As the Dryer Turns

As we begin the next decade of the twenty-first century I wonder what is in store. As I sit at the desk in my office, which roughly translates, my laptop on my kitchen table, it is almost like I can hear the future calling to me. Actually, what I hear is the clothes dryer in the laundry room making a horrific noise. It has been squeaking for weeks, I suppose it is a machine's way of telling me an appliance purchase is in my near future. I have to face the facts. I have done many a load of laundry in that washer and dryer.
I had the first set, a gift from my parents when we had the first baby, for twenty years. They don't make them like they used to. I have barely gotten seven years out of this set, but with the addition of six more kids the shear volume of clothing going through the pair is astronomical. I have used them almost daily. If I go for more than two days I can't wade my way to them to load. I have heard women refer to the "mountain" of laundry they have to do. I wonder, are they kidding? I certainly am not.
We have a window in our small laundry room. If you can see out of it, I have been home to wash clothes lately. If it is dark and creepy it is because the children in this household have changed clothes at a normal rate but Mama has been busy, or preoccupied, or busy being preoccupied with something fun or terribly taxing. Either way, the laundry suffers when I can't get to it.
I have tried several different methods to tame this madness. I have put names on laundry baskets for each member of the family in hopes he or she would take the initiative to put away the contents when I filled it. I think the last of those baskets left in the back of the old suburban recently on it's way to the thrift store filled with odds and ends left from a yard sale. I have tried various charts and job lists, shelves and cubbies, at one point I took to hanging everything up but the underwear kept falling off the hangers and to be honest was kind of ridiculous looking.
I feel like I have tried everything, nothing has worked. The laundry still piles up and I am left with it. We have a whole basket of mismatched socks! These are not waiting to be sorted and folded...they are waiting for their mates to return from outer space! My theory is, once a pair of socks has been successfully worn a time or two one of them somehow ends up in circling Saturn, it is the great mystery solved....those rings around the planet are not some kind of gas, they are mismatched socks! Thousands of which have come directly from my house.
I have raised or am in the process of raising seven children in this house. That is fourteen feet at a time, factor in mine and hubby's and you have eighteen socks a day. I'm not a mathematician but multiply the number of socks by the days in a year and...I rest my case.
What can I say, I am tired, so is the dryer. We sound frighteningly similar on cold mornings. I bet right after I get my last kid off to college someone will come up with disposable clothing or socks that stick together when the going gets tough. I hope my old dryer and I hold up that long.

I am ending this year on an up note. A few weeks ago I wrote about watching the death of a marriage. I was helpless, I knew it, but...I was certain of someone who was not.
Just as certain despair was setting in, a light cut through the clouds. The story is not mine to share but I can give you my perspective. I prayed day and night for the young husband and his wife, even though I didn't know her very well. Some other people were praying too. We prayed the Lord would intervene and give us a miracle.
I am devout romantic. I happen to believe God is too. I asked for whatever it took to get the two talking again, He provided the particulars. I am so happy for them. As I click through pictures of Christmas on Facebook I see their smiling faces and thank God for not giving up on people.
Happy New Year Everybody!

My favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. My family does not “get it”, they have even resorted to hiding my copy from time to time so I won’t give them the poor puppy dog face when they refuse to watch it with me….yet again. They have actually all sat silently letting me fume about not being able to find it. It is sad. I wish they shared my love for George and Mary and Zuzu and Tommy, but they do not.
I understand the movie was a flop at the box office. It was a difficult time in history, maybe it hit too close to home. I imagine many men gave up the opportunity to go to college or see the world to allow their families better lives. George Bailey represents a generation of givers. I guess that is what makes the movie so dear to me. George is not in the world’s standard a wealthy man. Mr. Potter is the successful businessperson. George has to deal with the messiness of a family business, employees who bumble bank deposits (also family), investments that are not exactly solid, but more the shifty ground humanity stands on.
George sees worth in lives. His idea of value is a sound home where a mama, daddy, and children live. His proof of respect is keeping a secret that could ruin a man. His loyalty to his family is his willingness to jump off a bridge to keep them from financial ruin.
What George lacks in business sense he makes up for in brotherly love. The Bible tell us the greatest commandment is “Love God with all your heart’….and Jesus says…”love your neighbor as yourself”. I believe this is the heart of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. You hear in the very beginning all the friends and family praying for George, he is missing now and people are worried. He has no clue they all care enough to pray fervently for him. It is not because George is an important man; it is more because he is a man who loves people. This makes his life so much richer than the wealth Mr. Potter holds.
I think what I really love about the movie is more what George learns about himself. He has not wanted to gain anything by his sacrifices and at times he really wants to just give up and leave it all behind him but he cannot because it is his nature to give, to protect, to shoulder the responsibility. He learns that his life means something to others because he has chosen to love by doing the right thing.
How often do we get the opportunity to choose to do something because it is the right thing?
This past weekend I lost my cell phone. I had not noticed. I came out of a store and a young man and woman were sitting near my parking space in a truck. The man asked if I had lost a cell phone. He explained he nearly ran over it but noticed it just in time. The two of them saw a picture of my grandson on my phone and when we came out recognized me because he was with me! I was so touched. The woman even scrolled through to see if she knew anyone on my contact list…, which she did! She actually tried to call a mutual friend to ask her whose phone she had so she could possibly find me that way.
They could have left the phone in the parking lot. They could have brought it in and let it be someone else’s responsibility. They chose to do the right thing. They waited for me until I came out of the store and handed me my phone. I hope they felt good about themselves as I praised them for their kind deed. There are still George Baileys in this world.
So, during this Christmas season remember to be a giver. It does not have to be wrapped with pretty paper and a bow, kindness and love are one size fits all. And, it really is a wonderful life.

Busy Times

I have been so busy....How many times a day do you hear that? Everybody seems to have way too much on their plates. I feel crazy EVERY DAY. I wake up before I want to, get a shower, try to pull myself together, get three little girls ready for school, yell up at two teenagers to get out of bed (way before they want to), remind people to get backpacks, coats, to brush teeth, drink their milk, I'm sure I sound like BLAH,BLAH,BLAH to them.
Now, it's Christmas...they only have two days of school left! TWO DAYS! Then the work really begins. I have to get some stuff done.
I'm going to post some stories I've had in the Opelika Observer the last month or so. I only get two a month now, not that I have much more time than that.