C’mon Over to Ashley’s

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

Hello, Soli Deo Gloria friends! I apologize for inviting you to my door only to escort you somewhere else… but… do you ever feel like there are never enough hours in the day? Stressed out by conflicting demands? Well, today I have a guest post appearing at Ashley’s blog, AP Freewriting. It’s about that feeling that you are over-scheduled and over-committed… what to do? I hope you’ll stop by to visit. Here is the link!

Knowing that this post only touches on the subject in a general way, I invite your questions and comments (there or here). If it would be helpful, I will be happy to follow up with another post… do some research… whatever it takes to keep you from getting squashed in your own planner!

Thanks for reading!
Jan

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Vintage “Hintage”

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

Today I’m linking up with Rachel Anne and the Company Girls. Please join us for some coffee and catching up.

Great news, everyone! I just found this money-saving hint in a book:

Here’s how to waterproof your shoes and lengthen their life: Melt together a dressing of two parts of beeswax to one part of mutton fat. Apply it at night and, in the morning, wipe it well with a piece of flannel. You now have waterproof shoes, at practically no cost to you.

What’s that? You don’t have any beeswax, mutton fat or flannel? Oh. Well, maybe this next hint will be more helpful:

Do you like perfumed handkerchiefs? Get a little Orris Root at your drugstore, put it into a little muslin bag and boil with the handkerchiefs next time you wash them. You’ll like the delicate fragrance of violets which will cling to them.

Oh, wait… that one’s worse yet. I never even heard of “Orris Root,” and who uses / washes handkerchiefs, anyway? Especially if you have to boil them. Yeccch.

What was wrong with the people who compiled those hints? Not a thing in the world; it’s just that the book came out in 1947 (revised 1951). It was a freebie that my grandmother got from a bank in Missouri. Some of the hints are perfectly relevant today, like weatherproofing windows to save heating costs. But many of the hints talk about things like wringer washers, refrigerators that use chunks of ice to chill food, and other obsolete appliances.

Or chores that hardly anyone does any more: making clothes and jelly, repairing clothing or utensils, shelling peas, ironing underwear. I mean, really. What a lot of work. That’s what technology is for!

No, there’s no point in continuing a practice or method once it has become obsolete or irrelevant. But it is fun to look back at those “labor-saving” hints and see how far we’ve come. Yesterday’s cutting-edge innovation is today’s old news: A tremendous time and wear saver for home laundering is the automatic dryer. There’s no… lifting of heavy wet clothes up basement stairs to hang them on an outside line…

Equally enlightening, though hardly amusing, is a look back at some of the actions and attitudes of my growing-up years. I shudder to recall my thoughtless remarks, the times I caved in to peer pressure or cornered myself into a lie. How thankful I am that years of experience have matured my trust and confidence in God. Thanks to His leading, these days I can usually take the considerate, kind and honest route. After all, you expect a child to be childish. But in a grownup, childish attitudes are both inappropriate and toxic. Sort of like it would be to follow this gem of a hint: …insulate your water-heater tank and pipes with ready-made asbestos pipe covering…

We didn’t know any better, but that was never a good idea!

Which reminds me, did you know that The best parts of worn linoleum which is about to be replaced in kitchen or bathroom can be cut into place mats? Paint both sides and decorate with your monogram. Sure, I’d love to have old bathroom linoleum on my dinner table! (Eewwwwww…)

Thanks for reading!
Jan

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“Two-Wheels” Wishes to Thank “Many-Wheels”

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

Last Friday found me taking advantage of one of those nice, mild January afternoons that come and go at random around here. Which is another way of saying I went out on my bike. As usual, I had started out riding more or less into the breeze so I would have a tailwind coming home (I’m such a slacker).

As I rode toward home along a straight one-mile stretch of road, I saw two or three school buses and some other traffic coming from the opposite direction. We were getting pretty close together when the caution lights started flashing on the school bus in front. I just knew it was about to stop, and its red lights would flash and its robotic STOP sign would swing out, and I would lose all that lovely momentum because I am a real stickler for safety when it comes to children, so of course I was going to stop at the first movement of that robo-STOP sign. I sped up a little, hoping I might dive past the STOP sign before it swung out but, since the bus was clearly rolling to a stop, I kept my hands on the brake levers too.

