God continues to provide in wonderful ways.
The furnace is continuing to burn. Still.
I was becoming at times rather stressed about the partial layoff and the reduction of funds. You can imagine my elation last week when one of the schools booked me for both of my days off.
She called back yesterday and booked me for my days off for the next two weeks.
Lord willing this should help a lot.
Praise You God!! Thank You God!!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Fireflies and songs
This song:
has been speaking to me today. It's just such a beautiful picture of love- it isn't always going to be fireflies and songs. It won't always be fireworks and roses. If we stop looking however for perfection, we may find fireflies and songs in daily life.
This song:
has been getting to me as well. It is important to look at the people around us. What if we held church around the poor and the hurting. What if we left our churches and interacted with the world. What if church became the streets? What if instead of trying to drag people into church, we went to them?
has been speaking to me today. It's just such a beautiful picture of love- it isn't always going to be fireflies and songs. It won't always be fireworks and roses. If we stop looking however for perfection, we may find fireflies and songs in daily life.
This song:
has been getting to me as well. It is important to look at the people around us. What if we held church around the poor and the hurting. What if we left our churches and interacted with the world. What if church became the streets? What if instead of trying to drag people into church, we went to them?
Monday, March 5, 2012
open letter to an unnamed woman
Dear woman in the white sweater:
Truly, i have nothing personal against you. i couldn't- i do not even know your name. All i do know is that you came to this evening's public borough council meeting sick.
You weren't only a little sick. You let it be known that you were not feeling well, and even commented that this was a terrible time for you to have the flu.
Wait a second now. Can we imagine the scratching sound that would accompany this monologue were it on tv, stop the presses and replay that last statement. It's a bad time for you to have the flu. The flu.
At one point you asked the men in the chairs on the end to move over, as you had to sit down. You were audibly unhappy, and visually unhappy. Perhaps five or six times during the meeting you made trips to the bathroom (located to the side and behind the council table at the front of the room). By the way that bathroom is not entirely soundproof.
Now i get that you wanted to videotape the meeting. Tonight, you were not the only one taping. It's your right to tape a public meeting. This is not the root of my problem with you.
My problem is this: your right to videotape a public meeting loses, in my personal opinion, to my right, and that of all of the other people in that room, to not feel as badly as you make no bones about feeling.
It wasn't like you had to be there. Were you paid to attend, i might be more understanding. However, i was paid to attend, and that's perhaps one of the main reasons i didn't leave, though i did volunteer my seat to your companion as a polite way of getting away from you.
Here's the underlying plea. It's an earnest one too. Next time you feel sick. Please do stay home. Someone else can tape the meeting. It will save the rest of us some worry.
Thank you,
une
Truly, i have nothing personal against you. i couldn't- i do not even know your name. All i do know is that you came to this evening's public borough council meeting sick.
You weren't only a little sick. You let it be known that you were not feeling well, and even commented that this was a terrible time for you to have the flu.
Wait a second now. Can we imagine the scratching sound that would accompany this monologue were it on tv, stop the presses and replay that last statement. It's a bad time for you to have the flu. The flu.
At one point you asked the men in the chairs on the end to move over, as you had to sit down. You were audibly unhappy, and visually unhappy. Perhaps five or six times during the meeting you made trips to the bathroom (located to the side and behind the council table at the front of the room). By the way that bathroom is not entirely soundproof.
Now i get that you wanted to videotape the meeting. Tonight, you were not the only one taping. It's your right to tape a public meeting. This is not the root of my problem with you.
My problem is this: your right to videotape a public meeting loses, in my personal opinion, to my right, and that of all of the other people in that room, to not feel as badly as you make no bones about feeling.
It wasn't like you had to be there. Were you paid to attend, i might be more understanding. However, i was paid to attend, and that's perhaps one of the main reasons i didn't leave, though i did volunteer my seat to your companion as a polite way of getting away from you.
Here's the underlying plea. It's an earnest one too. Next time you feel sick. Please do stay home. Someone else can tape the meeting. It will save the rest of us some worry.
