Archives

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Mar16

I really need to have a conversation with Jan. And Monique, I’ve hardly spoken to her since she had her baby–two years ago, was it? And Laura? I can’t even remember the last time I saw her. And Maureen. And Erin, And Shari. And Juanita. And Maria.

These are my neighbors. We live on a small Cul-de-sac. I know all their names. But, boy, have I been neglecting these relationships. We wave and say hi, but that’s been about it.

It’s not like the cold winter has kept us inside our houses. I think the average temperature this winter was 75, or something like that. I may be exaggerating, but you get the point. It’s not been the cold weather; it’s been my cold heart.

Most are older than I and don’t have kids the same age as mine. And they haven’t exactly made overtures to talk to me either. Why do I always have to be the one to do the initiating?

Maybe because I’m the one who supposedly walks with Jesus. I’m the one who knows the importance of community. I’m the one whose church is right across the street, for crying out loud!

My kids have sold them all coupon books in fundraisers over the years. They’ve knocked on their doors to ask them questions for a survey during their community unit in first grade. All three kids, the same questions, a few years apart. No one ever complained.

My dog has run through their yard.

The last time I spent any significant time with any neighbor was when three of us had to go to juvenile court to testify against a boy who had broken into one of the neighbor’s cars. It was me, and two of the husbands. I had to go because I took pictures of the perp, even though David saw him first.

But I spent a couple of hours talking to them while we waited for our case to come up on the docket. It was a great conversation where I learned a lot about them.

That was in August.

Seven months ago.

Who goes that long without talking to a neighbor?

I’m frustrated with myself. Things simply must change. Spring is right around the corner.

I’ve got some cleaning to do.

Thankful today for:
114. My neighbors
115. A waning fever
116. My bike, that hopefully I will get on and ride today

And The Sickness Goes On

Mar14

As I write this, my littlest, Morgan, is sleeping. It’s 6:42 p.m.

Sigh

Yet another illness has gotten into our house, and I’m baffled as to why. We’ve really been hit hard this season. Some have surmised that it’s the warm winter that set all our allergies aflame, opening our sinuses to other little buggies that have stuck around and made us sick. Only we don’t have the classic signs of allergies; just a little nasal congestion and some coughing. No itchy, watery eyes. No constantly running nose. There have been sore throats, but that’s about it. It’s been a silent stalker and I’m ready to be done with it.

All the kids have missed at least one day of school. My mother-in-law has had to curtail her piano teaching business for the last month, David missed a couple of days of work. I’m the only one who kept up my job(s), even though I had two days where I barely had a voice. But then, that’s typical mom-hood, isn’t it?

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

What really do I have to complain about? My children miss a couple of days of school and have varying fevers and coughing and headaches. They don’t have cancer. They have all their limbs, and those are all in working order. They have never been in any kind of accident causing debilitating injuries. We are blessed with our health the vast majority of the time. I think I know people in all the above categories.

Though we lost three babies to early miscarriages, we have many friends who have lost a child in many different ways: a freak accident; complications from severe disabilities; trisomy 13. Disease, disfigurement, death. Not happy subjects, but a fact of life on this planet. A sad, sad part of life.

Thank God for the Resurrection! We so look forward to heaven where there will be no more death and sickness and pain.

Meanwhile, around our house, we break out the applesauce, ramp up the carrot juice, make everyone as comfortable as possible, and pray that she is the last one to fall.

Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Thankful today for:

108. hope

109. colloidal silver

110. Tylenol

Bills, Bills, Bills!

Mar13

I’ve spent most of the day entering receipts into my finance program and catching up on my budgeting. What a fun way to spend the day.

I say that with some sarcasm, but really, when I look at all we were able to do and buy, I am thankful for the ever present provision of my loving God and Father.

–we never went hungry

–we were able to give gifts to people for special celebrations

–we got to go on an anniversary trip

–we bought new shoes for Nathan

–we sent Morgan to horseback riding lessons every other week

–we sent Nathan to archery and fencing lessons

–we sent Justin to Tae Kwon Do classes

–we had weekly date nights with our kids

–we had our annual physicals

–we bought dog food and cat food and two hermit crabs

–we fixed our sprinkler system and paid for our lawn chemical applications

–we have a roof over our heads

–we have electricity and running water in our house

–we have working vehicles that have gas in them

–we sent our kids to private school every day (albeit the best bargain on the planet–Trace Academy)

Shall I go on?

