Sunday, July 11, 2004
Showers and Such
I am very exhausted after my daughter-in-laws baby shower held at my house. Some how no matter how good my intentions are; I end up doing things at the last minute. I hope that my friends and family don’t judge me by the amount of dust on my furniture, I just ran out of time. Mary (my daughter-in-law) thought it was important that a lot of people be there and I am so grateful that my friends and family gave her that wish. Baby stuff is so much fun. I just can’t wait for him to be here and the real spoiling will begin.
You know we have a lot of friends that are with us through just a stage in our lives. Many come and go before you can really get attached to them. Then there are the few who have been around for a while. You sometimes drift in and out of “closeness” but they are there for you when it matters. Jane Ann has been such a friend for me. We were extremely close before and after her baby was born (eight years ago). But our relationship has changed over the last three or four years. She went back to school to be a teacher and that is great, but you know school teachers have their own little club and the rest of us are just not in it. I don’t think they do it on purpose, but they do it. Anyway her whole family has been important to me and I care about them deeply. Today her mother told me that they had 3 different showers to go to and a 50 year anniversary dinner for one of Earl’s (her husband) cousins. Also both of her sons were coming home. She asked Earl what things they should do and he said the most important things were to pick up Jack (oldest son, Doug the younger son was driving) and to come to my shower. Now Earl is not a member of the church and I don’t feel like I know him as well as the rest of the family, and yet for some reason I have made this kind of impression on him. I said all that to remind myself to remember the importance of a hug or a kind word. To never underestimate the ways that God can use us. It is very humbling to me that he cares about me and my family and makes me want to be careful to always let him be able to see Christ living in me.
You know we have a lot of friends that are with us through just a stage in our lives. Many come and go before you can really get attached to them. Then there are the few who have been around for a while. You sometimes drift in and out of “closeness” but they are there for you when it matters. Jane Ann has been such a friend for me. We were extremely close before and after her baby was born (eight years ago). But our relationship has changed over the last three or four years. She went back to school to be a teacher and that is great, but you know school teachers have their own little club and the rest of us are just not in it. I don’t think they do it on purpose, but they do it. Anyway her whole family has been important to me and I care about them deeply. Today her mother told me that they had 3 different showers to go to and a 50 year anniversary dinner for one of Earl’s (her husband) cousins. Also both of her sons were coming home. She asked Earl what things they should do and he said the most important things were to pick up Jack (oldest son, Doug the younger son was driving) and to come to my shower. Now Earl is not a member of the church and I don’t feel like I know him as well as the rest of the family, and yet for some reason I have made this kind of impression on him. I said all that to remind myself to remember the importance of a hug or a kind word. To never underestimate the ways that God can use us. It is very humbling to me that he cares about me and my family and makes me want to be careful to always let him be able to see Christ living in me.
