Stranger Things Have Happened.

 Stranger Things Have Happened.

 

Once upon a time this house stayed fairly clean—well, cleanish. No, that is probably not a word, but you understand in all probability. The middle was cleared out so folks could get through it. My sister-in-law started hiring her house cleaned a few years ago because of the damage to her back. It seemed strange, but it was something that she needed to have done because she could no longer do it for herself. A friend further west of here has a young person come in to help her make her bed every week. We had a conversation about her personal need to have her mattress turned every week. A new mattress is not that expensive, ya know. But that is her decision. We all have our preferences. My mattress can only be turned from side to side—not over to the other side of the thing. And Hanan helped me do that a time or two, but it will no longer be done because it is simply too difficult to slide it over and rearrange the edges. Clean sheets are the extent of my bed changing.

 

The point being made about cleaning and trying to have things to suit us is this: a time comes when the house is secondary to trying to live in it. My daddy used to get the mop out and try to keep their house clean. He and Mom were pretty much beyond the point of mopping by the time we took them to the care center, but keeping things out of the floor still mattered to Daddy. They had someone from Hospice come in to help them, but Mom did not want anyone in her house! So, she ran off the Hospice workers as often as not. But then, she did not want us in her house toward the end of their stay at home. She would roll up the oxygen hose and take it to the back bedroom to get it “out of the way.” Nevermind that Daddy could not breathe with only one functioning lung! My stubborn old mother would have things neat in her house!

 

Connie tells me that yours truly is almost that stubborn. When the dog tracks show up on the kitchen floor, it seems imperative to go wipe them up. But hardly anyone is going to trip over a dog footprint unless it is really wet and slippery. So, mopping is not a good thing for someone to be doing when one’s back is out of kilter. Vacuuming fits in that category, as well. Now walking—within reason—is probably not going to hurt anyone with a bad back, but hauling feed, weeding the flower beds, or mowing the grass are things that need to be hired out. And that is why the young boys get my vote for doing most of that stuff! They might not do things just exactly the way we might have done it once upon a time, but it will do to live with their work. The same goes for the young woman who comes in to clean the house every two weeks or so. Actually, she probably does a better job than what this old house has seen since my kids were still at home! And the kids had to do the dusting when they got in trouble, so everything got dusted more often than not. They still remember getting under the trestle table and cleaning it with furniture polish!

 

Maybe my daughter is right on track when she makes the comment every so often: you can’t take it with you. She thinks hiring the house cleaned, hiring the mowing done, or having things delivered makes more sense than mopping, mowing, or moving around an acre of store aisles and paying the consequences with pain. So, stranger things have happened that this old woman has someone else to clean the house now. And she is a sweet young woman just starting out with her family. Why not let her enjoy the benefits of knowing how to clean a house thoroughly!

 

Today let us pray for peace in the lives of others. God knows each man and woman’s needs, so let us ask Him for His grace in this world.

 

Rest and be happy, my friends. You are loved.