What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Monday, November 22, 2010

Perspective


I am technically 28 minutes into Tuesday, which means I am 28 minutes late for Gratitude Monday (so now you know Matt is out of town for the night). In my defense, I have been TRYING to work on this post for two days now but my computer is acting like the dinosaur it is (either that, or with only .2% free space left on the hard drive, squeaking in the cracks between the gazillions of photos I take but never print, it is giving up on me.) I have a ton of photos that I would like to add to this post, but hey. I am about sick to death of trying to convince this thing to upload photos at all, let alone QUICKLY.

My oven died over the weekend. I churned out two loaves of bread, two pizzas and later finished the dough to make shortbread with cheesecake filling when it conked out. The pigs ended up getting the shortbread dough. Not a good time, just days before Thanksgiving, for a stove to conk out on me-for the record. Maybe having our first "own" Thanksgiving will have to wait until next year? *sniff* I always liked you, stove. Now? Not so much.

I was counting up change from the change jar, expecting a call from the billing department at the hospital after playing phone tag all morning long. Judah was crying. Andrew was talking to me, making me lose count over and over on those beastly pennies, so I started to count really loud and obnoxiously so as to say-"Get it? Trying to concentrate, Panda. Shut 'yer yap for a minute!" The phone rings-but no worries- they can just leave a message.

Only wait---the answering machine never came on....

and Adele? She is being quiet. TOO quiet. After a few minutes I turn around and what do you know? She answered the phone for me. The caller got to hear my impatient counting, Andrew yacking, Judah crying, and the heavy breathing of a toddler for who knows how many minutes. I was so mortified, I just hung up. So-if that was you on the phone-sorry. Oh wait-is that Social Services knocking on my door!?

Oh and that billing department? They told me that last bill was just for the midwife appointments, but THIS huge, gigantic, swallow-your-tongue it's so outrageous bill is for the actual DELIVERY. (That, may I remind you, only lasted SEVEN MINUTES after arriving at the hospital and which had NO midwives/doctors PRESENT) Oh-wonderful. Thank you SO very much.


Just one of those days.


Not the worst, but barely making it to mediocre. I say-the perfect time to count your blessings. A few more (with too few photos) just in time.

Even though Matt is gone, I am thankful it is only for one blessed night.

Even though my computer is filled right up to not-working-well status, I am thankful for all the cuteness it holds.

Even though I was embarrassed by who-knows-who hearing who-knows-what, I am thankful I was/am able to be HOME, experiencing every moment (even the unpleasant ones) with my children.

Even though another bill is just what I wanted!!!! and we had to wipe out our savings to pay it, I am thankful we've saved enough to pay it in full and so, we got a $750.00 discount for paying up front. I miss that little nest egg already, but the chick we got out of it was worth it.

Even though my oven broke right before I had to put a turkey in it, I am thankful we can crash the Thanksgiving parties of nearby relatives.

It's all good.

And a few more, because it is easy to get on a roll once the gratitude comes:

~ knit afghans

~ for this expression: HIS, not mine.


~ carrots and ranch dressing

~ friends who bring bread by

~ homemade toothpaste

~ book recommendations



~ a blanket of well wishes. (Thank you, Thank you! We love it! And you *will* be getting a card that says so sometime this century!)

~smothering love and a patient brother


~ polka dot sheets

~piles of quarters, all lined up

~ the satisfaction of a good yawn.

Speaking of which, good night.

holy experience

# 690-705 gifts spoken.

18 comments:

Bonnie said...

Good to know I'm not the only person who loves a good yawn, though it's hard to beat a good sneeze....
Because I'm nosy, who's responsibility will fixing/replacing the oven be? You or your landlords? If that's to nosy, I'll mind my own business.
You can cook a turkey in a roaster if need be, but at this late in the game, perhaps it's a why bother when you can party crash. (just in case, due to lack of sleep, a roaster being one of those oversized crackpot looking things)
Judah is a darling, R. dotes on her brother much the same way, when she's not begging to hold him.
Hopefully this weekend, a love package will be sent your
way.
Bonnie

Bonnie said...

That's supposed to be CROCK pot... jeeze and sheesh....

MameyJane said...

Yes, we all have those days...mine seem to be more often than not here lately. I just can't figure out how to keep myself at an even keel at moments like that.

I wanted to offer a suggestion on the undeveloped pics point: Online photo developers are all the time offering free prints for first-time-signer-uppers. That's how I get mine developed. I have accounts with about 20 different companies now! I get them developed for free and have albums waiting for them when they arrive. Each one of my children has 2 or 3 albums full, and they love to get their baby books down and look at them. So much so that I need to replace a couple of them that are falling apart. Anyways, just google "free photo developing" or something like that and see what you get.

Unknown said...

I know what a crackpot is Bonnie, because well...it's ME!!! :D HAHAHAHAHAHA!

This day of yours sound vaguely familiar...hmmmmmmmmmmmm???

Bummer about your stove and YAY for paying off bills! :)

Great list, friend! :)

Melissa, Multi-Tasking Mama said...

