Lucky to have space

This is a fuzzy pic of about 3 feet of jackets & suits heaped onto the guest room bed, and that's just one of the piles.  Shortly after retiring to bed Sunday night after 11pm, we hear this loud crash, and I jump up thinking that it was the neighbors since I just heard them talking outside for a bit after coming home.  Alas, the entire wire shelving system in the guest room's double closet had completely caved in!!  Yup, even buckled in the middle.  Whether it was poorly constructed to begin with (mind you I bought this condo new 6 years ago) or it was stuffed too full with our heavy clothes, I don't think it should have happened. 

 

So last night after dinner we were still pulling things out and I was whining about our lack of space and how I couldn't wait to get into the new house so we could execute our plans to expand the closet in the guest bedroom for me, and the hubby says "there are people in Haiti that don't even have a house anymore, so we can deal without an extra closet for a couple of months".  Riiight.  He was half-joking, but I shut my trap nonetheless :).   

hope springing

Last Saturday a small group of volunteers from church decorated the dining hall of one of the Detroit Rescue Mission buildings.  Thought I'd share a cute pic of how we were able to spruce up the room with some springtime cheer.  (Special thanks to the gals at Carrie's bday party the night before who helped me with the paper flowers -even though you griped about it :), I hope you can see what a big favor that was!)
 
Perhaps it will be a small reminder of the rebirth that we are about to celebrate during the Easter holiday, and at the very least, we hope that the clients there will feel loved and cared for.  The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries provides so many basic needs and social services to substance addicts and the homeless, and they do so with the belief that the "glory of God will always lead us in the right direction" (website quote from their president, Chad Audi).  Amen to that!
 
P.S.  Please read about their awesome new restaurant venture that will help to provide skills-training to their clients in Highland Park  http://www.drmm.org/restaurant.html .
 
 

Swimming upstream

Last night was the first night this week that we were both home for dinner (not counting when we went out Sunday night to recreate our first date 3 years ago! :) so I finally got a chance to cook up some of the salmon we got last week.  Yum. 
 
Then I started thinking about the types of fish that are able to swim upstream, using an internal compass that responds to the earth's magnetic fields to chart their path.  I'd love to think that I have such a singular focus on the things that are important in my life, but the reality is that it's a daily struggle and often I feel (like I do this week) like I'm swimming upstream.  So it's a comfort to know that even the fish have to take their "steps" upstream by leaping!  Is it Friday yet?!? 
 
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
~Frederick Douglass

Making waves

I'm probably not the first person you'd think would be putting the word out about World Water Day (today), but the founders of 3 for 5 go to our church and gave out information yesterday about their organization.  Regardless of whom you would like to point a finger at, hearing that over 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die every year from preventable illnesses linked to dirty water and poor sanitation is a sad story indeed. 
 
I really admire people who put their ideas into action, instead of just talking about them.  Please take a moment to visit their website www.3for5.org, donate your 5 bucks, and pass it along!  Thank you.

When grace is enough

I can't even remember now what the topic of discussion was on the radio show that I was listening to a couple weeks ago, but one of the sentiments just stuck with me.  The person was saying that there will be times in your life when you're feeling really low, and it can be hard to even believe in God, but don't worry, even in these moments, God still believes in YOU.  Now, you might write this off as one of those sappy things Christians say, but I couldn't get it out of my head.  The idea that God actually believes in little ole' me is just mind-boggling!  I've also been hitting repeat on track #13 of a CD compilation that a friend recently gave to me (thanks Robin! :), and I'm reminded that I need God's grace - every day. 

"Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin
 
Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise, oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise, oh God 

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise, oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

Wide open spaces

Someone who just moved back to Michigan not too long ago commented to me this morning that their family has been so busy these past couple of years that they still haven't navigated too much past their home radius, and here I was just yesterday thinking how I started my work day in Ray Twp (think miles of sod farms) and ended it in Grosse Pointe (waterfront dotted with yachts and multi-million dollar homes) - both places are only about 30 min away from where we live.  I guess these places are a bit like us, in that they are so unlike and yet beautiful in different ways, and are not as far apart as we sometimes think...

Being right

Out of curiousity (okay, maybe it was more like listless conference call syndrome) I Googled this phrase today and it came back with all kinds of random results, ranging from self-help advice, politics and some dude's disturbing Flickr account of the same name.  I was thinking about how the hubby and I had a short exchange about this concept last night (don't worry, it really was brief as it was after 10:00pm and it was very important to me to be able watch The Office episode about Jim & Pam having a baby!), and one of the questions he asked me was "why is it so important for you to always prove your point?".  Well, now, I felt that was a bit like asking a songbird why they always felt the need to sing! :). 
 
But seriously, I've always found it interesting to reflect on different personalities and how they often seem to lead us down the road of familiar tendencies and repeated actions.  While I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that we are somehow concretely set in our ways due to predetermined personality types, it can certainly be an insightful exercise to figure out our makeup.  Don't you sometimes find yourself thinking that the way you acted or spoke was so unlike your normal ways or that you just can't figure out where it came from?  Interesting indeed. 
 
P.S.  Yes, honey, it was in an email, but maybe you did also tell me and I just don't remember.  Maybe... :) xoxo

Cleaning checklist

Our friend Jodi recently posted on her blog about her work space being a mess, and it made me look around my own office - and wince.  These are the only parts I felt okay about showing you, and even then you can see there are piles in one of my "in" boxes and a couple other boxes sitting on the floor of older files that my co-worker handed off to me.  Yikes.  You can't even see the other piles to the left and behind, and my other plant has not revived to its former self since the beginning of the year!  But I have kept it alive for the last 8 years, thank you very much.   
 
I can admit that I'm in need of a good cleanse in practically every area of my life, so I hope spring comes soon so that my motivation kicks in!