Timetables & Schedules

As I write this, four men from church are busily working on my sewing room. Four men in one small space (the closet ) is a bit much, but they are working out what each will do. One is moving some electrical switches, two are measuring and cutting, and the fourth is hauling and carrying. They had originally planned on coming back on Saturday after the men's breakfast to tackle putting in the false floor and the new ceiling. However, on Sunday I reminded them that this coming Saturday is Valentines Day and they should not neglect their wives to focus on doing something for me. They have decided to come back here on Thursday this week and finish up next Tuesday instead. I am very glad for this schedule change. I consider the wives of these men to be friends and I would like to keep it that way.

Today I served these workers cheese enchaladas, rice, and beans for lunch. Next Tuesday they will get ribs. It is the least I can do to express my gratitude for their gift of a sewing room. They weren't expecting this, but seemed pleased with the arrangement.

My hand is still tender, but a whole lot better than it has been. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf.

Tomarrow morning I have an appointment to complete our tax forms. It is free for seniors, provided by retired accountants and tax preparers who volunteer thier services. I have all the paperwork ready and will be glad to get it out of the way. It is just one thing on my schedule that eats at me every year until completed. Even though we don't make enough to pay taxes, don't have any withholdings, and therefore don't expect to get anything back, it is still wise to have financial documentation. Then too, only because we filed last year, did we qualify to receive a stimulous payment of $600. I anticipate a repeat of that for this year. I wish they would cut bacl on the beaurocracy and just add a bit to our monthly social security, but that won't happen.

Hands

You have all heard the saying that "you never know how important something is until you no longer have it". This is especially true of your hands. Over the years my hands have painted, nursed, prepared food, cleaned, gardened, sewn, written, and performed so many more funtions. They have served me well, perhaps too weel. I have taken them for granted and now they are worn out. The joints are riddled with arthritis and they are in pain. I can not even hold a tooth brush in the normal way. The joints of my right forefinger especially are swollen and I am unable to apply pressure of any kind. Just another sign of age. Yes, I have iced it. Yes, I have taken anti-inflamitory medication. They make the condition tolerable, if not functional. But using the hands without that particular finger is at best, doable. It is awkward to say the least. It's something of a claw effect, not very dainty or efficient.

I'm sure you have heard someone older express the thought that getting old is not for sissies. Today I heartily concur. And while I expect to spend many hours making comforters and doing long-overdue mending when my revamped sewing room is completed, I also expect that the simple act of threading my machine will take some innovation. Don't expect any hand sewn applique or beading.

Please pray that this newest flareup of arthitis will be a temperary setback to long awaited pleasures. Seems Satan always has to throw in a bit bit of pain to offset our joy.

Happy Birthday

Today is Sarah's 6th birthday. Can it really be almost 2 years ago that we traveled to China to catch this illusive butterfly? Sarah is our youngest granddaughter, adopted by Amy and Juergen from Nanjing in April 2007. A trip I was privileged to share. Seen here at age 4, Sarah is truly the image of an Asian princess. Our butterfly princess. Happy birthday Sarah. Our birthday blessing is that you may grow in stature and love for God and your fellow man. May you someday lavish that love upon a dry and thirsting world, just as your forever family offers our love to you.

narrow minds & encouragement

Our granddaughter Nicole is gifted in so many areas, including art. She has demonstarated her many abilities both in and out of school for many years. When she was in pre-school she had some of her art displayed on the internet, has written and illistrated several children's books, and sold a serious original painting for charity. Her appreciation for art is not limited to any one form. But it seems that her art teacher in school does not share this attitude. Nicole was recently told that cartoons are "stupid". OK, isn't that the idea? Cartoons are an exagerated expression of reality designed to make us laugh. In my oppinion, more at ourselves than anything else. What a wonderful way to release stress. Laughter is a gift. Stupid? Yes, but stupid in a very good way. Thank God Nicole is secure enough in who she is and what she does to let narrow minded comments of others role off her back. On the other hand, if her teacher is promoting a certain art form, Nicole should practice that form for school. But she should never give up what makes her happy just in order to fit into a square box artificially created by someone else.

Thomas was adopted from Thailand when he was nearly 7 years old. He has suffered from feelings of "not fitting in" and "not being able to live up to" the expectations of the ridgid society in which he lives (Germany). Thomas also has had a great deal of difficuly establishing friends. Part of this is based on language, part on appearances (Asian in an Arian community), and part on his inate insecurities. These insecurities were the result of not having a family of his own till adopted as an older child, kind of like a ferrel cat. For years Thomas' grades and social interaction with class mates was poor. But he is now in a school that has many international students. It was not an overnight change, but his most recent report card reflects the result of long hard months of slow change. Yesterday Thomas brought home a very good report card. Way to go, we are so proud of you.

