Monday, September 12, 2016

Before You Go Throwing Things Away---

"Nurturing is not complex.
It's simply being tuned in to the thing or person before you
and offering small gestures toward what it needs at that time."


- --Mary Anne Radmacher


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Back in June I finally (after 4 years) spray-painted then hung a Victorian-ish hook outside. Only thing, that's when those hanging flower baskets cost full-price and we penny-pinchers would rather cross hot coals than pay that.

So I waited, but uh-oh! Our weather turned all record-breaking-heat-and-humidity-ish  and I bought no flowers, hanging or otherwise, because I. Just. Didn't. Care. 

Humidity zaps the will to live right out of me. 

Well, almost, so except for 3 little sunflowers and my loyal bouquets of hardy asters and daisies, this summer we went flower-less. 

Until Saturday. 

That's when we drove past a dried-up, brownish, sad, neglected pot of barely-there petunias on the curb beside trash cans. Tom asked if I wanted him to pull over so I could grab them and I, recalling that empty hook at home, said, "May as well."

Hours later, when the temperature dropped to only-mind-numbing, I sat outside (in my turquoise breakfast robe, actually) and clipped, fingered, watered and whispered to those poor dried-up, wilted petunias and oh! This greeted me on our sanely-cool Sunday morning:




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Can you believe what a little extra pruning, care and love can do? Suddenly we are flower-less no more. (And our temperatures are back to I-want-live!-ish. Whew.)

Which reminds me. This past month, Tom and I had a rough patch (sweet ol' married forever Tom and Debra? Gasp!). I fell into a sloppy habit of disagreeing with his ideas and he got into the habit of snapping at me, over-exaggerating how often I did this. (He used the always word and that makes me bonkers. No one is that consistent in anything--and yes, I'm pretty literal in this instance.) 

Anyway, finally we 'had it out'. We expressed what we were feeling (I think they call it 'communication'), it wasn't fun, but hey, it helped. Since then, we've tried harder to respect the other's wishes and life is returning to normal (which--here--is good).

It felt, actually, a bit like bringing back those flowers to something beautiful. All it took was asking for God's help, paying attention, pruning what was wrong/ugly and watering what was left.

I highly recommend that, rather than just throwing away what still has life left within it if only we take the time to nurture it.



"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."  ...John 15:2



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Oh no! Remember this inexpensive house that I loved--



-- but getting into it during the winters is all wrong and would be costly to fix?

Well, I'd been praying that they'd sell that house (so to put me out of my misery), but no! Instead, they lowered the price by $10,000. It's only $59,900 now.

Eegads. Ol' Debra had another rough afternoon trying to re-work and re-work things in her head and slip a ton of hints to Tom. But it's still a no-go.

*&&^%$#@. What a test. 

Yet Life goes on (and yes, there are more important things) as does the challenge of making the most of what I have. Fortunately, that's a challenge I--mostly--enjoy. 

It just seems to get more difficult as I grow older, rather as though my imagination doesn't work as it once did. Hmmm...


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Have you seen the based-on-true-events-movie called The Finest Hours? If not, it's now available instantly on Netflix. 

Starts out a bit slow, but Tom and I enjoyed it. We both especially appreciated the ending which we'd never have believed if it didn't, according to eye-witnesses, really happen that way.

A very old-fashioned film, made the way they used to. Check it out.


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Free Kindle Books:


The Story Girl

The Road to Oz

 A Shot in the Bark

Gunpowder Chowder

Happy Thoughts and Illustrations

Explode Your Creativity



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5 comments:

Terra said...

Isn't it amazing how extra TLC can bring petunias back to life? That house is attractive, I like the sun room or porch.

Betsy said...

Love your petunias and the life lesson that it, and your discussion with your husband give to us. Life is indeed too short to waste it on trivial things. I can't believe a house that beautiful is only $59,000. I would scoop it up if it were out here. Breathe and thank the Lord for the home you have my friend. I'm having the same problem with wanting to move but dear Hubby doesn't right now. I'm trying to be joyful anyway.
Blessings,
Betsy

Pam said...

Oh Debra, I appreciate your words of wisdom. Marriage is like a garden, filled with stages, requiring lots of love and HARD WORK. Happy to hear that you and Tom worked things out.

Those petunias look perfect on your lovely hook.

Susan Humeston said...

Think about all the things that could be wrong with that house- bad roof, bad plumbing, bad electrical wiring......all needing to be fixed. Maybe even other things worse like structural problems. Sometimes we're better off with what have have and know than with what we want but don't know......just a thought since I'm a lot like you.

Debra said...

Terra--yes,petunias are wonderful because they're pretty easy, right? I, too, love the sunroom of that house!

Betsy--yep, I'm finally realizing Tom's not into moving right now. :) I asked if he'd give me a certain dollar amount to make this house what I love and he did. Yay! So look out--I'm going to get creative soon. :)

Pam--thanks so much, Pam! I'm glad we worked things out, also. :) We both prefer peace so usually we choose what will bring lasting peace.

Susan--houses in our area are cheap, so that price doesn't reflect potential problems. It's a law here that a house must be inspected before buying, so that would have shown us what the house needed. We know a great inspector who's helped us 3 times before and he's always caught what needed to be caught. I still think about that house each day, but as I told Betsy, I'm going to work on this one as best I can and hope for the best. :)

Thanks, Everyone! Blessings, Debra