Organized Clutter

Yesterday I cleaned out my clothes closet and drawers. I had a big bag of clothes for the trash, one for donations, and one to try to sell on consignment. And today it was the bookcases in the living room. When I was through, I had one bag of trash, one pile to give away, and another pile of things to relocate.

Now here's the kicker after all that work. My closet looks just as full. And my bookcases don't look any emptier. I thought I was going through them with a fine tooth comb, but evidently it must have been one of those wide tooth shower combs for getting out tangles. All I can say is that my clutter is more attractive now. The librarian in me mandates if you have to have clutter, it must at least be organized.

Something tells me that God doesn't see our lives that way though. Clutter (sin) is clutter with Him, regardless of how it's packaged. I pray that I can clean out my ugly habits and character traits with that fine tooth comb called the Ten Commandments. I'll be glad then when I move into my heavenly mansion. It'll be a nice, clean move. No work involved. Piece of cake.

We know where the clothes disappeared TO, but where did they come FROM?

Our Gifts

It sure has been an exhausting Sabbath rest day for this ol' grandma. But I treasure every minute I can spend with my two darling granddaughters. The oldest one celebrated her fourth birthday today, and we wrapped up the night with a small gathering to share ice cream and cupcakes and let her open a few presents.

I gave Jenna an old journal that was full of blank pages, thinking that she could practice her writing or draw pictures in it. But she decided it would be an autograph book, although I'm sure she's never even heard of one. She had everyone sign her book and I was pleased to see her so happy with my gift.

God gives us all many gifts, and it is up to us to figure out how to use them. With a pretty full life behind me, I hope I am bringing God a smile when He sees the way I have used His gifts too.

Mommy was the first to sign Jenna's book.

Julia picked this tomato in the garden this afternoon--I was surprised to see her still carrying it around several hours later! She was calling it "apple", but we taught her to say "tomato". 

She's treasuring her gift too!

Blind Faith

I found myself in two places today that were oddly related. First at the optometrist's, I took the third vision test for glaucoma and will hear the results of it when the doctor is back on Friday. Right after that I went to Christian Record Services for my weekly volunteer work as a book narrator for the blind.

I have to admit to being a bit nervous about the prospect of glaucoma, if that's what it turns out to be. But Jesus gave a remedy for eye problems. For those in the Laodicean church who were blind and didn't even know it, He offered to anoint their eyes with eyesalve. (Revelation 3:18) If God can cure spiritual blindness, then I am covered. Because that's the only kind of blindness I should really worry about.

In the studio at www.christianrecord.org 

Chore or Ritual

Our topic for discussion tonight at our brain injury support group was sleep. It seems that we all have different sleep habits and strategies for getting a good night's sleep. Sleeping well has a positive impact on our overall physical and mental health, and is especially needed for brain injury survivors and their caregivers. Put simply, it just makes you feel good.

One thing we talked about was what you do just prior to sleeping. My bedtime chore, since I've been on oxygen, consists of setting up my Bi-PAP machine. Filling the humidifier with distilled water, attaching the hose and oxygen tubing, turning on the oxygen concentrator, putting on the face mask, and finally turning the machine on. All that activity was not conducive to sleep, believe me. And I hated it.

But then last year, a nurse introduced me to a new face mask with a design that allowed me to wear my glasses, rather clumsily, so I could read myself to sleep with the mask and machine already on. For five years, I had missed falling asleep reading a book. Now I don't mind the Bi-PAP setup nearly as much. Instead of a chore, it's just my regular bedtime ritual or routine, a positive strategy to getting a good night's sleep.

It's amazing how the same activity can be perceived in a totally different way, simply by my attitude about it. God is the same way. Some think that anything to do with religion and God is not to be desired. That serving God, attending church, witnessing to our friends and neighbors, or having a personal devotional life are hated chores. But when seen through the lens of love for God, the same things are beloved activities that we cherish and adore.

Knowing and loving God is just like a good night's sleep. It just makes you feel good. Your attitude is what counts. Cultivate a loving one.

Shame on the Proofreader

My overriding thought today is a mistake I made a few weeks ago in an email. I'm a proofreader, so am embarrassed that this one got by me. I sent someone my address, but typed the house number wrong. Consequently, to make a long story short, some books that were sent to me a couple of weeks ago got lost and had to be reshipped and I got them after the holidays instead of before. I was hoping these books I edited would be nice Christmas gifts.

As it turned out though, this is probably better timing for them, as people I have given them to will be more likely to read them now than during the rush of the holiday season. It's the type of book that will be a spiritual blessing to the reader, so I'm anxious that it gets in the right hands at the right time.

I can't believe I mistyped one number in that email and it made such a difference in when these books would get in the hands of people I know. But God is in control of even the smallest events in our lives. Everything happens for a purpose. Praise Him for making me type a 7, instead of a 6 that day, and then NOT catching the error! It has made all the difference.