Efficient

 

I like to be efficient with my steps when I put things away at the house.  But sometimes I become obsessed with my efficiency.  Yesterday morning was a classic example.  I just finished a quilt for a friend and had two long yardsticks to put away.  One was a wooden yardstick that went into my bedroom.  It lives there with some thin plywood patterns beside my dresser.  But the other yardstick was an aluminum yardstick that goes in the garage.  I walked by the stairs on the way to my bedroom, so I left the aluminum yardstick propped against the stair post to take down later.  Saving steps.  Later, I took a load of laundry downstairs, so I picked up the aluminum yardstick with the basket of clothes and took both downstairs.  But before I took the clothes over to the washer, I propped up the aluminum yardstick by the garage door to take out later.  Saving steps.  I changed out the washer/dryer and took the dry clothes upstairs to fold.  Later, I tied up the kitchen garbage bag to take to the big garbage can outside.  I took the kitchen bag downstairs picking up the aluminum yardstick on the way outside, finally depositing the aluminum yardstick where it lived by the outside door.  It took 3 stops and forty minutes to efficiently get the aluminum yardstick where it belonged!  I suppose I saved time, but I’m not sure.  But really, that’s nothing.  The dear Lord has been patiently working on me for 76 years.  Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Gas Gauge

 

Friday morning, I was in a hurry.  I needed to get gas the night before, but I had forgotten.  So, when I hopped into the truck at 5:30 am, the fuel warning light was on, and the indicator needle was down near the red E.  I should have stopped at a gas station, but the all-night gas stations are so expensive.  Costco didn’t open until 6 am, so I chanced it.  I worried all the way to cardiac rehab keeping an eye on that gas gauge.  After cardiac rehab, I headed for Costco on the way home.  But as I glanced at the gauge, it was above the empty line.  Not bad!  Parking downhill must have helped the gas gauge find a little more gas in the tank.  But as I took a few turns out of the parking lot, the gas gauge moved up more and more!  And then I realized that I was looking at the temperature gauge and not the gas gauge!  Dummy!  The gas gauge was still on empty and Costco was eight miles away!  Fortunately, I made it to Costco on fumes.  Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”  In life, be careful of the way that you are headed in.  Be careful not to trust in the wrong advice.  Stop and consider your ways before it is too late.

 

Marleen has been a dear friend to Kathy and me for several years.  Our children have grown up together (and I taught them in junior high).  Marleen was such a blessing to Kathy this last year.  She would come over to our house most Saturday evenings to help Kathy prepare her Sunday school lesson and to paint her fingernails (so I didn’t have to).  Marleen was a Godly woman who cared for her husband until he passed away two years ago, and I watched her faithfulness, gentleness, and steadfastness in the face of adversity.  We have been seeing one another socially for the past 2 months, and Sunday afternoon, I asked her to share the rest of her life with me.  So, block out the first two Saturdays of August for a special day.  One is a decoy, but the other will be a great event to attend. Scalpers are already busy.  I will do my best to make Marleen happy and I know that she will make me the happiest man in the world!  Thanks, Carlton, for great pictures! riffelvision.com  And thanks, Isaac, for a beautiful ring! aggoldsmith.com  And … thanks, Marleen, for saying yes!