The Finer Things of a Double Blizzard

Amidst unbelievable amounts of snow -- a phenomenon for which I am still stunned -- there were many unexpected finer things...

The wisdom of a husband who shoveled in shifts, rather than try to do it all at once.

The companionship of neighbors who helped dig out our driveways and uncover our cars.

The joy of playing an antique game with my children.

The giggles of children playing on snow piled over their heads.

The calm of an anxious child who didn't worry when the snow blew so hard we could barely see our backyard.

The comfort of a warm mug of hot chocolate after hours (& hours) of shoveling.

The strength of men - who shoveled the roof of our church so that we could worship together.

The blessing of a slow melt when a fast melt would simply mean flooding.

The generosity of a former neighbor who loaned his mega snowblower so that my sister and I could clear my Dad's driveway a week after the second blizzard.

The love of a God so big he can still make my jaw drop and so merciful He forgives me when I rail against his creation.

These are just a few of the finer things I've been blessed with recently.

What unexpected blessings have come your way this week?

Nests

our daughter loves to make little "nests". On any given day there is no predicting when or where you will find a little nests of stuff. Cora collects a few things from her room, finds a spot to play, and creates a little nest.  Today's nest is this:

Just in case you're not sure what you're seeing: that's her doll in a basket which she lined with a doll size pillow and wrapped her hot pink boa around the edges. And it's sitting on the back of our living room couch. I'm not sure why she thought that was "just the right place for it." She calls it the baby's bed.

Personally, I think this hot pink nest is A Finer Thing.

Can We Go Home Now?

I have a confession.

I've been in a bit of a funk recently. Sometimes I don't do well with the interruptions life God throws at me. This week I was feeling overwhelmed. After news of a death in the family early last week I knew I would be out of town for several days. I had to quickly pull together meals my husband the non-cook could cook, and get the laundry done so that they weren't wearing summer shorts during the chilly Maryland autumn. That went reasonably well, though very rushed (not a big fan of rushing here).  Then, I came home Saturday evening to a sick child and a bunch of new tasks to get a backlog of projects completed early in the week.All this combined to me feeling kind of sorry for myself.

Then, as I was browsing some other blogs today I read something about staying home, "that's where the kids want to be anyway" and God brought me this memory...

Wednesday evening, I'd taken the kids to Kids' Choir. At the end of rehearsal as I was catching up with friends and we were gathering kids, my daughter said, "Mommy, can we go home now?"

I didn't think much about it at the time. But, today realized something. It didn't matter to her that the laundry was piled up or we didn't have her favorites for dinner. It didn't matter that there was clutter on the tables and furniture wasn't dusted. She wanted to go home.


Home.  That's where she wanted to be. Our home. Not to the store, or a playground, or a friend's house.


She wanted to go home. Having a home where even with all its flaws my children feel safe and loved and want to be is definitely a finer thing.

A Caring Heart

Early this morning we got a phone call.

That right there should be tell you it wasn't good. Not many people call in the early morning.

It turned out not as bad as we thought. A friend up the street had a sick child and needed someone to watch her son for a few minutes while she and her hubby did the switcheroo.  Okay, sure, no problem. My hubby went down to watch her son for about 10 minutes until her hubby got back.

When he got back we got the low-down from hubby. It turns out the sick child was one of Joseph's best friends.

So after finishing breakfast, Joseph announced, "I need a piece of paper."

I wasn't sure what that was about, but he found what he needed and proceeded with his project. A few minutes later, he had finished -- He'd made a get well card for his friend and he wanted to deliver it on the way to school this morning.

Yes, we made sure he had a chance to deliver it to his friend.

After all, a caring heart in a 7 year old boy - now that's a finer thing.

For more Finer Things visit The Finer Things in Life. Also linked to Real Life.

Working with Family

For those who've been reading here or following on Twitter for a while you know that my dad passed away last November. Since Mom died several years earlier that left my siblings and I with the task of cleaning out their house.

Cleaning out your parent's house does not conjure the same image for all people. Some parents' homes are small and uncluttered. For others it's large and uncluttered. Some parents downsize during retirement. Some parents expand their home to accommodate in-laws and grandchildren.

For my family, my parent's home is a medium size home, but it was very cluttered. My parents both grew up during the Great Depression and with the mentality that almost everything should be saved because it surely it would or could be used at some time by some one in the future.

My sister and I have been methodically working through all this clutter to try and get down to the usable stuff. We've met at Dad's house one day each week since the beginning of January. There have been a few weeks we missed, but not many. Most of what we've been dealing with is the paperwork clutter. The years and years worth of financial records, assorted generations of photographs in various locations that eventually filled an entire chest of drawers, years and years of magazines that had been kept, teaching notes from 40+ years of Sunday School, and (we've guesstimated) ~2500 books, plus more that I can't even recall at the moment.

This last week my brother took a week of vacation and flew in (he lives 2000 miles away) to help deal with Dad's workshop and work barn.

He, my brother-in-law, my husband, and we two sisters have spent the better part of the last 7 days sorting through power tools, hand tools -- old and new, nails, screws, scrap wood, bottles and bottles of various household toxic fluids (paint thinners, de-greasers, engine oils and more). And we've made good headway. The guys completely cleaned out the top of the barn (where they found our old sled and the old manual mower) as well as cleaning out the bulk of the workshop. I am so encouraged by the progress that has been made.

I am exceedingly grateful for my siblings right now.

Yes, sometimes they get on my nerves. I'm sure I've gotten on theirs too. We don't always agree on what should be kept, sold or tossed. But, for the most part it has not been a divisive process. We have continued to plug away at all the stuff.

I am extremely grateful that I have not had to go through this process and all this stuff alone. If I had to do it alone I would not be nearly as far along in the process as we are. And, I would be far more exhausted. The physical and mental exhaustion from going through each item in the house and making a decision about it is nearly indescribable.

My family, willing to work together, not against each other - most definitely A Finer Thing!

Finer Things - July 10

My daughter recently brought me these lovingly picked flowers.
She loves picking flowers fresh from our yard.

I love that she loves bringing me flowers (even clover).

Definitely a Finer Thing in this Mom's life.

For more finer things visit Amy @ the Finer Things in Life