I haven't browsed to see how many others have written about the sixth anniversary of September 11th.  I do remember last year reading several blogs and crying all the while.  I can't say with certainty that I'm avoiding those memories or just writing them down.

I remember though.  We lived in Florida at the time.  September is a nice time to be in Florida, the heat is mellowing, but the sun is still shining.  That morning was beautiful, a twang of fall in the air, slightly cooler, crisp blue skies.  My husband had just left for work (i.e. he walked to the other end of the block to his office at church).  I was just turning my attention to getting the children moving when the phone rang.  It was my husband.  He had just turned on his radio (he likes a.m. talk shows) and asked me to turn on the T.V. because there was something going on.

I turned it on, not really knowing what I was to look for or find.  The picture on the screen was the first tower to be hit-- smoking.  The newscaster babbled "It could be..."  "Maybe it was..."  generallities that seem to go on and on and muddle my mind.  I tried to describe to my husband what was happening and what was being said.  Then, I saw the second plane banking.  I knew in my heart what was about to happen and started crying, saying to no one in particular, "Oh, no.  Oh, no."  Wanting to shout to everyone in the building, "Get out quick!"  As I talked to him, trying further to descibe what I had just saw, the towers started to come down.  My husband came home right away.  We prayed, I cried.  Then we tried to reach his brother who lives in NYC.  Of course, the cell towers were down and other ones were jammed with phone calls.  We prayed and called family in Oregon to see if anyone had gotten through.

There are some things that etch themselves into our memories and never fade.  The day I was told my best friend was dead and 9/11 are two of those for me.  We eventually got through to my brother-in-law.  He had had the day off from work and was watching the events unfold through a window not many blocks away at a friend's apartment.  Had he went to work, he would have disembarked the subway under those towers while these things were happening.  We are thankful he was not there; we still pray for those families whose loved ones were there.

So what do we do now?  Unfortunately, it seems, that the long-term memory of America is not very good.  I think that fewer really take time to remeber this day six years ago, and any event in our history longer than that is almost forgotten completely.  Just look at the all the tests and surveys that ask people about historical events or people -- so very few remember any past President Cliton or even what started the War in Iraq to begin with.  Sad, but true.

Today we went to our local school (which just opened this fall, built for $6.5 million) to vote on yet another school bond measure.  But that is another story.  After voting, my husband began telling me about the Glenn Beck radio show.  I am linking it here, because you need to know what is happening.  I don't care to listen to those kind of programs, so please don't think that I am endorsing them for you.  But this particular episode needs to be out there.

I think that most Americans have gone back to pre-9/11 thinking, living, etc. that the information in this episode of Glenn Beck is particularly worrisome.  It appears from things gathered, that terrorists are thinking of targetting our schools.  Now, I won't elaborate here, but I encourage you, dear reader, to prayerfully consider reading this transcript, or letting your husband read it and share what he thinks appropriate for you.    This is not just a case of  "Boy, I'm glad I homeschool" because should this day come to pass, God have mercy on us, it will be crippling to our nation.

Remember Jesus' exasperation in the Garden?  "Could you not watch one hour?"  America watch.  And pray.

It has been so very cold here.  Just the perfect weather for snow, if only it would.  Early in the weekend we were down to two degrees.  Brrrr.  Thus I did not get out into the garage all weekend as I would have liked.  However, I did get some C&C cleaning up done.

I have a corner in my bedroom (don't we all) where my totes and boxes of sewing stuffs reside.  I have, with God's help, emptied a tote and two boxes from that corner.  It feels so good to see it shrink.  I have also determined to use fabric I have rather than buying for sewing projects.  In fact, I am making a blanket for my nephew.  I wanted to try a flannel rag quilt, but didn't have enough flannel of colors and patterns I had in mind.  I was about to go buy some, when I remembered some cute dinosaur fabric I bought for my son, a few years ago, that he decided he was to big for.  So now, I have a cute blanket under construction and with some scraps of lining material (used previously for Easter vests for my son) to make triangles for a boarder.

