These are trying times

We have had craziness at our house lately. Our water heater broke, our dryer went kaput after the washer did. All have been replaced, but now the kitchen faucet broke. We are taking it all in stride and remaining upbeat. We have learned that we are not totally dependent on the modern appliances we have and while we have a much stronger appreciation for them, we have discovered that we can survive quite well without them. We have been thinking a lot about the great depression lately and how people made it through with larger than normal families and how they subsisted and worked together to make or create the things that they need. I know as we have wondered aloud about I wonder how people made this or that before we had stores like we have now, we have created and adapted a lot of new recipes. Brad likes to joke that our home has become Ratatouille. He says my Grandma Forsyth is hiding in my hair directing my hands and teaching me the skills I need to keep our family going without anyone else seeing it. hmmmm.....

Thinking about that, I recognized a need for our family to be more self sufficient and less reliant on things that cost so much and products that aren't so good for my asthma, I distinctly remember kneeling down and praying and saying "I can't do this alone. I need you to lead me and teach me and I remember thinking it wasn't fair that my Grandma was taken from me before she could teach me everything I needed to know. A lot of times now as I am studying or trying to find others to help me learn the skills I need, I will feel a peace and comfort and happiness, a joy and I ponder my Grandma's hands and her pursed lips as she studied and figured her way around things. It could be that she is nudging me and teaching me what she wanted to also. I remember her guiding my hands making breads.
I remember wanting to make dinner one night and she said ok. No more questions asked. We went to Fareway. She asked what I wanted to make and I said Cornish Game Hens. Nevermind that I had never seen one in my life and didn't have a clue how to cook it, she purchased it and if I asked a question she answered, but she sat and watched carefully what I did. Letting me figure it all out. She let me set the table with her finest dishes and I made a lot more food than was needed for 3 people, but it was ok. When my grandparents sat down to the table they made it feel like I was the greatest chef that had ever lived. They oohed and aahed over frozen peas and hens cooked with bouillon cubes, salt and pepper like it was a masterpiece. It was edible at best.
I learned though and now I do make things that are more than edible. Point to my rambling is they let me grow and gave me the confidence I needed to try and experiment and do the things that I do now. Everytime I experience success I thank God for teaching me and ask Him to make me equal to my tasks. I also thank Him for giving me my Grandma for such a short period, but it seems like she has still been here anyway. I am grateful for the challenges we have everyday because I get to stretch, I get to grow. I get to see what I really can do and what needs work and most importantly, how dependent I am on Him and His angels that He clothes in ordinary attire to come to this earth and bless our lives together. They do not wear wings, they go about everyday doing exordinary things and not drawing attention to themselves, but letting His light burst forth everyday. That is the most incredible blessing of this earth I think. We get to be answers to other people's prayers and we get to know other's as they become the answer's to our prayers and thereby the whole earth is benefitted under the direction of our Father.
How perfect!!