Thank you,
une
Sunday, March 4, 2012
through every day all of the way He will take care of you.....
i don't necessarily do very well unemployed. i don't see myself every being a stay at home mother, and have thought this (with occasional lapses) for quite some time. Honestly, i'm just the sort of person who likes to be employed. There's a part of me which values supporting my family, which enjoys the schedule, the obligations, the break from the daily routine at home. i like to work.
Thus this partial lay off at work (there may be a post on that later, if anyone reading this doesn't know) threw me for a loop.
Suddenly, instead of working 5 days a week i was working only three. Suddenly, i had a little more than $300 every two weeks less with which to pay bills. Now i also have more time, which is a blessing, but nevertheless, i wanted to fill some of my free time with enough work to recoup some of the income.
i don't necessarily do unemployed well.
Still, it has given me ample opportunities to spend time with mom and bubs, and to run errands and achieve some work around the house which has needed doing. While i haven't necessarily always used this time wisely, i pray God forgives me and look at each day as a new chance to achieve goals.
This background is important in relation of the following realization. i forget the basis, but the setting was the bathroom. i don't even remember what i was doing, probably helping mom get ready. i don't remember if she said something, or not. i do remember that somehow i found myself asking the question- is she worth it?
Would she be worth only working part-time? Would she be worth working partially, or fully from home?
The answer was yes. For someone who knows that they do not want to be a stay at home mom (or thinks she knows it at this time), for someone who does not like being unemployed, this was a bit of a weighty realization, a momentous thought. Spending time with mom, caring for mom, would be worth it, were that God's will, for me to stay home with her. If bubs really does move to Texas, and we do not go with him, and were i able to find a way to work from home, and not to leave the house for employment, she would be worth it.
This notion was reinforced this evening, while we were doing a puzzle. The grin on her face, the joy she evidences and spreads could be hard to describe. She so loves to do puzzles with us, though she does the hard bits first for some reason. (i am definitely a do the edges sort of girl- mom goes straight for the animal fur or sky pieces.) It occurred to me again, she is totally worth it.
For as long as it's God's will that we get to hang out with her, which i pray will be a very long time, i hope that i keep remembering this in pleasant ways and happy moments. God has given us the excessive blessing of having our mother. Following His will in caring for her, so long as it's His will that we do so, may not always seem easy. It may not always follow what we think we want. It will likely give so much in exchange though; and she is totally worth it.
At times i may still get exasperated with things; and i know that i am often deficient in my duty. Take tonight for instance, when once again i was snapping at her after falling asleep early and waking up cranky.
By the way she is extremely patient and forgiving in those times. This too is a blessing.
Despite all of that however, our current lifestyle is so full of those sorts of blessings, and many more besides. It is full of puzzles, and long car rides, of songs made up for the grandchildren, and calls from adopted daughters in California, of someone waiting for you at the door after work with a grin on her face, and someone asking if they can help when tiredness or unwell feelings appear, and so much more. It is totally worth it. Thank You God for it.
Thank You God for everything; without You we would have nothing!!
Thus this partial lay off at work (there may be a post on that later, if anyone reading this doesn't know) threw me for a loop.
Suddenly, instead of working 5 days a week i was working only three. Suddenly, i had a little more than $300 every two weeks less with which to pay bills. Now i also have more time, which is a blessing, but nevertheless, i wanted to fill some of my free time with enough work to recoup some of the income.
i don't necessarily do unemployed well.
Still, it has given me ample opportunities to spend time with mom and bubs, and to run errands and achieve some work around the house which has needed doing. While i haven't necessarily always used this time wisely, i pray God forgives me and look at each day as a new chance to achieve goals.
This background is important in relation of the following realization. i forget the basis, but the setting was the bathroom. i don't even remember what i was doing, probably helping mom get ready. i don't remember if she said something, or not. i do remember that somehow i found myself asking the question- is she worth it?
Would she be worth only working part-time? Would she be worth working partially, or fully from home?
