Mop Hunting: A Homemaker's Tale

So I've spent an inordinate number of hours researching mops. I never mop. Other than literally getting down on my hands and knees to clean up specific spills, I only mopped our kitchen floor at our last apartment once in the year that we lived there. And that was right before we moved out.

But I did vacuum on more than one occasion... And now we live in a house with wood floors.

I need a good mop.

My decision has come down to these three options:
1) the Mystic Maid - the mop claims to "glide on air" and comes with a wet/dry microfiber pad $33 + a poofy, dry only dusting pad $13
2) the Bissell floor duster $20 + the Eureka Enviro floor steamer $72
3) the Bissell floor duster $20 + the Rubbermaid Reveal mop $30

In the midst of my research I happened across a giveaway for the rubbermaid reveal, which is what prompted this post. So I think I'll give that a go and defer this decision until the conclusion of that contest ;-)

http://confessions-of-a-psychotic-housewife.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-giveaway-rubbermaid-reveal-mop.html

The Gospel. For Real Life.

My covenant group is reading "The Gospel for Real Life" by Jerry Bridges, and while reading it, I have wanted to write about several different trains of thought but haven't gotten around to it. So now I'm wondering whether I should go back to my first thought and start there or try to fit them all into one post, ha. Shorter posts are better, right? Right.

The gospel. At some point this past spring going through Tim Keller's Galatians study with my covenant group at Perimeter, I was struck with the realization that I actually don't know the gospel that well. Yes, I know that I am a sinner separated eternally from God, that Jesus died on the cross to pay the inescapable penalty for my sins so that I might be reconciled to God and be clothed in His righteousness and be given eternal life in His kingdom. I know these things. I know this good news--this amazing news. And yet, on a day in and day out level, I don't. I don't realize how the gospel affects me the moment I wake up in the morning. Or what role it plays in how I interact with my family and friends. I can give you the right answers for these things, how it should affect me and the role it should play, but when I really look at my life and the reality of where my heart and mind are, I can only honestly say, "I don't really get it."

So it is such a sweet gift that God has brought me from raising this question--Do I really know the gospel?--in my last covenant group to this study in my new covenant group where we are getting to really sink into the gospel, understanding it in new ways and meditating on its role in every aspect of our lives.

You've probably heard the exhortation, "Preach the gospel to yourself everyday." (I think this quote comes from Jerry Bridges, but surely the idea has been around for a much longer time...) This is so important, but it is hard to follow if you do not have an understanding of the depths of the gospel and how it applies to "real life."

I remember one thing that struck me during the Galatians study was how applying the gospel to your life is a very active, effortful process. That no, our efforts do not earn us God's approval and delight but it does take effort to acknowledge and recognize and remember that God's approval and delight is ours because of Christ's life and death on our behalf and to live in light of that truth. This is what the disciplines are for; they're not for perfecting ourselves or making ourselves acceptable in God's sight. They are for keeping our hearts and minds in a position of knowing and claiming and rejoicing in the truth of the gospel, which we are so wont to forget. May we never stop dwelling in, meditating upon, and learning the good news of the Kingdom of God and the Savior King who reigns forever!

My Contribution to the Gas Crisis

So I assume you know about the gas shortage around the Southeast; if you're not in a city experiencing it, it's pretty crazy. I foolishly let my car get down to an eighth of a tank and started to get genuinely concerned when I drove around for 20-30 minutes one evening unable to find a gas station with gas. I gave up and decided to wait for morning. And that's nothing compared to the stories you hear on the news: waiting for an hour in line only to find that the station has run out of gas before you get to a pump or driving around for an hour looking for gas and then running out before finding any, sheesh.

So it's pretty bad, right? The next morning, I saw that the Walmart on my way to work did have gas, thank the Lord, so I waited my turn for about 20 minutes--not bad at all. I get my gas, and as I walk to my car door, I look at my wallet in my hand and think to myself, "Something doesn't feel right about this...

"Where are my KEYS?!" That's right folks, with my car at the pump, and an at least 20-minute long line of cars waiting, I had locked my keys in my car. Awesome.

Hm, what to do. I went to the station attendant and asked him if he knew how to break into a car. His response? "Do you have a coat hanger?" Um... Well, yes! I don't have my keys or my purse or my cell phone, but I have a coat hanger here in my pocket! Not helpful, ha.

The people all around my car were super nice and helpful, though. These two Mexican men were trying to push down my windows to get in--unsuccessfully, but they were sweet. Then a woman lent me her phone so I could call triple A; I was wary of going that route 'cause they can take awhile sometimes. They actually only took 20-30 minutes though, and I'm wondering if it was because they knew I was blocking a pump!

I felt bad though; what a ridiculous time and place to lock your keys in your car.

It was encouraging to see how the people around me responded to my idiocy though. They were kind and sympathetic and helpful. It's interesting to think of how distance affects how we respond to others. I would guess that those still waiting in line may have had less charitable responses toward me. Granted they also had not been able to get their gas yet, while these kind people had, ha.

Anyway, that's my story, and I hope you enjoyed it, heh.

"You need to get out more..."

So a week ago or so, one of our maintenance guys came by our apartment while I was home on my lunch break. We had a few things around the apartment that we had asked him to look at... well, Christina had asked him to look at 'cause she's proactive like that, ha. =)

One of the requests was to fix the dripping faucet in our kitchen. Apparently someone had looked at it before and decided that if you turned it hard enough it would stop, so they didn't need to fix it. The problem with this solution was that the faucet was a mischievous faucet and would pretend to stop dripping for a little while and then begin again. Or on other days it would refuse to stop dripping at all no matter which way you twisted it. Drip, Drip.... Drip... Drip... Drip, Drip.

