most of the area is unheated, it is really cold down there in the winter, particularly when winter is as cold as this one was. Then there is the fact that when we took down Christmas decorations, we didn't exactly put them back where they belong but just got them in the general area.....again, partly at least due to the cold. Last fall we repainted the office, so everything was moved out into the "storage space" and much of it still remains there to this day. In the office, clutter abounds, in part due to my husband's tendency to pile rather than file, as well as to my own procrastination. And not least in the list of reasons for all that clutter is the "stuff" we have accumulated over almost 37 years of marriage. Why we keep most of that stuff is a mystery yet to be solved! Probably the biggest of all reasons for the mess is my Scarlett O'Hara mentality about it all........I'll think about that tomorrow!

When I began this blogging adventure, one of my goals was to see spiritual lessons in the everyday things of life. And I think I have been confronted with a really big lesson here. How often in life we carry burdens/hold on to "stuff" that has no real purpose or value for us. It only weighs us down. Yet we don't stop to deal with it, to clean out the cobwebs and clutter of our lives, of our thinking. We continue to drag it all around with us. I think the mess in my basement is a real life picture of what the Scripture is talking about in Hebrews 12:1 when we are told to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that entangles us so we can run the race with endurance. Who can run a race while carrying all this stuff around?! It's a picture of what Peter tells us about casting all our burdens on the Lord. We don't have to carry all this stuff through life! As I write that, I can't help but be aware of how much stuff, how many boxes are down in that basement that we have moved more times than I can count, that are full of stuff we never use, books we never read, things we very obviously don't have a need for. Yet, there they are. Why is it so hard to let go of stuff?

So, here's the deal. I'm ready to de-clutter. I'm ready to get rid of that unnecessary stuff. I just can't do it right now. No, I'm trying to procrastinate again. The reality is that the schedule won't allow that this week. Tomorrow morning I'm heading out of town for a day with my dad, then on to Columbia for my niece's wedding on Friday and will not return home until Sunday afternoon. And today is committed to finishing the laundry, doing final piano practice for the wedding, packing, and - I admit it - some pampering time for me with a hair and nail appointment this afternoon.

But I commit right now to begin the decluttering process on Monday. It won't be done in a day.....maybe not even in a week. But the process begins Monday.

A New Week

I'm looking forward to this new week. I'm actually glad it's Monday (you won't hear me say that very often!!) I'm ready for last week to be a distant memory. Not only because of the dreary weather early on in the week, but also because of a couple of situations that frankly hurt my feelings. I don't know if I should say I was irritated or disappointed, or irritated AND disappointed. I guess it's more accurate to say I was both, and primarily because of the unbelievable insensitivity of a couple of people who should know better. So, I'll just say that I was irritated/angry and disappointed and hurt at how the whole situation played out.

But, it's a new week and I am choosing to put all that behind me. Call it a positive attitude or a Philippians 4:8 mentality (look it up if you don't know what I mean), but I am choosing to leave the past behind and focus on the week ahead.

This will be a busy week. There's lots to do to get ready for a visit with my dad, then my niece Amanda's wedding on Friday night, a Gaither Vocal Band concert on Saturday, and traveling back home on Sunday. So who has time to be grumpy? I'm looking forward!

"Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead...." (Philippians :13)

Spring Cleaning

I love spring cleaning! I know......that sounds just a tiny bit strange!! Particularly coming from someone whose favorite pasttime is NOT housecleaning! Maybe it's because it brings back memories of my mother. Every spring (and again in the fall) it was time to clean windows, wash baseboards, clean every drawer and closet, every nook and cranny........not that anything really needed that sort of cleaning because she was an immaculate housekeeper.

But beyond the trips down memory lane, I think it has to do with winter being over and the promise of more sunshine. Winters here tend to be long, damp, cold, dreary affairs.......not as cold as some of the places I have lived (Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado), but dreary nonetheless. So as the temperatures begin to be a bit warmer and the skies a bit bluer, I'm ready to declutter and do some serious cleaning. Family members have commented that when I'm stressed I tend to clean, so if I'm really stressed, the house will be really clean!! And maybe that's part of it too.......day after day after day of "dreary" is stressful for me. I love sunshine!

So, I'm feeling hopeful today......sunny!! There's a spring in my step, I'm humming a happy tune (can't whistle!!) and all the dust bunnies should be on alert!

As Mr. Rogers would say, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!

I'm well past the season of life where I wonder how to dress my children for school or for playing outside or for trips to the park/zoo/wherever. I no longer wonder if we'll be able to play outside today.......except when the grandchildren are around, and because they live far away, those days are far between and therefore special (VERY special!) occasions. This is the time of year when I think I'm glad that those days are behind me, and glad that I no longer go every day to a J.O.B. since trying to figure out what to wear in this weather would make me nuts!! This morning is another cold, dreary, on-again-off-again rainy morning......a repeat of yesterday. I'm so thankful for any moisture that comes our way, particularly after the last couple of years of extreme (or exceptional, or whatever the term for "absolute worst possible condition" is) drought. Two years ago (2007) our rain gauge registered less than 6 inches of precipitation for the ENTIRE YEAR! And after the no-water, therefore the spring has dried up experiences of these years, I don't want to complain at all about rain.

