Simple Gifts

My wife is at "Time out for Women" today and asked me to write for her. I don't have a lot to say today. I have been experimenting with various methods today on how to motivate your children to cleap up. So far, I have had limited success. I guess I've had a couple things on my mind lately, so I'll share.


1. Heavenly Sent Carpet Cleaner

In cleaning the house, I am reminded of a gem of a carpet cleaner I stumbled upon in the grocery store. One day in search of a decent carpet cleaner and being the penny pincher I am I picked up what I thought was a generic brand cleaner due to the boring label on the cleaner. Turns out, this cleaner is AMAZING and I guess it's not a generic.

Spray and wipe--that simple. It's called Folex Instant Carpet Spot Remover. Anyhow, I challenge anyone to find a better carpet cleaner. Or at the least compare this one to the one you have. They should be paying me to babble on and on about how good this thing is. But hey, the thing works and most carpet cleaners don't. So there.

2. Heavenly Sent Wife

I would just like to say how awesome Stephanie is. I know, how trite is it for spouses to wax on and on about how wonderful their significant other is?? Well, it might be trite for the reader but too bad. I haven't really said much on the subject so here goes: My wife is as wonderful as she seems in her comments. She inherited two wonderful traits from her father: 1) a big heart and 2) not easily offended. Both of these traits have been necessary in tolerating her husband. From the posts, you might think she is an emotional wreck. She is not. She is human and grieves but is not as emotionally unstable as many women I have met in my time. While at times I have to lift her up emotionally, she does the same for me. That's part of any healthy relationship. Another of her talents is the tenacity to get the job done. When she puts her mind to anything, she gives her all, doesn't cut corners and does a fantastic job. I suppose she inherited that trait from her mother, who is always super prepared whenever asked to do a task. These are just a few things I thought I'd put down and there are many others. Perhaps I'll bore you later with more details?? I know what I do when reading others' ravings about their spouse, I just skip over it. That's OK, I'm just putting it down for posterity's sake.


3. Heavenly Sent Daughters

How crazy is it that I was entrusted with raising, crafting, molding one of Heaven's souls? Sometimes I think it is too much trust God places in me. Think about how many ills and woes are caused in this world simply by poor parenting. I'm not trying to sober you up here, just marvelling at the simple idea of it. At the same time, there is a lot of teaching that comes the other way. My daughters are wonderful in their own right and their simple love helps me to remember what is most important. They help to keep me on the straight and narrow. My wife asked me to blog a couple times, I believe, for a little comic relief. While I'm probably not that terribly funny in real life, IMHO (I'm getting used to this InternetSpeak) I think I write better than I speak. Therefore, I might have given you the erroneous impression that I'm funny. Sorry about that. So on a serious note, I thought I'd write a little about Camille. I kind of wonder what keeps my wife writing every day about her. I know that part of it is to keep a record of her. Another part is to keep her alive through daily ruminations. But also, we all grieve in different ways. I miss my daughter terribly. Every morning, my wife would stick her head in the door and the giggles of anticipation and the smile on her little face would absolutely brighten up my day. I miss that most of all. However, I tend to avoid the pain. I do not want to forget her, but at the same time I do not want to feel that DEEP pain that accompanies the intimate, loving thoughts of her. I guess every now and then is good and even healthy but I just could not do it every day. I also have three lovely, wonderful daughters that require my attention (they tell me every 5 minutes, actually).


4. Heavenly Sent Savior

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

Well, I guess to tie up my random thoughts and in preparation for tomorrow, it's important to give praise and honor to our Savior. He has made eternal, true joy possible. Just like that wonderful carpet cleaner I put to use today, may we use his perfectly potent atonement in washing away our pain/sorrow/sins.