Single Sentence Saturday

(Photo courtesy of Photobucket)

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

~Satchel Paige

service with a smile

I have a little wooden chair. It's blue, with a blue and yellow pad on it. It looks a little .... beat up. But I bought it at a yard sale, hoping to fix it up and use it for a photo shoot for Gracelyn, my niece (see photos below).

Anyway, I don't need anything fancy. Just something yellow, and something that would cover the wood and dark blue paint. So I headed to WalMart. I scanned the paint aisle looking for just the right product, but I had questions. The brand of paint I wanted didn't exactly just come out and say whether it was flat, semi-gloss, or something else.

I've learned to loathe customer service, or the lack thereof. It seems like you either get unresponsive "help", or you get a bunch of sales pitches that you're not interested in. Salespeople are either too eager and pushy, or simply uncaring.

But not Mr. I-Care-About-Your-Yellow-Passion-Paint Guy. Nooo. After I told him my concerns about the paint I had chosen, he took the can from me, and said "May I please see your paint sample?"

I handed it to him.

"I want the Yellow Passion color."

He nodded his approval, and began studying the paint can along with the color swatch.

"Well," he said with shaking fingers, "Looks like you'll need a little different can if you want the semi-gloss."

"Okay," I said. "Which one would I need? And where would I find it?"

He smiled, and said, "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I have your color swatch. I'll get the paint. You just come back in about five minutes and it'll all be ready for ya'."

There was no condemnation for being less than a paint expert. No unwillingness to help me. No sighing. No attempt to sell me a bigger, more expensive can. Just servanthood. A desire to help me get the exact color and shine that I wanted out of that little can of paint. And he was willing to put one foot in front of the other and do the work for me, while I finished the rest of my shopping.

The two amazing things about this experience?

1. I was at WalMart. Need I say more?

2.  He was old. His gait was slow, his eyes were failing, and his hands shook. But he took the time to let me know  that I was the only person in that store at that moment. I was the one that mattered, who was in need.

I found myself wanting to follow him around instead of finish my shopping, but thought that might make him feel a little awkward. So I wheeled my cart around, gathered the rest of my items, then came back just as the paint was done in the paint stirrer.

He took it out of the machine, opened the can, and dipped a piece of paper in the paint. Then he swiped it across the top of the can, took out a purple blow dryer (*Snort!), and blow dried it so that none of it would get on my blue tanktop.

He set it on the counter, and slid it towards me. Then he handed me a paint stick to stir it with once I got home, smiled at me, and said, "There you are, little lady. Have a great day."

"Thank you," I replied, thinking that I could indeed mark this day in my journal as "great."

Not only did I get my yellow passion, semi-gloss paint. But I got it with a smile.

God bless that old man at the WalMart paint counter, and all that follow his example across America.

reflections from a mother's heart

I picked up a journal from the used book store the other day. Not a used one, of course. But obviously one that soemone out there didn't feel the need to fill out - so they sold it to this used book store. It's called Reflections from a Mother's Heart: Your Life Story in Your Own Words. On the top, it says "A Family Legacy for Your Children."

Wow.

I flipped through the pages. I've seen many books just like this one. Only I had yet to find one that asked questions that I thought really applied to me. So I never bought them.

Until now.

I turned the pages, reading the questions they were asking mom's to answer. And I knew that this mom could answer all (or at least most) of what they were asking. So for a whoppin' five dollars, I bought the book.

I will fill the book out manually, but I also thought I would begin sharing some of it here also. I'll put all of these entries under the label of Reflections from a Mother's Heart, over on the left side bar.

For the first day, they ask me to fill out a "personal portrait." But they ask way too much information to be divulging on a blog. So I'll start with the next entry:

What is your favorite?

Flower: It's a tie between light pink roses and tulips.

Perfume: I hate them all. They give me nothing but nausea. Shaun and I are well matched in this area, since they all make him sneeze. ;)

Color: Red!

Hymn or Song: Nearer Still Nearer

Book: Way too many to name, and I don't think I can pick just one! I know, I know. If I were a good Christian, I'd say the Bible. But I always feel like I'm trying to be holier than thou when I say that.

Author: Jeanette Oke and Francine Rivers are two of my faves. Also, Catherine Marshall.

Bible verse: This changes throughout life. Right now, I'd have to say Ephesians 1:3-9

Dessert: When I could eat dessert, it was anything chocolate. Brownies ranked high, as did rocky road ice cream. Yum!

Vacation Spot: Western Colorado.

Type of Food: Anything in the category of JUNK!

Sport: Baseball - hands down.

Leisure Activity: Reading, or a hand project that involves a needle and thread.

Don't worry. Not all of these will be like a meme. We're going to get into some good stuff. Might even be juicy, so come back often. ;)

So ... pick one or two (or all!) and let me know what your faves are.

Please.

The beauty of the written word is that it can be held close to the heart and read over and over again. ~Florence Littauer

simple woman's daybook

I've been meaning to link up to The Simple Woman's Daybook for quite some time, so I'm going to take the plunge! Head on over to The Simple Woman's website to link up and read some of the other entries.


FOR TODAY


Outside my window... Cloudy with a chance of meatballs (we're having spaghetti for dinner, Lord willing).

