Dear Reader:

I hope you have noticed that my front porch bench looks whiter…(since it has had a thick coating of  a mixture of pollen, dust, and dirt on it for months)…a little elbow grease and a very expensive bottle of Advanage (not sure why a “T” isn’t in the word spelling) lightened the color to a ‘wanna-be’ white shade…. dulled by age. Nothing that Mr. Clean couldn’t have handled equally well…I feel sure. But that was not to be…the “whitewash” story…

The doorbell rang Thursday afternoon when I was working on the blog post. I thought it was someone who had done some lawn work for me and I had his check right ready.

I grabbed it and went to the door…only to discover an excitable woman (who, I, at first, “mistakened”  for a young person) pushing away on the doorbell.

She talked so fast it took me a full five minutes to realize she was trying to sell a “miraculous” bottle of cleaning fluid (“guaranteed to take out any stain and clean every pane”) in your house.

The desperate seller grabbed a dirty rag she was holding and began cleaning my door knobs, then ran to my car and scrubbed the whitewalls on the tires, only to return to me and clean my skechers (white rubber part) while they were still on my feet!

She was an audacious little whirlwind of pent up nervous energy or something. Half of my brain was trying to figure out how to get rid of her and the other half was trying to figure out who she was. Still talking a ‘mile a minute’ she said she was a single mom with three children trying to make a living.

She showed me her sales license because she wanted me to know she was “legit.” Then suddenly…it was as if all the air in a balloon had gone out of her….she sat down on the top porch steps, taking that dirty demonstration rag and wiped her face. She asked if I could please get her a glass or bottle of water.

She looked utterly exhausted so I ran in the kitchen, and poured some water. By the time I got back out to the porch she was holding her head in fatigue and thanked me profusely for the drink. She handed me a brochure with all the information on it…but all I could “zero” in on was the price of one bottle of the “miracle” cleaning fluid….”39.95″!

My mouth fell open and I know I must have gasped out loud. I could see her eyes glaze over in disappointment. Weakly she said, “You know it just takes a few drops in a quart of water to get any cleaning job done…so it does last a long, long time.”

“Are you feeling all right?” I asked. She looked kind of rigid now, like she was trying to brace herself for another disappointing response from a potential buyer, but still she looked up and suddenly beamed at me….”Oh…I’m fine…I’m too blessed to be depressed.”

I didn’t say a word…I just went back in the house, grabbed my checkbook and shrugged my shoulders at my budget sheet for the month (that appeared to be glaring back at me)…So be it.

She had started to walk off when I called her back and handed her the check. The joy that spread over her face was unforgettable….it was definitely worth the “39.95 plus tax” check.

“I did it” she yelled jumping up and down in sheer happiness...for the first time I met my quota!”  She ran back up the steps, gave me a big hug, and literally skipped down the street.

So yesterday morning I put a few drops of Advanage in a quart bottle, grabbed some clean rags, put Mr. Clean back under the sink cabinet (I think his smile was a smirk…but I can’t be sure) and scrubbed the dirty bench until it shone….well…not exactly…but close enough.

“Big Red,” my geranium, certainly looked like it approved…with new red blooms popping every day…the clean bench just accented its brightness.

So until tomorrow…Let us all learn that that being a “sucker” for God sometimes means writing a check for “39.93 plus tax.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Will return and fill in some pictures here after I keep Rutledge and Lachlan for Walsh and Mollie to go to a wedding.

Brooke had a friend email her this set of anecdotes and I had to share them with you. Enjoy!

Six Little Stories

 ONCE,  All villagers decided to pray for rain,

on the day of prayer all the People gathered…

but only one boy came with an umbrella.

…