.........pressed down, shaken together, a blessing that you cannot contain......
I have lived my adult life following the Biblical principle: Give when it hurts. Be especially glad about it. Rejoice in it, thank God for the opportunity.
So I did. This isn't going to set well with certain readers, I'm not sorry. Please ignore this "religious" posting if it offends you - or not - it really matters not to me.
I gave away a half ham; 2 2-pound chubs of 93% lean ground beef; 3 large packages of boneless, skinless chicken meat; several cans of tuna fish and some cans of lean chicken breast.
Why would you do that? Because I am a believer and a follower of Christ. That's the only reason I need or need give, if I even feel I "need" to give a reason to anyone.
There are many, many hungry families out there. I cannot possibly feed all of them, but I can help one of them, and I did. It is the highlight, for me anyway, of my staycation. I am doing nothing here, which is a grand feeling - put my mind into the frame of being at an (oil-free) beach, listening to the waves crashing on the sand and the sounds of people running and playing in the water, laying there with a sheet and taking it all in.
I'm not there and I can't be there, but I can put my mind into the mindset. I have done that. If you looked at my eyes right now, you would think I am not there. Here, but not here. In a distant place, far away. So it is.
If it has any meaning at all, it was a mother of several kids plus taking care of other people's kids who was broke and had nothing to look forward to for the next 8 days. And that's it. I didn't prolong the interaction, the food was handed off, the lady gave me a great big hug and she left.
I have been questioned throughout my life how I could possibly think to give away perfectly good food when I am in want myself. I can honestly answer that in every single occasion, God has risen to the content of my need and has taken care of me. I couldn't possibly "prove" to you that it was God, I put my trust and faith in Him. Whether anyone chooses to believe it or not is irrelevant to me. We are only going to be here for a fraction of a second in comparison to eternity, I would like to make the most of it - at least in the eyes of Him who matters most to me.
If I end up in a pauper's grave, then that is what I was destined to do, by Him and I will be perfectly content with it. Yes, I will sit here and fret about bills, I'm only human, but in the innermost being, I will believe that He will come through for me.
If you look at your life span - 70 years more or less - and contrast it to the time of known earth - perhaps you might see that you are not going to live very long here. Oh, your friends and family might say you lived a long life, in reality, none of us will live a "long" life. It will be "long" according to the temporal perception, it will be very, very short in contrast to eternity.....and yes, the Kingdom of Heaven.
I'm not patting myself on the back or attempting to lift myself up in any way, no, instead, I point to the Lord. He is our Maker. He is our Redeemer. He is the source of life and life eternal.
ben
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday
The only thing that has been somewhat of a downer during this staycation - which is almost exactly half over now - off until time to show up at work on Monday morning - is all this fretting about finances. In reality, if the ex-Marine pays when he gets back, I'm in good shape. The female tenant is also in arrears - though only for this week. I pretty much give her leniency because her situation is rather sucky in the financial real, but, she has managed to keep up with the rent by paying $30 here, $20 there as she gets tips at work.
I cannot, however, count money I do not have. The Marine went on vacation to his parent's house I believe in Florida. They were paying his entire trip there and back, I am hopeful that he doesn't come back and try to tell me he doesn't have the money. I would not be too terribly happy about that, at all. Considering the fact he is moving out at the end of this month, that would simply mean I would be getting the shaft for a full month's rent, something I am not prepared to do. I hope this isn't a bridge that I need to cross over with him, I am hopeful he has kept the money and will pay it when he returns. He left before his monthly check from the military showed up.
The money I got from the change in my closet? Sitting in my pocket. I have made no decision concerning that money yet. I will not make such a decision until the Marine returns and I find out whether I am getting anything from him or not. If the situation was nothing, then that money has to go to help pay for child support, which is basically due by the 15th of every month. I do think I will go ahead and cash in the rest of it and see what I have - at least another $80 worth I am guessing.
Speaking of tenants, a guy that has been wanting to move in here for over 5 months now just called again. He is going through divorce, almost identical to the situation of my manager. I told him the unfurnished room is available at the beginning of next month. He at least needs a bed, apparently. I will ask my manager how much he wants for an extra bed he now has. Maybe I can make payments or something. It is much easier to rent a furnished room than unfurnished. I really would like to get dressers in all of those rooms - no, none of them have a dresser in them. I saw a freebie a while back - beautiful condition, it was gone before I could take the next breath.
Enough of that. One of my pumps wasn't pumping this morning - for the ponds. Took it apart, cleaned it out, walaah. That one had me going, I have to have those pumps operating all the time to keep the water sufficiently aerated for the fish.
I sooooo want that big pond that guy on Craigslist is trying to sell. He has been trying to sell it and 6 or 7 other ponds for almost 3 months now. Not a single taker on any of it - he wants too much money for that stuff. It's big, preformed pond, very nice. It has a big, preformed pond that feeds it and it also has a skimmer - very helpful in keeping the water clear and the debris from going to the bottom of the pond and accumulating. I have made offers, one of them he accepted but at the time, I had yet another financial emergency so I let it go. I had no idea that all of those ponds would STILL be available. This was the other option I was thinking of spending the change money on - a huge and complete pond setup.
Well, anyway, I must get on with my staycation. Lazy, lazy days!!
ben
I cannot, however, count money I do not have. The Marine went on vacation to his parent's house I believe in Florida. They were paying his entire trip there and back, I am hopeful that he doesn't come back and try to tell me he doesn't have the money. I would not be too terribly happy about that, at all. Considering the fact he is moving out at the end of this month, that would simply mean I would be getting the shaft for a full month's rent, something I am not prepared to do. I hope this isn't a bridge that I need to cross over with him, I am hopeful he has kept the money and will pay it when he returns. He left before his monthly check from the military showed up.
The money I got from the change in my closet? Sitting in my pocket. I have made no decision concerning that money yet. I will not make such a decision until the Marine returns and I find out whether I am getting anything from him or not. If the situation was nothing, then that money has to go to help pay for child support, which is basically due by the 15th of every month. I do think I will go ahead and cash in the rest of it and see what I have - at least another $80 worth I am guessing.
Speaking of tenants, a guy that has been wanting to move in here for over 5 months now just called again. He is going through divorce, almost identical to the situation of my manager. I told him the unfurnished room is available at the beginning of next month. He at least needs a bed, apparently. I will ask my manager how much he wants for an extra bed he now has. Maybe I can make payments or something. It is much easier to rent a furnished room than unfurnished. I really would like to get dressers in all of those rooms - no, none of them have a dresser in them. I saw a freebie a while back - beautiful condition, it was gone before I could take the next breath.
Enough of that. One of my pumps wasn't pumping this morning - for the ponds. Took it apart, cleaned it out, walaah. That one had me going, I have to have those pumps operating all the time to keep the water sufficiently aerated for the fish.
I sooooo want that big pond that guy on Craigslist is trying to sell. He has been trying to sell it and 6 or 7 other ponds for almost 3 months now. Not a single taker on any of it - he wants too much money for that stuff. It's big, preformed pond, very nice. It has a big, preformed pond that feeds it and it also has a skimmer - very helpful in keeping the water clear and the debris from going to the bottom of the pond and accumulating. I have made offers, one of them he accepted but at the time, I had yet another financial emergency so I let it go. I had no idea that all of those ponds would STILL be available. This was the other option I was thinking of spending the change money on - a huge and complete pond setup.
Well, anyway, I must get on with my staycation. Lazy, lazy days!!
ben
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