Plucked chickens and a garbage disposal

Can you imagine what you're life would be like if you had to wash all your clothes and dishes by hand, make all your food from scratch (including butchering the chicken in the barnyard), and haul bucket after bucket from the stream to heat over a wood-burning stove so that you could bathe (with soap you made last week)?

I can't even begin to imagine.

My life is crazy now.

Why?

Machines do much of the household work for me, I frequently buy my ready-to-prepare meat from the store rather than killing the fatted calf, and I even use disposable diapers.

But my life is still crazy.

I am so blessed to live in modern-day America where all of these things are at my disposal (another convenience - the disposal!).  So many other countries do not have these conveniences.

So here we are in the most "churched" nation in the world, a nation "under God", a nation founded by many godly leaders.

Why are we here?  Why me?  Why do I get these blessings when so many others would be more "deserving"?

Maybe these modern conveniences are all a sign that the time is short.  The time is short for us to share Jesus with our neighbor (whether next-door or on the other side of the world), our boss, our co-worker.  The time is so short that God has provided us with a microwave to cook our lunch in 30 seconds, and even an instant way to communicate with someone, rather than waiting for mail delivery.

So, have you filled up all that extra time these machines provide with useless busy-ness or are you using the blessing to bless others with the message of the Savior?

The time is short!  Pop dinner in the oven and pray about how you can minister to another in Jesus' name.

Tree climbing can be a real headache

There's no place like home

                                                                   Amidst piles of laundry....

                                                                 And unfurnished rooms....

                                                                We all agree that
                                                         There's no place like home!

Back after 10 weeks - exactly! - of being out of our house, we are finally now, after several weeks of intense organizing, cleaning, and some finishing up of projects like the siding, are feeling pretty well settled. It's unbelievably good to be back.

Now, on to our normal routine!

What was that again?....