I found out that a past co-worker of mine passed away in her sleep. She was younger than me. She left behind an 8 and a 3 year old, her hubby and her ailing mother. It was such a shock to learn. It was hard to believe that it was true. Our kids used to have playdates when they were younger. Losing someone so young, it isn't just the loss of their presence, it completely alters forever her family's way of life...not only do they have to deal with her death, but they have to find solutions to the hole that her absence brings. I simply can't fathom it all yet. A take-away, I guess, is a reminder that life is a gift and never guaranteed.
On the home front, we decided to drop the price of our home and had an open house this weekend. Our realtor repeatedly told us how people who stopped in were impressed with how well kept our home is. That was nice to hear that our hard work paid off. God willing we'll get some good offers now. Our realtor is hoping we'll be under contract within 2-3 weeks in order to meet the timeline for when our new home is scheduled to be ready. Timing is the challenge.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Death and Divorce
Death is never fun this side of Heaven. Neither is dissolution of a marriage. Both of those happened this week and I am still processing.
My former head boss, a senior pastor, passed away this week. It wasn't clearly stated, but suicide is the inclination stuck in my head. Perhaps it wasn't suicide, but I can't shake the feeling that it could be. That thought grieves me more than if he had simply passed from other causes. I knew him as an insecure man, fearful of failure, fearful of loss of influence, and unsure of his calling. At the same time he was passionate about bringing the lost to know Jesus as their Savior. He deeply cared about people finding faith in Christ.
There were moments I admired him and moments when I didn't. I never felt he was a good leader, but he was the man God allowed to lead. His team protected him and worked around his issues. They managed the running of the church while letting him believe he was in control of it all. It may possibly be the most dysfunctional church leadership team that I've been witness to. And yet, God was continuing to work in the situation and make a difference in the lives of their congregation. He impacted many lives for Christ, proving over and over that God can accomplish His plan despite human failings.
I grieve for his family. I grieve for the struggles he faced that brought him to his death, and most of all, I grieve for the church -God's people who he pastored.
The other sad issue is closer to home. From the vague and cryptic Facebook posts, it seems my cousin's marriage is ending. I am very sad. His wife is witty and fun. I don't know what went wrong, and I've only been witness to social media from her perspective because he doesn't communicate much.
Family issues are never much talked about when it comes to painful things like this. I know how much they loved each other, and I only have seen glimpses of struggles. They were married shortly after I was. I know there are things that could have torn my marriage apart if it weren't for our faith in Christ and being able to look to the Lord for our guidance and our strength. She doesn't post much about faith, so I don't know if she has that support in her life. A marriage dissolved always brings me sadness no matter the circumstances. Marriage is such a beautiful thing that God created and we muck it up so badly.
I grieve for each of them, for their children, and for another marriage that Satan ruined. I pray for their reconciliation. I pray for their individual walks with God.
My former head boss, a senior pastor, passed away this week. It wasn't clearly stated, but suicide is the inclination stuck in my head. Perhaps it wasn't suicide, but I can't shake the feeling that it could be. That thought grieves me more than if he had simply passed from other causes. I knew him as an insecure man, fearful of failure, fearful of loss of influence, and unsure of his calling. At the same time he was passionate about bringing the lost to know Jesus as their Savior. He deeply cared about people finding faith in Christ.
There were moments I admired him and moments when I didn't. I never felt he was a good leader, but he was the man God allowed to lead. His team protected him and worked around his issues. They managed the running of the church while letting him believe he was in control of it all. It may possibly be the most dysfunctional church leadership team that I've been witness to. And yet, God was continuing to work in the situation and make a difference in the lives of their congregation. He impacted many lives for Christ, proving over and over that God can accomplish His plan despite human failings.
I grieve for his family. I grieve for the struggles he faced that brought him to his death, and most of all, I grieve for the church -God's people who he pastored.
The other sad issue is closer to home. From the vague and cryptic Facebook posts, it seems my cousin's marriage is ending. I am very sad. His wife is witty and fun. I don't know what went wrong, and I've only been witness to social media from her perspective because he doesn't communicate much.
Family issues are never much talked about when it comes to painful things like this. I know how much they loved each other, and I only have seen glimpses of struggles. They were married shortly after I was. I know there are things that could have torn my marriage apart if it weren't for our faith in Christ and being able to look to the Lord for our guidance and our strength. She doesn't post much about faith, so I don't know if she has that support in her life. A marriage dissolved always brings me sadness no matter the circumstances. Marriage is such a beautiful thing that God created and we muck it up so badly.
I grieve for each of them, for their children, and for another marriage that Satan ruined. I pray for their reconciliation. I pray for their individual walks with God.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Listing this Week!
Wowsers. It is surreal to be finally at the place that our home will be placed on the market for all to see, and hopefully come and put in an offer!
We had one final weekend of chaos to get ready for the photographer, who came this morning. The professional cleaner our realtor usually uses couldn't come, so she got a referral for another lady who came out Saturday. I have mixed feelings on how it went. On the one hand, I learned some great tricks and tips from her, and she accomplished somethings I hadn't had time for earlier. On the other hand, I'm so detail oriented and perfectionist when I clean, I think I could have done a better job and a faster job if I had known her tricks ahead of time. It also took her twice as long as expected so I was in a mad rush to finish things up last night.
Our realtor loved the finished product, she and the photographer were very pleased with the work we'd done on the house and how well we'd prepared for the pictures. They had very little to move or adjust to make things look just right for the pictures. It was neat to see the things that they did tweak for pictures. The current thing is to shove the kitchen table close to the wall to make the dining area seem larger, seems silly to me, but then my momma trained me to keep a keen eye out for those types of marketing tricks. (I still remember the day she pointed out that something for $4.99 was only 1 penny away from $5 and stores use that little trick to make it seem like you are spending less.) Anyway, they added some fake greenery here and there, and a large print of a painting in our bedroom where we'd removed our personal pictures from the wall. I think they did a good job, and I'm looking forward to seeing the pics!
The rest of this week I'll be focusing on organizing the closets, refrigerator and pantry...all those hidden places not seen in pictures, but you know those homebuyers will be snooping in!
We had one final weekend of chaos to get ready for the photographer, who came this morning. The professional cleaner our realtor usually uses couldn't come, so she got a referral for another lady who came out Saturday. I have mixed feelings on how it went. On the one hand, I learned some great tricks and tips from her, and she accomplished somethings I hadn't had time for earlier. On the other hand, I'm so detail oriented and perfectionist when I clean, I think I could have done a better job and a faster job if I had known her tricks ahead of time. It also took her twice as long as expected so I was in a mad rush to finish things up last night.
Our realtor loved the finished product, she and the photographer were very pleased with the work we'd done on the house and how well we'd prepared for the pictures. They had very little to move or adjust to make things look just right for the pictures. It was neat to see the things that they did tweak for pictures. The current thing is to shove the kitchen table close to the wall to make the dining area seem larger, seems silly to me, but then my momma trained me to keep a keen eye out for those types of marketing tricks. (I still remember the day she pointed out that something for $4.99 was only 1 penny away from $5 and stores use that little trick to make it seem like you are spending less.) Anyway, they added some fake greenery here and there, and a large print of a painting in our bedroom where we'd removed our personal pictures from the wall. I think they did a good job, and I'm looking forward to seeing the pics!
The rest of this week I'll be focusing on organizing the closets, refrigerator and pantry...all those hidden places not seen in pictures, but you know those homebuyers will be snooping in!
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