| HOMELIFE ~ NOVEMBER 2001 Dear Sisters Last month, I was telling you about all the visitors that the Lord has been putting in our home. Well, this month, the visitors continue. Some are friends, some family and some are my husband's business associates. We continue to learn of more efficient ways to serve these people. I was delighted when my husband insisted that we buy a coffee percolator and coffee grinder. Now to some of you, this is 'old hat'. You've probably had a coffee pot for years. Perhaps you've even inherited your grandmother's! ha! To me, the new coffee pot is such a delight! I love to experiment with new coffee beans, strengths and flavours. What a pleasure it is to ask our visitors what type of coffee they would like, if and when they should ask for one. Oh, and the wonderful smell of freshly ground coffee beans wafting through the kitchen just adds to the essence of 'home'. Our new accountant has been teaching us quite a few 'tips' for an orderly business. He also offers many suggestions on being organised and staying organised in all aspects of life. Mike is our new accountant's name and one of the things he has suggested is that we create a prioritized "To Do" list for each and every day, comprising of an A, B and C list. The "A" list consists of tasks that absolutely need to be done today. The "B" list contains tasks that should be done soon, even though we can't get to them today. And the "C" list consists of the lowest priority tasks; those tasks that if you never get to them, it'll still be OK! The theory of this method is common sense, and makes 'good sense'. Currently, I write all our 'To Do' tasks in one book ~ with no particular order of priority. I suspect that we can become more organised if we put this method into practice. Once the list has been created, and priorities are in order, the worst, most horrific 'A' list task should be picked and carried out. The reason for this is that once the 'dreaded' task has been done, everything else should be a breeze! And if you think this way of carrying out tasks is anything new ~ it's not. Mike tells me he learned these methods from a biography on Winston Churchill! I don't know if I mentioned this to you before, but our 'big lounge' or 'parlour' is a very difficult room to arrange furniture in. It has three doors; the front door, a door leading to the kitchen, and double doors leading to the family room. Full length windows take up a whole wall, which face the street. Very challenging indeed! The girls and I sit together in the big lounge, brainstorming and trying to figure out how we can arrange the furniture that has to stay in there. The result? We have created different sitting areas, defined by two rugs. One sitting area is around the fireplace. There is a wooden coffee table in the middle of this area, along with an old, oak roll-up desk against the wall, near the fire. The other sitting area faces the windows and also has a coffee table. Already I've noticed how different members of my family sit in different sitting areas, depending on what they are doing. When reading, they sit around the fireplace (even though the fire isn't lit at this time!). When they are chatting, or doing a puzzle, they sit in the other area. No doubt we will re-arrange again in the new year....smile...... This month, I received an email telling me that an old friend from South Africa (whom I haven't seen in over 20 years!) was arriving in Australia and did I want to meet her? My friend in question was one I had known before I became a Christian, and the friendship we shared back then was not based on Christian principles. On the other hand, knowing that she intended to eventually live here in Australia, I thought it would be a good opportunity to encourage her. Oh sisters, I'm so glad I did! We had a lovely lunch at the Botanical gardens. My children were so excited. They were asking me so many questions about her ~ even before I met with her. Although we reminisced of days gone by, our conversation was of 'good report'. Our time together was very short, but there was enough time to tell her of our convictions. I could see that Evelyn had changed, too. She told me how her daughter loves the Lord and wants to be at church as much as possible, learning of His ways. Recently, I received another email from my friend, asking if our daughters would like to write to hers. The Lord is so good! My daughter, Emma, has been helping me in the garden. Actually, all the children do, but Emma has been setting her alarm clock, rising early, and getting out there to fight the battle of the weeds! I have not been 'ready' for her. By that, I mean I have not had a 'plan' worked out ~ she has 'beat me to it' as my dear momma would say. Nevertheless, Emma has been consistent and extremely helpful, and the best thing about it is the way she is realising many facts and truths ~ "I didn't realise that weeding this small patch would take so much time and effort, mom" and "Sarah, make sure you close the vegetable patch gate ~ we don't want the dogs in here, messing up the plants" and "Sam, chase those crows away, will you ~ they're after the seeds!" and "Mom, you only really appreciate what others do when you have to do it yourself, don't you?" How I love it when my children 'discover' and start appreciating....... May the Lord bless your efforts in your home as you serve Him. With love, Helen |