You might as well know that relations between those on two wheels and those on four-plus wheels sometimes become… well… tense. I have had motorists yell “Get that thing off the road!!” at me, when I was bicycling on the shoulder of a highway and nowhere close to being in the way. And once when a pickup truck ran over and ruined my $1200 bike, the cop who came to the accident scene did not file a report. Probably thought Ms. Pickup had performed a public service. The point here is, I was not optimistic.

Then something amazing happened. The bus braked to a dead stop, still flashing yellow, and sat there for another two seconds as I scooted by. Only then did the driver engage the robo-STOP and red lights. A motorist — driving a school bus, no less –had waited for me (a mere cyclist) to pass, even though it meant holding up a string of other traffic.

I felt like the feathered protagonists in Make Way for Ducklings.

So thank you, Ms. Bus Driver. Your kindness has brightened my day and renewed my optimism about the neighborliness of my fellowman. Not to mention helping me maintain my killer average speed. (Well, okay, that last item is an exaggeration.) Anyway, it was such a beautiful thing that I wanted to pass it on.

Today I am linking up this bit of sunshine with my wonderful friends over at Soli Deo Gloria.

Thanks for reading!
Tailwinds,
Jan

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You Can’t See the Chains

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

I am linking up this morning with Rachel Anne and my Company Girl friends.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading chapter 17 of the Gospel of John. Verses 13-18 sort of jumped out at me. This paragraph is part of a longish prayer that Jesus offered just a few hours before his arrest. And he knew he was about to be arrested, as I discuss in an earlier post. Granted, he was talking to his Father and not to his eleven remaining disciples (Judas having already gone), but he deliberately prayed while they were in the room, for their benefit (see verse 13). Especially this part when he was praying specifically for them. I’m glad that John, at least, was all ears and recorded Jesus’ prayer for us. If you think about it, his words answer a puzzling question for believers.

In verse 13, Jesus makes it clear he is speaking in the disciples’ presence “so that they may have the full measure of [his] joy within them.” But in the very next sentence, he points out that “the world has hated” those same disciples. At first glance, this seems a bit of a paradox. Who gets their kicks out of being hated?

Ah, but that question attributes the effect to the wrong cause. No one gains joy from being alienated. Rather, as Jesus goes on to say (in verse 14), “… the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”

Those who trust and follow Jesus are no longer really part of this world. It is not that “the world” changed its mind about them; it is that they have become something different — a new creation* that no longer fits into the world system.

So the question is, why the hostility toward believers?

Well, the world system is essentially a slave state. People trying to be free of God end up obeying Satan, the enemy of their souls, instead. Yet they cannot see their own chains. They do not even realize that they are slaves.

When people trust Christ, he forgives their rebellion, releases them from guilt, and gives them access to his righteousness. That’s where the joy comes from: our broken chains. Freed from slavery to sin, we can enjoy God’s protection and friendship.

But, though a few will follow, many who remain in slavery will resent the one who has been freed. Hence the alienation. And sometimes we Christians make it worse by forgetting that the people who now hate us are still slaves under the world system–just like we used to be. After all, we cannot see their chains either. We are tempted to perceive these folks as enemies rather than as the prisoners that they are. (Yeah, I know — we screw up in other ways, too, but I don’t want to stray off the point here.) So if someone hates me because of my faith, I should (a) not be surprised; and (b) respond with compassion instead of anger.

My word for the year is Grace. May I extend to others the same grace that Jesus offers all sinners — including me.

* See 2 Corinthians 5:17

Thanks for reading!
Jan

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The Last Dish

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

Big jobs discourage me before I even start them.

By nature, I am a procrastinator. It’s so tempting to make the present moment easier by putting off chores and other stuff I’m supposed to do. I try to fight this tendency, because procrastinating only pretends to make life easier — in reality, it adds more stress than it’s worth.

