Cloth napkins or brown paper towels?

I got to go out on a date with my man a while ago.  We went to the little diner in town.  Such a treat for us.

While we were eating our waitress had a tizzy!  She was cussing and hollering at the cooks in the back about the work schedule the boss had put out.  She thought it was stupid and wasn’t afraid to let the whole restaurant know.  One of the old men at the counter chuckled at the end of her tirade and she looked at him and said, ‘I told you I was in a bad mood!’  Meanwhile, Brian had his empty tea glass sitting on the edge of our table for fifteen minutes.  As a former server, that is his pet peeve, because he NEVER let a glass go empty!

It reminded me of something my dad told me when I was little.  He said that waitresses did basically the same job in a greasy spoon and in a high class restaurant.  They take and fill food orders, and keep the glasses filled.  But the waitresses who worked at finer establishments could expect large tips while those at less expensive places would make just enough to screw up their taxes.  I can’t remember my dad’s intended lesson, but the illustration has always stuck with me.  What I get from it is that if you are going to do a job, do it well enough and respect yourself enough to belong at restaurant with real tablecloths.  You may imagine why all of this came to me while on our date!

This woman, I am sure, felt wholly justified in eviscerating her absent boss.  I can only imagine she thought she was establishing some sense of camaraderie with the line of men at the counter when she cursed and told them to be quiet.  And I think she pictured herself as being so smart and helpful to her co-workers by pointing out the holes in the boss’ plan.  But all I could see was a woman whose boss should fire her on the spot for ruining the meals at the ten or so tables within earshot of her ranting and for treating her boss with such disrespect and cowardice. 

This woman does the same work as the ladies and gentlemen who work at nicer establishments.  It goes without saying that servers at more costly and fancy places get upset with their bosses from time to time.  But I don’t think they would dream of ever actually hollering across the room, cussing or telling customers to stop talking.    

We all have the same types of struggles in life.  We all have to get up, get going and get the job done.  How we approach it is what defines us.  I need to remember that next time I get righteously indignant.

My floors!

I don’t normally think so much about my floors.  My dogs have always made them gross, primarily because our backyard isn’t landscaped, so wet weather makes for muddy feet that wander throughout our house.  We routinely have hand towels by the back door and we wipe eight little paws as the dogs come in again and again.  But it just isn’t enough!  I am sweeping and mopping my floors several times per DAY and it is still gross. Proof? My ‘white’ socks after mopping: blech!  It’s hopeless!

Dog Daze

What a kitschy title!  I am almost ashamed.

I have complained about my dogs a lot.  We really do love them, but they sure produce a lot of work—you can see my sock below for an example.  Their most recent antics include creative escape tricks.  It got to where we wouldn’t let them outside unless someone took them out on a leash.  that got old pretty quickly and we just can’t trust them out on their own—they dig under and through layers of fencing—so our current attempt to keep our dogs has been to chain them up.

We aren’t thrilled about this plan.  I can still see the images of an old public service announcement with some whiney country song playing while a furry dog sat out in the rain.  Many have been sure to tell us every abuse and injury story related to chaining dogs, but we don’t have another option short of investing in a rental to further beef up the fencing. 

The first time we chained them up, Brian and I did it and we walked inside to watch from the windowed door.  Both dogs stared at us as if this were the most perplexing moment of their lives.  We are among the crazy pet owners who speak on behalf of our animals and we burst out simultaneously on the dogs’ behalf, ‘what the hell??’  And in keeping with the image of cruel people who chain their dogs outside, … we laughed.  Not a little chuckle, either.  We cracked up for a good five minutes while our poor defenseless dogs stared at us.  If the founder of the ASPCA were dead, he’d be rolling over in his grave.

Poor abused dogs…  I think if they were truly abused, they should be better behaved!

Here are some pics of our four legged kids.

Lent

Lent is a special time of year for me.  I know not every Christian observes this season of 40 days before Easter, and my family hasn’t consistently participated in the observation, either.  It certainly isn’t on the list of essentials to salvation, but it does offer an opportunity to enrich and deepen one’s experience and relationship with Christ.

We have taught our children that Lent isn’t just about giving something up.  We site the Biblical passage about Jesus’ instruction his people to be aware that simply getting rid of a demon and wiping the place clean isn’t enough.  When that demon sees a big beautiful empty space, he’s going to grab a bunch of friends and have a party!  So, while giving up something in order to remember the sacrifice Christ made for us that was so much greater is a good thing, it is important to fill that space with something else. 

For some, when a craving hits (for whatever sacrifice you have chosen, be it a type of food or drink or an activity), allowing that craving to direct their thoughts to Jesus is enough.  For others, the choice to use the craving as a reminder to initiate a more godly activity is the way to go.  Some people choose to add journaling, lengthen their daily prayer time, devote themselves to daily reading of the Word, or engage in frequent activities with the whole family.  Other choices include donating time, talent or money to a cause, seeking a mentor, or joining a spiritual small group.

