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Day 34 – Train Set and Quilt (Throw)
Melissa and I have been getting the Christmas boxes out and the kids have been begging for the tree to be set up. It’s not up yet, but surely tomorrow we will get to to it. The box it’s in is sitting on the living room floor – so that’s progress. My first throw away for Day 34 was easy. Years ago we bought a toy train that is meant to be set up under the Christmas tree so that the little engine and two or three cars would make loops around the edge of the tree skirt. This was…
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Day 33 – Rug (Throw) and Cross Magnet (Give)
Fighting a head cold tonight, so I need to keep this short. Nothing too exciting to write about here anyway: We threw away the rectangular rug from the upstairs living room. The dog had made a mess of it over the last few years and it was dingy and worn. The room looks better without it, which is good since that means I won’t have to spend money on a replacement. Getting rid of the rug was just one more little step in preparing the house for sale. I hung the mirror in the bathroom this evening, so that project (painting,…
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Day 32 – Bible (Throw??)
I started sorting through a box of books I found in the shed (there are many more out there!). I found some books from seminary days that I might want to keep. One of the possible roles I could end up playing in Haiti would be a teacher at the Emmaus Seminary which OMS runs just outside of Cap Haitien. I don’t know if that will ever become a reality, but it’s something I need to consider. But it’s been so long, I don’t remember which of the books were really worthwhile and which could be tossed. I guess I…
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Day 31 – Popcorn Tin (Throw)
You’d think this would be a no-brainer. I found an old popcorn tin (ugly as sin) in the garage and all it contained was some green Christmas garland and another momento of my childhood – a little Snoopy cut-out. He’s wearing a Santa hat and holding a Christmas ornament in his mouth. It used to go up every year in the childhood bedroom I shared with my oldest brother, Ryan. I don’t remember who gave it to me or why I held onto it year after year. I think it was just because it was cute. And I used to like…
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Day 30 – 1999 Planning Calendar (Throw … after a walk down memory lane)
It was my first full time pastoral job after graduating from Asbury Theological Seminary. January 7th, 1999, I spent moving into the parsonage for the little United Methodist Church in Marietta, Indiana. I was dating a girl named Kelli who lived in Indianapolis and she had just talked me into adopting one of her friend’s accidental puppies. She told me the pups were a “bull terrier” mix (“the mother is a bull terrier, the father is a fence jumper”). I adopted one of the cute little females, named her Tux (short for Tuxedo, because of her coloring), got her settled…
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Day 29 – Boomerang Soup Mix
Just to recap: My wife and I are looking for God’s direction as we make plans to move our family down to Haiti to become full time missionaries. We figure our first step is to sell the house and then find a cheap, cheap apartment or mooch off a relative for the next year or so to pay off debts and have the time to raise financial support. As part of this process, I have challenged myself to throw away, give away or sell at least one item from the house each and every day. I make a record here…
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Day 28 – Sign from Saudi Arabia (Give)
During the summers of 1995 and 1996, I was working in Saudi Arabia. The work I was doing there is nothing which I can describe openly on the world wide web, so if you don’t already know, I have to leave you guessing here. I wasn’t working for the CIA or anything, and I would gladly tell you in person, but not here… who knows who might be listening in… Anyway, Saudi Arabia is a fascinating culture in many ways, but the most striking – and obvious – culture shock for a Westerner like myself has to be the role…
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Day 27 – Lamp (Give)
My wife’s cousin, Angie, came by the house today to lend a (much appreciated) hand with all the work there is to be done. Ida (age 7) has had some weird illness this week – with a high fever, loss of appetite, tiredness and sore throat but, thankfully, no puking – so we’ve had to make arrangements for care this week since he wasn’t able to attend school since Tuesday. Grandma Trudy watched him two separate days, I stayed with him on Wednesday, and Melissa stayed with him today. I got a good start on our bathroom project when I spent…
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Day 26 – Outdoor Wooden Toy Chest (Throw)
I went out to get something from the garage the other day and noticed a situation that needed attention. A few years ago when our neighbor across the street moved away, he left a big old aquarium (that he must have been using to house a lizard or turtle) right there on the curb in front of his house. I took it. I admit that I too am a curbside collector! I always wanted a big old fish tank, but they’re so expensive – this one just needed a scouring pad and some elbow grease and it would be mine…. This thing had…
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Day 25 – “The Bourne Identity” and a Clay Dinosaur (Give)
We had a meeting tonight at church – and by “we” I mean the folks who went to Haiti in October. Three were missing: Steve is off hunting, Wayne winters in Florida, and nobody was quite sure where Rose Ellen was. But five of us got together to plan our gathering this coming Sunday, December 5. We are inviting folks to come hear about the trip (it’s 4 to 5:30 at the church). Anyway, I took the opportunity to take along a couple of items to give to Beka. She mentioned last Sunday that she thought the Bourne movies were…
