Sharing stories

Started the week with the goal of making a lot of progress on finishing up at the "blue house". There is a lawn shed behind the garage that had never been totally sided. Before the siding could go on the old hot tub had to be moved. I wrote last week that I was hoping and counting on a man to come take it away. He showed up on Tuesday and said he could not find anyone to help him move it. I asked how heavy is that thing. He didn't know. "Lets get the old spare tire and rim out of it and tip out the water and see what it weighs." You know that this was a prime item if it had an old tire on the rim setting in stale water in it. We got the tub tipped up on its side. 

He said he had a wagon, maybe we could put under it. See, I was assuming we were going to load it on a pickup. No! That was not the case. I really wish I had a video of what followed. He had a utility wagon for gardening about the size of a child's red wagon. We tipped the hot tub up and balanced it on the wagon. A woman pulled the wagon while he steadied it on one side and I on the other and down the sidewalk around the block we went. I could not see the reaction of any motorists driving past us when they saw these crazy people pulling a hot tub down the street on a little wagon, but I bet there was a lot of amazed looks and finger pointing. I do hope some recognized me so they could tell the story of the latest crazy thing they saw Royce do.

I did get the siding on the shed once the hot tub was out of the way.

started caulking all the joints in the siding.

The tenant was wanting to move in this weekend so I stopped everything and installed the bathroom light.

I was driving back to the house from lunch one day when I saw the street ahead of me blocked by 8 police and sheriff cars. I was about 2 houses away and I could see the officers had the weapons drawn. Then I saw a sheriff's deputy coming down the street with his shotgun at his shoulder and it was pointed at me. Even though I knew he was not consciously  aiming at me, it was a very uncomfortable feeling to see an officer, who was probably having an adrenaline rush from a dangerous situation, with a shotgun aimed in my direction. There was room for me to make the corner and get out of the "danger zone" and I went. I never did hear what the man in the pickup had done, but the law officers were serious.

I put a little paint on the house to see if I had a good color.

I then brushed some on the garage. It is a look I can live with . I will see if I can get everything caulked and fire up the sprayer next week.

We left on Friday to spend some time with the boys and their wives. We rented a house for the weekend in north central Iowa. 2 nights take a lot more baggage than one would assume.

We went to Ledges state park. There were several times when the boys were younger and we might have gotten lost on hikes. The boys have not forgotten. See Joshua checking the map?

See Joshua checking his phone while Micah checks the map? I guess they don't trust dad.

We waded in the creek. With the temperature over 90 the water felt great.

 

I am not sure how Tony got the recliner at the house to tip over backwards. One moment he was sitting beside us the next minute he was flat on his back.

We ate at restaurants.

Pondered some art.

And had a good time having the whole family in one place.

I started the week doing what I do every week. Working on a house. I feel I am called by God to do that at this time in my life. The end of the week was spent with our sons and their wives. We spent some time sharing how we see God working and controlling our lives. 

Tony prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for our family showing him God. It was one of the great moments of my life.

When our sons were young, Sharon and I were foster parents. I have always wondered how that impacted our sons. We were moving these foster boys in and out of our house and those boys brought a lot of problems. 2 of our sons told us they were going to be taking classes  this year so they could be foster parents. I was blown away.

All shared how they have seen God active guiding them. 

I would encourage every one to have conversations about how God is at work today with your family. It is always a highlight of my year.