Tag: Frustration

Phase Two

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©jb katke

Where on earth did all this stuff come from?

Yours truly is the culprit. My accumulation of all things quilt had gotten out of hand. Ranging from long ago vacations and shop hop road trips with the girls. To set the record straight, my husband, Dave, never discouraged my purchases. Is it okay to blame him too, misery does love company you know?   

But the purging process must be done-particularly when so little quilting is done anymore. It takes valuable time and sprains the brain dealing with it all. Gadgets are surfacing that I knew I had…somewhere. Several years ago, I was gifted with a sign that hangs in the room, ‘Organized people are just too lazy to look for it!’

We all have the same number of hours in the day—it’s how we use them that is important. Dave is doing good—the quilt room reno continues on. Walls are painted and flooring installed, the bookshelf is next, but construction will take time. I stand sentry at the doorway cheering him on. It’s taking on a new look and I’m loving it!

Getting back to the stuff though. Discarding of a past life is wrenching. Whether it’s baggage in our memory or accumulated stuff, all gets heavier with time. Unintended excess happens and the circumstances out of control can easily turn frustration into hate. If one is not careful, terrible things can happen.

Like an attempted assassination. That is the extreme. Hardship comes in too many disguises to determine what is a product of hate and what is not. Life is difficult to define because our story varies from person to person. How can one shake the history of their life?

Hints of that kind of change do exist. At the risk of being overly simplistic, use what I have been doing in my former quilt room as an example. Dispose of the unnecessary. Pitch the things that are no longer useful.

Surround yourself with people that encourage. Where? Try visiting your local Bible believing church. The place is chock full of people like you, in the process of making life better—not just for themselves but for others too. Collecting friends is of greater value than stuff.

A Need Met

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Old Ford van © jb katke

Am I the only one that sees a divine hand in everyday happenings?

We needed a larger vehicle. Cars today just don’t comfortably accommodate baby car seats together with older children. Fights are sure to ensue, and they did.

I was at a point in my life where my Christian faith was beginning to grow. But our family didn’t have what I deemed we needed. Can I get ‘amen’ on frustration?

I could have listed countless reasons why we should have a van, when a thought came to mind.

Wait a minute, God makes no mistakes, right? If we don’t have it, there must be a reason. I should wait for it.

Easy to say, hard to do. I’ve never been big on patience.

Time passed and so did a relative providing an unexpected inheritance. Typical isn’t it to lose one thing in order to gain another.

The van entered our family. We referred to it as the Limo. The back seats were captains’ chairs that swiveled to the rear, facing a bench seat. My husband built a small table for the kids to play games, complete with cup holders built in. Fights dropped by 99%.

While the kids may not agree with me, I take pride that all of them learned to drive in Big Blue. Notice the name change? Time passed. Within 11 years we had three children, for them to have a shared experience was both a challenge and accomplishment.

It took us comfortably on many vacations. Our son used it on a three hour drive, full of newly graduated seniors to an amusement park in Ohio to celebrate. One daughter narrowly missed hitting a butterfly, while another came dangerously close to mailboxes. No harm done on any account.

That is except for my trip into town where I bought a drastically reduced sweater, ripping the trim off the side of her in a too tight parking space.

For several years Big Blue was there for my husband in his home improvement business. While I referred to it as his mobile office, it soon became the Big Lug.

Coming from Michigan, it suffered from salt cancer. Rust had eaten away too much of the body. Insulation poured out of her leaving a trail much like Pigpen of the Peanuts comic strip. She began to waddle on her frame. To my husbands’ dismay, “It still has its hubcaps!”

“No babe, Big Lug needs a decent burial.”

She served us well, but all things eventually come to an end. It was an opportunity to practice letting go. That’s hard. Especially when there are so many memories wrapped in it. Thank you Jesus for them.

 

A Day of Celebration

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WP_20150825_001 © jb katke

Have you ever accomplished something out of your realm? It gives you that Wow feeling of celebrating.  Happy anniversary to me.

I’m sharing with you the biggest balloon I could find. (This big boy landed in my front yard)

My blog posts are one year old this month. For a person that had no desire to blog, and isn’t fond of computers, this is remarkable.  Just for the record it wasn’t my idea.

Have you been following me? If you haven’t read my Intro , let me explain with a little background. For years I have been learning to love Jesus. I’ve been reading his book, it’s been on the best seller list for almost ever.

But it’s a process that takes some time. At least it did for me. There comes a point in what do you do with this stuff you’ve learned? It was suggested I tell others about it.

Don’t be thinking I’m gonna give you this big ole sermon. Instead, let me paint a few word pictures for you. Some of these scenarios may not take too much imagination.

Imagine your car breaking down on the highway in the middle of nowhere. A tow truck comes along and the driver says, “I know who could fix your car, but I’m not helping you get there.”

Perhaps your basement has flooded. A cleaning service comes to access the situation but tells you, “This place is a mess, but there is nothing I can do about it.”

Or your doctor’s diagnosis is cancer, but refuses you treatment.

You get the idea. Frustration, helplessness and anger can be the recipe for stress levels and blood pressure to skyrocket.

That is why someone broaches the name of Jesus to you. I’m your gal to do that. He works in ways that can astound you.  A friendship with this guy can make such a difference in life.

So I blog to tell you how Jesus has been involved in my life. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it hurts big time. But bottom line, I know he is aware of my situation. It’s a mystery how he always works things out, but it’s always good. It can take time, but it gives me the opportunity to trust.

Stuff will still happen. There have been occasions that I got put out with circumstances that aren’t going my way. But then I remember Jesus’ dad isn’t Santa Claus. He’s God. Usually my heart hasn’t been in the right place, so he waits for me to catch up to his perfect plan.

He wasn’t dragging his heels, I was. Eventually I come around and I hope you do too. If my words mean something to you, I invite you to follow me on this journey.

Better yet, invite Jesus into your life, I promise it will be a ride!