As we are nearing President's day, a story was brought to my mind.......
Years ago, my husband thought it was a great idea to start tool boxes for our sons. Well, they each had a hammer, and a screwdriver. The next thing he bought the boys were child size (but real) saws.HMMMMMMMM..... I didn't think it was the best idea, but I was certainly outnumbered!
Bill thought it would be great to start wood working projects with the boys. In theory it was a brilliant idea...do something constructive while harnessing all that "boy energy"!!!!The reality of this was having very excited little boys looking for something to practice on. Behind our home, we have a big field....filled in the summer with wildfowers (commonly known as colorful weeds) and LOTS of trees!
While Bill was looking for some wood he had set aside...the boys were looking also!!!They were looking for ANY available wood! By the time we had gotten the wood for the project and brought it outside...we didn't know where the boys had gone.....until we looked in the field and saw about thirty, three foot tree remains!
The boys were just getting going and would have continued, but we stopped their "construction" immediately! They were like a well oiled machine! The trees they chose to practice their skills on were all young trees with small diameters, so they were able to make quick work with their new saws........
In about five or so minutes those boys had devastated birch trees, apple, elder trees, hickory...anything in their path!!!
They all confessed to their crimes.......and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I perused the damage.
They didn't get a cherry tree (as George Washington had) but they all did confess (actually because they were proud of their handiwork)....
I can to this day look out and see the sawed off stumps.....Well, Bill and the boys did make a wood project, and after that the saws mysteriously disappeared!
The old adage is certainly true! "Many hands make work light"!
When the boys decide to tackle a project together, it is amazing what team effort will do!
Ecclesiastes 4:9
"Two (or more) are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor" HOW TRUE!!!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Home Improvement
My husband Bill is gifted in perserverance! He just doesn't give up!
When it comes to doing things around the house, I get a little scared....last time he tiled the upstairs bathroom room, he stated (as he was finishing) "now I think I know how to do this".....ummmm hmmmmmmmmm....
Plumbing is Bill's worst, though. In our one hundred and fifty year old home, when you start to take one thing apart or upgrade in any way, at least ten other things need to be addressed!
Well, the latest thing to be fixed was plumbing. Two pipes in the basement were leaking badly.....so Bill decided to turn off the water ( for the thirteen people that live here) while he "fixed the pipes".
During this time we went to the neighborhood gas station to use the restroom, and all were waiting....and waiting....and WAITING!!!!! I asked him at one point how things were going and he replied "twenty minutes and it'll be good".....twenty minutes later, my girls that were waiting to take their showers asked..."How much longer"? The answer was the same...twenty more minutes! When I went down to check on him he had a propane torch on the pipe to help the solder to stick. Well...I looked up at the boards above the pipe that were smoking and getting black and said..."why don't you take a break"???
I am so glad he listened to me..We put a big bucket to catch the water (that was now running out) and turned the water on so the girl's could shower. Bill just turned the water off after that and said he'd finsh in the morning. WHEW!!!!!!!!! I checked to make sure the beams wouldn't start on fire and up to bed we went!
The next morning Bill was downstairs again, determined to beat the plumbing issues!
After a time, Bill turned the water off again, and told me he'd be back in a couple hours to finish.
The problem was that I was getting a colonoscopy the next day and the preparation for this test require a bathroom.....OF COURSE!!!
Well, about noon, a friend of the family stopped by so I invited him in for lunch, and showed him the basement right after. Leon is an awesome friend and has a carpenter's service, but is an all around handy man. I thought Bill sent him, because it was so frustrating! Well, Leon took about two hours to undo some of Bill's work and fix the pipes...he was very patient and was on the mend from having wires removed from his elbow (and there he is...using that elbow to reach, solder, and work on the pipes). Leon fixed the leak and we looked further down and sure enough...another leak developed!!!!! I told him it wasn't a bad leak so maybe Bill could fix it! I thanked Leon and off he went! What a Godsend!!!!
Literally, Leon was a Godsend, because, when I thanked Bill for sending Leon to fix the pipes...he didn't know what I was talking about!!!!He never told Leon to come...but THANK GOD HE DID!!!!!!
I am grateful for such a friend that would just step in and step up to help!!!!
Isaiah 65:24 "And it shall be that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" Thank you for being sensitive to the Spirit's leading Leon and rescuing us and giving us water...beside the flood in the basement!!!!!
We are all so grateful to have running water and indoor toilets....couldn't be more grateful for how much we have!!! Real running water! And not all over the basement anymore!!!!!
When it comes to doing things around the house, I get a little scared....last time he tiled the upstairs bathroom room, he stated (as he was finishing) "now I think I know how to do this".....ummmm hmmmmmmmmm....
Plumbing is Bill's worst, though. In our one hundred and fifty year old home, when you start to take one thing apart or upgrade in any way, at least ten other things need to be addressed!
Well, the latest thing to be fixed was plumbing. Two pipes in the basement were leaking badly.....so Bill decided to turn off the water ( for the thirteen people that live here) while he "fixed the pipes".
During this time we went to the neighborhood gas station to use the restroom, and all were waiting....and waiting....and WAITING!!!!! I asked him at one point how things were going and he replied "twenty minutes and it'll be good".....twenty minutes later, my girls that were waiting to take their showers asked..."How much longer"? The answer was the same...twenty more minutes! When I went down to check on him he had a propane torch on the pipe to help the solder to stick. Well...I looked up at the boards above the pipe that were smoking and getting black and said..."why don't you take a break"???
I am so glad he listened to me..We put a big bucket to catch the water (that was now running out) and turned the water on so the girl's could shower. Bill just turned the water off after that and said he'd finsh in the morning. WHEW!!!!!!!!! I checked to make sure the beams wouldn't start on fire and up to bed we went!