Progress

About a month ago I shared with you the blessing heaped upon me by the men of our church. They offered to remodel my basement sewing room. Since that time they have come on 3 different occasions to measure, photograph, and ask questions about the space. Plans have been made and dates set for the completion of the project. I have emptied the room and closet of what seems like a ton of fabric, furniture and storage boxes. It is ready. On Tuesday next week 3 men will replace a closet wall to isolate that space from the gas-fired boiler in an adjacent room, put the raised floor in that area, and build shelving for my fabric. Then on the 14th they will return and complete the project. They will spend 2 more days rebuilding the closet that holds our well so that the window will open, move an electrical plug so it will be more accessible to my sewing machine, construct a false floor of pressure treated lumber and flooring materials, and replace the ceiling that was torn up years ago when we had the house rewired.

We offered to at least pay for the materials, but they would have none of it. They are taking a tax-deductable collection to cover this as a home missions project. You can bet these workers will get a great lunch out of this.

I have once again been reminded that you just can not out give the Lord. Just under 2 years ago I initiated the Caring and Helping Hands group at church. Since then the group has provided assistance and comfort to hundreds of people in untold ways. Being able to co-ordinate this effort has in itself been a tremendous gift to me. But I honestly do think that I have received more on an individual basis than any other one person among them. One man cleaned out my gutters, 2 others repaired some electrical and outlets and lighting, a lady picked up my house when I was expecting company and my knee was injured, another brought groceries inside, one man pruned our apple trees 2 years in a row, and I have received countless cards and calls of encouragement. Just another confirmation of this ancient promise from God that you can not outgive Him. It really is such a humbling reality.

Richard too, gives what he has. While he can no longer cut lawns, prune trees, and provide physical helps to others, he still has much to offer. He has a great deal of know how that others can draw from and as a cartoonist, he spends hours on end sketching. These renderings are given to a lady at church who then sends them to our troops serving abroad. A funny cartoon to make a soldier laugh in the midst of their lonely and strssful existance is a tremendous gift. Thank you Jesus. Thank you from the depths of my soul for both opportunities to help and blessings received. You may choose to use people, but and you alone are our provider, especially in time of need. I love you so very much. Thank you is inadequite. My hope is that both Richard and I can continue to pass along your blessings so that all who receive, will be motivated to do likewise.

Early Planting

Our planting beds are about 15 feet long. It was so nice out this morning that I weeded and loosened the soil in about half of this one. I will finish the other half tomarrow afternoon. Some of this bed contains perenial plants (asparigus, flowers, etc), so it took a little effort to determine what was what. Maybe I need to keep a journal or at least a chart of what is planted where. I really like being able to sit on the edge of the blocks while I work. Getting down on the ground (actually, more the getting up again) is becoming difficult with my arthritic knees.

I also pruned the rasberries and loosened the soil around them. Rasberries produce fruit on 2 year old canes. This time of year you can see where last years fruit has been. This makes it easy to determine the older canes and prune them down. Not only does this leave more room for the new growth, but also eliminates a place for harmful insects to breed.

Surprises:

In weeding my one bed, I discovered that there were actually several lettuce starts clumped together. I dug part of them up and spread them out. I also found that I have plenty of both bush and sugar pod pea seed. All I need buy right now is spinach. I'll space the planting of new lettuce out to about every 3 weeks. That puts the next planting to around the last week in February. By then, all the beds will be ready for planting. New starts of tender vegies will be growing in the greenhouse, and I will be concentrating more on the flower beds.

Richard is getting antcy about getting outdoors too. The only thing that has stopped him till now has been the cold. He has poor cuirculation. But with the warmer air, he will be doing some pruning of fruit trees using a pole pruner and roses using hand pruners. This is something I find difficult to do. I have far less strength in my hands and wrists than he does. Besides, he really enjoys pruning as long as I do the clean up.

Oops

Amy corrected me on a couple of things in my last post. First, Jess is actually 17. Where does the time go?Am I getting forgetful? Probably. The other correction is the actual name of the treatment Jess would have in Cyprus. It is called hyperbaric oxygen theropy. The idea is the same as I described, but it is important to be correct on this so that if anyone wants to look it up they can get the right information. Most importantly is the hope that this treatment actually works. That is where I will focus my prayers.

Today is a lovely winter day in Oregon. I may try to get some work done outside. Shelley evidently spent several hours in her garden yesterday and has inspired me. There is a great deal of clean up to be done before planting can begin. I have already cleared debris from the vegetable beds, but the soil still needs to be weeded and tilled before seeds can be planted. Cool weather plants can be sown directly this month. They include spinach, peas, and lettuce. Sounds like the makings of a great salad to me. There are actually several early lettuces in one of the beds, the product of scattered left over seed last fall. Along with green onions and garlic, it makes a great head start to build on.