Today, I had THANKSGIVING LUNCH with Lil Miss at school. The TURKEY WORKS was the meal and it tasted like MEMORIES that soothe my soul. Blistery windy day outside where the furnace must be on and bundling up a must.
I took an afternoon nap where I set the alarm to go off 30 minutes before returning to school to pick Lil Miss up.
So that I felt like I had accomplished something in the afternoon, I entered "THE SPARE ROOM" where you may not come out alive if you go in there. IT'S WHAT YOU'D CALL A MESS.
I will be a NEW WOMAN when the spare bedroom is organized and looks more like civilized people live here than HERMITS. I picked up a container to go through and deal with. Thought if I can just go through SOMETHING everyday that soon there would be a dent in all that needs to be done. A DENT.
The small white basket that I picked up and carried to my overstuffed family room chair looked like one that I could go through QUICKLY and pat myself on the back that I GOT SUMTHIN' DONE.
I'm not sure why certain pieces of paper were in this PARTICULAR BASKET, but this is what I found as I was gently picking up each piece of paper to look at. I have to sleeve these papers in vinyl sheets and then place them in appropriate notebooks to where I iz SO ORGANIZED I CAN'T STAND MESELF.
There were small pieces of bubble wrap, a couple of plug-in devices I don't have a clue what they belonged to, old 23 year old Church Bulletins, a letter written by my eldest son when he shared why he wanted to be in a singing group and what he had experienced, a Church bulletin from 1990 when my other son was confirmed, a 1990 Lecturer telling about Dr. Charles Allen, a wedding announcement from a Houston Texas friend that announced he had married with a picture of his second wife that would later pass away within their first year of marriage from Breast Cancer, an old card with letter from Belarus from my soon to be ex daughter in law's mother wishing us a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, an article about seven who shaped destiny, newspaper clippings from various places, a 2008 letter from my eldest brother wishing us a happy new year, a cartoon clipping, etc.During Prayer Time today, I was thinking about people I should have talked to and didn't. I think it ODD that one of those people I thought of was Charles Allen when we heard him speak at Church when we lived in Texas. In the basket was a slip of paper with his name on it. Perhaps I should try and get my hands on one of the books he wrote. As we went through the line at the end of the Church Service to shake the Pastor's hand, we were at the end of the line and there standing behind us was Dr. Charles Allen. I had a prime opportunity to turn around and visit with him, but didn't. I should have, but didn't. Too shy to say hello and invite him to our HOME for LUNCH after Church that day. Not that he would have accepted the invite, but that opportunity slipped through my fingers. That has bothered me for a long time. There have been times that I should have said, Hello and didn't.
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| Charles Allen |
Charles Livingstone Allen (1913 – August 30, 2005) was an American ordained Methodist minister most notable for his work as a Pastor.
Born in Newborn, Georgia, he ministered around the state, including 1948 to 1960 at Grace United Methodist in Atlanta. During his tenure at Grace, it became the largest congregation in Georgia and while at First Methodist it became the largest Methodist congregation in the world at 12,000 members. In 1960, he moved to Houston, Texas where he served at First United Methodist until 1983.
Allen was also a columnist for the Atlanta Journal and Atlanta Constitution during the 1950s and after that for the Houston Chronicle. He also authored inspirational books, including God's Psychiatry and Prayer Changes Things.
The section of Parkway Drive (which connects Highland Ave to Piedmont Park) north of Ponce de Leon in Atlanta was renamed in his honor in the 1960s.
I save all of my Christmas Cards, but they're usually all grouped together. Personal letters the same. I don't know why these particular things were off by themselves unless I had GOOD INTENTIONS to stash these some place else and this is as far as I got. MIGHT BE. Hum.
The cartoon clipping I came across was one of FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE by Lynn Johnston. The Mom is picking up articles from the house and is thinking GRUMBLE SNARL. I spend half my life picking up after other people!! She begins to holler at her family about picking things up. Ending with saying, "Honestly! Everytime I turn around I'm picking up things left by other people. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a house where everything stayed neat and tidy!!!" Her little daughter says, "I know what a house like that would be like, Mom! EMPTY."
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| Cartoonist Lynn Johnston |
As I think about my children having grown up there shouldn't be so many messes, but there are. Different kinds of messes. Messes is as messes does.
I pray that as time passes that I will once again have the strength to GET MY ACT TOGETHER....in a good way. The spare room be a bedroom once again.
Please Lord, help me.
Praying,
d
