Window Cleaning... Plus

My windows are really dirty.  I enjoy looking out of clean windows, but unfortunately we haven't discovered the self-cleaning variety!  Now a few of our windows were just installed last winter, but believe it or not they're dirty already.  It doesn't take long, does it?

This morning I decided to begin.  If I do a window or two every day (who am I kidding?  every week or month is more like it...) they will eventually get done.  The window above has been squirted with windex and is ready to have its former sparkle restored.

As I was rubbing away streaks and dirt, it made me think about the condition of my heart.  It gets pretty dirty too- and it's usually gradual and subtle and insidious, just like dirt accumulates on a window.  I could watch a window for an hour at a time and not be able to observe an accumulation of dirt.  Yet it appears over weeks and months!

Before too long, the eyes of my heart are so cloudy I can no longer see events or people clearly or accurately.  The dirty window above lets light in and lets me see the trees and grass, but without the clarity and beauty they should have.  People tick me off.  How dare she pull out in front of me like that!  Why can't they just put those dirty dishes in the dishwasher-- it's right there!  Seriously, that stupid dog cost me how much money at the vet?!  Well, you get the idea.  Pretty soon everything looks dim and sour and stupid.

Isn't that picture weird?  I tried out the "Polaroid" option in my Picasa photo-editing program.  Interesting.  Well, anyway, back to windows.  As they are obviously not self-cleaning, I have to make an effort to get them clean again.  It's not too hard.  Grab a bottle of Windex and some paper towels... and wipe.  That's it.  And God has made it pretty easy to clean up my heart too.  Jesus already did the hard work on the cross.  All I need to do is present myself to the Master Cleaner-Upper (some people would rather call him the Savior and Redeemer and I usually do too).  I can just show him my streaks and smudges and filth, admitting to Him how they got there.  He smiles, and lovingly wipes away every last bit of grime and restores me to renewed purity and clarity.

^{I John 1:8} If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The concept is simple.  Confess then receive forgiveness.  We tend to make it harder than it has to be, when God has provided for us such a loving and absolute solution for our problem of sin.

I hope you'll offer up the windows of your heart for the cleansing power of Jesus today.  It's so worth it to have life's beauty and freshness restored!

Watch this.  I don't know anything about the singer or the artwork in this video, but it is an amazing tribute to our Redeemer (Master Cleaner-Upper).

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

The Simple Closet

I like order.  Simplicity.  Serenity.  However, life tends to hand us chaos, complication and distress.  A lot of that is outside my realm of control.  But there is one place I can reign supreme!  Yes, it's my closet.

Foreign Family Fun

We love family vacations.  It's so much fun to travel together, to see historically or scenically significant places together, and most especially to spend quantity and quality time together.  The beauty of a vacation is that (if you choose to), you can be disconnected from email, phones and schedules and  even the pervasive TV.

Recently, our family traveled to England.  This is unusual for us, because we don't usually travel "abroad" for vacations.  We went there because our son and daughter-in-law live there and we hadn't seen them for seven months.  People have been asking me about our trip and what our favorite places were.  It's funny, because although we got to see gorgeous scenery, to appreciate stunning ancient architecture, and to hear charming British accents and their unique vocabulary, my favorite things about vacation are family moments.

We stayed with some very gracious people the whole time-- our son and daughter-in-law-- so there were plenty of opportunities for family moments!  We got to sit around their dining room table eating, playing games and talking.

We sat in their TV-less living room catching up on pictures and stories from the last seven months we've been apart.  We stood together on the roof of a cathedral that had its beginning almost 1,000 years ago with dark, menacing clouds swirling overhead and charming, centuries-old stone buildings far below.

 We betted tiny wagers on racehorses and cheered together when they won.

We jammed ourselves into the Underground cars during rush hour while the shorter ones among us snagged a sleeve or belt loop of a tall Dad or husband, while trying to simultaneously avoid the strangers' armpits who were easily gripping the overhead bars.  Or there was the time Dad didn't have time to get a handhold before the train started... watch out!

Of course, I couldn't take pictures under those circumstances-- this is from a calmer ride.

We relaxed in a variety of British pubs for lunch, snacks, dinner or just for cards and games in the evening over a pitcher of Pimm's, a fruity concoction which we girls quickly grew fond of.  One of the pubs was even a hang-out of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, some of our favorite authors.  We got to sit at their very table at the Eagle and Child.  The others were The Golden Lion, The Eagle, The Salamander, The Running Horse, and The Turf Tavern. Really, we were mostly eating at those places!

Nachos= bad choice for pub food.

Sticky toffee pudding= good pub food

We sniffed lovely roses,

 joked about a certain British lord, met a few of D & E's friends, ate savory sandwiches from the Sandwich Mill (a local British version of Subway) and posed together for family photos in strategic places wherever we went.  






We got excitedly disturbed over thinking our rental van was struck by lighting as we were driving through a storm, then had a good laugh when it turned out to be a soda bottle popping as it contracted or expanded in a door pocket of the van.  We traipsed together through sunshine and rain in beautiful cities like Bath, Oxford, Cambridge and London, drinking in centuries of history, pomp and circumstance. 

Buckingham Palace

In the mornings we would watch from D & E's windows as racehorses were being exercised on the tracks up to the heath behind their apartment.  Then, in the evening, we would get our own exercise walking up to the heath.  

Memorable quotes:
"Look at those big buoys!"
"It's Pimm's o'clock!"
"I think we were struck by lightning!"  "Twice in one day?"  "I bet we will get super powers."
"Do those stairs go up or down?"
"I'm running down to Iceland for some milk."
"Look at that mallard."
"If it's yellow..."
"Emmieee-- I miss you!"
"Anyone wanna play Bananagrams?"
"What was in your Kinder Egg?"
"Those are some nice sandals, Archie."
"We are so posh."
"Would you like any salad on your sandwich?"
"Can you exchange these two euros for pounds?  We need to buy drano."

We left England filled up with memories, feeling that God had blessed us with time set apart to reconnect as a family.  There were tears mixed in the with hugs and kisses at "goodbye".  But that's a good sign of how much we enjoy each others' company.  You can't pick your family, but I thank God that He picked a fantastic one for me!