So, we insisted on getting it fixed. And mister maintenance man fixed it. And he showed me it was fixed. And I said, "Yay! That's exciting!"

He looked at me with this surprised, quizzical brow and said, "Exciting? ... If you think that's exciting, you need to get out more." I kind of laughed and shrugged. But then he said it again. "Yeah, you really need to get out more." And I looked at him and thought to myself, "I don't know how to respond to you." And a little while later he said it again! "Man, if you think that is exciting, you seriously need to get out more."

Sheesh, man. Are you the excitement police? Who on earth gets upset over someone getting excited about something that they don't find exciting? Now it makes sense to be bothered by someone complaining about something that doesn't matter. But why should you be bothered by someone rejoicing about something that doesn't matter? Certainly superfluous joy isn't something to be concerned about, is it?

But I felt sad that I wasn't able in the moment to explain to the man that the reason I find joy in such a simple thing isn't because my world is small. I guess perhaps it's a choice? To find pleasure in even the smallest victories and beauties we experience here on earth.

So here's to the pleasure of simple things and getting excited about the disciplining of a mischievous faucet!

...I feel His pleasure

The sermon this Sunday at Perimeter was on the sacredness of work and the creation mandate--that God calls us to work and created us to work and that our work is meant to be an expression of worship. To work is to pray; "laborare est orare" (I'm having trouble deciphering if this quote originated with Augustine or not... that is who the pastor referenced at least). It was a good message. I was glad of it. When I first saw the topic, I was slightly concerned that I might have a squirming father in the seat next to me, ha. But he was nodding regularly and made a few affirming hmms that assured me that all was well with the world, haha. Christians don't always get this one right--pastor or not.

Anyway, another quote that was brought up came from a scene of Chariots of Fire that was shown. "I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure." Eric Liddell says this to his sister in response to her concern that his running is getting in the way of his missionary work. This got me thinking: when I ____, I feel God's pleasure. What could I put in that blank? I don't think it is my work. I enjoy my work; I am satisfied by my work; I believe that God has called me to it and that it serves His kingdom and purposes. I believe that my work honors and glorifies Him. But I do not necessarily feel His pleasure doing it in the way that Eric felt His pleasure when he ran.

The closest thing I could think of to put in that blank was writing. When I write, I feel God's pleasure. When I write of truth and beauty and love and humankind, when I write from my heart and spirit and really put myself into my writing and work to create something of worth and substance and the words come together to communicate an idea in an accessible and pleasing way, then I feel His pleasure. And when I thought of this, I became concerned about the fact that I have not been writing, and I wondered why this was. I have not felt I have had much to say, and I am not sure if this is laziness or a season or what. But I now think it will be worth it to make writing more of a priority--even when I do not feel like writing or think that I have little to say.

What about you? When do you feel His pleasure? =)

I'm still here =)

Sometimes I get in moods where I simply don't feel like writing. Either I feel I have no noteworthy thoughts or ponderings to put down or I have them and get tired at even the thought of trying to put them into words. So I don't write.

And then weeks pass and I think from time to time, "I should write something" only to find that it has been so long that it seems I should have something very poignant to break the silence. And when nothing poignant comes, I continue not to write. Why I feel this way, I am not sure.

So today, I decided to write even though I have nothing particularly noteworthy to say. Rather, since it has been awhile and there have been some changes in my life, I will simply comment on the day to day of this Fair Meadow of a girl. =) By the way, Jennifer Lee means "fair meadow" in case anyone was wondering...

• I finally made my decision to quit graduate school and gave up on trying to finish my thesis. I'm not sure I ever explicitly explained that this was the decision I was making over the past few months, but there it is.
• I have joined the 9-5 world, and I am loving it. I am the administrative assistant for Christ Community Church in Cobb County GA. I find all the simple tasks I accomplish every day extremely satisfying, and I get to work with a lot of fun people. And though some of my assignments may seem small, simple, even silly sometimes, I know that they are needed and that they are serving my God's kingdom and church, which brings me joy. And I feel competent at what I do, which may seem like a strange thing to say, but after the past couple years, you can't believe how great that feels.
• I'm still dancing. I finished Ballroom I at Perimeter church, and enjoyed it for the most part... although I deeply miss my dancing guy friends in VA. It's just not as fun when you have to ask strangers to dance... and strangers that you don't particularly want to dance with in the first place, at that. I love dancing, and it seems like a small injustice that I should discover this while single.
• I'm bowling again. You can sign up to get $1.29 game coupons from Brunswick once every other week, so I've been taking advantage of that. I went by myself the first time I used it, which I admit, is a little odd, but I enjoyed it. Last time I went with my friend Adam. And next I'm going with my brothers. =) If you wanna go bowling sometime, let me know. =)

There is more to say... but I have fears that this post is rather dull, heh, and it is already rather long. But now you know that I am still alive and doing rather well and perhaps will be back with something more poignant in days to come. ;-)

PS If you get a chance, you can check out another blog where I'm a contributer: www.reformandrevive.com.

Gotta Dance!

So I finally went ballroom dancing here in GA last night. Melissa and I braved it together without any boys. It was so much fun. I hadn't been in probably 8-9 months! My, that is too long to go without dancing!

I danced quite a bit with a 7 foot tall man, ha. Ok, I'm not sure if he was actually 7 feet tall, but he was close. He was very sweet and a very good dancer. And I also danced quite a bit with this cute Asian man who was an amazing dancer and reminded me of dancing with Ev back in Richmond. He made me look good, ha.

I love to Waltz, and I enjoy Swing. I need more lessons and practice with most of the others to enjoy them more, I think. I look forward to taking classes soon but am glad that in the meantime we can go to these practice parties. Fun fun. =)