We are very rich indeed.

Thankful today for:

105. God’s provision

106. technology

107. crockpots

Faithful in the Little Things

Mar7

Recently, our vacuum cleaner broke. And, life being what it is, we couldn’t go right out and get it fixed. If we had a carpeted house, a few days, or maybe even a week of not vacuuming wouldn’t seem like all that big a deal. But nearly our entire house–save two of our smaller bedrooms–is hardwood or ceramic tile. And we have a big, black dog and a white and black cat. After just a day, the hair drifts are ankle high.

Daily vacuuming of pet hair is a kid chore, as is daily cleanup of the dog’s business in the backyard, the litter box in the garage, wiping down of the kids’ bathroom and setting and clearing of the table for dinner.

If any one of those things doesn’t get done, the affect is cumulative. Thus the ankle-deep drifts.

No amount of nagging gets me buy-in. So I’m taking it up a notch–if chores aren’t done, allowance is affected. No more Mrs. Nice-gal. Be faithful in the little things and you will be given more.

Matthew 25:14-30 tells the parable of the talents. Verse 21 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”

What’s that old saying? If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

Momma’s not been too happy with the lack-luster attitude about chores, so we’ll see if this new standard works. I made them all sign a contract. Day one down. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. This is life lessons, folks. If you don’t do the job, you don’t get paid. If you don’t do it well, you don’t keep the job. But even more so, it’s what God desires out of us. Do all things heartily, without complaining, as if God was your boss. Because, in the end, He really is.

Thankful today for:

87. a normal temperature for my middle child

88. a youth group my kids love

89. old TV shows

A Dog’s Life

Mar5


This is my black lab, Berkeley. He’s a good boy. We acquired him through Freecycle, a network of yahoo groups dedicated to trying to keep stuff out of the landfill. If you have something that has lost its usefulness for you, you can list it on the Freecycle in your area, and someone who wants it emails you back. It’s quite handy for getting rid of stuff you don’t need anymore. And believe me, Freecyclers take anything!

Well, it wasn’t that Berkeley had outlived his usefulness, is was that the couple who got him from another lady, who had gotten him from the animal shelter, realized that with such a big, boisterous boy, they needed to be home more than just a couple of hours a day. So they listed him on Freecycle and we went and checked him out. And obviously fell in love. Well, David didn’t fall in love, but he acquiesced.

Berkeley, which was the name he came with, (only it was spelled “Berkley,” after the sports-fishing equipment company; we changed it to match the city near where I grew up and where my parents went to
college) is a big, boisterous boy. He loves, loves, loves to play fetch with a ball. If he didn’t get so hot, he’d play it for hours. When he gets to fetch in the swimming pool, he lasts a lot longer. Here he is leaping out of the water to catch the ball. He’s really good at it.

Another thing I love about Berkeley is that he loves my kids. He lets them do anything to him. They lie on him, put hats on him, use him as a pillow, and he loves it. Here’s our friend Gabe using Berkeley as a pillow. Notice how much it seems to be bothering Berkeley.

When the kids leave for school in the morning, he barks as if it’s the end of the world. When he goes to school with me to pick them up, he’s a kid magnet.

Whenever they go outside, he is desperate to go with them.

When they’re gone, he pines for them. One day, he slept in the boys’ room on abandoned clothes while they were gone at school.

He gets along really well with other dogs, too. His best friend in the neighborhood is the black lab across the street, Sebastian. Though we don’t let Berkeley out off leash very often, Sebastian gets to run free when his people are home, so he’ll sometimes come over to visit.

Yes, there’s a lot of hair on our floors; yes, he put scratches on our brand new windows barking his fool head off at a squirrel; yes, our backyard won’t win any yard-of-the-month awards anytime soon. But just look at that sweet face. I can forgive a lot when unconditional love is given.

Thankful today for:

81. dogs

82. pizza

83. the confidence people have in me