Ode to Craig's List

Our digital camera is not working (and hasn't for about a month) so I've hesitated to write lately.  The two ideas for blogging have required photos to make the best impact but the blog is getting seriously outdated so I'm going to write now, adding stock photos I found online to give you an idea of what I'm describing.

After Denver, I decided to start browsing Craig's List to find some local treasures.  Also known as JUNK.  I have been blown away by the finds:

1.  Three Dresser Drawer for Colby's Room.  $10.  I promise, the one I bought is not nearly as pretty and needs a new coat of paint and some decoupage-ing.  

2.  8 cans of baby formula from a local mom.  At $5 per can (normally $11-12 at Wal-Mart), we fed Colby for half-price last month.  I'll admit, this was the sketchiest purchase but the mom was totally normal and had a 13-month old who had transitioned to milk.

3.  Double Jogger.  I've been wanting to get out and walk (maybe run, ha) with the kids so I've been dreaming about a double jogger, where the kids sit side-by-side.  Found it.  Burleson for $40.  This is a STEAL, for anyone who tracts these.  Now, please keep in mind that ours is USED, slightly faded and the brake doesn't work.  

4.  We sold our dining room table & chairs for $225 to a guy who lives in north Dallas.  He picked up and hauled away the first piece of furniture the Thompsons bought four years ago.  

5.  Two-drawer filing cabinets for $5 each!  They are rusted but work great so with a can of metal primer & aqua blue spray paint, I'll have a very shabby-chic home filing system!

6.  This week, I came across a 12-bin toy organizer shelf thingy.  The bins on ours are light blue, dark blue, green, and red so it's perfect for Colby's room or maybe the playroom.  We'll see!

Craig's List allows you to avoid the following:

1.  eBay shipping, auctioning, etc.

2.  Sales Tax!

3.  The whole consumer-driven economy of mass-produced everything!  

At the worth-while cost of:

1.  Driving sometimes long distances. 

2.  The risk of seeing it in person but not liking it (hasn't happened yet).

3.  Finding something online that's already been sold.

I'm a JUNKIE and I'm LOVING it!

 

For Wives Only

Though I'm quite sure there will be husbands and single men and women reading this blog, I do have some encouragement for us wives.  Isn't it sweet how God speaks to us in the most routine activities?

With both kids asleep and the house in decent order, I decided to take a bath this afternoon at 3:30.  I can't remember the last time I had such quiet surrounding me.  Especially in the middle of a weekday.  Anyway, I realized my legs were in dire need of shaving so I began the arduous task and immediately heard the Lord ask me: "How often do you shave for your husband?"  Um, yeah, so the length of the hair is probably some indication but I instantly realized it was certainly more about my heart than my legs.  Thus began the gentle list of questions:

• How often do I make my husband's favorite meal?  (Do I know what it is?)
• Is my house more in order for guests than my own husband & family?
• Do I wear more make-up and hair product for play dates (church, work, etc) than for my husband?
• Is my weight loss motivated by my husband's delight or my selfish vanity?
• Are my words the most kind to first my husband, and then my kids, and then others?  Or is it the other way around?
• How often do I smile at my husband?

I heard this story where a family built the most extravagant mansion with all the finest materials.  They filled the first floor with expensive decorations, furniture, and upscale design.  They could entertain and impress the richest of folk.  However, if you made your way upstairs, you would discover empty rooms, bare walls, and incomplete construction.  The house was simply a facade of wealth, the rooms downstairs created to impress strangers & outsiders, while the upstairs was in disrepair.

As a wife, I want my most treasured efforts to be first for my husband and then for my kids.  I want the wealth of God's kingdom, the depths of grace and kindness, and the beauty and appreciation of life to be wasted on my husband.  To spend all of myself on his honor, his standing, and to live for his success.  To exhaust myself on my children's understanding of God and their love for people and bringing justice to broken places.

Brad and I are building a house together.  On a foundation of truth and righteousness, pillars of integrity and character surround us.  A lot of this responsibility is mine, a gift from God to create a home where my family flourishes.  In fact, that was part of the commit I made to Brad on our wedding day.  I hope the woman Brad married more than four years ago is more pleasing, attractive, and generous today than in July of 2004.  

Let's give our best to our husbands.