Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The First Supper

We were measuring stuff last night at the new house when comes a knock at the door. I was feeling bad about fence encounter earlier in the day and was also exhausted. I did not want to talk to the sellers about the fence. I assumed it was them as no one else knew we were in the house. Lo and behold it was a couple from church we had met once. Turns out they live just up the road from us. They said they were the unofficial Welcome Wagon and invited us to supper. I was tempted to turn them down as I am not crazy about socializing with near strangers. But this is a new phase and old things are passing away. I accepted. We had a wonderful time. This couple were delightful, and they offered to help us CLEAN AND PAINT AND MOVE. Offered us the use of their pickup! I was overwhelmed by their generosity.

This is a direct answer to prayer. Why am I so surprised? I expect disasters. I do not look for blessings. A new day is dawning. I am choosing to expect blessings. I will be alert for them. If I can spot a potential problem at forty paces I should also be able to perceive the hand of God in my life.

Today I will be cleaning and buying a garage. Oh, and door locks. Fence looks good.

Take care of yourselves. Love Bea

P.S. Markovian Theory: The next new health craze to sweep the country will be "clarified" water...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm happy for you that you were able to accept the couple's offer. I am like you, my first response is usually "no, thanks". Then I eat dinner alone/lonely. This happened recently, but I accepted the offer this time, and had a wonderful evening.
Ah, perceiving the hand of God. How difficult that is for us humans!
Have you ever heard the parable of the man stuck on his roof, the entire town flooded? When a canoeist came by and said "jump in, I'll save you" the man replied "no, thanks--God will save me", later the water rising still a helicopter hovered over the man and called for him to climb aboard, but the man replied "no thanks, God will save me". The man drowned, and angerily asked God in Heaven, "why didn't you save me when I prayed to you?" and God said, Well, I sent you a canoe and a helicopter.......
Enjoy your home, it sounds to me like the hand of God at work.
Carol

Lori G. said...

I'm glad you accepted the dinner. How wonderful! I meant to comment on your post about the closing. Dang! You were a strong, competent woman who dealt with a stinky situation. I'm so glad you and Mark didn't back down on the fence.

BTW, generosity usually draws in generosity and you are a very generous woman. So you got something back in return! Yay!

Vickie said...

I was wondering and wondering how things were going. Glad that you have nice neighbors.

I had the best time picking out paint for our (5 year old) new house.

The computer room is a pretty strong/dark shade of blue. The painter did not want to paint it - he said - "I will get it up there, you will not like how dark it is and I will have to repaint."

I said - this is one shade lighter - but the same color as what my kitchen was painted at the old house and I loved it.

After that - he didn't even argue with guacamole green above the off white beadboard/trim/doors in all 3 bathrooms.

Had the same conversation with the tile guy - about the bathroom floors - 12" squares, set on point, alternating off white and dark rich green - checkerboard - really strong floor in small bathrooms.

He talked to the paint guy - who set him straight - and that was the end of that arguement. I love those bathroom floors.

All the bedrooms are tan (pink based tan, not yellow) with off white trim/doors. Everything in the world goes with tan and off white - so as the kids color tastes change - no repainting.

The rest of the house (all the common rooms) is butter yellow with wood stained (light as they could get it) trim/doors. On first glance it does not look yellow. You do not walk in and think YELLOW - you actually think rich off white - but it is warm looking.

I had the painters paint the common rooms at my mother's the exact same color. Her front door is the same color too. When house was empty she thought she hated it - looked strong to her - but this furnature - same thing - rich off white look to it - but not YELLOW. The front door - looks VERY yellow - and is the exact same color.