A Clean House...Not

Today has been a blur of household chores and dreaded phone calls, as most Mondays are. I make out the proverbial "to-do list" on Sunday, and then start digging in with all the things I want to accomplish in the coming week. Things like washing the bedding, sorting and organizing Dean's recliner "area", cleaning the bird cage, and scrubbing behind the kitchen sink. But these things are on top of the everyday, basic tasks of washing dishes, clothes, cooking meals, and emptying trash cans.

Any more, my shortness of breath never allows me to finish a "to-do list". I have learned to be content with a house that is never sparkling clean everywhere. But that has fleeting bright spots scattered about that I can be proud of and that gives it a look of orderliness that tricks you into thinking it's clean under the surface.

In a way, this mirrors my spiritual life. I will never have a complete and virtuous character that I would desire. But God has covered me with his perfect robe of righteousness. And with His touch of love, I can be perceived as having a form of Christianity that perhaps someone would wish to emulate.

How wonderful it will be to shed these mortal bodies someday and put on our glorious, immortal robes. Then I will be truly clean everywhere, even under the surface.

Bits and Pieces

A big accomplishment for me today was working on my PowerPoint presentation for a Christian women's retreat this fall. I have been meaning to go to the college library computer lab for weeks now, but the logistics just never seemed to work out. But today, the "stars were lined up just right" and I was able to make a big dent in creating a PowerPoint about caregiving.

Of course, I have been doing research, making notes, and making an outline on my laptop here at home, but just didn't have the PowerPoint capability on my home computer. I tried working on it at the public library a couple of times, but it was too nerve wracking there with a time limit over my head and other people working feverishly on every side. (You'll remember the time I left my memory stick there and thought it was lost for good, until I discovered someone had turned it in to the librarian on my next visit.) On the other hand, the college library was almost empty today between semesters, so I was able to make some good progress on my project.

I guess one lesson I have culled from this endeavor is that our work has to broken into little pieces for it to be manageable and for the end result to be worthwhile. Similarly, our character development happens in bits and pieces throughout our lifetime. When we're very little, we research all the adults around us and learn what we can by our observations. Then as we get a little older, our early school years, we start making notes. As teenagers, we begin to organize all our notes and create an outline of who we want to be as adults. Then in the adult years, we create our "PowerPoint" character presentation for the King of the Universe.

Hmm, I wonder what mine will look like.

How Not to Grow

Weeds have a habit of choking the life out of our most-loved plants. When the unwanted roots wrap around our "babies", we aren't as conscious of the damage. But when weed vines above ground start wrapping around the plant itself, we must take action and rid them of their attacker.

One of our pepper plants succumbed today, not to a weed vine, but to a "fellow" vegetable cucumber in the next row. We waited too long to rescue it from the choking tendrils, and I fear with the above-normal hot temperatures today it may not survive or will be severely stunted in growth.

As gardeners of our souls, we must be constantly on the lookout for weeds. Those nasty habits and character traits that don't belong in our life. But we also have to be aware of the good and wholesome things that identify us. We can become so absorbed in them that they cause us to be unbalanced and stunted in our spiritual growth too.

As a gardener, we're learning to pull the weeds and to train the vines. Neglect of either can have the same result. Limited growth.

Just a Tree

Thirteen years in this house and I've always wanted to do something with this tree in my front yard. My mom even hinted about it when she was still alive, suggesting that it would be a good place to plant hostas. But it's just been such a low priority with everything else to do around here that nothing ever got done to the tree. The weeds that took root and grew around the tree every year were always an eyesore. I tried planting some wildflowers once, but nothing happened.

Today my nephew and son-in-law, in an attempt to please me, got inspired to do something with my embarrassingly ugly tree. So they cut down the weeds, put some plastic down, then some mulch, and straightened up the border. Simple, inexpensive, and not even very time-consuming. But, oh what a difference it made to my front yard! Why did we wait so long?

Indeed, why do I wait so long to do many things in my life? Sometimes I do pull or cut down some bad habit weeds, but if that's all I do, it won't last. The decision has to be made, efforts have to taken, costs have to be paid, and remedial beautification work has to be done. It isn't always easy, but the result will make all the difference.

I'll undoubtedly be making beautification changes to my character till the day I die. Just as the housing projects will never all get done, there will always be character changes calling for my attention.

I'm keeping my eye on those eaves and gutters for the house before next winter, guys. Thanks for keeping this ol' house serviced for me. I lost my handyman husband, but gained a son-in-law and nephew. You are treasures.

How High Are Your Tomatoes?

I was lamenting the fact that we didn't get our garden in sooner after seeing some of the harvested vegetables some of our friends are already enjoying. Isn't it a risk to plant before the last predicted frost date though? I guess some daring folks like to get a head start, and now I see the benefits of early-bird gardening. We could have started a month earlier too and already be having fresh, homegrown food on OUR table!

Then I also saw that some friends are just now getting their gardens in. Believe it or not, it's not too late to get in on the planting frenzy. I'm assuming they will have a bountiful harvest also, but will just have to wait longer for that first flavor-oozing morsel.

Whether you plant early or late, the final result is much the same. Although I have to admit that those early-birds are probably such conscientious gardeners that I'm sure they are guaranteed a premium crop. Besides, their garden won't have to battle the full heat of summer.

We are all gardeners when it comes to life actually. We are sowing character seeds every day that will bear fruit--for good or evil. The later you start sowing the good seeds, the harder you will have to battle the weeds and the heat. But it is possible to overcome those obstacles and still have a bountiful garden at any stage of your life.

The common question we are all asking this time of year:
How high are YOUR tomatoes?

Paper Trails

The most dreaded thing on my to-do list, besides cleaning the toilet and scrubbing floors, is to fill out applications. Every time I fill out one, whether print or online, I hope and pray it is my last one. But of course, it never is. Yesterday I got one that needs to be filled out by next month, and today I got one that needs to be filled out by tomorrow. They just never stop coming. I feel like one endless paper trail. Why couldn't my information just be on one granddaddy database, so everyone could see all about me in one fell swoop whenever they needed to?

But then what would happen to our privacy if that were the case? Would I really want everyone to know all about me any time they wanted? Of course not. At least in this evil, unpredictable world we live in now, it would be disastrously unsafe for a database like that to exist. It may get to that before this earth's history is over, but for now I guess I'll just suffer through the inconvenience and keep trying to write neatly, stay in all the lines, and sign in all the right places.

One great thing to look forward to in heaven...no applications. We'll have a character trail, instead of a paper trail.

Studio Smiles

Today my daughter and I picked up some studio photos we had taken of our little Julia at a Wal-Mart store awhile back. I remember the day the pictures were taken. We spent over an hour and only managed to get two or three "half-smiles" out of this one-year-old. She was a tough cookie to crack! And I have always bragged about Julia's sweet little smile she has for anyone. A smile is just her natural facial expression. Evidently not when she's in front of a camera though...

I wonder how many times we are not ourselves "when the cameras are rolling." Either we are sweet and cuddly in our private lives and totally out of character in public. Or perhaps we keep our nice personality up front only when the public is there to witness it, but are very difficult to live with at home.

Lord, help me to show only one side of my character and let that side reflect the lovely Lord Jesus. This is the best way to be a witness to others, including all the others we come in contact with every day. I pray our little Julia will learn this also as she grows up...but maybe, just maybe, she'll at least have the smiles down the next time we are in a studio!