2016, almost done

when you pass through the waters, i will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, 
nor shall the flame scorch you.

- isaiah 43:2

need. provision. lack. sufficiency. wonder. grace.

just a few o'them

life gets complicated

lessons from our 15th house removal - 2

immutable fact of life: 

material possessions grow insidiously inexorably and unforgivingly even when you already have a no-additional-clutter policy in place. 

one principle rules:

aggressive decluttering. harden the heart. silence the weeping.

the packers come today. i'm all excited and anxious. because when you downsize it's like an open-ended task. you want to cull enough to avoid a bazaar effect at the new place, and you want to avoid temptation to go straight out to the shops. 

lessons from our 15th house removal

1. have fewer things. it makes a difference
2. a place for everything and everything in its place is not an irritating mantra. it is a strategy for family peace
3. get professional packers and movers. don't believe what people say about getting a truck and doing-it-yourself. this will save you your sanity your friendships and various sibling relationships
4. have a packing bag in which you have emergency supplies like labels sharpies cable-ties and felt protectors. the needs come at unexpected times
5. have lists and lists and lists. indulge your inner OCD
6. remember that this time too shall pass

and finally, what they say about location location location is all true.

taking stock, 2016

1. we buy a new place! we renovate again! we see God's provisions for contingencies we cannot begin to anticipate! and we move next week! i cannot begin to imagine the what-if's if we did not have a higher help
2. several more getaways. the promised land, for the first time. a road trip with J and J and Y. spain. times together, just two of us. summer with J2. winter with J1. undeserved pleasures but gladsome ones nevertheless
3. my second mission trip, which clarifies my thinking that it should be my last. simply because the greater good is served better in other ways
4. correspondence with Y. she makes me try to be a better example
5. people. patients and colleagues and friends and bosses. who smoothen my rough edges and who restore my soul
6. and, in other news, E mellows a bit this year. we irretrievably lose fewer pieces of furniture

merryyyyy christmas to you and yours!!!

...that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth - in Him.

- eph 1:10

in the fulness of my time, i too died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God.

in the light of immeasurable grace one supposes one can be charitable towards the fat man in red fake snow manger dioramas and mangled carols. 

housework

as i begin my annual vacation and start doing housework again, some thoughts apply:

• laundry multiplies at a rate not commensurate with number of bodies
• hairs on the floors, ditto
• dishes on the table in the sink and on every surface, ditto

also, when you are packing to move, things appear from your past that you have not seen in years. things are like that.

26

searing excitement roaring passions bated breaths

giddy delight and pretty baubles

daily supply computer glitches routine routines

and children and kin and dogs

half my lifetime

at the level of my days' most quiet needs

my good and perfect gift

from God of all good gifts