My consistency leaves a good deal to be desired. One area where I struggle, enjoying great success one week and abject failure the next, is that portion of my kitchen that stands 35.75 inches above the floor: namely, the countertops. Well, and the sink, too. It is much too easy to leave the pots and pans next to the sink “just for a little while” and have them still sitting there, petrified mashed potato or soup residue stuck to the insides, two days later. Meanwhile I can’t work at the counter where the pans sit, so I crowd my next mixing or baking activity into the space between the rice canister and the bag of canned groceries that I neglected to put away yesterday.

Cookie sheets are the worst. They take up more than their fair share of acreage, and have to be moved from counter to stove to bar to breakfast table and then back to the counter, as I need my dwindling work space for other things. Sheesh, why do I put up with that instead of just washing the blasted things and putting them away? It’s just that by the time I finish mixing, shaping and baking five or six dozen cookies, I’m out of patience and energy and ready to march right out of that kitchen.

Ah, but sometimes I just roll up my sleeves and start washing. Going into “Energizer bunny” mode, I keep going and going until I finally get the last dish washed and set out to dry. It’s a lot of work, but after I have gotten thoroughly tired of all that mess, can’t you picture how beautiful a clear counter looks?

By now you’re probably thinking, Sheesh, this lady needs to get out more. Well, even going out is no fun when I know I will come home to a chaotic, depressing kitchen. A clean countertop both relaxes and inspires me. It takes me out of a drudgery / survival mindset, allowing me to actually enjoy cooking and other projects. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some way to have the kitchen counters clean every day, with less effort?

Well, of course there is! It’s a technique called “Clean Up As You Go,” and I started using it in self-defense as my Thanksgiving and Christmas and Kids-Coming-Home cooking threatened to become overwhelming. It’s pretty simple. Use a bowl to mix batter? As soon as it is empty, I just wash it. Once the first cookie sheet is cooled and the cookies removed, I wash that cookie sheet while the next one is still in the oven. As the last cookies bake, I put the mixer away and wipe the countertop. By the time the cookies are done, so is my work. Well, just about. Anyway, I can see the countertops.

I have noticed the same thing in other areas of life. It is way easier to keep up than to catch up. Whether it’s at work or study, life is smoother and more pleasant if I stay on top of things.

The same goes for my relationships with other people and with God. If I need to apologize or set something right, the time to do it is “right now.” Being around someone with an unreconciled offense hanging between us is as awkward as trying to cook around a pile of dirty dishes. It may seem hard in the moment, but as near as I can figure, keeping that promise or apologizing for that wrong actually improves my life, which procrastination promises but never gets around to doing.

Here’s to clear countertops and clear consciences, my double simple pleasure for the day. Today (Wednesday) I am linking up with Dayle at Simple Pleasures, where I always get a breath of fresh air.

On Tuesday I linked up with Jen and my Soli Deo Gloria friends over at Finding Heaven.

Thanks for reading!
Jan

Posted in I Remember When... (my OWN stories), Near As I Can Figure..., Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments

Now Therefore Be It RESOLVED . . .

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Jan C. Johnson

My three weakest areas are structure, structure and… um… structure. And yet, I want to make sure I am blogging consistently. Rather than just thinking about adding structure, I’m starting right now. With that in mind, this here’s my notice that I intend to post on this blog at least once a week for all of 2011.

For inspiration and a gentle kick in the pants, I plan to make use of The DailyPost. This community of other bloggers with similar goals will help me along the way. I would also love to have readers send me suggestions — so, if there is a topic you would like me to write about, drop me a line in the Feedback Zone (above).

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me by commenting, “liking” or sharing any posts that you especially enjoy. And if you like what you read here, you can subscribe and receive a link to each new post via email. The directions are just below the “Search” button at the top of the sidebar. (Note: Once you submit your email address, you will receive an email from Joywriting / WordPress, asking you to confirm the subscription. Just click on the link provided and you’re in!)

I anticipate a wonderful year of laughing, reminiscing, bicycling, and pondering life together.

Thanks for reading!
Jan

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