God gave me an interesting truth this morning: Living is NOT a Do It Yourself project. Living should be done with God in control and friends and family offering support along the way. God knows me well. I give him the controls and then push him out of the way and try to take them back because I’m just not sure I like the way things are going. Quietly thriving…wasn’t it I who wrote about that, just this past Friday? How quickly, we grab the controls back!
Today will be another hot (mid-90’s) and humid day in NW Georgia. I love summer so I try not to whine about the heat and I will always take hot and humid over cold of any kind. My present displeasure with the exceedingly high and wonderfully hot–see, no whining–temperatures is that I need to paint my porch. It is a project that I should have started a few weeks ago before it got so delightfully hot. Painting is now a morning project that must be done before 11am at the latest. Otherwise, the paint will,quite possibly, dry on the brush/roller before it makes it to the porch..
I won’t be able to do it today or tomorrow because I can’t start a painting project in the morning when I have to hand out free lunches to kids at noon, Did I mention that we do that outside, in the heat? No, I am NOT whining! Just saying, that’s all. Anyway, I know that most people could knock out a painting project in the morning and then shower, change clothes and go feed kids at noon. I dare say, most people could tie their hands behind their backs and paint with the brush in their mouth and manage to paint the porch and still have time left to shower, change and make it to feed the kids by noon. But if there is anything I have learned about myself in all these years, it is that I am not “most people.” Unless you have experienced the mess that is Vicki painting, you have no idea what can happen.
Remember me talking about my A.D.D a while back? Well, I do seem to have it. I have successfully tried to pass it off as used it for hyper-multi-tasking in the past and occasionally it still comes in handy that way, but in my old age maturity, I have noticed that the combination of A.D.D and painting creates havoc. I have never been a neat painter. As a matter of fact, I am one of the messiest painters you will ever come to know. This makes me very thankful for Latex paint. Can you imagine what mineral spirits and paint thinner do to your hair? It’s not good…trust me…I do know. BTW, for those of you who have heard rumors that I am a painter of the artist kind, please know that painting a canvas and painting a porch, shelf, furniture, etc are two entirely different things. I am actually a fairly neat and well controlled painter of canvas, provided that it is not plein air painting. I paint canvases in the quiet with as few distractions as possible and I become completely absorbed in making art. Painting a porch, on the other hand, is of necessity done outside with birds, bees and other little critters vying for my attention. I have been know to paint flies,beetles, ladybugs and even wasps and I don’t mean a painting of them, I mean I have literally painted them–white dots on their backs and wings. I get distracted and then accidents follow. It’s not pretty…well, whatever is supposed to be painted is usually quite pretty, it’s all the other things that weren’t supposed to be painted that aren’t so pretty.
So, it is now time for me to get ready to go spend a few hours feeding kids. Did I mention that we do this at the hottest part of the day? Yes, it will be hot but God is in control and he won’t make me do it by myself.
I did mention in the title that this would be random. Have a blessed day.
Post Script: It was hot but there was a breeze and God provided lots of people to help! He even gave us a light shower when we were finished to cool us off…how’s that for a helper!
VElish Art Studio 
A pleasurable read :o) You make me smile with your humility.
Yes God is in control and I love the way you DO allow Him to lead.
xoxoxox
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Oh, Vicki!! You are absolutely hilarious!!! Tooo funny!! I am absolutely hopeless at painting of the simply roller type…I've tried…but I am slow and ineffective…so I leave it to my husband…he is high energy like you!! And yes, there are always spatters of paint in his hair…but the paint job is always brilliant! And your canvases are unbelievably wonderful!!! Can I be like you when I grow up? And you know what? I'm always telling God, “If I try to take the wheel, no matter what I say I want, DON'T LET ME HAVE IT!!!” Sigh…but somehow, I still get myself into messes…this was perfect for me today! Thank you!!! Listened to a favorite Broadway melody this morning and thought of you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJheD6XZDsg&feature=related
Love you so much! Janine XO
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Vickie/Ellie/Graceful… whatever. I love your writing… it makes me smile! And I so relate to this b/c I have been accused of being a terribly messy painter.
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A delightful post! And, oh, how I can relate. My husband and I have been painting his parent's house and I do not understand why he is always so neat and tidy and I end up with paint everywhere. But most of all I love your statement that life is not DIY. If only I could remember that when I need it the most!
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