Thursday, September 16, 2021                                 (today’s lectionary)
Memorial of St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, both Martyrs
The days are just packed
Seven spices graced the carrot and pineapple bread, not including the flour, sugar and quick oats. Two year old Jasper poured one after another into the bowl. The video was turned toward him, and he looked around my arm and the bowl a few times, oogling for the camera. Such a happy guy he was, at 8:15 in the morning. We were making FOOD!
Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Do not neglect the gift you have.
He whisked away at the dry ingredients, while I grated three large carrots. We drained a 20 ounce can of pineapple and stirred it into the carrots. He helped break three eggs into the bowl, and we melted butter in the microwave, watched it change before our eyes!
We cut up a cup of pecans. “Eat!” he asked a few times, before he just ate without asking. He loves pecans. We spooned it into the loaf pan and decided not to look at the oven for an hour, until the bread was done. I washed the dishes, and he dried. He sat on Margaret’s lap and watched himself on the video. We waited. The smells coming from the oven were not subtle. Cardamom and ginger and cloves, pineapple and carrots, sugar and spice and everything nice.
Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone.
I put on big gloves and pulled the beautiful carrot loaf out of the oven. It steamed golden bounty. We stirred up yogurt, maple syrup and pineapple juice for a smooth white sauce.
Attend to yourself, persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
Project #1, completed. Project #2 coming up. Ten days ago I found a nice white queen-size frame for Margaret’s bed lurking outside our apartment complex trash bin. Almost all the parts were there, and the price was right – free. Two corners needed hardware. I ordered some from Amazon, but it didn’t fit at all. I looked at it awhile. I thought … can I just take this thing back outside and hope someone else will want it? I looked at it some more. For several days I found many other things to do, so I could skip over the building of the bed. Then at last I thought of something. And I could get it at Lowe’s!
How great are the works of the Lord! The works of his hands are faithful and just; sure all his precepts, reliable forever and ever, wrought in truth and equity.
I bought inside corner braces yesterday, and now the time had come. Jasper being here gave me courage. I said, “Let’s get the wood and bring it into the bedroom.” Jasper’s eyes popped. “Wood!” he said. “Wood!” he said again. He found three pieces of scrap 1x3s we had scraped up at his house, and he carried them in. I took one end of the first long bed board, and he took the other. It was heavy. Jasper made some strenuous groans. His face looked a little stricken. He held on, and we got it around the corner and into the bedroom.
“Wood!” he hollered. We got the other board. Then I filled my tool box with the tools we needed, and a few more besides (like a magnetic extension rod and a mirror on a metal stick, because he loves those tools). But actually, he was very busy arranging and rearranging his three pieces of 1×3, and deciding which hammer to use to bang on them. “Tools!” he shouted.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who live by it. His praise endures forever. How great are the works of the Lord!
I had bought some cool drill accessories that helped us get around corners and screw into tiny spaces. They were in a ziplock bag. “Ope!” he pleaded. “Ope!” Grandma said, “Opennnn,” Jasper. “Opennnn.” He looked up at her. “Open!” he said. We looked at him in disbelief. A breakthrough in his often-one-word vocabulary. “Eat! Wood! Tools! Ope!”
I made my pilot holes and screwed in the braces, and it all turned out fine. While Jasper helped Grandma strip sweet corn and cook it for lunch, I tried out the bed, which was strong and firm and fully packed. No sign of it collapsing on the floor. Margaret and Jasper slept soundly at naptime, and it stood the test.
Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
We ate the carrot bread for snack, along with watermelon, and sent some home with Mommy and Miles for dinner. We got both my projects done. I was happy. We were all very happy.
As the Tomitas were leaving, Jasper saw his fishing pole hooked on the inside of the closet door. We got it down, just for a minute. Along with two new kiddo aprons today, s set of water wings came for him. And a very nice kite sits folded up in the trunk of our Prius, used once last spring.
We didn’t get to use those treasures today. But we will.
Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.
As Calvin said to Hobbes, “The days are just packed!”
(1 Timothy 4, Psalm 111, Matthew 11, Luke 7)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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