Day 39 cont - The Cleaning troop have arrived...

So I've had a nap.  Woke up at 6ish when Dan arrived home.  He tells me that my best friends are coming over to clean the house! :) I think my dream will finally come true...I can just imagine it.  I will step out of my room and find myself in a completely new house with new paint, new carpet, new furniture and new appliances.... :)  Oops Robyn (one of my best friends) just tells me....yeah I don't think so but we'll start with that mountain of washing! ;) okay perhaps not exactly her words but you get the drift.  I'm so blessed that through this situation it has brought my friends together.

So right now I am sitting in the lounge just had two panadol.  My girls are getting ready to leave with their Uncle Veta and my friends have started on the washing :).  Robyn, Eleanore and El's cousin Ao are all folding my washing.  So blessed.  LOL they see me typing away telling me that they will make comments if I write anything that criticises their domestic skill....they're so funny.  My very own Cinderellas :)  My poor husband.  He has tried to stay on top of things for so long that all he has managed to do is wash and dry clothes, hence the mountain of fabric my friends are attempting to conquer.

Joke aside, it reminds me of the stories in the bible of women working together whether it be preparing a meal, tidying the house.  Everyone working together, laughing and joking.  Such a blessing.  They just went quiet with concentration and determination to see my couch beneath the load.  My mum (Dan's mum) preached about the Proverbs 31 woman.  Amazing.  The scripture starts off with King Lemuel's mother describing to him the ideal woman.  Reading through this scripture and watching my friends busy about their work, I think about how blessed are the men that takes up these three as their wives.  Verse 17 talks about the women working vigorously, her arms are strong for her task.  What would've taken Dan and my girls a week to get through all the washing.  My three friends working vigorously and their arms strong for their task it took only 20 mins.  Praise God.

I think a hard working wife/mother is a great example to model how one should work in any area in their life.  They are great examples of multi-taskers.  I'm sure you can remember times in your life where your mum has prepared your meals, bought/made clothes, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, teaching you how to brush your teeth while dealing with all other domestic matters.  There are so many things that my mum has done for me that I am grateful for.  I never thought that I would appreciate so much of what my mum has done  that memories spring to mind when I do things such as baking muffins for my girls lunches and I remember that every morning my mum would bake cheese or raisin scones for our lunches and make toasties for our sandwiches and show us how we could eat our toasties tidily using a napkin while at school.  Having my own little family now I have all these memories spring to mind on different occasions.  Having lived with Dan's family now for ten years I see the greatness that Dan's mum does for everyone of us.  It's inspirational.  A lot of us have parents that are involved in different things while trying to take care of their families, husbands and lastly themselves.  My prayer is that every mother/wife/woman is appreciated for every spoken and unspoken sacrifice that they do for their families.  I pray that they are given time for themselves and learn how to receive that time as a personal time for growth, peace and a reminder of who they are as a person. Keep reminding your mums especially that they need to do something for themselves.

So now my good friends have finished folding the washing. El is ironing Dan's shirts, Robyn is cleaning the Kitchen and I can hear Ao vaccuuming the house.  They are all working so hard and its amazing.  I'm sitting here watching them and its so hard.  I have always been the person to jump up and tell them to leave it.  Well scream it really because no-body needs to do my chores.  But as soon as I am in someone else's home.  I am up helping out etc.  And they are exactly the same.  I am learning to step back.  When I think about how this helps me with my walk I think about how we too try to do everything ourselves and we don't allow the Holy Spirit move through us to help us in our every day.  I am learning to control myself and just let it be.  If we can't practice this in life how do we expect to translate this to our spiritual relationship with God.

Robyn has done her bit and is heading home to relieve her husband to take youth tonight at their church.  I love Robyn so much.  She is such a blessing to me and came at a part in my life that Dan and I never thought we would ever meet another young Christian couple with kids.  And the amazing thing is they were looking for  exactly the same.  Robyn has the same passion and enthusiasm in our faith with God.   I pray that she will continue with the same passion and drive that at 60 years old she is doing her work to serve with the same heart!!!

Eleanore.....is the greatest.  I have known her for ten years and we have had our ups and downs.  More ups than downs thank goodness.  Isn't it great when you have found those certain people in your life that complete your sentences?? (other than your partners of course).  El is so awesome.  We have mirrored so many things in our life that it draws us closer together.  She is such a blessing in my life and a blessing to everyone that she meets.

We have this joke about being Monicas.  For those of you who are avid "Friends" fans you will remember that Monica is very..."anal" about how things should be tidied etc.  Well that is my friends and me :)...oh and my sister Del :)....you know you are Del :)

Ao is El's cousin who is here too.  She is such a beautiful person.  We've met in the past on several occasions when El and I meet and on each occassion she has a beautiful smile, and is softly spoken.  Lovely person.  She has almost finished vacuuming my house!  I love that she is humming while she vaccuums.

I pray that in your time of need that you have friends and family that will bless you with their spirit of service and love just as they have done for me and my family.

So my dinner has arrived.  I haven't eaten anything since the Nutri Grain this morning and I can feel my back begin to throb a little meaning that it is almost time to take my meds.   So it is butter chicken tonight and we had it delivered.  Poor guy he slipped walking up my driveway.  If you have seen my driveway you would feel sympathy for the poor guy.  So I gave him a tip.  Probably wasn't enough to cover the plasters that he would need for the scraps he got.  On 2nd thought I hope Robyn made down the drive way okay.  If you haven't been to my house yet then let me tell you that I have a very very steep driveway.  I had a friends baby shower at my house last year and her friends had parked their cars down the drive.  Once they saw my driveway they thought there is no way I'm going to attempt that.  So instead they walk up the drive.  By the time they get to the top of the drive there are still steps that need to overcome before reaching our front door.  And each time everyone is huffing and puffing.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone come up without needing a few minutes to catch some breathe.  Well folks...if Nia and Mira can walk up the drive...then I'm sure you guys can too...otherwise....invest in a 4WD :)

Well my girls are crashing the night at Veta (Dan's brother) & Vai's house.  El & Ao are carrying on with tidying up and Dan & his sister Liz have gone to a youth meeting to talk about a combined youth service we are participating in soon.  I am about to get stuck into my dinner.

I hope that you are all in good health tonight...and I hope my words have spoken to some of you.

God bless.

p.s. here are some pics of the mountain of washing :)