The next morning Bill was downstairs again, determined to beat the plumbing issues!
After a time, Bill turned the water off again, and told me he'd be back in a couple hours to finish.
The problem was that I was getting a colonoscopy the next day and the preparation for this test require a bathroom.....OF COURSE!!!
Well, about noon, a friend of the family stopped by so I invited him in for lunch, and showed him the basement right after. Leon is an awesome friend and has a carpenter's service, but is an all around handy man. I thought Bill sent him, because it was so frustrating! Well, Leon took about two hours to undo some of Bill's work and fix the pipes...he was very patient and was on the mend from having wires removed from his elbow (and there he is...using that elbow to reach, solder, and work on the pipes). Leon fixed the leak and we looked further down and sure enough...another leak developed!!!!! I told him it wasn't a bad leak so maybe Bill could fix it! I thanked Leon and off he went! What a Godsend!!!!
Literally, Leon was a Godsend, because, when I thanked Bill for sending Leon to fix the pipes...he didn't know what I was talking about!!!!He never told Leon to come...but THANK GOD HE DID!!!!!!
I am grateful for such a friend that would just step in and step up to help!!!!
Isaiah 65:24 "And it shall be that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" Thank you for being sensitive to the Spirit's leading Leon and rescuing us and giving us water...beside the flood in the basement!!!!!
We are all so grateful to have running water and indoor toilets....couldn't be more grateful for how much we have!!! Real running water! And not all over the basement anymore!!!!!
Monday, January 23, 2012
The day our waterbed died
Bill loves the word FREE!
When we first got married someone gave him his old waterbed...not too bad at first, but when I was pregnant getting into the water bed was a chore (probably hillarious to watch, though).
I felt like a beached whale and would have to throw myself onto the bed, and heaven help if someone was on the other side..the danger would be that you would be thrown off the bed because of the waves!!!
Ryan would come into our bed in the mornings and we would play with him a little before the day started. Well, one morning he was with us and I started to feel a little warm...then wet! I thought perhaps Ryan had an "accident,but as I became more alert I realized that I was in a puddle.
Of course, I was the only one wet. Bill and Ryan were just fine!! I got up and examined the bed to find out where the leak was. Ryan thought it was great to have an indoor pool, but I was getting frustrated!
We found out the problem....Ryan took a pin and stuck our bed. He wanted to see what would happen! It was the middle of winter, and we had to get a hose to empty all the water out of our second story window!!
I told Bill it was time for a regualr bed for us.....so that was the day our waterbed died! Bill was okay with not patching it because he got another "bargain" the next day!!
When we first got married someone gave him his old waterbed...not too bad at first, but when I was pregnant getting into the water bed was a chore (probably hillarious to watch, though).
I felt like a beached whale and would have to throw myself onto the bed, and heaven help if someone was on the other side..the danger would be that you would be thrown off the bed because of the waves!!!
Ryan would come into our bed in the mornings and we would play with him a little before the day started. Well, one morning he was with us and I started to feel a little warm...then wet! I thought perhaps Ryan had an "accident,but as I became more alert I realized that I was in a puddle.
Of course, I was the only one wet. Bill and Ryan were just fine!! I got up and examined the bed to find out where the leak was. Ryan thought it was great to have an indoor pool, but I was getting frustrated!
We found out the problem....Ryan took a pin and stuck our bed. He wanted to see what would happen! It was the middle of winter, and we had to get a hose to empty all the water out of our second story window!!
I told Bill it was time for a regualr bed for us.....so that was the day our waterbed died! Bill was okay with not patching it because he got another "bargain" the next day!!
could this be the fragrance of Christ????
When Ryan was about one and a half, I put him down for a nap in his crib. He always gave me a run for my money, but I was determined! On this particular day, Ryan went down fairly easy...(should have been a warning for me).
I went downstairs, and decided to read and pray. I opened up the scripture to second Corinthians 2:14-15a "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ unto God.
Well, not long after I read that I smelled the sweetest smell and I was praising the Lord for using my spiritual senses (I thought)!!
The sweet fragrance soon became overpowering and all I could do was yell RYAN!!
I ran up the stairs to an overwhelming clould and smell of baby powder!
I had bought the economy size container of baby powder, and Ryan had emptied every ounce!
Ryan had escaped from his crib and was jumping up and down on our old water bed. The room was so foggy with the powder I could barely stand it! I grabbed him and rescued him from the cloud of powder and waited for the air to clear! I tried shaking our nice down comforter, put it in the dryer, and even had it dry cleaned.
Even though I eventually got our room cleaned up, anytime we would go to bed we could smell baby powder and there was always a little "puff" of it in the air!!!
The Lord sure has a funny sense of humor!!!!!
I went downstairs, and decided to read and pray. I opened up the scripture to second Corinthians 2:14-15a "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ unto God.
Well, not long after I read that I smelled the sweetest smell and I was praising the Lord for using my spiritual senses (I thought)!!
The sweet fragrance soon became overpowering and all I could do was yell RYAN!!
I ran up the stairs to an overwhelming clould and smell of baby powder!
I had bought the economy size container of baby powder, and Ryan had emptied every ounce!
Ryan had escaped from his crib and was jumping up and down on our old water bed. The room was so foggy with the powder I could barely stand it! I grabbed him and rescued him from the cloud of powder and waited for the air to clear! I tried shaking our nice down comforter, put it in the dryer, and even had it dry cleaned.
Even though I eventually got our room cleaned up, anytime we would go to bed we could smell baby powder and there was always a little "puff" of it in the air!!!
The Lord sure has a funny sense of humor!!!!!
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