Last year when I put the Christmas stockings away, unbeknownst to me, there was something wet in the bin, and all year long, the handmade sequined and beaded stockings, two of which I made for my children, and two of which were made by my Aunt Rosemary, were growing mold all over them.
Today I took them to the dry-cleaners to see if they can be cleaned and saved.
I also bought four new stockings online. Not handmade. Not sequined and beaded with love. But they will be embroidered with our names. We can't have another Christmas without stockings. If the old ones survive, I'll have my mother keep them at her house with the others that all match.
You see, everyone in the "A" family has a stocking that looks like those old ones. Mine was made for me when I was a baby, my husband's made for him when we got married, and the children's were made for them when they were born, or near their first Christmas. I made one for my sister-in-law when she was engaged to my brother. It's a big tradition thing in the "A" family.
If those stockings are no more, it will make me very sad. I may end up making four more... I'd rather not have to. My brother and his wife are expecting a baby, so I know the pattern will be brought out to make one for the new baby, and what's FOUR more while we're at it?!
Sigh.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
It's not what you think.
No, really. It's not.
My husband commented to me after reading my last post that he thought it would make my readers think we're having marital problems. We're not.
We are still in the midst of this conflict (the two of us united on one side of it) that was dropped in our laps before Christmas. It's starting to feel like the other party (or parties, I'm not even completely sure) is (are?) blowing us off. Resolution must not be high on the priority list.
I'm getting hacked off that this conflict was brought to us before Christmas (December 14th, to be specific), and that this hasn't yet been resolved. If it could have waited, then why wasn't it brought to us after the holidays? Instead, it was unleashed on us, and we have been stewing over it for weeks now.
That's just not cool. I don't care who you are or what the problem is. If you bring up a conflict, and it requires a scheduled meeting to resolve it, then MAKE TIME FOR THE MEETING. I'm just sayin. It's really unkind to blow it off after bringing it up.
My husband commented to me after reading my last post that he thought it would make my readers think we're having marital problems. We're not.
We are still in the midst of this conflict (the two of us united on one side of it) that was dropped in our laps before Christmas. It's starting to feel like the other party (or parties, I'm not even completely sure) is (are?) blowing us off. Resolution must not be high on the priority list.
I'm getting hacked off that this conflict was brought to us before Christmas (December 14th, to be specific), and that this hasn't yet been resolved. If it could have waited, then why wasn't it brought to us after the holidays? Instead, it was unleashed on us, and we have been stewing over it for weeks now.
That's just not cool. I don't care who you are or what the problem is. If you bring up a conflict, and it requires a scheduled meeting to resolve it, then MAKE TIME FOR THE MEETING. I'm just sayin. It's really unkind to blow it off after bringing it up.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The Sticky Wicket
Dear Reader(s?),
I have alluded in the past to my blog silence having something to do with things I cannot discuss in such a public forum. Lately this has been the case, along with being incredibly busy.
I will not discuss the conflict which weighs on me, as it its unresolved nature makes it delicate and way out of bounds. I can, however, discuss things that I have been thinking as a result of what is weighing on me.
One is a question of trust and submission. If we have perfect trust, then submission is not a difficulty. The problem with submission arises when trust is in doubt. The temptation to be unsubmissive only arises when rather than trusting the authority, one trusts in ones self more. There are two non-negotiables clearly spelled out in scripture that instantly come to my mind. One is wives to husbands (Ephesians 5:22). Duh. The other is in paying taxes to the government (Matthew 22:21). In neither case are we required to trust the authority, but rather to submit to the authority. And in both cases, as mentioned on those verses, it is really God to whom we submit, and not men. Men are not completely trustworthy. Only God is. As a wife, when I doubt my husband, I can trust God and submit to my husband with peace in my heart. The husband is who will answer to God for whatever it is anyway.
Lately I have been in conversations with a non-believer co-worker of mine about Christianity. He is involved in a situation with someone claiming to be a Christian who is not acting Christ-like. All of this cements his attitude that Christianity is just another set of rules like every other world religion. This badly behaving Christian is justifying his bad behavior by "balancing the scale," claiming to have permission to sin in one area because he has done other things that are good to balance it out. I'm only hearing about all this second-hand, and I don't know this other person at all, so I can't speak to his actions and his words. What I do know of Christianity that sets it apart from every other world religion is that Jesus came along to tell us that our sin was not only what did, but in could also include our thoughts. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus explained that it wasn't enough to abstain from adultery. It IS adultery to look on a woman in lust. This is the sticky wicket. We are accountable for our thoughts. This makes people upset. This turns just about all of us into Pharisees at some point or other. We want to point to the good things we do, and the bad that we don't do, and get all high and mighty, boastful and proud, and claim ourselves to be "good enough." This is why Paul declared his righteousness to be filthy rags compared to the holiness of God. Because he knew that he couldn't keep from sinning in his thoughts. God knows that our thoughts lead, guide and direct our actions. Jesus is trying to teach us, to help us, to head off sin before it becomes sin.
