Cathy’s Corner

 

So today is the day, or at least as I type this, today is the day. By the time you read this it will be another day. But today is the day we find out what the second Grandbaby is going to be. Gary and I are going with the other Grandmother and get to see the sonogram and find out when Scott and Cassandra find out. We are so excited!!! I have bought a pink and a blue frame to give them depending on which one they are having. We already have a grandson on the way, so a granddaughter would be fun. But whatever it is, we just want it to be a healthy baby and for the Mommies to stay healthy. So I’m way excited about going to the doctor this afternoon to see my new grandbaby via sonogram.

 

Isn’t it funny how times change? When I was having babies (even in the ten year span of when I was having babies) they only did sonograms if they thought something was wrong. Now they do them at almost every visit. And what you can see in them has improved a thousand times. You talk about HD and 3D, it is amazing. The doctor was viewing Kiersten’s sonogram on Monday and her comment was “Wow look at those chubby cheeks!”  She was referring to his face of course for you guys out there that are thinking something different. Kiersten is just five weeks away from her due date and this week she found out the baby is already 7 ½ to 8 pounds. He is going to be a big baby.

 

But anyway, times and things have definitely improved as far as having babies. Most every couple now days wants to know what sex the baby is before he/she is born. I didn’t know with any of mine, even the one that I did have one sonogram with because she wasn’t cooperating. I went merrily along my way purchasing and decorating with non-gender specific furnishings and equipment. Seat belts and car seats were just beginning to be mandatory. Most people were bottle feeding and breast feeding was just coming back as a “must do” for your baby. We didn’t have three fourths of the gadgets and doodads they have now to better take care of baby.  When I went with Kiersten and Jay to start their baby registry I didn’t even know what a lot of the things were or that they were even available.  It makes you wonder how the rest of us ever got here and managed to survive in this world. I can only imagine how my Mother must have felt as we had things that she didn’t when she was raising children. In fact she had my brother in her parent’s house the day after a tornado, no running water or electricity because the storm knocked it out. She and my dad were halfway to the hospital when my sister was born in the back seat of the car. But they made it to the hospital with me (eleven months after my sister was born) and I was born in the hospital.

 

It does make you realize that you can do a lot of things with very little when you have to. God gives you the strength to do those things if we will just call on Him. He has always been present and always will be no matter how little resources we have available and no matter how advanced we have become through technology. He knew all of us before we ever had a hair on our heads and He keeps watch over us daily. What an amazing God we serve.

 

For you have formed my inward parts;

You have covered me in my Mothers womb.

I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well. Psalm 129: 13-14

 

 

Have a great day in the Lord!

 

From one pumpkin to another!!!!!!!

A woman was asked by a coworker,

'What is it like to be a Christian?'
The coworker replied, 'It is like being a pumpkin.'
God picks you from the patch, brings you in,
and washes all the dirt off of you.
Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.
Then He carves you a new smiling face and
puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.'

Cathy’s Corner

 

There’s something about painting a room and cleaning everything from top to bottom that just makes me smile. Not that I do it very often, as you would see if you came to my house. But we’ve lived in this house for two years now and it needed painting when we moved in. Things were so hectic in our lives at the time that it was just move and get it over with, no time for painting. Within a matter of two weeks our house had finally sold in Lubbock and Gary had been offered a teaching job so we could finally buy a new house. It was the end of July, Gary was starting his new teacher orientation, and we had stored all of my mother’s stuff and a lot of ours as well in our garage because we had moved into a rent house. Add Sunday school promotion and senior year starting for our daughter and you get the picture, JUST MOVE!

So our youngest daughter moved into an apartment last week. Now that is a whole different story that I could go into but I’ll spare you today. So her bedroom and closet was empty and I decided last Friday that it would be the perfect time to paint before we moved anything into it. I’d been putting it off for two years. First I cleaned all the cob webs, windows and window sills, the light fixture and the chipped baseboards. Then I taped everything, bought my paint and by Saturday morning I was ready to paint. And that I did. Everything was going great and I finished and decided that we (I) should paint the third bedroom as well since we were going to move furniture from that room to the other room. So I did the same prep work in there. Then I looked at the first room and it was streaked. I couldn’t figure out why. I studied those walls and I talked out loud to myself and to Gary and I couldn’t figure it out. But the obvious answer was going to be as bad as I hated to admit it, a second coat. Then we moved all the furniture in place and the rooms were nice and in order. Once everything was completed, second coat and all and even the closet too, I was quiet pleased with the results and my hard work. So much that I kept going into the rooms turning on the lights and looking at how well they had turned out.

It’s kind of like life. Year after year as we grow up things happen and we get hurt or we get angry or insert any kid of emotion here you want. Some times we just stuff all that down inside and don’t deal with and it starts to layer on top of each other. Cobwebs grow over some of those hurts, a film develops over that anger, some chips get taken out of our heart and our light just doesn’t shine quite like it used to. But then it happens; it is time to clean it all out and if we allow God, He can come in and clean out the cobwebs, wash away the film, brighten up the light inside of us and even repair the chips in our heart. It isn’t easy by any means. Sometimes there are streaks that have to have a second coat because it’s just more than one coat can cover. Just like painting last week, there is a lot of prep work, and sweat, blood and tears involved. But it’s so worth it. Because the result is a brighter smile, a softer exterior, burdens lifted that make the load so much lighter. He puts everything in place and in order even the closet.  Sure sometimes it involves two coats to finally get the end result but once again it’s so worth it. And I can only imagine God looking down, turning on the light and watching us for a few moments. He smiles at the result of His handiwork.

 

Have a great day in the Lord.

And no, I’m not up for hire.