It never happened before and it hasn’t happened since, but boy did I enjoy it while I could! There was a short period of time that I had a maid!  You didn’t know pastor’s made that kind of money, did you?  Well, trust me, at the time that I had this luxury it was not due to a cushy bank account!  I had just given birth to our youngest daughter and had my hands very full.  I was homeschooling my second grader, nursing a baby who took 15 minute naps, trying to keep the housework up, do the mounds of laundry (which included cloth diapers!) and cook meals for my family of four.  Needless to say, I was exhausted.  Some of you are in the midst of all that and more and you understand and feel my pain. 

I have a mother who is very compassionate, and when she realized all that was going on in my world, she insisted on paying for me to have a maid to come in and take care of me and our home for two weeks.  Wasn’t that nice of her?!  (It goes way beyond nice, but those are the terms our family uses for a sweet gesture!)  It was my responsibility to “hire” someone.  I felt like Lucy did when she was interviewing Mrs. Porter!  I’d heard that a woman that was in our church had been a professional maid, so I took her at her word and hired her to come to my home. 

It turns out she’d been a professional cleaner – not a maid, and there is a difference.  She sure did make my house shine! However, when my mom called and asked me what she fixed me for lunch, I had to fess up that cooking was not on my maid’s list.  So, I had a maid, yet still fixed my own lunches. But hey, I felt very blessed to be a young wife, and new mommy having a personal maid come and clean my little parsonage!

Was there ever a time when you got treated with something really special?

From my parsonage window,

 
P.S.  In answer to the question I posed yesterday, I’d choose the roast beef I fixed myself.  I’d end up eating it while standing at the kitchen counter anyway.  I’d nibble while working on the bank statement or next week’s menu, like I often do when I’m home alone.    I think for most of us, it’s easier to serve than to be served.

Less than ninety-eight cents!  That’s all it cost me to freshen up two of my favorite pictures!  (Sorry for posting this, Whitney and Alli!)  I bought a can of spray paint, removed the gold frames, let ’em have it with the black paint can, and popped them back in place.

For my next victim project, I went to the front porch and removed the gold-ish numbers from beside the front door and painted them too.  So much better! It’s Ahhhh-mazing what a little paint can do!


Before



After!





I remembered to take the “before” picture after I’d removed the 2 and the 0! But you get the idea.



• Lamp base
• Chair
• Vase
• Mirror frame
• Wooden crate
• Bird cage
• Shelf
• Candle holders
• Napkin rings

Happy painting!!!!

It was a chore, but I did manage to make myself purchase a splurge at the grocery store.  Truth be told, my husband picked this out for me.  He knows me so well!  I’m going to tuck it away and save it to look at during an upcoming trip.  Can’t wait!

See you in church Sunday!

Be refreshed,

I recently stumbled across an old video of our youngest daughter when she was about three.  On this tape (yeah, it was a long time ago!) she was reciting the books of the Old Testament.  I smiled as I listened to her little voice saying the names of the books in her three year-old way.  So sweet.

That triggered another memory in my mind.  As soon as my girls could read, since they’d already learned the books of the Bible, I would challenge them as we sat and listened to their daddy preaching, to try to find the Bible references he used as he preached.  We would race to see who could find it first (quietly, of course).  The winner would gently elbow the other person, to signify that they had found the right book, chapter and verse.  Once there, a mark was made on the bulletin; that person had earned a point!  We’d keep score to see who had won at the end of the service. 

We had lots of fun with this over the years.  At first I would go slowly and give them a chance, but it wasn’t long until they got really fast and kept me on my toes!  It was a friendly competition that did several things.

1. It kept them listening
2. It sharpened their Bible reference skills
3. It kept them interested in what was happening during the service
4. It kept them out of trouble (for the most part)

What’s funny is that this friendly competition often continues when one of the girls is home.  We just can’t help ourselves!  So if you see us in our seat elbowing one another, you’ll know that we’re not angry, there’s just a long-standing competition going on!

What tactics did/do you use to keep your children attentive in church?

From my parsonage window,

Some days when I’m at the grocery store I enjoy meandering and just looking at the other things that aren’t on my list.  I look at the gourmet food section, the stationery, cards, books, fresh flowers, exotic fruits, jellies and jams, all the ice cream flavors in the freezer…you get the picture.

Everyone has to go grocery shopping, and sometimes it can be less than my favorite job.  Want a way to refresh this mundane task?  How about looking for a $5 splurge to spend on something you love?  We all have a budget for groceries, and have to stick with that, but every now and then it’s fun to splurge just a little – even at the grocery store.  And you know what?  It’s really okay.  What little splurge would you enjoy?  Why not treat yourself to a $5 splurge the next time you go to the grocery?  It could buy something really special.  How about…

• A bouquet of daisies. You might even have a dollar or so left over!
• A small bottle of good Olive Oil
• A block of specialty cheese
• A crafting or decorating magazine
• A special card to send to a friend
• A package of seasonal paper napkins
• A gourmet coffee – okay, $5 would only buy 1/2 or 1/3 of a pound, but still…
• A couple new flavors of coffee creamer
• A fall mum

Yesterday at our local Ingles store, I saw all of the above.  I didn’t do my splurge yet…but I will!
What would you buy if you could splurge $5?  I’d love to hear!

See you in church Sunday!

Be refreshed,