I sit here quietly, appreciating the presence of home, as the washing machine spins its burgeoning load and the dryer tumbles its load with freshness and warmth. The aromas of Tide with Febreze and Ultra Downy bring a calming and collected spirit to me. Thank you Lord, for the opportunity to have enough clothing that each one has their size which fits, with shoes to wear for school, play and church. Thank you for providing a chance, a grateful chance, to be able to wash and repair these clothes, so they will last 6 months or longer if necessary. Thank you for fresh clean water, appliances and electricity - I am so blessed to be a servant for my family, and I do this all for you.
I very much appreciate the task of doing the laundry - it is a job which offers so much completion and reward, by seeing messy, smelly, dirty mountains separated by color and textile, washed, dried, folded meeting my eyes with mountains of straight, organized piles. One for each person, their piles await their next trip upstairs"...and don't forget to put them away, not cast them in the closet willy nilly." (I've never met Mr. Willy Nilly, but in my opinion, he's a messy lad who can never find his left shoe or his homework because he is careless with his articles and possessions, dropping them wherever he deems fit to be released.) Thank you Lord, for providing my family a place to call home - your provision is tremendous and full. Thank you, Lord, for an opportunity to teach my children (and husband - oh brother) of the blessing which comes with having a home which has a place for everything. When everything is in its place, they are findable, dependable, retrievable, containable, manageable. Help me Lord, when I encountner the messy parts of life that I don't not snap or over-react, but grab my handy-dandy tiara and become the Queen of Clean to be a servant in these tasks of cleanliness and organization. Help me Lord to be loving, caring, gentle and patient when I serve You as I serve them.
As I retract the dryer load, my youngest daughter K. just happened by - since it was pj time, and her pjs were in this dryer load, I saved her a trip by having them ready for her. And she recognized one of the simplest yet deepest pleasures of life - soft, clean warm clothes straight from the dryer. The toasty feeling doesn't last forever, but you never forget being wrapped in supreme warmth and coziness as when you pull them on and feel surrounded by the toasty hug. Thank you Lord for simple pleasures which can easily be shared, which remind us of how deeply blessed we are.
The laundry is a sign of a trip well spent. We have been away since Monday lunch, traveling to New York and returning. It was a trip which started because I needed to be at THQ for the Holiness Symposium, whose guest speaker this year was Rev. Dr. Samuel Vassel - exceptional! (It will need to be a future blog - good words from the Good Word) But it evolved into so much more because of several factors: one being I haven't purchased a uniform since our Commissioning in 1997. These two uniforms I have been wearing have lasted more than a decade, been worn through training, and have looked not very perky lately. I wash my skirts (and Dave's uniform pants) in the washing machine, line dry and then iron, and I use a home dryer dry cleaning kit for our tunics. It is a very frugal way to take care of these uniforms, and they have lasted so long. It helps that I made a maternity uniform and used that for all it was worth for three of our four children, so my uniforms did get a reprieve for a bit, but needless to say, they have seen the rough side of the war and could use another to help pass around the duty. So a visit to Trade was important for both Dave and I. When Dave lost 120 pounds he got one uniform last year to fit, and had the others tailored down, but they could only be brought in so much without losing their integrity and styling. So he needed a fitting, something which cannot be done from a distance. I need a uniform, Dave needs a uniform, and...the kids have Spring break during the same week I need to travel to New York. Throw in the whipped cream and maraschino cherry on top - K.'s 7th birthday in the middle of it all - and you have all the makings of a Road Trip. Thank you Lord for the possibility to accomplish many tasks with one condensed time of travel and dedicated service. Thank you for every safe mile traveled, for the conversations of faith on the way with other Christian brothers and sisters. Thank you for the power of encouragement , as a cool drink of water for a thirsty soul, when Your Word is read and studied and shared.
These are some pictures from our day in NYC- oh I do love New York in the springtime. In NW OH we left behind a terrible snow dump (we only got 4 inches but some parts of Cleveland got 41 inches - augh!) But here in the sun, and 49 degrees, there are spring flowers a bloom.
On K's birthday we woke early and had a birthday waffle breakfast (Is she really 7, can it be true?) and started our day. We brought the kids in across the George Washington Bridge and down Riverside Dr. Every year we pass through New York at least once, sometimes three times, and decided long ago that The Big Apple is too much to bite all at once - it must be savored by many small, deliberate bites. Last years included Ellis Island, the Staten Island Ferry, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. This summer (August) will include the Intrepid Museum, The New York Library, Carnegie Hall and the American Museum of Natural History . This trip included Ground Zero, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick's Cathedral and then a separate trip, boys and girls. At noon after sharing a kosher hot dog (kids) and sushi( me) - just love NY: you just can't find that level of variety in such a close vicinity in NW OH - the girls and I leave Dave and the boys as they go to The Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center and we venture to the American Girl Place for a show and afternoon tea. The boys hit Central Park, a few specialty stores (Nintendo, NBA), a real live NY cab ride and then passed their afternoon with the American Museum of Natural History. (I'm rather jealous - the Museum is exquisite, did I really pass it up?) Me and the girls, and their American Girl dolls Molly and Emily get a hairstyle for their dolls, a new outfit for them, see a great show about The Circle of Friends and share tea and scones.
By the time the boys joined us again around 5:30, we had all had a terrific day, ready to go back and just swim.
Thank you Lord, for the chance to spend real time with the ones I love so dearly and share a safe time of learning and sharing. Thank you for my familiarity with this large city which has such depth of culture and need, enough that I can share what I know and still learn again and again. Thank you Lord, for Your presence, for Your provision, for Your beauty and splendor. Thank you that all these dirty, rumpled, stained clothing, this luggage disarrayed and worn, is able to be cleaned so readily, yet the memory of where we have traveled to will remain.
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