So in the case of my unresolved conflict, I am here to confess that I have failed utterly in keeping my mind from feeding a bad attitude. I will likely fail again. But I am sure that whether I am wronged or in the wrong, I am called to the Philippians 4:8 "Whatever."
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8
It is no small task to find that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, excellent or praiseworthy when in the midst of conflict.
The song in my head is rather embarrassing. I wish is was something else. After a deep post like this, I'm ending with a stupid song that I don't even like... Well, here it is. This dumb song. Ugh. I wish I knew what it meant. From what I can tell of reading the lyrics online, it's about a kid who finds a gun in his dad's closet, and not necessarily about someone on a shooting rampage, which was my first thought when I listened close enough to the chorus to be appalled by it.
Hubby came in while I was writing this post and found the dog tucked under my lap desk, thought it was cute and snapped this picture. The blanket on my lap is one I finished crocheting yesterday. Way earlier than usual, after dinner tonight I got into my pajamas. It was a good choice after stuffing myself with Freebirds. (Why do I have this compulsive need to explain myself?? What's WRONG with me? Why am I so defensive?)
I have alluded in the past to my blog silence having something to do with things I cannot discuss in such a public forum. Lately this has been the case, along with being incredibly busy.
I will not discuss the conflict which weighs on me, as it its unresolved nature makes it delicate and way out of bounds. I can, however, discuss things that I have been thinking as a result of what is weighing on me.
One is a question of trust and submission. If we have perfect trust, then submission is not a difficulty. The problem with submission arises when trust is in doubt. The temptation to be unsubmissive only arises when rather than trusting the authority, one trusts in ones self more. There are two non-negotiables clearly spelled out in scripture that instantly come to my mind. One is wives to husbands (Ephesians 5:22). Duh. The other is in paying taxes to the government (Matthew 22:21). In neither case are we required to trust the authority, but rather to submit to the authority. And in both cases, as mentioned on those verses, it is really God to whom we submit, and not men. Men are not completely trustworthy. Only God is. As a wife, when I doubt my husband, I can trust God and submit to my husband with peace in my heart. The husband is who will answer to God for whatever it is anyway.
Lately I have been in conversations with a non-believer co-worker of mine about Christianity. He is involved in a situation with someone claiming to be a Christian who is not acting Christ-like. All of this cements his attitude that Christianity is just another set of rules like every other world religion. This badly behaving Christian is justifying his bad behavior by "balancing the scale," claiming to have permission to sin in one area because he has done other things that are good to balance it out. I'm only hearing about all this second-hand, and I don't know this other person at all, so I can't speak to his actions and his words. What I do know of Christianity that sets it apart from every other world religion is that Jesus came along to tell us that our sin was not only what did, but in could also include our thoughts. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus explained that it wasn't enough to abstain from adultery. It IS adultery to look on a woman in lust. This is the sticky wicket. We are accountable for our thoughts. This makes people upset. This turns just about all of us into Pharisees at some point or other. We want to point to the good things we do, and the bad that we don't do, and get all high and mighty, boastful and proud, and claim ourselves to be "good enough." This is why Paul declared his righteousness to be filthy rags compared to the holiness of God. Because he knew that he couldn't keep from sinning in his thoughts. God knows that our thoughts lead, guide and direct our actions. Jesus is trying to teach us, to help us, to head off sin before it becomes sin.
So in the case of my unresolved conflict, I am here to confess that I have failed utterly in keeping my mind from feeding a bad attitude. I will likely fail again. But I am sure that whether I am wronged or in the wrong, I am called to the Philippians 4:8 "Whatever."
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8
It is no small task to find that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, excellent or praiseworthy when in the midst of conflict.
The song in my head is rather embarrassing. I wish is was something else. After a deep post like this, I'm ending with a stupid song that I don't even like... Well, here it is. This dumb song. Ugh. I wish I knew what it meant. From what I can tell of reading the lyrics online, it's about a kid who finds a gun in his dad's closet, and not necessarily about someone on a shooting rampage, which was my first thought when I listened close enough to the chorus to be appalled by it.
Hubby came in while I was writing this post and found the dog tucked under my lap desk, thought it was cute and snapped this picture. The blanket on my lap is one I finished crocheting yesterday. Way earlier than usual, after dinner tonight I got into my pajamas. It was a good choice after stuffing myself with Freebirds. (Why do I have this compulsive need to explain myself?? What's WRONG with me? Why am I so defensive?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
