February 2 – “A Happy Heart”

I had an unusual chore this morning.  I had to meet a FEMA guy at mom's house.  He took two pictures of the outside of the house and asked me to sign his form.  Then he was done.  Supposed to get some more aid money for Mom.  We'll see.   Since we were already in Galveston, Chris and I moved on across the street to get some work done.  Our first task was to move the Franklin stove over to the corner.  Then we broke up and scraped up the decorative Mexican-looking tile that was under the stove.  Last vestiges of tile in the house.  Well, the only tile that might be left might be under some of the walls added after it was put down.  But the stove looks really good there.  I think I'm for keeping it now.  Even if it means I have to be the one to spend hours with a wire brush and high heat can of spray paint.   Then we started attacking the stuff in the back yard.  We started three piles.  In one we threw away a lot of stuff that just had no hope of making a comeback – like photos that got wet, stuck to each other, and became rock hard chunks of cardboard with a blurry ghost image of who-knows-what.  The second was for stuff that was ready to make the trek across the street to storage in Mom's garage – Like a boatload of wicker baskets of every shape and description, from Easter egg holders to tiny baby holders.  (Actually that one made the cut and got to come home with us to Omega Bay.  Yes, the very basket that Chris used to sleep in as a tiny baby is downstairs at this very moment).  The third was for stuff that we wanted to bring back to the Omega Bay house and "work on."  Stuff like: Some cross stitch patterns.  Some stamps from Kel's collection when he was a kid.  A rooster (it's a wooden thing you hang on the wall with places at the bottom to hang your keys on).  A whole bag full of dolls and doll clothes that Chris wants to wash – cabbage patch dolls, Barbies, baby dolls, and miscellaneous doll-dolls.  Gotta get them up to snuff before Cailyn gets old enough to play with them.  And that basket that was Chris' bed when she was little.   You know, today was a good day.  Not because everything went perfectly.  Not because I felt great.  Actually, I felt drained and exhausted and even a little dizzy most of the day today.  But today was a good day because Chris smiled a lot.  And when we were getting ready to leave, she said, "I don't know how you feel about it, but as far as I'm concerned, we got a lot done today."  Happiness and a sense of fulfillment.         Proverbs 15:13 says, "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit."   Father, I want Chris to have that happy heart all the time.  Amen.