When it comes to bedtime....I have three rules. There were four, but I'm 42 and I decided that I'm a little old to be taking that running jump into bed as the light goes out. Dangerous for me....I'm getting more fragile these days and I could seriously sprain something and.....dangerous for Kris, seeing how his spot is on the outside of the bed and its getting harder to catapult over him. So, I tweaked my rules. Rule 1)No appendages of any kind may hang over the bed. Arm, leg, finger....nose....you get the point. Rule 2) I must be covered at all times with a sheet and/or blanket. If its 100 degrees in the house, it does not matter, this rule must be followed! Rule 3) The light must remain on until rules 1 and 2 are finished.
Once, I broke rule number 1, I woke with a start and shook Kris awake,"SOMETHING touched my arm!!" He answered with a groan, totally oblivious to the fact that I could have LOST my arm! Who knows what creature, monster or crazy person could be lurking beside the 6 inch space between the bed and the wall. As with Rule 2.....I figured if the creature, monster, crazy person were to try to take a bite out of me, my sheet or better yet blanket would provide a little bit of protection; making full penetration from sharp pointy teeth into my body less likely. Which leads me to rule 3. Kris THOROUGHLY enjoys teasing me by turning off the bedroom light well before I am ready. This always occurs during my journey from the bathroom, through the living room which lies just outside our bedroom. When this happens, Rule 4, that I scratched awhile ago.....becomes tempting. But breaking that rule requires swift and precise movement and the CMC (creature, monster, crazy person) could be anywhere....behind, beside or worse yet, in front of me. Falling STRAIGHT into the CMC's clutches there could surely be no escape, so, I now freeze. I don't move a muscle and a voice oozing with irritation, I start my countdown to three. This is when the chuckling starts and the remark, "What's gonna happen when you get to 3?" I usually do a foot stomp and my best hulk growl. Mercy prevails and the light snaps on revealing no CMC's in sight, just an annoying husband grinning from ear to ear.
Thank goodness for light! There's been a lot of people in my life who have been a light to me and some have gone the next step and shone a spotlight on my path revealing lessons never forgotten. One of the brightest lights I had ever seen was shone from my boss who has become a treasured friend! I clean her family's summer cottage and she emailed me one day to please wash her rugs. It was a long day for me. This cottage was my second house that I cleaned that day, I had the kids in tow and I was TIRED! I separated the rugs by color, washed the colored rugs separately and began my cleaning. The cleaning went without incident with the help of my boys vacuuming furniture, washing doors and windows and my daughter working along side me doing the rest of the cleaning. When the rugs were done, I put them on the counter to air dry....learned my lesson the last time....rugs can frey in the dryer. The white rugs.....yes....white...went in next. There must have been red die left in the washing machine drum when the rugs went in...because when they came out they were PINK! Kelsey discovered the disaster and when I saw the pink splotches on the once white rugs panic seized me! Not AGAIN! I felt incapable, irresponsible and just plain.....klutzy! I wanted to cry but composed myself in front of the kids. "We WILL solve this problem!", I said with determination. You have to realize that is very uncharacteristic of me. My first instinct is to panic and next.....panic again! (I guess I am learning some lessons from Home!!) The kids and I piled into the van and drove to the nearest Wal-Mart. I found the best replacement option for the rugs. I felt sick to my stomach when I did a quick tally of what my mishap would cost me. I made the decision to buy a rug....see if she liked it....and then offer to buy rugs every cleaning until they were all replaced.
I dreaded the email I would have to send! I did it and told her everything and apologized profusely and told her how awful I felt. With shaking hands, I pushed the send button and awaited my fate. Would I lose my job? Would she think I was as incapable, irresponsible and klutzy as I felt? The email that I received back shocked me and literally drove me to tears. No, I didn't lose my job, I didn't get yelled at or scolded. What I got....I did not deserve. I was told to not worry one more second about the rugs. That rugs are just that....rugs. They can be replaced. It's people and the ones we love that cannot. She took things a step further. She offered to take me out to lunch....at the restaurant of my choice; her treat. She wanted to be sure......I was ok. Me? The one who destroyed over $100 worth of rugs? I felt so undeserving, so unworthy of this mercy, this kindness.....this grace. It was then I saw the spotlight. Right in front of me, in the spotlights bright glow, I saw my Teacher, my Master, My King.....my Jesus. Seeing Jesus standing there in the spotlight, held by my friend....I was speechless. What my friend did for me, Jesus did for me. He died a horrible death on the cross for undeserving me. I broke His heart, scarred His back, and spit at him.....and yet He held out His hand to me, His heart and gave Himself up for me. Standing in front of Him, dirty, poor and pitiful...I have nothing to give. His smile says it all. Me.....all He wants is all of .....Me.
My friend and her spotlight, allowed me to see Jesus. A spotlight on grace and mercy...a reminder of what Jesus did for me....a lesson from Home I will never forget! <3
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