walking the valleys

i have friends going through difficult, hard, yucky times. . . and not because of poor decision making. . . it's just life. . . no one's fault, no one's goof. . . just life.

and i have found myself saying over and over to them and myself that "there are no good words to make this better." and that is the truth.

being a Christ follower doesn't exempt one from problems - no matter what the televangelists spout.

but being a Christ follower does mean walking with each other through those valleys.

really walking.

the inconvenient kind of walking. . . making time, meals, and way for someone in the very thick of it.

being available. being vulnerable. being flexible.

really it's like being God with skin on for someone.

it is easier to walk other's valleys after someone has walked with us through one of our own. . .

i am grateful today for those friends and family who chose to do the hard thing, the difficult thing and walk with me through my valleys.

are you walking through a valley today?

are you alone?

making time to make change

i thought that being empty nesters who are well aware of the fact that there is only us empty nesters either messing up or picking up, the house should stay relatively clean. i was wrong.

while it has stayed picked up in some areas and clean in others, it has not stayed picked up AND clean anywhere. i do not function well in messiness and where it is obvious that what is lacking is lacking on my watch. so i made time over the weekend to set up my flipper system.

(Side Road: a while back i wrote about different methods to help with living life in a comfortable home - read "how to keep your house clean while raising children, pets, husbands, and plants without losing what's left of your mind" - please look up the old post OR better yet. . . check out this link THE FLIPPER SYSTEM).

i had purchased The Flipper a while back knowing that i needed to make time to set it up. but i have been more than busy and perhaps just a wee bit tired lately from all that extraneous busy-ness. (more about that later). looking back, i realize that i had considered The Flipper being a sort of lucky rabbit's foot (and yes, i see the irony in a rabbit's foot being anything but lucky for its original owner). i somehow believed that the newly purchased Flipper System nicely installed in a place of honor on my home office desk would somehow ward off wretched dirt gremlins and the evil dust bunnies (that dust bunnies do not "protect" one's stuff was a myth that died hard in this home).

but waking up to the fact that those housework elves advertised to clean while you sleep have never made an appearance in the last 28 years and therefore, cannot be counted out to show up now - was both freeing and motivating (read "a gentle kick in the keester") - so i set aside some time and set up The Flipper.

and that's what it came down to. . . making time to make change.

i set it up on Saturday and put it into play on Sunday. it is now Monday, and things are manageable and measurable. and most importantly, my brain has stopped hurting!!!

i'll let you know how it goes. . . or maybe i'll let dave let you know how it goes. . .