Yesterday I did go out into the garage for an hour or so.  Brought in three boxes and whittled them down to one - which is full of things that have a place to go.

I love seeing my keep piles growing smaller and the get rid of pile growing larger!  It feels very good, very liberating.  My sister recently informed me of a family whose home burned to the ground.  I have SO much stuff that will be of help and use to them and it is already in boxes for transport!  Praise the LORD, He made a place for this already!  He is so good!

"Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord." 

Ephesians 5:8b-10 (NKJV)

Satan really likes to get at us when we have set our minds to do a thing.  I have been fighting coming down with a cold for a few days, and today it really hit me.  However, I would not be moved!  Rather than going out into the fridged garage to continue cleaning out boxes there, I tackled the Christmas stuff today.

I did manage to fill up one box of things to part with.  Unfortunately, that did not diminish the capacity of Christmas storage needed.  In fact, my dear love brought home two more totes to put stuff in!  UGH!  I really tried.  I don't think I failed, however, because I did fill up a box to get rid of and identified some items to "recycle" next year.  I also boxed a few special ornaments for my three blessings as their own special ornaments that they will inherit someday.  (I decided to do this because while sorting through the multipicity of ornaments I have amassed, I thought, "How will my children ever know which is their special ones if I were not here to tell them?")

Yesterday I also filled a box with magazines to get rid of.  I sorted all my other magazines into seasons (Spring & Summer, Fall & Winter) to make accessing these easier during the appropriate time of year.  Again, the number of boxes did not decrease, which I can't figure out why not, but I do have less than I started with.  This also brings up a good point I read somewhere (maybe at Dandelion Seeds) that we should really evaluate our magazine subscriptions.  Keep those we truly value and cancel the clutter -- including merchandise catalogs!  owwww!  That's rough.

Has anyone else started their own battle with the evil twin "C"s yet?  Leave me a note and let me know how it is going for you.  Sometime this next week I am going to share some insight and thoughs from an article I found (in one of my older magazines) about contentment.  Stay tuned.

God Bless your labors.

Greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.  I want to wish you all a blessed and joyful 2007. 

I generally don't make New Year resolutions, however, this year, at the close of the Christmas celebration, I found myself face to face with Change.  It seems that this elusive, yet ever moving body planted itself right in my path, determined to be dealt with face to face.  You see, I don't do change well, at least the obvious kind of change.  (That is such an ironic statement from someone who has moved eight times in six states since marrying 18 years ago.)

The changes I must face this year, the ones I know of anyway, are not insurmountable, but they are changes nonetheless.  The largest and most looming is that of Clutter and Chaos; those twin evils that haunt and lurk in most homes.  I met them as I packed my Christmas decorations and supplies.  I had only a handful of new things, yet I could not get everything back in the boxes from which they came!  It was then I determined to fight this beast and unshackle myself from the things I have.  "Be careful that the things you possess don't end up possessing you" is a warning that I have not heeded well. 

So, I have begun and resolved to have no mercy upon the twin evils of Clutter and Chaos.  I began in the garage.  That has a story of its own, but I will say this, we have not yet unpacked all the boxes since our last move, to Idaho, a little over a year ago.  {sigh}  It is a confession usually accompanied with a strained laugh, and responded to with some sympathy from others.  But I do not confess to you this for such pity.  I am shamed that I have so much stuff (some of which has not been unpacked since we moved from Florida to Washington, from there to Idaho, TWO years ago!  Enough is enough! 

I have emptied, so far, six boxes of stuff; lots of trash, and some going into other boxes for a garage sale or charity.  It is a liberating feeling!   As soon as I finish typing this entry and I bundling up to go back out and tackle some more boxes (it is about 20° out this morning).

I really think that once I battle with Clutter and Chaos, then I will be able to embrace Organization whole-heartedly in this New Year.  I know my friend, Dandelion Seeds, is making January the month to declutter in prepartion for another Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge  in the spring.  Visit her blogs and join in.

God bless you all in the changes that you face in 2007.