Household Stuff

I’m sort of out of commission this week. Remember that walking pneumonia or bronchitis thing I had a couple of months ago – right along with the UTI, burglary, rat in the toilet, and having to give up our dog?

Well, I have it again, and I’m not at all comfortable. I’ve canceled the teaching gigs for this week, but I can’t foist my own kids on anyone else – I’ve tried – so I’m not completely off the hook. 😉

And there’s something else that puts me under – if the bronchitis and cold gloomy drizzle hadn’t already done the trick. And this is something I just can’t properly preface or find the right words for.

My friend’s little 3-year old girl, Taylor, died yesterday. Yes, I know. I cried. I prayed. I cried some more. Her mom and I are friends from New York – not bosom friends because we were separated a bit by age and activities at that time, but we were in the same ministry in NY together. She moved to Atlanta and met her husband before moving on to Texas. And right when they got there, her little girl was diagnosed with cancer. She endured a life-threatening surgery with people praying for her all over the globe, came through miraculously, danced and sang Frozen with her adorable little bald head, asked for Chick-Fil-A as soon as she could eat fried foods again …

And then, and then … an accident? A minor routine surgery gone wrong? I don’t even know the details … but this horrible accident – unrelated to her cancer – left her on life support with no brain activity. Yesterday morning’s tests showed that she had definitely gone, so they had to unhook her support. And her heart beat its last.

I had been praying for an 11th hour miracle, along with hundreds – even thousands – others. But as many of you already know, sometimes God says no. Sometimes he says the loving thing in this particular case is not to bring her back. And no one understands it. But her parents trust, and so I will too.

It turns out our 3 and a half yrs with her, was our miracle.

Since I can’t say anything that can properly do justice to earth’s incredible loss and heaven’s glorious gain, I’m going to tell you about household stuff – mundane, routine, stupid household stuff. For me, it’s an act of worship to keep going, and keep living, and keep investing rather than giving in to despair. I began in a very prosaic way today. By cleaning.

We also have curtains now, which is new.

It was the sale season and I’ve waited for 6 years to have them.

They look horribly gloomy in this weather, but at night with the lights on they are cozy, and they are pretty when the sun streams through in the daytime as well.

The only thing is, I felt like it was a lot of white, and I was starting to feel a bit mental. So I got some red daisies to add a splash of colour.

And then, Matthieu is helping a guy from church with something every Tuesday night, so I cook for them as well, knowing how valuable a hot meal is to a single guy. And last night he brought me yellow roses. So I have been blessed with even more colour!

My husband is in the process of installing a second-hand bed right now. It’s from people in the English-speaking group, so not exactly complete strangers. Our old bed was 14 years old, and this bed is just 7 years and was in a spare room, with infrequent use. It’s also a Sealy’s Posturepedic. We don’t have the means for a brand new bed, but couldn’t resist this 75€ deal. Perhaps it’s not too late for our ageing backs to recover with the right support.

And to continue my flighty ramble, I’ve wanted to show you this cute little teapot my husband gave me for Christmas. I was afraid the boiling water would break it, but I’ve been using it every day, and it holds fast. So I feel like I’m surrounded with cheerful little things, and I’m determined to enjoy them.

So it’s just household stuff, you know – inconsequential material stuff. But sometimes that’s the only stuff you have words for when the important things leave you speechless.

Bye, sweet Taylor.

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