Having an Extra Child

July 9, 2024

Beloved:

The popcorn ceiling of my garage is falling down in bits and flakes, some flakes as big lettuce leaves.  But does all that paint land on the floor?  Oh no, it lands on the garage door when it’s open and sheds onto my blacktop driveway as it closes.  Then, if I’m really lucky, it rains . . . or it’s just extra humid overnight.  Hardly once has it been dry enough to be swept up when I try to sweep it up.  I end up using the hose and spraying it away, knowing full well it is probably poisoning our water.

Somewhere in her writing, Madeleine L’Engle said having a house is like having an extra child, it’s always begging for something.  Mine doesn’t beg for much but this garage situation is sitting on my nerves lately.  I haven’t painted a ceiling in practically forever; twenty years is practically forever, right?  And you know as well as I do that once I paint the ceiling, I’ll have to paint the walls, since they look worse than the ceiling except for the islands with no popcorn texture.  Sigh . . .  But July is far too hot right now for such a project.  Maybe in the fall.  Maybe I can rustle some teenage nieces and nephews in need of a little spending money.  I’ll buy one of those long poles for twist-on paint scrapers and rollers.  And ceiling paint, the kind that starts out pink so I can see what ceiling the new paint has already touched.  I'll borrow a shop-vac and a ladder, things I don’t own nor want to and then some early Saturday when my volunteers arrive, I’ll feed them doughnuts before we lug everything inside my garage outside to my driveway.  I’ll set one of them to scraping down the still stuck popcorn, while the others dust, spackle and sand the walls.  One of them will run that shop-vac continuously until not a speck of paint dust remains.  Finally, we will put on new paint and, assuming no one gets hurt, we might be done by dark.

I could also hire someone, I suppose.  I know a really, really good painter.  She has all her own equipment and she never makes a mess.  She shows up, she paints and leaves the space better than it was in every way.  I’m talking myself out of my first idea and into my second as I type the words.  Why would I put myself and my sweet family through what a professional can accomplish better in less than half the time with far less than half the stress and drama?  How many times do I do similarly in situations far removed from home repair – that is, imagine that I can do myself what I am without the resources or the skill set to accomplish?  Or expect from others what they are not really in a place to give, but will do their best out of loyalty or obligation?  Often, it comes down to what we think we can and can’t afford.  A professional painter costs money.  No doubt I will have to plan a few months in advance to pay her.  But expectations of our family and friends carry costs as well, some too high to pay over projects as trivial as paint flakes on my driveway.

Enough said, I’ve decided.  The popcorn will flake and fall until I can pay the painter.  By then there may be no popcorn left to scrape and I’ll do a better job getting outside to sweep before the dew turns the flakes to goo.  And to the inside work on my head and heart, I’ll pay better attention too.  I’ll tend to my expectations of myself and others with the humility and honesty they deserve, counting people most important of all.  I pray you know yourself beloved and treat yourself as gently as you can this day. 

~ peace & prayers, 
pastor annette

Hearty Easy Slaw ~ Pastor Annette 
Salad Ingredients

• 16 oz bag tri-color slaw mix
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 4 green onions sliced thin
• 12 oz fresh cocktail tomatoes (or whatever kind you like), small pieces
• 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, leaves chopped roughly
• 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15-oz can sweet kernel corn, drained (or frozen, or fresh)

Dressing Ingredients

• Juice of 3 limes
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• spices to taste; I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and Slap Ya Mama Cajun.  More or less a tsp of each.  I’d also have used cumin but with all that lime juice I left it out this time. 

Toss salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Whisk dressing ingredients together in a smaller bowl and pour over salad.  Gently stir to coat and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.  Stir again.  Holds flavor for several days.  Of course more or less of what you especially like or don’t.  Probably would be good with tortilla chips on the side.