February 13 – “Elbow Grease”

Today we went to the house first thing to work on stripping the fireplace again.  We were ready this time, too.  I borrowed Kel's power drill and we picked up two attachments made to wire brush rust off of cast iron.  Can it get any better than that?    The plumbers were there when we arrived.  Also a pretty good feeling.  We showed them the pictures of the cabinets.  Turns out what they really needed was a layout detailing measurements.  He said he would talk to our contractor about the questions he had.  He also told us he would do something that might help us avoid having our washing machine drain get stopped up so much.  Oh.  Did you know that if your refrigerator has an icemaker, and your plumber knows about it when your house is being built, there is probably a little box in the wall with the water hookups all ready to go?  Amazing.    We got ready to hook up the drill.  Extension cord.  Drill case.  And no wire brush attachments.  They were in the Explorer.  We were in the truck.  Back to the basics.  Elbow grease.  That's a code name for "pain."  We weren't very far in when Chris volunteered to go to Home Depot and get an attachment.  I hesitated for a moment.  Then I kissed her goodbye.  Thing is, when she got back and we got the drill going, we couldn't decide if it was doing any better than we were doing by hand.  I used it, though.  Clear up until it was time for us to go.  I'll compare later.   This afternoon we went to our neighbor's funeral.  It was at one of the local Catholic churches.  I was excited when I found out which priest would be doing the service.  He is a Franciscan, and wore the brown robes just like the pictures of St. Francis of Assisi.  And his theology was pretty good, too.  The church was packed.  Mom was loving it.  She saw friends and neighbors, and they all hugged and laughed.  It was quite the social event.  It fit the life of Walt, too.  He was nothing if not fun-loving.    As I type this I'm waiting for Jachin and Micah to get here.  They are going to spend the night with Nana and DadDad.  Their Mom and Dad are going to a show that doesn't start until 9 p.m.  This means we'll have three of our five grandchildren here.  I wonder if Jacob ever felt like this.  He had twelve boys and one girl.  I have a little way to go to catch up.  But these little ones are sure special.   Proverbs 17:6 says, "Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children."   Father, thank you for these little crowns.  Help me leave them a legacy of loving you.  Amen.