The answer was yes. For someone who knows that they do not want to be a stay at home mom (or thinks she knows it at this time), for someone who does not like being unemployed, this was a bit of a weighty realization, a momentous thought. Spending time with mom, caring for mom, would be worth it, were that God's will, for me to stay home with her. If bubs really does move to Texas, and we do not go with him, and were i able to find a way to work from home, and not to leave the house for employment, she would be worth it.
This notion was reinforced this evening, while we were doing a puzzle. The grin on her face, the joy she evidences and spreads could be hard to describe. She so loves to do puzzles with us, though she does the hard bits first for some reason. (i am definitely a do the edges sort of girl- mom goes straight for the animal fur or sky pieces.) It occurred to me again, she is totally worth it.
For as long as it's God's will that we get to hang out with her, which i pray will be a very long time, i hope that i keep remembering this in pleasant ways and happy moments. God has given us the excessive blessing of having our mother. Following His will in caring for her, so long as it's His will that we do so, may not always seem easy. It may not always follow what we think we want. It will likely give so much in exchange though; and she is totally worth it.
At times i may still get exasperated with things; and i know that i am often deficient in my duty. Take tonight for instance, when once again i was snapping at her after falling asleep early and waking up cranky.
By the way she is extremely patient and forgiving in those times. This too is a blessing.
Despite all of that however, our current lifestyle is so full of those sorts of blessings, and many more besides. It is full of puzzles, and long car rides, of songs made up for the grandchildren, and calls from adopted daughters in California, of someone waiting for you at the door after work with a grin on her face, and someone asking if they can help when tiredness or unwell feelings appear, and so much more. It is totally worth it. Thank You God for it.
Thank You God for everything; without You we would have nothing!!
God will take care of you.....
Firstly, as usual, i apologize for the length between updates, especially given my recent quasi-employed status.
God has been taking care of us in miraculous ways. Recently, we were told that before they would deliver more fuel to our tank, by which we head the house, we had to finally fix the overflow whistle. We've lacked one of these since we first started utilizing a furnace again, two years ago or so. It's an expensive item to fix (over two hundred dollars) and the oil company has been willing to deliver only a hundred or one hundred fifty gallons at a time (we have two tanks which together equal five hundred gallons), so it wasn't really a problem. Of course, as the fuel meter's broke as well, it's been a guessing game between skirting shy of overfilling the tank (lacking the overflow whistle) and running out.
This year had been a good year- i don't know as we'd ever actually run out once. In the depths of a cold, cold winter 100 gallons of fuel has historically been dependable for lasting about 2 weeks in our large, drafty old home. (Weatherization? What's that?) As it's been a mild winter this year (dubbed by at least one person the winter that wasn't), we were able to push things a little longer.
Add to that the fact that we were able to go on a budget plan this year, with a cap attached and heating life was good.
So a few weeks ago, i went to order more fuel (it had been maybe three or four weeks since last delivery) and was informed that they could deliver one more time but would not deliver again without the whistle. Regulations are occasionally cracked down upon, you know.
So we schedule the repair. The repairman arrives, and he does not fix the problem. The reason? The tanks, which were not replaced when the furnace was and have been there at least as long as i remember, are "seeping". Which is to say that apparently they are not actually dripping fuel into the basement, but they are not safe to continue using, and another delivery, which pumps fuel in at a rate of force which surprised me, would not be advisable. The verdict? New tank needed.
Now here's where the miraculous blessings parts come in. Firstly, had we had one more delivery, apparently it could have been bad, like 100 gallons of fuel oil in our basement bad. So maybe i never thought i would say this, but praise God for government regulations!
Then, there's the fact that the tanks were still solid enough to allow us to run through the fuel already in them. So heat.
Finally, the fuel has not yet run out. This is pivotal as we are currently not using the wood stove (a bird flew out of it last year, and until we figure out how the bird went in and out of it that isn't really a safe bet for winter heat) and without the furnace are not truly sure how we could stay sufficiently warm. We can't use the furnace once the fuel is used, however, until we install the new tank. It's uncertain how long that may take.
