Wednesday, November 11, 2009

It seems like every time I come to write here the same thing happens...I want to write..."Sorry haven't been here in a while but been busy". Life just gets that way at times. For a few weeks now it has been my intention to update the blog but everything else ends up happening and by the time I go to sit and write I am too tired!!
A few weeks ago, Jim went to Hungary. Our car is registered there and all the dues and inspections were due the end of October so he had to make a trip there. It was a good trip for him. God miraculously provided everything we needed to pay for the trip and the car costs. It was truly amazing! he also got to spend time with Chicco who is the new pastor in Baja now and people from the congregation.
While he was gone, I started listening to a series in Revelation by Damian Kyle. (CC Modesto). It was great-I just finished it the other day. With no car and no money I wasn't going anywhere so it was a neat time of being alone with the Lord and being reminded that Jesus is coming, this world is going to pass away and we are going to be forever with our King! I was challenged in the areas of being lukewarm in my walk and also remembering my first love! Wow, I do encourage you to listen to those messages if you can. They do what the Holy Spirit intends them to do...search our hearts!

It was interesting because while Jim was gone, we didn't know which day he would return. He was thinking maybe Wed, maybe Thurs. He had to be back in Padova because he teaches on Friday afternoons. There were some things I needed to accomplish while he was gone. Stuff like cleaning and organizing a couple of the rooms. A couple of the students were coming on Friday so that is always a great motivation to clean :) Anyway, I found myself waiting til the last possible minute to do anything productive in the area of housework!! Please tell me you understand lol!! I texted Jim and asked him "when is it you are coming home" Early in the am I asked him and when I found out he couldn't leave til the afternoon, I was thinking, oh cool, I don't have to do anything just yet because it will be atleast 6 hours before he gets home! Procrastination!! It is something I am gifted in (only in certain things that seem boring) lol!

During this time, the Lord began to show me about His return! Anticipating when He is going to come back. Wow, it's not like we can text the Lord and say "When do you think you will be back" and then, put off certain things because we know we still have time left. Hit me kind of like bricks.
What are the things I am putting off, waiting til the last possible moment that the Lord wants me to do? Who are the people I am to go to, to minister to, to evangelize, before Jesus comes back? What a word of encouragement and one such a reminder to be about His business! Being ready! Jesus said to 'be occupied until I come'. Occupied with the things of Him! I don't want to think I have all the time left in the world to do the things He has called me to do. I want to be found faithful! Be found about my Father's business.
Take a look around...JESUS IS COMING SOON!!!!!

One of my projects is the garage. O please help me!!!!!!! This is a project that to look at, it seems impossible. To look at my wallet, seems even more impossible! It needs an overhaul. Right now, we have our washer upstairs in Jim's bathroom. This is very common in Europe so it's not a big deal. I don't want it there though. I want it down in the garage. We have the water lines or whatever you call it down there so it can be hooked up. Unfortunately, there are piles and piles of boxes and papers and this and that all over so you can't even see the faucets where we would hook it up. Part of the problem is that we don't have a church building that we rent for everyday so we have no place to store all the church related things. The other thing is my husband is a pack rat. He collects receipts, he has receipts that date back longer than any of us have been alive...ok, a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point! He ran his own business for years so he is accustomed to receipts. IT is a constant battle between us...I go to the market...Margie....do you have the receipt from a couple weeks ago when you got that head of lettuce...um, no Jim, I don't. Every once in a while, I clean out my purse and in there I find a treasure chest for him. A whole bunch of receipts with gum pieces stuck on them, corners ripped and a few undecipherable items stained on them. You can barely read the name, date or amount, but he is thrilled none the less to add these to his collection! So, needless to say, there are boxes and boxes and more boxes of receipts in my garage!
Organization!! I look at it this way. Tell me if I am wrong (well don't really) LOL but if you have a pretty place to work in the work load can't be that bad right! I need a pretty laundry area. Laundry and ironing are major things over here in Italy. How can I possibly fit in if I don't have the proper set up!!!! They don't iron with irons we are used to here. They use those only for touch up! Touch up is what I call, "well it looks good to me, why touch it!" They use these professional steam irons!

I have one of these on my wish list. If it makes ironing easier, then I am all for it!
We have an accumulation of wood pieces that would work nicely as a laundry station once put together. It is just the 'putting together' part that I await. I looked online for some ideas. Wow, who would have known you could get so excited about doing laundry with all there is out there on the internet! After all the searching, I came up with something simple that looks pretty and would work in my garage. I am asking for this are for Christmas...which Christmas,,,well, being that Jim is Italian, we just don't know the answer to that yet. I shudder to think what would happen if I become impatient and put an electrical screwgun and all those other power tools in my hand to do it myself. Oh, that might be an idea. I do that sometimes. I get the things out and act like I am going to do it and then Jim gets a look at me, gives me one of those looks and goes about doing it himself!!!
Here are some pretty setups I found:




The first one is the one I would probably go for. It is simple and yet functional. Something very doable for our garage. I like the one with all the cupboards but it is so narrow. Actually, now that I look at all three, a combo of them would be good. A laundry sink would be nice, a place to put the dryer, even though we don't use it (too costly) but it would be nice to use it to take away the scratchy towel feeling.
Did I really write up this whole post on laundry...oh well, I don't get to Lowe's or Home Depot so you have to bear with me.!!
...surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus!! Revelation 22:20