HOWEVER........I'm really missing the sun! I'm soooooooo ready for beautiful warm spring days, when I can be outside without layers of clothes, when I can sit on the porch in the rocking chairs, when I could play outside (if I only had those grandchildren to play with!!). Those kinds of days really lift my spirits, not to mention how much better they are for these arthritic bones! I am so looking forward to spring.....real spring, not these teases we have been getting lately. I want to see the sun.

Beyond that, I want to see the SON! So, regardless of the weather.....warm or cool, rainy or sunny, that's where I choose to put my focus........."therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us (or so great a host of clouds and fog surrounding us!) let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Celebrating Easter

I've been reading a lot of posts from friends in the blogosphere and on Facebook about the ways they celebrate Easter. There's a lot of "we always" do this or that......we always go to Sunrise Service at........., we always have breakfast together at........, we always.......... In reading these posts, I realize there isn't much "we always" about my life! I think that is primarily due to how many places we have lived, how much we have moved around. We rarely celebrate something exactly the same way two years in a row!!

But as I think back on the many Easters I have experienced, I have wonderful memories!

• of my childhood Easters, when all the cousins would come to visit (my grandmother lived next door) and we would go to church together, in all our frills and ribbons (mostly girls on that side of the family) and then have an egg hunt in the afternoon.
• of Easters when our sons were just little boys, all cleaned up in their finest going to church and then hiding the eggs in the afternoon. Now they have sons of their own!
• of the years spent in service to the church, as a church pianist, a church organist, a music minister.....planning Easter worship services, presenting the Resurrection story through music and drama.
• of Easter dinners shared with dear friends....."transplanted" as we were and far from family.......of the memories we made together.
• of Easter bunny cake with Bill, Jean and Amy.

Often when I think of Easter, the words of hymns and praise songs run through my mind.......probably a result of those many years of service in the area of church music and worship. Lyrics like....

"How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure....."

"Amazing love, how can it be, that you my King would die for me....."

"And can it be that I should gain an entrance through my Saviour's blood....."

"Hallelujah! What a Saviour!"

This year, I'm looking forward to making more memories, to celebrating with new friends and a new church family. Above all, I'm looking forward to the ultimate celebration......to that day when we see Him face to face!

Just an illusion.....

I guess that spring day was just an illusion. It certainly is a distant memory now. It's been snowing off and on since yesterday afternoon. The wind here on the mountain is blowing at about 25 miles per hour, keeping the wind chill factor hovering around zero. The tulips and daffodils have bowed their heads in grief!

So, instead of being out enjoying the sunshine, I'm inside enjoying a fire, yet another cup of coffee, and remembering what spring was like. On days like this, I really miss living in Florida.

Spring......is it really here?

2 Chronicles 7:14

It has been a busy week since I last sat down to write anything. Last weekend we celebrated our grandson's 3rd birthday.....a fun birthday party followed by a trip to Build-A-Bear to spend the gift card from Nana and Opa (that's us!). I'm glad we were able to experience that with him. Sunday was spent driving back home in time for a "singing"......several churches around the county coming together to share their music, mostly choral, with a few solos. Our choir sang two songs, one of which included a solo by yours truly. I remembered all the words (a good thing....) but the microphone picked that time to malfunction........good thing I have a big mouth!!

The rest of the week has been three steps forward, two steps back as I try to catch up. Not sure how I got so far behind on everything, but it happens! Meanwhile, I have been pondering the lessons uncovered in Monday night's Bible Study group, had a nice visit with my dad on Wednesday, and trying to remain upbeat in a world that is doing its best to prevent that! Just listening to news reports, reading e-mails/having conversation with friends about the current state of affairs in our nation, paying attention to world events is enough to drag a person down.

For many months I have been so burdened for my country and the direction it seems to be heading. I know that many others share this burden. Is there any hope for us? I believe our hope lies not in who occupies the Oval Office or who sits in the Congress, but in 2 Chronicles 7:14......."if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Troublesome times are not new. The words of an old gospel song from the last century reflect that.....
"Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear, Freedom we all hold dear, now is at stake. Humbling your heart to God saves from the chastening rod. Seek the way pilgrims trod,
Christians awake!"

And in the century before that, people were praying for a revival for this country. Click this link to find out more about the Fulton Street Revival.

I'm praying for my country, for another Great Awakening in this country, that we would truly be a nation under God, that we would humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways and that God would hear and heal our land. Will you join me?