Summer Vacation is OVER

SUMMER for teachers in Rhea County is officially OVER.  Today....we begin our In-Service.  We meet the students Wednesday and Friday the students come for their first full day of school.

This has been a very short summer.  I feel like I got very little accomplished.

However.....reflecting back....it has been very busy.  We went camping with our son and daughter-in-law.......we went to the beach with our grandkids & their parents......we had VBS......we took our grandkids on a "Mystery Trip" and we visited our moms in Alabama for a few days......

In the middle of all of that..................we are TOTALLY remodeling our kitchen.  YULK.  I keep reminding myself that when it is over, I will be sooooo thankful, but right now, not so much.  I HATE this disorder and mess.

We are getting new cabinets.....new counter top.....new flooring.....and new appliances and the design of the kitchen is being changed.  Roger is doing a lot of the work................which is good and bad.  It will save us money and he loves to do that type of work and has lots of pride in his work....................but bad because it takes longer.

I emptied my cabinets into Lowes moving boxes weeks ago.  That was a job in itself.  We have been in this house for 22 years so I found things in the deep back corner of the cabinets that I had not seen in years.

Then.....a couple of weeks ago, Roger began pulling the old cabinets out, knocking out walls and tearing up sheetrock. 

Then it hit me.  This is canning season.  I can not miss out.................so before he pulled my stove out................I drove up the mountain and purchased a bushel of green beans....shelled and prepared them and canned them.  I was so please with them that I got another bushel and in the meantime, our Crowder peas in our garden was ready so I fixed those also.

Remember.....................this was all done AFTER my kitchen was packed away.  My pressure canner was in the pantry, so I could get to it.  Also....my LARGE pot that I put the beans in.

I made a run to the store................purchased a cheap plastic colander, a large spoon, a canning funnel and a cheap square cake pan to heat my jars in.  Whewww.........I redneck rigged it up..............but...........IT WORKED and we now have green beans and peas for the winter months.

In the middles of all of the chaos I managed to rig up a way to still do a little canning.  WHY?  Because it was important to me.................it was high on my list of priorities.

Wouldn't it be great if we......or maybe I should just say....wouldn't it be great if I had all of my other priorities so high up on my list...................to the point that I refused to allow Satan or anyone else to interfere with my "visiting", "Bible Studying", "Praying", "Exercising"  Organizing"......and the list could go on and on.

Canning was so important to me that I did not let the chaos or the inconvenience keep me from it.  I went above and beyond to make it happen.

My prayer is that I will get that determined in other aspects of my life......................
And my prayer is also that YOU will do the same.

Just imagine..................WHAT A DIFFERENCE WE COULD MAKE!!!