Accomplishments?

Sadly, today is the 19th day of November and I am posting my very first entry for NaBloPoMo. *Insert one. slow. clap.* I will be organized, or at least semi-organized one day! I think one thing that will help me to post more often is to keep track of my daily accomplishments. We'll try that today and see what happens. :-)
In other "homemaker news": One thing I want to talk about is that I have finally learned to love oatmeal raisin cookies (or at least the ones I make). I used to view them as shifty little devils. With the raisins partially camouflaged underneath the oats and flour and brown sugar, they sometimes appear as beautiful dark semi-sweet chocolate morsels. There have been times when someone has actually told me that the cookies were oatmeal chocolate chip - they were sure of it - then I bit into a deceitful raisin, adding to my trust issues. I had been craving homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

for some time and decided it would be a nice little bonding project to do with my kids. Of course, the two little ones tested my patience to the point of no return and ended up getting sent to bed. (It was 9:00 by then anyway.) I mostly made them by myself with a a bit of help from my older son with cracking eggs & a little mixing, then he had to go to bed too. So instead of cookies for desert last night, they will be everyone's after school snack today. Since the hubs loves oatmeal raisin, I split the dough in half & decided to do half raisin, half chocolate chip. As the first pan came out of the oven smelling all cinnamon-y and irresistible, I knew I had to make a sacrifice and try one of the raisin cookies. Somehow, some way, I actually liked it! I even tried more after they cooled off and still liked them! I think I can actually eat oatmeal raisin cookies (that I made) without feeling betrayed!
What is the secret to the raisins' trickery? 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves! The recipe calls it optional, but if you're anything like me and have had a longstanding contempt for raisins in your baked goods, then the cloves are definitely a requirement. Here is a link to the recipe (Although mine came directly from my BHG cookbook that my mom gave me when I moved into my first apartment - Thanks Mom!)

Today's Accomplishments:

• 2 rows of blanket completed
• 2 baskets of laundry folded & put away
• Plants watered/cared for
• Blog post completed :-)
• New knitting project started
• Worked on video editing for hubby's Sunday message

Where Is Thy Sting?

Oh, Death, where is thy sting? For those left behind, it is everywhere. Because of my faith, I know that my loved ones are experiencing a glory that cannot be compared to the sufferings of this present time and for that, I have joy. However, for me, it is as though I own a mansion with many rooms and each time a person is gone, it is like a room gets permanently sealed off. The light will never come back on. The windows are shuttered and we can never go back and experience the joy we felt in that room and no new memories will be made in that room. My house has lost several rooms in the past few months and it keeps getting smaller! I just cried last Monday over the loss I experienced in April and - unexpectedly - and just last Thursday, another light was permanently extinguished, another door sealed off. If I didn't know God, know Christ, this would be too much for me to withstand. I now completely understand why there are hermits, and old recluses. They cut themselves off from everyone so they don't have to experience the pain of caring for, loving, enjoying someone's presence, only to have them gone without notice. It takes a piece of your heart away.
I would love to shield my children from this. I would love to just pack my family up and take them deep into the woods so that we don't have to see anyone, so that we can be distant from them and avoid the sorrow when it comes time to lose another loved one.

To my friends and family, I apologize that sometimes I don't communicate. It's so much easier to hear all the great things about someone at their funeral and think, "I wish I had gotten to know them better," and leave knowing a small nightlight is gone from your hallway, than to truly know and love how great they were and feel a chunk of your heart gone.
I understand that God has a plan for each of us, on Earth as well as in Heaven. I know He calls  people when they have fulfilled their purpose here, or when He can better use them in the spiritual realm, but why can't we still talk to them? Or at least why can't I talk to them? Why can't I send them a text message just to say, "Hey," and get a quick response back?
That's where faith comes in. It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Because of my faith, I know that I will see them again and it will feel like we just saw each other yesterday. Because of my faith, I will take time to grieve in order to release these emotions back to God, but I will know that I will get better, that I will go on. I know that my "mansion" will continue to have more rooms sealed off, but that more rooms will also be added, perhaps even another wing or two. :-)
It stings now, but these wounds will heal with the passage of time and for that, I am grateful and will continue to have joy and peace.