I am thinking... That I should hurry up and get school started (yes, we're still doing school) so that I can be ready for my nieces to come over later today.

I am thankful for... A patient husband, an even more patient Heavenly Father, and SUMMER. :)

From the learning rooms... I'm studying a photoshop book right now that I got for my birthday. It's a little frustrating for someone who doesn't learn well from the written word. Even if there's pictures. I'm a hands on learner ... but, at least I try.

From the kitchen... Spaghetti for dinner, I have a roast in the crockpot for myself (since I can't have spaghetti), and I'd like to make some blueberry muffins and some blondie brownies. We'll see how well the nieces behave.

I am wearing... My pink, fuzzy robe. But not for long.

I am creating... a novel.

I am going... to write a letter to Peter today. Remember, Peter's in Marine boot camp. We finally have his address, so I'm going to write, write, write. 

I am reading... A Wife After God's Own Heart, by Elizabeth George.

I am hoping... that my neck stops hurting.

I am hearing... birds chirping, fingers typing, and the fan upstairs.

Around the house... it's dusty.

One of my favorite things... photography!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Two baseball games, a baby shower for a friend at church, and family from Oregon coming to stay for a week!

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing:

(Taken from downtown Denver when we saw Peter off to boot camp. I'm obviously not accustomed to large buildings, so I had to take a picture.)

book review: buried alive

Buried Alive, by Roy Hallums, is a true story of an American contractor working in Iraq, kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. He was help captive for 311 days. Most of those days were spent in a concrete tomb, infested with sand fleas, where he was poorly treated - to put it mildly.

Hallums not only shares his physical surrounding in great detail, but also his emotional state during his captivity. He also goes in to great detail about his fellow inmates, and what it must have been like for them.

The book also includes information about his family, and how they dealt with the ordeal back in the states, which I found interesting. However, the page turner portion of the book was learning about how Iraqi insurgents capture innocent American contractors, throw them in trunks of cars, beat them, starve them, and entomb them, all in the name of funding more terrorist operations. It's not fascinating in a curious sort of way, but in an incredulous sort of way. To think that human beings can treat other human beings in that manner was enough to boil my blood, and it made me want to quickly finish the book.

I was thankful when I reached the last three or four chapters that reveal his rescue by Army special forces. And I was thankful for Roy's dogged determination to not only live through the ordeal, but to remain sane and available to those who were entombed with him. His courage and ability to cope was nothing short of amazing.

Between Roy's tenacity, and the bravery of the troops that rescued him, Buried Alive was not only a page turner, but a tear jerker. I couldn't help but tear up at those troops, their bravery, and their care for a fellow American.

God bless American soldiers.

And God bless Roy Hallums.

Single Sentence Saturday

“The perfect church service,would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.” ~C.S. Lewis

top summer faves

I'm in the slums today. I'm tired, and discouraged and I want to go back to bed. But when it's summer, I have a hard time staying there. It's warm out, even in the evenings. My schedule is less hectic. It's just a great time of year. So to cheer myself (and maybe you!) up today, I decided to create a list of things I appreciate about summer:

1. I've already said it, but warm weather has to be on the top of my list. I love the beauty of snow, but the cold temperatures nearly do me in. Sitting in the warm sunshine with a good book is surely something I will do in Heaven. A lot! I call it therapeutic thawing.
2. Baseball! No summer is complete until you've watched as many baseball games as you can cram in. These include Rockies games and Andrew's games. I'm a bit partial to Andrew's, because I get a front row seat, and I'm the pitcher's mom. I sometimes pretend that we're at a Rockies game, and Andrew is the next Ubaldo Jimenez, pitching a no hitter. But don't tell anyone. I'd be embarassed if people knew that.
3. Trips to the library. I'm taking one this afternoon, to find books for Andrew and I to read together for our summer reading program. Not that it's really a program, but the point is to keep reading, learning, and exploring. The fun part is that we won't have a fixed, rigid schedule like we do during the school year. Have I mentioned I loathe restraint of any kind?
4. With Peter away to boot camp, I am priveleged to to be spending a lot of time with Jessie. So far, we're watching favorite shows together, doing a little shopping, and projects like dressing her up and letting me practice my photography. She's a good sport, and thankfully, a photogenic good sport. And she keeps me company at Andrew's game, while Shaun mainly stays with Andrew to coach.
5. Road trips! So far, we've gone to Colorado Springs/Woodland Park for a baseball tournament. I'm hoping to make it over to the western slope also, to see my family and hometown.
6. Flowers, and all things living. Nothing better than looking out the window and seeing green life, birds soaring, and colorful flowers blowing in the breeze.
7. Time to regroup. This mainly has to do with homeschool, and reflecting on what worked and what didn't work, and figuring out how to best deal with those challenges. It also tends to be a time to rethink other aspects and goals. Normally, this is what New Years is all about. But for me, it happens in the summer.

I know I have more, but that library trip is calling my name, and I can't think of anything else at the moment. Instead, how about you tell me about your summers, and what it is that you enjoy most? I'd love to hear what you enjoy doing with your family, your spare time, and your .... spare money!!!