Monday, December 17, 2007

Check Your Lint Trap

While my mom was here after NGK was born she was helping with the laundry, and many other things. She mentioned that it seemed like our dryer was taking a long time to dry. I said I hadn't noticed, and I probably hadn't since I lived the past 2 years without a dryer and it usually took me a minimum of 24 hours to do my laundry (the shortest washer cycle was about 2 hours and then it had to hang to dry).
After she left I started paying closer attention and also began to do a lot more laundry. One day I asked CDK to check on it and he quickly did. He started checking the venting and took the front of the dryer off to make sure there wasn't some lint stuck somewhere. He was about to delve further into the dryer to find the culprit when he decided to check the lint trap outside. There he found the culprit, a bird's nest. Since the washer and dryer hook-ups were added long after this house was built, the lint trap is long and a bird had stopped up the end of it.
CDK called maintenance and they came out quickly (it helps when you use the sob story of "We have a newborn and we can't get our laundry done"). The helpful maintenance man removed the birds nest and proceeded to pull out a 5 foot solid tube of lint! Hmm, wonder why my dryer isn't working very well. Now I feel like I've moved into dryer heaven because my clothes dry in about 1/4 the time as before. Hopefully the extra work on our dryer's part won't cause it to break anytime soon.
Moral of the story - if your dryer is taking a long time, check the lint trap, outside.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

As I've entered the world of motherhood I've obviously started to learn quiet a bit. I'm learning how to take care of someone else 24/7, what it's like to be needed all the time, what it's like to be a mom and a wife at the same time, and loads of other things. But the things that are most prevalent to me and that I'm gaining a new understanding of are the references to children that Jesus makes in scripture, and other fundamental truths of my faith.
  1. Childlike faith - She's a newborn, there is nothing else in this world to have faith in but me and her father. If only I lived each day as if there were nothing else in this world to have faith in but my heavenly father.
  2. Being a daughter of Christ - It's amazing to imagine that Christ loves her more than I do. Though I can't comprehend that, it is such an amazing assurance that he loves her and me so much.
  3. Unconditional love - I told CDK that this has to be the closest to unconditional love I will ever come. I feel it now because she hasn't really done anything to hurt me or upset me, and probably won't for a long time. But Christ loves me on those days when I do hurt him or upset him. Unconditionally.
  4. Just because you're you - I've thoroughly enjoyed watching so many people love our child. I had to stop and think "What makes them automatically love her?" The answer is nothing. She hasn't done anything to earn or gain their love. They love her just because she is herself. The same way Christ loves us. We can't and won't ever do anything to earn his love or refuse his love. He loves us, just because we're his children. It truly is an overwhelming thought.
These truths are those that I've started to whisper in my daughters ear or sing to her through songs. I've also begun a journal that I plan to keep through her first year and give to her one day. NGK, a child of God, has been entrusted to us for a short time on this earth to raise as a child of God. Thankfully the father will lead us in this endeavor and I'm so excited to have this privilege.