so it is a girls only week at the marshall manse... maxx is at camp daniel boone (a boy scout camp) in north carolina. and you know he is a boy who LOVE to camp. and hike. and get up early to run 5 miles and then swim a mile. seriously, we don’t know who he is sometimes as the rest of us crawl out of bed at the crack o’ noon and laze around on our homemade couches...
but we love him. and we miss him. and we don’t know how to empty the trash cans without him. or turn on the dvd player.
but we can get the grass mowed without him...
because someone wanted a new pair of toms. and someone had already spent her monthly allotment of “not nearly enough $ to spend on all the clothes she REALLY REALLY NEEDS”. and so she mowed our lawn AND the neighbors lawn in 100 weather for $$ to buy these shoes... which certainly say “i mow lawns for shoes).
truth be told... i am quite proud of her from mowing those lawns. don’t tell her but i have NEVER mowed a lawn. and don’t plan to start anytime soon. that is why i had THREE children. to always have lawn mowers, and weeders, and dish washers...
two lawns weren’t quite enough for shipping and handling, so i also have a dish washer every night. she has to wash all the dishes and clean up the kitchen. and i may even make her fly lady style clean the sink. muwahaha (evil maniacal laughter inserted there).
and just in case you thought that i was OVER THE TOP super spiritual with my last post about being so rested and content and at peace with everything in the universe... God inserted a “let’s see how far you have come in your contentment issues” challenge to me the VERY day i wrote that post... isn’t He just so timely?
we went to visit some friends who lived in this development that i had never been to in tallahassee. on the north side of town. where as we are more in the midtown urban area (which is am SOOOO happy about 99% of the time. especially when i can get everywhere in 68 seconds and the kids can walk to 5 guys and fuzions for fun and food) but their neighborhood seemed to hold THE MOST AMAZING HOUSES that i have EVER SEEN in my lifetime of living in tallahassee. and some house that were larger than any i had ever seen during my short decade in atlanta. and you know there are some crack-a-lacka big houses in atlanta. but these surpassed them all.
seriously, one of the house looked like a chateau in the south of france. and my friends happen to live next door to a house owned by a NFL football player. which is funny, because i had NO idea we had NFL football players living here in town with us. guess they don’t make it to 5 guys or fuzions fresh frozen yogurt.
i get all so self-righteous about how much i love our little house and old linoleum and formica that is 60’s-a-licious and isn’t it wonderful to live in a little house.... but that is because i am not faced with something better and bigger and full o’ linen closet goodness. i am content while i am at home, listening to hymns, reading all the Bible verses i have pasted all over the house... but when i leave the house and see something else right in front of my face then all that contentment just drains away and i go directly to coveting and her even more invidious sister... bitterness.
these were houses with guest houses. HUGE fountains in front, and and infinity pools in back (which i think they call them that because it takes an infinity # of $ to buy these houses with those pools). and when we drove by... well, i wasn’t humming “Jesus, i am resting in the joy of what Thou art.” i was actually doing something a little more along the lines of “WHAT IN THE WORLD DID THEY DO TO DESERVE THAT CHATEAU?”
bitterness... your table for one is available.
and then i heard that still small voice say... “and what did you do to deserve yours?”
and the answer is nothing. i deserve wrath. and i get grace.
and that even though i go on and on about things like NOT HAVING A LINEN CLOSET and the fact that i SHARE A BATHROOM with all three of my children and that we MAKE OUR OWN COUCHES BECAUSE FURNITURE IS REALLY REALLY EXPENSIVE.... that i am more blessed than 99% of the world. and that i have truly done nothing to deserve that. except be born in the right country. and adopted by wonderful parents. and married the hardest working man EVER. and have three healthy children all who can mow my lawn. all grace. all from His Hand.
sure, a chateau would be nice (actual photo of a house for sale in that neighborhood. trust me that the chateau was about three times that large and grand.) i am sure it would take my hubby 6.9 decades to build enough furniture to fill up that place.
btw, i know i owe you all photos of the completed couches. we LOVE LOVE LOVE them and while the kids are gone in two weeks, i am going to finish sewing all the pillows and i will post the final photos....
psalm 103: 8-22
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor his anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him;
for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear Him,
and His righteousness with their children's children-
with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.
Praise the LORD, you His angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey His word.
Praise the LORD, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.
Praise the LORD, all His works everywhere in His dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.