It's almost the end of winter though, and it's a mild winter. So if the existing fuel can just last until the warmer weather, we won't have to sweat the heat while it's repaired. Also, perhaps we could have some breathing room on the repair, and the cost thereof.
Still, i would have expected the fuel to be run through days, if not weeks, ago. It's gotten to the point where it's a "thank You, praise You God!" experience every time we hear the furnace kick on. A few years ago, before we put in the new furnace, i wrote a post on my old blog about "manna wood". That was when the wood stove was our only source of heat, and for some reason we went some days without a wood delivery. For nights in a row, i could be found out in the snow scrounging for wood in the pile by the house. Each night i unearthed, it seemed, enough to get us through the night. Like the manna of old, God supplied our needs.
i have a similar feeling now, about the fuel oil. God is giving us enough fuel to keep us warm.
thank You praise You God!!
God has been taking care of us in miraculous ways. Recently, we were told that before they would deliver more fuel to our tank, by which we head the house, we had to finally fix the overflow whistle. We've lacked one of these since we first started utilizing a furnace again, two years ago or so. It's an expensive item to fix (over two hundred dollars) and the oil company has been willing to deliver only a hundred or one hundred fifty gallons at a time (we have two tanks which together equal five hundred gallons), so it wasn't really a problem. Of course, as the fuel meter's broke as well, it's been a guessing game between skirting shy of overfilling the tank (lacking the overflow whistle) and running out.
This year had been a good year- i don't know as we'd ever actually run out once. In the depths of a cold, cold winter 100 gallons of fuel has historically been dependable for lasting about 2 weeks in our large, drafty old home. (Weatherization? What's that?) As it's been a mild winter this year (dubbed by at least one person the winter that wasn't), we were able to push things a little longer.
Add to that the fact that we were able to go on a budget plan this year, with a cap attached and heating life was good.
So a few weeks ago, i went to order more fuel (it had been maybe three or four weeks since last delivery) and was informed that they could deliver one more time but would not deliver again without the whistle. Regulations are occasionally cracked down upon, you know.
So we schedule the repair. The repairman arrives, and he does not fix the problem. The reason? The tanks, which were not replaced when the furnace was and have been there at least as long as i remember, are "seeping". Which is to say that apparently they are not actually dripping fuel into the basement, but they are not safe to continue using, and another delivery, which pumps fuel in at a rate of force which surprised me, would not be advisable. The verdict? New tank needed.
Now here's where the miraculous blessings parts come in. Firstly, had we had one more delivery, apparently it could have been bad, like 100 gallons of fuel oil in our basement bad. So maybe i never thought i would say this, but praise God for government regulations!
Then, there's the fact that the tanks were still solid enough to allow us to run through the fuel already in them. So heat.
Finally, the fuel has not yet run out. This is pivotal as we are currently not using the wood stove (a bird flew out of it last year, and until we figure out how the bird went in and out of it that isn't really a safe bet for winter heat) and without the furnace are not truly sure how we could stay sufficiently warm. We can't use the furnace once the fuel is used, however, until we install the new tank. It's uncertain how long that may take.
It's almost the end of winter though, and it's a mild winter. So if the existing fuel can just last until the warmer weather, we won't have to sweat the heat while it's repaired. Also, perhaps we could have some breathing room on the repair, and the cost thereof.
Still, i would have expected the fuel to be run through days, if not weeks, ago. It's gotten to the point where it's a "thank You, praise You God!" experience every time we hear the furnace kick on. A few years ago, before we put in the new furnace, i wrote a post on my old blog about "manna wood". That was when the wood stove was our only source of heat, and for some reason we went some days without a wood delivery. For nights in a row, i could be found out in the snow scrounging for wood in the pile by the house. Each night i unearthed, it seemed, enough to get us through the night. Like the manna of old, God supplied our needs.
i have a similar feeling now, about the fuel oil. God is giving us enough fuel to keep us warm.
thank You praise You God!!
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