NEVER Wrestle with a Shop Vac* -- a Preamble to Beating Busyness
Ahhhhh…… Monday mornings. Some are dreadful. Some delightful. Monday, December 10th was a record-breaker in this house, hands down.
John was ready to leave for work when he decided he’d make a last-minute trip to the basement for something. Let’s just say the next few mutterings rising thru’ the vents clued me in to a terrible discovery. WATER IN THE BASEMENT.
Because our home was added on to, we have two small basements. One “new” one, and one ”scary” one. “Scary” translates: old and cellar-like. (Main part of our home was built in 1908.) Both of our basements are currently storing my parents’ furniture waiting to fill new homes when our boys get married, among other “treasures”.
Wood furniture standing in an inch or more of water is not an ideal combination. To the rescue, I offered to fetch the shop vac. Naturally it was over in the “scary” basement.
John said, “No, don’t you go, I’ll get it.” Quite confident I could accomplish said task, I emphatically said, “No… I’ll get it.”
This is the shop vac Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor would have excitedly featured on his show Home Improvement. With a girth rounder than Santa’s, I managed to get the tool-of-all-tools up the first half of the stairs. Negotiating the turn on the landing, I attempted to lift it up the second half. “Hurry, hurry! Time’s a wastin’!!!”
There’s a teensy shelf on the stairs where we store six-packs of glass bottled ginger ales. (Don’t ask me why. Just because.) As I heaved the shop vac up the first step, my elbow caught one of the six-packs. Yes, it dove rapidly, spiraling onto the top of my bare foot. (I was wearing flip-flops.) Let’s just say my mutterings rising thru’ the vents clued John into the fact I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing.
Searing pain shot up thru’ my foot, my leg, into my head and out of my mouth. One of my writer friends, Robin from Indy, has a great Christmas talk called “Advent or Advil?” Let’s just say Advent wasn’t in my head at all. Please forgive me, Lord.
This particular Monday morning also happened to be the gift-wrapping party day I told you of in another post…. (SURE CURE FOR A BAH HUMBUG ATTITUDE) which really is THE best day of the season, in my opinion, prior to Christmas Day. Fearing a date with the Emergency Room, I kept praying, “Lord, please don’t let my foot be broken. Please don’t let it be broken.”
I quickly put on tennis shoes, certain they’d “fix” any future swelling. After all, I could walk. Trah-lah-lah…
John managed to transfer the shop vac to the new basement, vacuum up all the water, put the dehumidifier on, and get to work.
“Let’s start this day over!” I begged, as if nothing had happened. Patiently biting his tongue, John simply shook his head. With an I-told-you-so- look, I felt slightly scolded. Still scurrying, I readied for the wrapping party.
There you have one pitiful-poor-preamble to our desperate need to beat busyness and secure some margin into our schedules. Rushing around, to the detriment of ourselves (and sometimes our bare feet), is never a good idea.
As we ring in the New Year and lay open before us a brand new calendar for 2013, we’ll learn what margin is, why we need it, and see how WITH it, we CAN beat busyness. You’ll be surprised to learn we’re wired by God to rest. He created rest! Each week in January, we’ll discuss one of four ways to keep some much-needed margin in our lives.
Perhaps not a total-cure-all scenario, but at the very least one to make us all mindful of our margin. We ALL have margin. Whether or not we keep it (!!!) is the challenge du jour.
Meanwhile, I pray you and your family have a most Blessed, Happy and Healthy New Year and that 2013 will be one of your best yet. I’m ready for a brand new beginning. You?
Let Lamentations 3:22-23 brighten your day: “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” The Life Application Bible explains: “Trusting in God’s faithfulness day by day makes us confident in his great promises for the future.”
*The Lesson? Besides NEVER WRESTLE WITH A SHOP VAC, the lesson for us all is to quit rushing. We’ll learn what the Lord desires for us straight out of Scripture. Your eyes will be opened!
Additionally, don’t miss a wonderful children’s book, Never Tease a Weasel, by Jean Conder Soule, which led me to this week’s blog title. This was a favorite book of mine growing up and John and I both read this to our boys. Teasing among siblings ran/runs (!) rampant.
Favorite line: “NEVER tease a weasel. This is very good advice. A weasel will not like it. And teasing isn’t nice!”
‘Til next time!
(This post begs for yet another plea of forgiveness from my sweet husband. John and I are going on twenty-nine years of marriage and he gets the “Most-Patient-With-My-Wife” Award. Amazing grace. May God continue to bless you and our marriage abundantly. )