Monday, August 27, 2012

Confessions Of Our Ideal Life

DSC00001               Elv told me last week that whereas I do a nice job of blogging our lives; I do make it appear a little more ideal than it really is.  I have been suspicious of that, but I defended myself  citing the few blog posts in the recent past that tell of not so pleasant things in our lives. 
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I certainly don’t want to give a false impression.  But why magnify the problems? I took this picture of the table on a regular Monday morning. My computer and the current bouquet of garden posies are there along with things to deliver to a friend, a stray book and pencil. Not a major mess, granted. But this is a fair measure of the week’s disorder already budding.
Last Friday, Amy and I tackled a few of our “pile-it” areas.  I cleared the deep window sill and cleaned and rearranged the china cabinet. While Amy completely gutted and reorganized the sewing area upstairs. Why do we keep all that stuff?
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The flower part of the gardening this year has been borderline successful.  Oh yes, we got illions of a few of the flowers we planted, but the zinnias, my favorite, are blighting badly. Some of the most promising buds are suddenly falling over on a molding stem. Poor, sad garden. The tomatoes were by far the worst thing I have ever seen in my life! True statement and not an exaggeration.
Then there are the hard parts of our lives like making the money stretch, but who wants to talk about that, and children leaving home and relationships to maintain which is not easy sometimes. So I have never wanted to give the impression of having it all together. True, I didn’t take a picture of the 50 or so broken  bricks on our badly-in-need-of-repair patio and post it here, but why should I? I hope to earn enough to replace the entire thing at which time I will do a before and after, if you’re interested.
I don’t believe it is necessary to tell you each time someone is sick around here, or the work just doesn’t get done, that the dryer clunks loudly and needs repair, or one or more of us wants to STOP being the half-way house around here.  These are just temporary moments in our lives. Thank You, God.
The truth is we love being the half-way house! A lot! And if I were to say it any other way, I would be misrepresenting us. We’ve taken to locking up when we all leave for several hours because the Native American children like to run in and out too,sometimes, and we suspect they would do that whether or not we were at home.  Nothing is ever missing or out of order, they just want to see inside or bang on the piano for two minutes. I wouldn’t trade the times every other Tuesday evening when our house fills up with young people talking over the evening  children's ministry session, nor the boarders that come and go here, in exchange for a quiet, sterile, clean home and solitude, ever!
  We have a lot for which to be grateful.  We have much more than just a shelter, we have this dear old historic landmark, fieldstone house with all its oddities and uglies and beauties combined, making it home. We have a happy family. We have good work. We have church friends, neighbors, and extended family. We have the latest in technology for communications with our globally spread family, if you know what I mean. We have promise of eternity in heaven. We have a Savior who has saved us from the bondage and sin and sadness that would have ruined anything ideal! We have the victory! The Comforter lives here with us. And our Father watches over us all day and night while the world buzzes by on the nearby roads, the carousers run through our yard at night, and our nation tumbles over the waterfall to destruction so to speak.
I take it all back. We really DO live an ideal life.

5 comments:

  1. Mom, I much prefer a happy post to a sad one. Our lives are ideal, really. I have to remind myself that when little things go bad. Really, it's only little things that go bad in my life, so far. -Lisl

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  2. I don't listen or watch the news. I think maybe I'm better for it. The people carousing through the yard at night aren't so scary that way! :) You do have your world by the tail.....just reminding you of what you tell me all the time! It's okay to be idealistic on your blog. Much better than the other way. Although I do love a philosophical post every now and again!

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  3. I do like a bit of real... Real is happy and warm...

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  4. I enjoy reading your blog whether it makes your life sound ideal or not.

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  5. There is enough sadness in this life. While I wouldn't want you to fake being happy while hiding a broken heart, there are enough reminders of sorrow, disappointment, and sin out there already. I appreciate the reminders that the Christian life, even with its trials and challenges, really is the good life. Thanks for those reminders.

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