Recently some friends of ours were getting rid of a shed, and Joseph needed one. After measuring it, they found it was the perfect, exact size for Joseph’s cement pad. But, there was a little more involved than just hauling the shed over with a truck. This shed had some Hardy paneling and was very heavy. You couldn’t just drag it onto the tow truck and hope for the best.
I’ll make a long story short. The guys braced the shed one night, and then Joseph hired a roll-back, tow truck to bring it over to his house.
The shed move was intense. Very intense. At one point, when it got over to Joseph’s house, and we were trying to get it into position–well, things got interesting. The tow truck guys were great, professional, and even though the temperatures were in the upper 90’s, kept at it.
Enjoy the pictures. They will tell the story. Believe me.
They braced the shed before moving.
Now, the day of the move!
Elissa made cookies for the workers.
Joseph with the guys who moved it.
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Colossians 3:23
Our Independence morning had a different twist from a normal holiday morning.
Anna and Mary had it on their hearts to do an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox fundraiser with the nieces (see past posts on OCC). They put on a special breakfast and invited all the relatives. The Friday before the 4th, the girls and nieces had a planning meeting. They figured out their menu and invited everyone (the reason for the fundraiser was mostly kept a secret until arrival time).
Sunday afternoon, Abby and Bethany came over to help Anna and Mary make cinnamon roll dough. It was a kitchen full of girls!
Then, Monday morning, the little girls dug out Christmas clothes, and put normal clothes over them so they could keep their secret. When Melanie saw their outfits, she wondered, but they assured her that the aunts knew all about it. You could feel the anticipation in the air as the girls whisked around the house, helping the aunts prepare. They set up Christmas decorations, used Christmas dishes, and well, it really felt like Christmas. If I didn’t know better, I would honestly have thought it was Christmas!
Everyone was greeted with “Merry Christmas” as they arrived.
The girls had a little program, explaining about the boxes, Bethany read Scripture, they sang a Christmas carol, and then after breakfast, we were all given an opportunity to give. The girls had a certain dollar goal, and would you believe we hit it?!!! It was an exciting time!
Anna continues to collect items for the shoeboxes throughout the year, which makes them quite economical. The younger girls will help with the shopping and then be involved with packing them later this year.
We had our traditional 4th of July barbecue that evening. It was a great day!
Love, Sarah
Celebrating Drew’s birthday a day early, which also now is Daniel’s!
I guess she was having fun with her clean up rag! Nathan and Melanie Maxwell and family Love that smile! Ellie and I
“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
I wanted to tell you that I think there is a correlation between scheduling/adequately managing one’s home and weight control.
As of yesterday, I have lost 38 excess pounds and have about 16 to go in order to meet my goal. The weight loss has been slow, but steady. I have tried unsuccessfully many times to lose weight in the past 8 years, but it wasn’t until I tried losing the weight AFTER having my schedule in place again that I had any real and lasting success. I find that I am NOT eating out of reactions to stress or out of a feeling of loss over control anymore.
In Christ, Christi
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. Proverbs 16:3
We just “downgraded” our washing machine and are very pleased with it. Let me share the story with you.
When the Maytag washer, which my parents had given to us as a baby gift at our first child’s birth, had some major problems about 20 years later, we purchased the new HE front loader Maytag Neptune washing machine. It promised to conserve water, energy, use less detergent, and wash bigger loads of laundry. It never, however, performed well for us, and those machines were eventually in a class action lawsuit. After a few years we decided to cut our losses and try a Kenmore HE front loader. While that one didn’t have the mold problems in the gasket that the Neptune did, it still didn’t seem to clean as well as our old Maytag washer had cleaned.
When we built our house and chose a washer for it, we decided on an HE top loader. It was okay, but still wasn’t cleaning like that original Maytag. As we watched clothes through the glass window on the lid, we weren’t surprised they didn’t seem to get very clean. There wasn’t much motion in the clothes nor much water in the washer.
When recently the bearings went out in the HE top loader necessitating a $130 part plus an $80 tool and the time for Steve to fix it, we decided to do what Christopher and Anna Marie had done – go backwards to an old agitator style washing machine. With the money we would invest in repairing our HE top loader, we could buy an old machine from Craig’s list and fix it, if it wasn’t working.
Christopher had done research and come up with Kenmore Series 80 or 90-agitator style washing machine as being a solid machine, easy to work on, with parts still readily available. Within a few days, we had procured a Series 90 had it cleaned up, and begun using it for less than half of what the repair of the HE top loader would have been. We are happy with the agitator machine’s performance, and it will be much less costly to repair when something goes wrong with it.
We have now decided to get an old Kenmore Series 90 dryer to have on hand for when our new dryer has a problem. We have already had to replace the control board on it. The Kenmore Series 90 dryer will be easier to repair and have parts that are less expensive.
Sometimes the old ways are better.
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jeremiah 6:16
The Maxwell family and ministry blog of Titus2.com.
