Out with the trash

I went outside at 5:30 am when I awakened from a dream-filled sleep a bit earlier than predicted. Since I went upstairs to bed last night at 8:30 pm to read and escape my realities, chances were pretty good I would wake early.

Downstairs, even in the early morning light, the computer was humming, the lights were on in varying places, revealing quickly that my talk on electricity consumption was not properly appreciated yesterday.

Proceeding down the stairs, I opened windows because , after all, the weatherman promised a weekend of 80* weather, and believe me, Friday is the weekend. So at the foot of the stairs(who says foot of the stairs anymore?) there was a shadow I had not seen before. My children can attest to the fact that I am very observant, this displeasing especially the two sons, aged 22 and 25, who abide in their beds as I type. The shadow turned out to be cat vomit. There was a reason the sweet cat Apryl has been banned from the house, and this was talk number two I realized nobody heard.



Continuing on to the bathroom, I discovered another tell tale sign that disturbed my maternal sense of well being. Let's just say here that a son apparently went the way of the cat, and I do not mean he is outside.

Yesterday was horrid. It included, but was not limited to, me focusing too much on the present difficulties rather than the future Hope that I maintain I am addicted to. Most addictions people want you to quit, but in my case and example, my addiction is vital to my being.

If in this life only we have HOPE in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.(I cor. 15;19) Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11;1)

Now at this juncture I could expand upon the nastiness of yesterday , but here is where the story line takes a dramatic turn for the better! Who wants to wade through other's mud when we all have our own? Stick with me in my wanderings and you will see what I am talking about!

Every morning one of the first things I do is open all curtains and windows when the temperature allows. I like light and air :-). I then , believe it or not, walk outside and check out the neighborhood, how it slept and what's new. This morning there was a Huge pile of junk, trash and treasures from my very own basement that were awaiting the trash truck.
This is a huge Pile and is only here for about 30 more minutes when these magical and wonderful men will throw everything that is there into their truck and whisk it away as if it had never been!!

Simultaneously, I looked up to God's heavens and saw a Huge Full Moon shining through a beautifully blossoming Dogwood Tree.




Now I ask you, as I humbly asked myself this morning....which should I be looking at today? and tomorrow? and should have looked at yesterday? Should I keep my eyes on that pile of trash, which will go away very soon, with no evidence of ever having been? OR shall I keep my eyes on that gorgeous Moon, then the Sun, and the trees and the beautiful flowers that will be around all day and into next week and beyond, knowing that the One Who placed them is also handling quite nicely , my messes?

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,looking unto Jesus ,the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.(Hebrews 12:1)

What a no brainer. OK, and I hear the truck coming......

An Idea Unfolds

What Is

This morning I wrote my Facebook status update and it would appear mysteriously odd to the casual observer. I wrote: " sometimes we need to stop and think about the what ifs in life , in order to be very,very thankful for the what is." Here is my WHAT IS.



The what if played out yesterday early morning, beginning with a load of towels. Don't towels seem innocuous? They dry someone, you wash them, you throw them into the dryer to become fluffy, and they get nicely folded and stacked neatly back into your closet. Well, what if they started a fire in your dryer?



What if , instead of paying attention to the sounds around you, you continued reading your book, watching your video or turning over in bed for one last delicious morsel of sleep?

Eliot heard a smoke alarm early in the morning, around 7:20 am. I suppose I should say Superman, Spider man, Hans Solo or some other heroic figures name, but I am so old I can't even recall who the super heroes are anymore! Let's just say , my precious, oldest and most wonderful grandson, who is about to have a ninth birthday(Thank You God!!) heard the alarm.



At this point, his mother Margie was beckoned, the one taking a few extra moments to fully wake up before life barged into full view for the day. Hit the snooze, turn the pillow over for a cooler side, stretch under the covers, when ....Eliot is saying "The alarm is going off" or some such VERY IMPORTANT message! What if she had ignored him? What if, rather than heed his warning , she gave in to the warmth and coziness of the mattress? (The one, as an aside, that must be totally destroyed due to soot and smells of a fire that followed closely behind this thought?)


My phone rang beside me, earlier than Margie is ever known to call me, yesterday as I was entering some clever Facebook status update for the day. It does appear as though I spend all of my waking moments on Facebook, doesn't it? Well, I kind of do.
But this blog is not about me and my careful use of time and talent, this is about what if. So I will rephrase the statement prior to this. What if my joy in Facebooking my early morning hours had been removed completely from me yesterday as a result of an uncontrolled fire in Kennett Square?
What if that?!?



The story continues. Margie was saying to me , "so mom, we are fine , BUT...."

May I interject here that any mother out there who has ever heard these words for any reason whatsoever, knows that this is the point you begin tensing and feeling the heart palpitating more rapidly as the blood surges to the zone known as "OH MY GOSH!" and you hold your breath until it is over and out of the child's mouth.

"The kids and I are sitting in the van and there are firetrucks and stuff at our house and I think there is a fire, and ..."

I heard nothing else. Prayer escaping my heart flowing to my head was immediate. Calm was covering potentially panic filled thoughts as I assured her I was on my way, even without her asking me, knowing that I would cancel everything in my path for weeks to come if I had to. What if I did not know , beyond a shadow of doubt or hesitation, that God had everything nicely handled with nary a need of my assistance?

What if I had no deeply practiced understanding of the Scriptures that tell me the truth of life on this earth and God's care for His children here? The Bible verse jumping to my brain is not a panacea for burning dryers any more than it is husbands and fathers leaving responsibilities and families. It is just God's statement of truth. For in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

[Should this elusive idea calm your soul in one of your moments of reviewing your what ifs in life, please know that the entire book of Romans in the Bible is an awesome read, especially chapter 8 where this comes from!]

I arrived at Margie and Joel's smoldering smoke filled home as the Fire Marshall was explaining the dangers of dryers. Now here is an amusing side note: As I was writing this blog, I decided to dash out and hang up on my clothes line(formerly know as Perfect the dog's line....)the load of wash, rather than placing it in my dryer. I listened well.



My precious grandchildren were mesmerized by the kind neighbor's large flat screened television, apparently a really good investment for times when distracting your child from the trauma of a fire is happening....I ran to take a picture of the firetruck as they all watched Mickey Mouse dancing! Well, what if they had television in their home? Would this have been as much of a diversion? I ask you?...

Joel arrived home soon after, taking the reins so calmly of his family's latest wild ride in life, the firemen reviewed the damaged and left, the neighbor went back to her life, the older 3 children dressed for school, quite begrudgingly I might add. They didn't have a chance in missing that event, what with mom being president of the PTA :-)! and all. What if the house had burned to the ground instead of mere smoke damage throughout causing a few weeks of hotel living? Maybe.

The hotel stay last night might have been an adventure for the grandchildren had it not been for missing favorite blankies and babies. Margie's late night call as she headed off to begin purchasing things they had to have was so reassuring and better than her early morning call had been! My heart overflows with love and gratitude to God, my day surrounded by Margie calls. I think it will be an adventure for the next few weeks as the house returns to it's former chaotic yet clean state with mandatory Spring Cleaning by someone other than Margie happening! Another chapter in their book of life, another place to stretch and grow.

For a brief moment I thought to myself, what if they had not had fire insurance? The blessings of the Lord on our family even includes enough insurance! We must pause and thank Him, there are so many areas to what if through life!

I looked up at the sky and snapped one last shot yesterday before I trekked off to work for the day , as if normal was how it had begun. Here it is:



I end this Blog with one final thought.
There are no What Ifs with God. He has it all as What Is. I am so thankful that I can also trust Him for the What Will Be.