I think anything that brings us closer to Christ and His Body or moves us into service is a pretty good thing!  Lent is as good an excuse as any to run further, breathe more deeply and connect more fully with the things that matter.

From where the blessings come…

I posted earlier about my sister, her illness and what she means to me. My younger sister and I would very much like to drive our five kids over to see her.  Neither of us is made of money and we have various obligations that fill our respective calendars, so this is an endeavor that will take a while to put together.  I think I might be able to go in June.  My little sis thinks we may need to be prepared to leave earlier.  My Quicken thinks that is not possible.  She retorted that money is only money and God will get us where we need to be and when.  Sisters have a special way of being snotty and holy at the same time.

I told her I wanted to bring all the kids and she worried about having a crowd in the house, especially if our older sister wasn’t feeling well.  It was my turn.  God would just have to provide a hotel room for us, too!  In spite of my lame attempt at one-up-manship, He is so good and knows our every need; it is a good things just to knowing He is there and cares.

Now it looks as though we don’t have a vehicle that we can trust to make the 60 hour, 3000+ mile trip, so we are trusting Him to help us afford a rental, as well.

The cool thing is that my church heard the need and responded with love.  Now we actually have some money on which to build!  I am humbled and encouraged to believe we may actually pull this off!  The money is a real gift to us, but there was more.  I shared our desire at women’s Bible study on a day when men were invited to join us because we had a spaghetti lunch following the meeting.  That means a dear man was there who has loved my family in his solid, ‘good-people’ way for over a decade.  He came and held me while I cried after the prayer time.  What an unspeakable comfort that was.

Migraine Attack

I get migraines. Thankfully I haven't actually suffered from migraine in years. Why not? Because before the pain takes up residence I lose my vision. If I can load up on a wheelbarrow full of drugs while blind, I never am subject to the pain of a migraine. There is a narrow window of time, but I am highly motivated, so I haven’t missed it in years. 

Yesterday I lost vision. I took a little while before seeking medication so I had to ask my husband, who frowns on overdosing on drugs,—crazy!—for help in getting the pills of the package. So I was being all good and sweet, and chose to not ask for more than the recommended dose on the box. Big mistake!

I will never do that again. From now on, I say, “Bring on the wheelbarrow! Back up the dump truck!  Unload the cargo right into my waiting mouth, my liver be damned!”

As it was, I felt horrible. I was freezing with fever, nauseated, dizzy, disoriented, light and sound sensitive and breathing takes all the effort I can muster. My world was spinning so fast that I kept gripping the mattress so I wouldn’t fall off.  I haven't even begin to describe the HEADACHE!   It was as though I had sudden onset flu with a side of death.

Meds are my friend! My best friend. I will never be disloyal again.

Responsibility, Honesty and Obedience

These three words have been repeated countless times in our home throughout the lives of our children, but with special emphasis the last several weeks.  The inspiration is the undying issue of chores, the bane of us all.  But the opportunities for lessons, growth and discussion have been a good thing.

The kids have actually been grounded the last week and just earned their computer, park and TV privileges back.  I told them it was probationary, and even so their first free day they totally skipped the chores and spend hours unchecked on the computer.  So, they are grounded again.  So sad!

I work really hard to emphasize that the chores themselves don’t matter.  When they grow up, they don’t have to make their beds if they don’t want to.  And if they decide to mop their floors every day for the rest of their lives, it won’t get them into heaven or make one bit of difference to their intrinsic value.  The reason the chores are important have to do with those character traits that really do matter: responsibility, honesty and obedience.  These things will make a tremendous difference in their adult and spiritual lives.

(While lamenting this ongoing battle to my older sister one day, she made a terrific suggestion.  I want to share it with you in case you happen to have this same struggle in your household.  The plan includes the added lesson—or reinforcement of the lesson—that our yes is to mean yes and our no is to mean no [see the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew].  You can also teach about the legalities of a signature and how our names represent our reputation and identity.  The idea my sister shared was to have my children sign their chore charts and initial each individual chore as they are completed.  This means a lot more than a simple check mark.  So far, it is building honesty, if not obedience.)

They were both very disappointed in themselves over the misstep, which allowed us to revisit the difference between condemnation and conviction.  It is odd to think that the voice of the Holy Spirit would ever say the same thing as that of Satan’s, but he is a sneaky one, so it isn’t unusual for him to ride the coattails of a Truth to drag us down.  So, while the Holy Spirit may convict us of doing wrong, it is Satan who tell you to just sit down and give up, since you are complete and worthless trash. 

So, the kids rallied and took measures to help themselves to not fall down in the future.  My son attached a note to his door that just tickled my funny bone.  Last month the Scripture he was assigned to memorize was shorter than he liked.  He was frankly insulted.  He actually asked for something longer, which led to a discussion on the concept of the talents—be faithful in little and you will be trusted with more!  Anyhow, his verse was Ecclesiastes 9:10a: Whatever you do, do well.

So the note he attached to his door says this:

Ecclesiastes 9:10a is the lamest memory verse EVER…But it makes a good point! 

idn’t he cute?