A Thankful Harvest
From November 2009
I have to apologize for the lack of blog posts in the past several weeks. Life has become very busy lately. I'm not sure why. Right now at our house half of us are working very hard at getting over a crud bug. The other half are working equally as hard at staying healthy.
As we approach the Thanksgiving season, I just want to take a little bit of time to be Thankful for divine health that Jesus paid for with His stripes. May I never take it for granted, and may I enjoy every moment of every day that I am healthy and feeling well. Also, if I should happen to feel less than great, may I be gracious and refuse to behave in a selfish manner.
Those of us who are sneezing and wheezing around here are extremely grateful for all of the love and tea being poured into us. Not of This World is in her element making tea and then making certain that we drink it all. Even though we may not want to drink any more tea, we know that it is her love for us that makes her push us to drink what we have and then drink some more. Of course the sooner we recover, the less possibility there is of her getting it too:) however, we'll just be thankful for the care. At least some of us will. Her brother might have other ideas if she attempts to make him drink any more:)
Not of This World's care has caused me to ponder what it really means to love someone. Is true love always molly coddling, giving in to, and catering to an individual's every whim and fancy? OR Is it maintaining the course and making certain that those you love drink their tea--again and again--even when they gripe and whine? Sometimes love has to be tough. It means filling the cup of an ungrateful griper yet again just because that's what they truly need.
For parents, that might mean that we firmly and consistently enforce and reenforce certain behaviors and/or habits that will add to the future success of our children--even when they "don't want to". Perhaps it means that we get out of the moment and view the big picture for our children. Small habits and behaviors may not matter right now, but they could be laying a foundation for future success or failure, depending on what they are. How am I parenting? Am I parenting for the moment doing whatever it takes to achieve the result I desire right now or am I parenting for the future by building a foundation for success? Will I keep pouring down the tea or will I listen to the whining and complaining and give in? I pray that I am tough when it's needed, soft when it's not, and that I have God's wisdom to know when to keep pouring that tea and when there's been enough.
I have a fun idea to pass on before I go. This past week I was sorting through clothes that Mighty Man of God has. There were several little shirts that had stains on them. I hate throwing clothing away, but they were enough that he couldn't wear them to town. Not wanting to toss them out, I kept thinking of ways to get those stains out. Well, I couldn't come up with anything. Then a new thought crossed my mind. What would they look like if I died them in coffee? It might lend a nice look to them as well as cover the stains. So, I tried it. Guess what! It worked beautifully. The stains couldn't be seen, and my lil' guy now has some new tan shirts. If you aren't a fan of coffee, you will probably want to skip this idea. The shirts do still have a faint smell of coffee on them. I enjoy coffee's aroma, so it's a plus for me, but not everyone can handle the smell. So...if that's you, just ignore this tip. I used some inexpensive instant coffee that we had so that good coffee wasn't wasted on the project. One of the shirts was a baseball style. The coffee gave it an aged look that makes it look more expensive. I would recommend squeezing as much excess out as possible and putting it in the dryer right away. If they have to wait for the dryer, a little bit of streaking does occur. We are going to run the ones that streaked through a light washing and see what happens. Since the clothes were too stained to wear, and the coffee was ultra cheap, no matter what the results are, we aren't out anything. That's the best part. If you don't have coffee, try tea.
Econobusters.com has some fun Freebies today. You might enjoy seeing what's there. Have a healthy weekend and enjoy being Thankful for the Harvest---whatever form it comes in.