Grandmommy’s Notes in the Margin

Wow! This has been a day. I learned all sorts of things about my vehicle today!!

I had a mission for today. Gathered all my things and hopped into the van. Backed up … and … UHOH! I had a flat.

How? I wondered. I had just driven home the night before and arrived safely and woke up this morning to … a flat!

Well, fortunately, I had taken the day off but, unfortunately, I was home alone!

No time like the present to learn how to change a flat, so I did what every intelligent woman should do. I opened the glove box and took out my owner’s manual. (Let me back up here. I have changed a tire before; I’ve not changed one on the van. This vehicle has a VERY weird jack thingy.)

Okay, it tells me that the instructions for the jack are inside the panel where the jack is hidden. I can do this, right? I open the panel and, yes, the instructions for the jack AND for lowering the spare are clearly written out.

I also need my little air compressor to air up my tire. But, this thing is FLAT. Off the wheel flat! It’s not going to take air until I jack up the van and get it back on to the wheel. UGH!

I plug in my air compressor and find I need an extension cord. Back in the house, get a cord. Back outside. Okay, let’s work this jack!

Instructions are pretty clear, and I actually accomplish getting the van off the ground!! YAY ME!! I can do this!! (Yes, I’m crying because this is NOT my job!)

Attach the thingy from the air compressor to the thingy on the tire. Flip the switch…nothing. I finally figure out that the extension cord is not good. Back inside, get another, back outside. Flip the switch…POWER!

When the tire finally has about 20 lbs of air, I start to slowly turn it to look for the culprit…A BIG FAT NAIL. Wow! God is so good, because he got me home safely last night! Thank you, Lord. I’ll quit being mad now.

Air is coming out around the nail. That means the flat needs to be changed. So, I lower the spare, but I can’t get it off. This is going to take someone smarter than me…I hate to admit I need Neil to do this and he’s coming home for lunch–30 minutes away. I’ll wait.

Well, he has difficulty with it too, but he figures it out and changes my tire. I fixed him a quick sandwich and prepared, again, to go run my BIG errand for the day. I have money that needs spending!!!

About 35 years ago, my first husband decided that I no longer needed the very nice, expensive clarinet that my father had given me for high school graduation. He wanted a 12-string Martin guitar and traded in my clarinet for it. Through the years, I’ve had a couple of loaners and I recently bought a VERY used plastic beginner clarinet in poor condition. I’ve been trying to use it for the church orchestra and decided to send it in for repairs. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS is what it would cost. This instrument is NOT worth it.

But…they had a very nice WOODEN clarinet that is being discontinued. I checked online and the price was right for this clarinet. I know I’m 60 and only have a few more years to play. But, maybe one of my grandchildren will want to play and if not, they can donate it to a school.

I brought it home, put on my mouthpiece and WOW! I can play!! Chris Hoover should be excited!! I know I am!!

Merry Christmas to me….

…and I went for a haircut and colored my hair. I think it was a good day after all. Thank you, God. I knew you were watching over me.

I made a comment on Facebook recently about my “love story” being better than my sister’s. We both have pretty amazing stories. A friend asked to hear mine. So, I’m reposting what I wrote on November 4th, just after the death of my BFF.

On November 1, 2008 I lost my very best friend~my husband, Robert.

Many people had different opinions about Robert. But, I would like to tell you about the man I knew.

In May 1986, I was a single mom with 3 children. I was lost, floundering, lonely. I so desperately needed a friend that could accept this crazy, neurotic mother of 3 very obnoxious children. We were living in a 2 bedroom duplex which meant that I slept in the living room so that my daughter could have her own room. (15 year old girls need their space).

I promised my children that we would move that summer. We wanted 3 bedrooms, a yard…You get the picture. I also was in a relationship that was destructive to me emotionally. The only one who could change my life was the Lord.

We were involved in our church. The kids were in RA’s, youth choir, enjoyed their Sunday School. I was in choir and had my great friends in Sunday School.

But, there was a void in our lives that would not go away.

I wasn’t really looking for a spouse. I didn’t do the singles bar scene or any of those things. But, I was lonely and I drove my children crazy. On the weekend of May 3, 1986, I cried out to the Lord.

I enlisted the help of my friends by calling them on the phone (all night long) and begging them to pray for me. I was so alone and did not want to be.

The following week, I drove around our area, looking for a house. I found one that looked promising and called the number on the sign…

Robert answered the phone.

We made a date to look at houses in my neighborhood on the following day. He was pretty sure after talking with me that I could not afford to buy a house, but what the heck…

Robert drove to my home to pick me up. He came to the door; I looked through the peephole and saw the answer to my prayers. I quickly thanked God and opened the door. He said I took his breath away (isn’t that sweet?). I did not know, but Robert had also been praying for a “wife”. He dated…a lot. But, no one was a “wife”.

We looked at a couple of houses. As we talked we learned that we were both single parents, we were both Christians (and Baptist), and we loved coffee!

Looking at houses was becoming more and more weary and we decided to go to my place for coffee. After about 5 pots of Folgers, he left. But he returned 2 hours later to meet me (and my lovely 15 year old daughter and 2 strikingly goodlooking sons!!) at a concert at my church, Hidden Valley Baptist in Houston, Texas.

Five weeks later we were married in that same spot by Rev Leroy Meyer, our pastor.

I cannot begin to describe all that Robert has meant to me and my children over the years. However, I can tell you that our goal was to blend our 2 families. We wanted them to all be strong in the Lord. We wanted them to know and love each other as brothers and sister.

We wanted each of our children to know the Lord and we wanted to be a family.

God gave us and that and so much more.

We lost this wonderful leader of our family on Saturday, November 1, 2008 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He has helped lead all of our children to know the Lord. He has always been there to listen, impart his wisdom, smoke a cigar or drink a beer with them. He loved his family and it was returned to him hundredfold.

We will miss you, my dear. But, we will see you again. (By the way, would you please ask the builder if the rooms of my mansion could be painted pink?)

I love you with all of my heart and I thank God for the privilege of having been your wife.

I found this in a book that came from my grandmother. It really helped me today.

I Shall Go On

There have been days of anguish, nights of pain,
The heart has ached, the way has not been clear;
But I shall take life by the hand once more
And by God’s grace I shall go on from here.
Though I must journey for awhile alone
Since the hand I held in mine has loosed its hold,
I shall go on a way I have not known
Through summer’s heat and through the winter’s cold.

But an unseen Presence will be there to stay
My stumbling feet and give me power to stand.
I shall have his promised strength for every day,
As I move out across an untrod land.
I shall not falter and I shall not fear.
God helping me, I shall go on from here.

Grace Noll Crowell

It really is all about Jesus.