Glass (from the homefront)

I spoke with my husband this morning and he said to me, "Be aware, you may come under harsh attack today." I chuckled at my husband - so spiritual he is, but I am fine, I tell him - really. I am great actually. And, I was.

Then, about a half an hour later, KABLAM! I feel like I've been nuked. I'm melting. It's nothing big, but everything little, salted with a few things medium, and I am spent.

Most days are really good - spending time together, playing, making crafts, an outing..... Today, however, I needed to get the house cleaned and so I enlisted the kids to "Saturday Work Day"- our normal Saturday routine where we all join in cleaning the house. We try to make it fun, or at least do something fun when we are done. But, nobody wants to do anything, and I have to constantly redirect kids to clean up rather than mess up. This frustrates me. I am so proud of Aidan when he takes the biggest job on the cleanup list and goes after it; clean out the fridge. The fridge that hasn't been cleaned out in too long and has unmentionable things happening in the bottom of it. It leaks and drips, and is generally a yucky job.

The kids are hungry, so I am preparing pasta while I help Aidan. He takes everything out of the fridge. We toss a lot of food. We could have fed another family for a week with that food, and my heart is heavy from it. As we are cleaning the glass shelves in the fridge, I pull out the largest of them all, and I have no idea why, but it shattered into 500 million tiny pieces of glass. The glass didn't just go downward either. It covered everything from my kitchen into the dining room and hallway: the stove, the pasta, the bowls of fruit, the entire sink, floor, cabinets, dining room table- everything. As I look at the sink I see a large amount of glass go down the drain. I have a bad word in my mind (repent). I am barefoot. "Get me some shoes, quickly!" He runs back with dress shoes. A good effort.

As I clean up (a three hour process) the kids have a really hard time with the idea of staying out of the area, and I have a really hard time figuring out how to cook lunch for them in the midst of a glass storm. Idea: call Todd. I tell him, "I have two questions: Is our fridge worth investing in having it repaired when it has constant condensation, and now seriously lacks shelf space? (remember our garage freezer broke last week) And two, what on earth do I do about a cup of glass in the garbage disposal? His response: "Pray about the fridge, and get help with the disposal which needs to be removed and flushed, DO NOT TURN IT ON. Wisdom.

I call Craftsmen For Christ. What an AWESOME ministry. Devoted to helping widows and those in need with crafty needs. Clay (the man!), who was just helping my dear sister, Sheri, seemed to have a lot on his plate; but wanted to help and even offered to come right over. I don't want to burden him. Kyndall reminded me that her Grandpa is a plumber, and I should call him. I did. He walked me through a trouble shooting process which led me to turn on the disposal. I asked, "Are you sure... Todd said, blah, blah, blah." He assures me that the glass can not harm the disposal at all. Just reach in, take out as much glass as you can (ouch), and turn it on. I did. It immediately burned out the motor on the disposal. He said not to worry about it. You'll get used to not having a disposal. Lots of people don't have them. I think, 'Kyndall's Grandpa might not like me.'

I am taking out the trash - glass mixed with fridge food, the pasta I had made, dirty diapers, etc... and, yup, about ten feet down the hall; in the area that had been relatively clean; the bag cleanly broke in two. Those sturdy Glad kitchen bags that don't break. Yup. In the livingroom, Mia punches Aidan in the eye. I remembered Todd's words at that moment - "Be aware, you may come under harsh attack today," and I laughed out loud. When it comes down to laugh or cry, I prefer to laugh when possible - but man, was I mad. So, it was kind of a -'stay away, I am dangerous'- laugh.

Clay calls back to see where I am at with the garbage disposal, and I tell him all about how I blew it . He offers to come right over, but I assure him it can wait until Monday. What a sweet saint.

Maury (beloved, dear Maury) called right about then to tell me there was a man at church talking about me this morning. This is a man I got a restraining order against last week, though he hasn't been served yet- and doesn't even know about that yet. As usual, he is furious with me. His life has fallen apart and he just spent a week or so incarcerated for who knows what, and it is exclusively the fault of Todd and me. Mostly my fault. Maury offers his protection. Now, what can be better than that????

My poor kids had a referee today, rather than a coach; and I did not call out to the Father half as much as I should have. I was even warned ahead of time, and I did not gird up. Instead, I laughed. Boo.

I was reminded of all of the single parents out there - especially the women, who have this constant barrage of issues and things they can't fix or need help with. What a challenge. What a calling. And, what a calling the Lord has put on these men who have come along to offer help to them as a ministry. Thank you, Craftsmen for Christ. You reflect Him very well!

I just read on the news that the Sudanese government is bombing Darfur again. Please pray for the people.

I bet nobody has a garbage disposal in Sudan.

I miss you, Todd (and not just because you're handy)!
My love, my heart.