Bye Car

It has been a hard day here. Pa and I had to go to town and get some pictures. We stopped and ate some semi- junk food for lunch and came home.
None of that was all that hard.
The hard part was calling a tow truck to come pick up our old Chevy station wagon. That wagon has been more of a home to us then the house we live in.

It all started with a Christmas trip to Florida to see my folks. We had gone to Pa's folk's for Thanksgiving and after getting back home, Pa said "we couldn't take that car to Florida". I so "gently" informed him that "I didn't know how he was getting there but come Christmas the kids and I were getting in that car".
I had been praying about a new car for about a year and was planning on another year before we would have to buy one. I had it all picked out and was very specific with my prayers. A nice dark red with gray interior along with certain bells and whistles. A well cared for used car.

Then Pa interferes with my plans. One day, at the gas station, I see a station wagon on the cover of Wheels and Deals, I bought the booklet and showed it to Pa. A week goes by and Pa is trying to rent a Van to drive down home but by that time all Vans have been rented. For the cost of rental we could fix the old car but Pa didn't want to put any more money into it. The next week, at the gas station, I looked at another Wheels and Deals, the car was still there. When Pa got home from work I so "gently" informed him that the car was still listed and that if he was going to look at it he had better get to it. He called, we drove a hour south of here, looked at it and Pa said we should try to buy it. Something that I knew just wasn't going to happen but just in case I prayed that if this was the car God wanted us to have "please let the old one die" so I would know that it was God and not Pa
The process started, the loan people wanted to see the car and the car lot people just let us bring it up here, that was unreal to me. The loan people needed one more paper before they could tell us if the loan would go through. I took the paper up to Spring Hill. On my way home I wasn't happy, this wasn't the car I had been praying for. It was white with blue interior and I wasn't ready for a car payment.

"Please Lord, let me know that we are doing the right thing. Please just let this car die if the new one is what you want for us" was prayed again half heartily.

I'm going down the road worrying about this mess and the car dies, right in front of one of the old construction gates at Saturn. Pa was at work and I didn't know what else to do so I just went through the gate, walked down to the plant, went in and called Pa. He couldn't believe that I just walked into the plant. I told him that 2 or 3 security cars went by and saw me walking across the field but didn't stop. We had the car towed home and the next day picked up the new wagon. The old car never started again for us. The kid down the street bought it and had no trouble getting it to start. He drove it to Florida that next spring.

We made many trips in that car, took Farm Wife to college, took a hospital bed up home for grandma, weddings, anniversary's, funerals, camping trips, girlfriends to visit a very homesick FW two weeks before she was to come home for Thanksgiving brake. Lots of singing, lectures, talking, fighting, playing and praying.

That car now belongs to people who will use it for other good things. That made its leaving easy to watch and me happy in my heart.

Poor Baby

HT has a virus that is causing lots of diaper changes. Mom says he is not a happy camper right now, so it is off to a warm bath and lots of butt paste. Along with the hope of a early bedtime for all of them.
Pa isn't a happy camper either right now. He is very tired. Next week is the audit and that is always a really big job to get ready for. This year he gets to check the gages, on top of his usual jobs. I can't tell you much about his job I just know it takes a lot of math and looking.

For a long time I thought that the people were sloppy. Pa would come home and tell me they had a spill in some area, sometimes he would call and tell me he didn't know when he would be home because of a spill. After hearing this for so long I said to him "why in the world were those guys so sloppy and what were they always spilling, there has to be a way to stop it , they can't be getting anything done because they are spending all their time mopping up the mess." Pa had a good laugh. It seems that their definition and mine were not the same.
The other thing about Pa's job is measuring parts and equipment. He would come home and talk in math terms I didn't fully understand. So one day I ask him " is this measurement thing bigger or smaller then a strand of my hair", smaller he said and from that day on I have pretty much been in a state of confusion when it comes to Pa's job.

Great days

Easter Sunday is my favorite day.

When the children were little there were special clothes for church, gifts, dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's followed by a egg hunt with cousins, along with help from parents.
Time marched on and Easter changed. It was still my favorite day but the gifts and the hunt drifted away and there were few dinners at G&G's.
Then we started having friends over for dinner and hunts for their little ones.
Ours woke up to Easter baskets already done.
Over the years a sadness fell over me and although Easter Sunday was still my favorite day and I was so thankful for Jesus Resurrection. The joy of the blessing just wasn't there like before.

I came to understand why this past Christmas. "Christian holidays were originally pagan events". Over and Over for the past 20 years or longer I have heard that statement. It has wearied my soul to the point of guilt and frustration.
"I know, I know and I don't care, I don't even want to talk about it. So just LET IT GO" has been my stance on the whole thing for years now. That is until after this past Christmas. There would be days when out of the blue "it was originally a pagan holiday" popped into my thinking and I gave it just a little thought. Then a little more and more. Finally this is where my thoughts came to.

My whole life I had been doing something that was right in the knowledge that I had. Then someone brought Jesus to me and I came to understand that what knowledge I had wasn't complete. Giving that up and excepting Jesus into my life, changes my life and thought process.
Now, I look at my day to day life in a new way. Along comes a "holiday" and I choose not to take part in the pagan, instead I give thought to the hand of God in Spring, Summer, Harvest and Winter, giving thanks for His faithfulness in all things. As time goes by I am joined with others in this celebration and the pagan loses its importance, to the thankfulness and gifts of the Lord God almighty.

Then as power and money are lost the greedy move to the more profited side and set up shop and the pagan followers just keep doing what they have always done, while telling anyone who will listen "we did it first". Which isn't true either. The Creator of all things in heaven and earth, taught man to worship Him. Man in his own self WANT changed that worship to things of earth.


This year there were new clothes for the grandchildren for church.
On Saturday Grandpa and Grandma M&M and Inklings parents came 2 hours south, Uncle Gick and Aunt Di along with her parents Grandpa and Grandma Bee joined us at Bucka and Busha's big front yard, full of tall grass, for an Easter egg hunt.
Sunday morning Bucka and Busha glowed as they introduced their grandchildren and great grandchildren to friends.
Dinner was simple, little people played and played and the day ended as it had began. My favorite day because of Jesus. The sadness gone and the joy of the blessings returned.

Next year should be even better.