I love this post and can completely relate to the desire to send out thank yous yet lacking the time..have a great Thanksgiving!

Leah said...

Sometimes I call those days what Anne Shirley does - "a Jonah Day". We all have them.
You've got a pretty darn cute little boy there, though!

Peggy said...

What a blessing to be able to pay that bill up front and in its entirety! Yeah it definitely sounds like a "Jonah Day"... but don't they make the good days all that sweeter. Preachin to myself here way more than you!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Matt will be home, yes?!

Oh and Judah is such a snuggle bun! I love seeing the pictures of you ALL loving on him! He is so precious!

Tracy said...

Okay... you're renting, right? Was the stove actually yours, or is it with the house? If it's with the house, perhaps your landlords will be kind and replace it.

Speaking of bills, we got a whopper of one yesterday. $11,000 for Verne's ER visit. But, he's alive, and God is in control. ( I must keep reminding myself.)

I think all mothers have days like you had... and if they say differently, they aren't to be trusted. ;-) Here's to a better day today!

Anonymous said...

Phew. I have no idea about hospital bills as I live in Canada. But I loved your perspective: nest egg is gone but look what has taken its place: Judah. My, isn't he just a handsome little guy! He is absolutely beautiful! Love his eyes and the colour of them. (we are talking boy names as we are almost on the adoption waiting list again, and I have dear hubby aaallllmost convinced to like the name Judah. He prefers Jude, which I also like. Either one goes well with Keziah, our daughter's name).

Michelle

Rebecca said...

To all who asked: we do rent but we had to provide our own appliances. So-one more bill, to go along with the eye appointments that should have happened (like yesterday) and the dentists visits to come and, and, and....

but enough whining. It isn't becoming.

Nanci said...

Wow, days like that must have been going around yesterday, cuz my day was much the same yesterday.

I, too, have been counting my blessings today. I just haven't been as productive as you in writing them down.

Love all the pics. We cracked up at Judah's expression in the first one. It looked like he was pleading for help (or at least that's what my man-child says).

Abigail said...

Oh, I don't know; I think you even whine becomingly.

I haven't come to your blog for several days. WHAT?!?!? We have internet for the first time in a year and a half, and I just NOW learned that your stove is broken? How did we cope as friends before now?

And I'm sorry. Just a few weeks back, my brother saw a lonesome stove on the side of the road with a sign around its neck that said "Free- works good." I'll pray that the Lord places one near your side of the road SOON!

I'm nowhere near caught up on your posts, but here are a few pressing comments:
1. Your homeschooling post: If I'm the brilliant one, why the heck does your chart have more things crossed off than mine?

2. With one laughing comment, I accidentally set my Heart on your tail regarding animation. Be forewarned!

3. We have an extra turkey to cook next week or thereabouts, and you and yours need to come and help us clean those bones. Let me know.

Fondly and electronically,
Your internetted chum.

p.s. Do tell Mattenabler that although I have a mansion to clean and a Herculean amount of baking to do in preparation for our dozens of guests on Thursday, the only thing I want to do is to put up a massive blog post chronicling our summer. Sigh. I'm going to bed instead. (There's more than one way to stick one's head into the sand...)

p.p.s. Have you entertained the notion that perhaps your pigs sabotaged the stove? I'd be tempted to do as much for some shortbread. You should look into this...

p.p.p.s. I love your photography. What a joy to see it so easily again!

p.p.p.p.s. For good measure, simply because I can.

Mrs. MK said...

I don't know if everything is final with the hospital or not, but this past spring we learned a valuable lesson, with some help from a friend in the medical business. After losing Benjamin, plus needing emergency surgery a few days later, our bills exceeding 15k. Ouch. Our friend told us to negotiate with our cash. So we did. We offered to pay in full within the month if they would accept 40% less than the bill. Because we had been saving up for Benjamin, plus some unexpected generousity from friends, we were able to have that much in hand. To our surprise, they accepted our offer.

Now I will never pay a hospital bill in full....everything is negotiable.

I hope you find a new stove soon.

Anonymous said...

Oh my! He is such a doll! I'd be sniffing him all the time too, lol. Would you share your toothpaste recipe? I recently ventured into making the laundry soap. We bought a grain mill and get to make bread today! Man im going to get some muscles with that :) I'd love to get a hold of any homemade recipes like that. And hear of what works best.
~linds

Stefanie said...

Breathe, hang in there, it will get better. Sometimes I think it's best to get all the bad stuff done at once right, cause that is how it seems to happen. Then you know your due for good stuff to happen.
What cuties!
At least you made it to there for the birth, so if something went wrong they were there to help, that security is worth it to me.

Tracy said...

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; Give thanks to Him, bless His name." ~ Psalm 100:4 Happy Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

Grateful for having 'found' you ~ wishing your family a wonderful Thanksgiving ~

BC in VA

Wendy said...

Rebecca...just a quick invite...Holiday Party at our home on Dec. 18th 6:30-7:00ish snacks, Christmasy songs...fellowship...Come Join Us!