January 4 – “Mommy on a Mission”

On our way home from watching Micah play soccer and picking up some stuff for church at Lifeway Book Store, we decided to sneak in a quick peek at Nathan and April’s new house.  We knew they were there doing some pre-move-in painting. 

Sure enough, April was hard at work with a roller in hand, squeezing the last tiny bits of blue out of the pan.  Nathan was back at Home Depot.  They were going to run out of paint, a crisis that was simply not acceptable at this stage of the game.  April was on a mission, and the entire world was on hold until she completed that task.  The room would be painted before … well, before anything else. 

When Nathan and April’s Dad (Also Nathan.  He and his wife Angie and her son Micah had made a quick trip down from Corpus Christi to try out their brand new minivan.  First brand new vehicle “Also Nathan” has ever owned.  Well, other than a riding lawn mower.  Welcome to the world of soccer moms, er, dads) returned, we began an attic search to find out why we couldn’t get the doorbell to work.  No power of any kind was registering at either end.  The problem was, we couldn’t find an access to that part of the house anywhere.  Not that there is no attic space by any means.  They actually have three separate spaces.  One is a huge one over the garage.  The second has access through a tiny hidden door in the closet of the guest bedroom.  A little too mysterious for Cailyn, though.  That’s why she chose the other bedroom.  The third access is above the second floor ceilings.  Nathan told me they should never run out of attic space.  I’ll remember that.  We already have.  But then, we have been here twenty years.  We never did find a way to track that doorbell down.  Looks like the best option is to tape off the wires and do what Nathan wanted to do anyway … get a battery operated wireless doorbell. 

“Also Nathan” and I were talking in the driveway at one point when w lady walked by with her little dog.  As it turned out, I think the dog was a ploy to do a little snooping.  Actually the lady was very sweet.  We said hello and she immediately stopped, scooped up her dog and headed over to see who we were.  She was obviously disappointed when we told her we weren’t the owners, but I sensed an opportunity for Nathan and April to meet a key player in the neighborhood.  While she regaled “Also Nathan” with her knowledge of neighborhood happenings, I went inside and pulled Nathan from painting (no way was April even leaving that room.  She had another gallon of paint she had to use up).  He came out and utterly charmed the lady.  He’s been using that skill since he was a little kid explaining to his Mom why he climbed the tree when she told him not to, or why he ... well, I better stop there. 

Oh, and Cailyn?  She and Micah were quite busy the whole time.  They were organizing races.  No, not outside.  These were races down the stairs.  Sliding down the stairs.  On their rear ends, or their stomachs.  Good thing those stairs are carpeted.  It looked really fun.  In fact I almost joined them.  Way better than crawling around in attics or incurring the wrath of a Mommy on a Mission.

Psalms 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”

Father, thank you for the excitement and flurry of activity that entering a new house brings.  Help Nathan and April and Cailyn to always include you as they build their home within that house.  Amen.