Projects galore!!

3:28 p.m. Today's project was --projects!

The morning started off in stellar style with Internet Explorer down, so I posted my Bible verse Psalm 149:1 on Facebook using my phone. I wasn't very into it when I wrote:

Praise the LORD!

Sing to the LORD a new song,

And His praise in the assembly of saints.

Having to pour a lye drain opener into our downstairs commode wasn't uplifting, but it did work, so for that I was very grateful. Around lunch time, I remembered to turn the modem in my office off and then on, and viola! On came the Internet! Thank you, Lord! Next job, scheduling Paul our landscaper friend, to come over Wednesday afternoon to get our sprinkler system up and going.

I had posted a Note to Self on the front door to put water in the Jeep, but was awaiting the cooling off of the engine. Then my dad came over, with tons of projects in mind. First came a second hunt for the key to Steve's professional toolbox, but handfuls of keys from his upstairs drawer yielded zero results. We won't give up!

Then my dad and I began discussing the repair of our garage door opener's motor. Daddy had brought over an ad from Mesa Garage Doors, because they do repairs also. At first we all went out to see if the door would go up, which it did, once. Looks like I'll be making an appointment next week. Why next week? Because we need to clear out a large area of the garage so the repair person can work! While the door was up, Steve and Daddy rolled the garbage and paper recycle dumpsters in to get the project going. Looks like another call to the Salvation Army is due. Here is the text message I sent to my five kids and their spouses:

About to schedule another Salvation Army pickup. Does anyone want the single mattress and bedding? Or old drumsticks or college textbooks? How about the RadBoard or the mini-skateboard? Old boom ox, model cars, wedding invite stuff, mic stand, dvd player, fax machine? Teaching supplies, soccer ball, Michael Jordan doll/action figure, cubbies, miniature china tea set, vases, Mr. Coffee, 3-hole punch, plastic goblets, drum stand, tent pegs, large exercise ball,various wood picture and collage frames, straw mat? Txt me by Thursday nite!"

Then I spotted more gems and sent this text out:

Salvation Army prospects continued: old gardening shoes, large ceramic vase (North High art project), Grandma Orange's old Singer sewing machine, a generator, motor, RV or vehicle leveler blocks, dog food dispenser, classroom file box, rolling patio food service cart, barbell weights.

As you can tell, my "kids" are the previous owners of most of it, but we've piled up some stuff too. Steve said he wants his various ceramic projects, and suggested that we sell the stuff on Craigslist, but I told him that the charitable tax deduction is actually more profitable! (and easier). I heard from four of them, and Heather came over for the weights and a quick visit.

Meanwhile, after my dad went home, Steve and I worked to throw away some items, but it was slow going with me having to be out there directing Steve, and stopping him from moving the recycle bin back outside. He'd forgotten why it was in the garage. But that's okay. It's why I'm now retired at home!

While trying to work with Steve on the garage door motor issue, it was like a light went on for my dad. He said, "You can't let your property go down like this--you need to keep it up. The problem is that Steve used to fix everything that broke." I appreciated his acknowledgement, and replied, "We have friends who volunteer to help us, but they have jobs and families, so we wait --gratefully and patiently-- on their schedules." Just minutes before, despite his shaky 84-year-old hands, Daddy added water to the Jeep, while Steve looked on...doubly heartbreaking, because my husband loved cars and working on them his whole life. It was his biggest hobby.

Solomon mused with the pragmatic tone of the disillusioned observer in Eccclesiastes 9:12,

For man also does not know his time:

Like a fish taken in a cruel net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,

When it falls suddenly upon them.

Good thing I am looking past this life, or the sudden downturns of Alzheimer's would have me disillusioned, too. Thank You, Lord!

The afternoon was devoted to Steve puttering around in the garage while I contacted customers for 15% birthday discounts and other specials. We had an early dinner and at 5:30 the caregiver arrived so I could go out to do a double facial for a mom and her married daughter. It was a fun and profitable time.

Bible study tomorrow morning, and another two "faces" on the way back home, and I just printed up my devotional message for Heart to Home's class tomorrow night.Thank you, Lord, for the Bible teaching ministry and for my business, and the lovely women I get to serve and encourage in different ways!

As I prepare for bed, I can truly and wholeheartedly say,

Praise the LORD!