Vinyl Paint Container

 

Marleen and I have been painting the church office this week.  I rolled the walls and wainscoting while Marleen cut in the edges.  After we finished painting Wednesday afternoon, I dumped out her vinyl paint container and brushed out the leftover paint back into the gallon paint can.  I like the vinyl paint container because after the paint dries, the dried paint peels right off the vinyl surface leaving the container ready for its next use.  So last Wednesday night, we were early for church, so I stopped by the office to enjoy looking at our progress.  The vinyl paint container was sitting there …  Something came over me, so I began to peel off the dried paint.  But I found that it had not quite dried.  Then I had paint on my fingers, and here I was in my dress clothes for church!  What started out as a nice evening deteriorated quickly.  Hey, often I get myself into trouble!  But I’m so glad that the dear Lord can get me out of my spiritual troubles!  Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  P.S. Don’t tell Marleen.  ;<)

Sock Mystery

 

Last week, I got a load of clothes out of the dryer and dumped them onto the bed to fold.  I like to surprise Marleen with folded clothes.  (still on the honeymoon, you know)  But, I had a single sock left over.  And socks are supposed to come in pairs.  So, I retraced my steps back to the dryer looking down at the floor.  But no sock on the floor.  I looked in the dryer, but no lonely sock left in the dryer.  I looked in the washer for a damp sock, but no sock.  I looked in the dirty clothes hamper for an unwashed sock, but still no sock.  Now I had a real mystery!  I rechecked each place again and found the orphaned sock in the washer!  But I had just checked the washer, and it wasn’t there!!  How did the sock just appear in the washer?  Later that day, I was sharing the mystery with Marleen and she laughed.  She said, “Often small items get stuck onto the drum when the front-loading washer spins the final rinse water out.  It must have just fallen down after you looked in the washer the first time.”  Mystery solved.  Hey, there are mysteries in life too.  Some things are revealed to us, but other mysteries are left to the Lord alone.  Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

YouTube and Maglite

 

Shelby was a smart man, but as Altheimer’s disease took its course, his memory began to fade.  He would take apart things and try to reassemble them, but with little success.  It was hard for Marleen to watch.  So yesterday, looking for a flashlight, I found an expensive Maglite in a utility room drawer.  It looked brand new, but didn’t work.  I shook it, tapped it on the side, and it flickered.  I replaced the batteries with fresh ones, but still only a flicker.  I looked up “Maglite Repair” on YouTube, played the video following the steps, and noticed that the battery spring was in backwards.  I reversed the spring, screwed on the endcap, and the flashlight worked just fine.  Often, life’s problems are easily resolved.  That is, if you simply read the Book.  Hey, I’m glad that I have the ultimate YouTube: the blessed Word of God!  Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Take out your Bible and read it.  It’s good direction for your soul.