A Day to Give Thanks

That would be ANY DAY!

There are people all around us suffering.
Family members are dealing with unresolved health issues.
Neighbors  just next door and across the street suffering daily with serious health issues that have been on-going for several years.
Families are adjusting their lives with one of their's in harm's way in a distant country, putting their lives on hold  for this country.

As we gather together there are missing faces in the circle.
There are some who have insecure or unsettled job situations.

In the midst of all this and much more isn't it amazing that we can still be thankful?!!

I AM.

Around my table yesterday family members were thankful for jobs, for jobs with good health insurance coverage, for family, for cousins, for friends, for the New Testament/gospel.

And His Mercy!

I am so thankful for the knowledge that every child, their mates, and their children/the grands all know the LORD JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOUR.
I am so humbly thankful for the dear, loving, Godly, wise  gorgeous man God gave me for a husband these last 50 years.

I AM...so thankful that I know to WHOM I AM GIVING THANKS. 
Being thankful alone is not enough..we need to know where these blessings originated. 

I DO!

Here I Go..Thinking Again!

mmm just wondering how we can make room for God in our lives when we often exhibit such difficulty 'making room' even for others new to the community or to our churches.

More About Laundry & Times Past

Copied from a shared email with my own thoughts inserted along the way

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

[ "What will the neighbors think?" was an oft used phrase and influenced many things a family would/could do.]

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped by
To spend a night or two.

[ Would we now say these were nosy or just observant neighbors?]

For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets'
And towels on the line
You'd see the 'company table cloths"
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside-
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children
Could so readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck
As extra sheets were hung.
Then nightclothes and a bathrobe too
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said "Gone on Vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare!

[I can't say that I ever remember people talking about such things as VACATIONS during the 40s and 50s -perhaps just a lapse of the modern day writer's recollections}

Folks were scorned
If wash was dingy and grey
As neighbors raised eyebrows
And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess!

[Some say they miss this way of life.
Others say "no way"..been there, done that."

Personally, it still can be a wonderful experience
going back to another time.  We did it for a number of years and its one of those experiences I would not trade for anything.  ..to be cont'd another time.

Rules for Using a Clothes Line

1. First you have to actually have a clothesline
2. Before hanging clothes..use a wet cloth to wipe the line clean
3. Hang clothes in a certain order: whites with whites
4. I also hung like items side by side: T shirts together; socks together etc.
5. Never hang a shirt or blouse by the shoulders/reason: You had obnoxious  crunches and folds /they take extra time to iron smoothly.
6. Wash on Monday! Never hang clothes on the weekend.
7. Hand large pieces like sheets, towels and pillow cases on outside lines to hide your undies.
8. Always gather your clothespins when you take in the laundry/it's totally irresponsible to leave those pins on the line in the weather.
9. If you do it right one clothes pin will neatly and efficiently hold two items together.
10. Clothes should be taken in before dinner[folding as you removed] ready to be ironed.

* As recently as 1993-2006 on the farm in southeast Texas we had and used a clothesline. We did have a modern clothes dryer for back up but we chose to use the clothesline whenever time and weather permitted

Once when a group of ladies from a garden club in nearby Jasper, Tx, came for a tour of "The Old Barn" and our farmhouse & lunch one of the ladies asked me: "Is that your laundry on the clothes line or is it just for show?"
I replied: "Both.  We do use the clothes line but I made sure there was laundry hanging for your visit, knowing that it had likely  been many years since you had used a clothesline." 

They appreciated the show!

Note: These rules are a mix of my own thoughts and experiences along with those passed around by friends in emails.