"Fixing Things"

I hope I can say this in the right way. I'm not a great writer, but it's what's been on my heart this week in all the heaviness and sorrow of a broken world

My sweet daddy used to say that when he came home from work at the end of the day, my brother and I would literally meet him at the door with our arms full of all of our broken things and ask him to "fix" them for us. Oh, we had tried to mend some of them ourselves, but the tape didn't hold, the string came untied and the glue didn't dry. They were still broken and it was beyond us to make them whole again.

Now my daddy was a really good "fixer", and he did fix a lot of our things, but he also knew that sometimes "fixing things" wasn't what we really needed. Sometimes we needed to understand that real growth comes from learning to live with broken things and people and situations. This was especially true as we grew up and the brokenness was so much more painful than the loss of a few toys. We could look at all that he had "fixed" for us and trust that he would always be there to give us what we truly needed. Even more, he showed us that he was right there with us, loving us and helping us as we learned.

May we trust our Heavenly Father with all of the brokenness in the world and in our lives. Trust His timing-it is perfect. Trust His love, no brokenness can separate us from it. Trust that He has so much more for us than this temporary world and all of it's broken things.

 

Last of the 60's

 69 years ago today, I was born at 1:27 am. My mom got to the hospital at 1 am. Cutting it a little close! 

Today, my sweet husband took me out to a favorite steak house for lunch. Salt Grass Steakhouse. It was delicious and we took a slice of chocolate cake home to share. It was huge and half a slice each was more than enough! 

It's been hot, as in triple digits in real temperatures as well as heat index. Should be the last day of that at least for a while. A "cold front" has come through and it will be "only" 96 tomorrow! (That really is a pretty nice high temperature for Texas in August.) We may even have a little "False Fall" next week with highs in the 80's!

   My mom and I either late August or early September 1956.

Nostalgic Day

Our oldest granddaughter is getting ready to start her second year at university, so today, we got to help her move into her student housing apartment. (Since we have a Ford Expedition, we moved her bookshelf and many boxes and bags). She and her best friend are sharing the 2 bedroom apartment and they were so excited. They had been shopping for all of the things and were having fun getting it all set up with both family's help. 

It's a furnished apartment and each bedroom has it's own bathroom, closet, desk and bed. It also has a good sized kitchen, living room and dining area. It's really a much better set up than sharing a dorm room. She lived in a dorm last semester with someone she didn't know for a room mate and it didn't work out too well. (Fortunately, the university is only half an hour from our daughter and son-in-law's home, so it wasn't a problem if she needed to just come home for a night or a weekend.)

It was a nostalgic day for my husband and I. 25 years ago, we moved her mom up to the same university and got her set up in an apartment. I remember we cried as we waved goodbye to her standing there all alone.  It was a 5 or 6 hour trip back to West Texas where we lived then. Today was much different, everyone was happy and excited. 

As we drove away this afternoon, I realized that 86 years ago, my dad was moving himself up to the very same university. He rented a room in a big two-story house for 1 year in the 1938-39 school year. He had worked hard and saved up money to go to school, but one year was all he could afford. After school was out for the year, he went back home and not too long afterwards, joined the Army Air Corps. He wanted to choose where he wanted to join instead of waiting to be drafted for WWII.  Anyway, it was kind of a funny feeling to think this was the third time in our family that this journey has been made!

Our granddaughter took college level classes all through high school, so even though this is only her second year, she is starting this year as a Junior! We are very proud of her!

Sorting Out

Since the weather is hot and I want to stay inside, I've decided to go through our things starting with my sewing corner. Our finished attic room has been where I keep my sewing machine and all of the stuff that goes with that. At almost 69, I haven't made clothing on a regular basis in years. I thought I might learn to quilt at one time, but just didn't enjoy it. I use my machine to mend and alter ready to wear clothing or sew for our home-but I don't even do that much any more. (I'm still keeping the machine, though!) It's time to go through my stash of fabric and notions and get rid of most of it.  In a few years, we plan to trade this large 2 story house for a one story on a smaller amount of land, a little closer to our daughter. I'd like to start de-cluttering now and take my time!

The room where I have my sewing corner is used mostly for storage of seasonal decorations, boxes of photos, genealogy stuff and as a hangout for our 3 oldest grandsons. It has a TV, sofa, daybed and trundle and they love having their own space when they stay with us.

I plan to work my way around the room and eventually sort through everything. It's a little bittersweet, but it brings a good feeling of  accomplishment too!