Holding THINGS Loosely*

Tyler posted this photo as his Facebook profile picture this week. It's one of my favorite photos of him as a toddler, overlayed with The Dark Knight Joker's face, and his now famous quote, 

"Why so serious?"

This is my theme for the day.

A few years ago, my parents worked on putting together a "missionary house" in USA. They wrote to me about it as they worked on it, and really enjoyed the process, then they had the joy of seeing missionaries from their church get to stay there. I was a bit envious of my parents to be able to do that! Even though I'm the recipient of staying in such an apartment these first few weeks back in Singapore, I like thinking about who will come along next, and imagining the ways the owner who's offered it will be a blessing to them too.

The places we stayed this past year in USA were also missionary apartments. Of course there was some rent involved, but it was quite reduced, and they had a number of rules which helped in keeping up the place and making it nice for the next person who came along. There were some community service things we all signed up for, and a few rules in place which helped in keeping costs down. It still was rather trashy. I joked all year about living in a trailer park, and gave up early on the idea I was going to make the garden planters look nice when I saw the children using the leaves to make "salads" in their play. Nevertheless, there were some guidelines. For instance, when we were getting ready to leave, there was a 6 page document for all the items to clean before leaving. We were told by the manager that if it took a cleaning lady more than 2 hours to finish the list then she would be paid from our cleaning deposit, and we wouldn't be approved to come stay there again! Some thought it was harsh. I thought it was smart.

Especially after being in the Singapore apartment. Yes. part of it is me. Individuals from different cultures or upbringings have different values and standards of how to take care of things and keep them clean. No matter what culture we're from, there are some people who don't value keeping nice things nice. Growing up in a Baptist Church, I remember hearing some ladies talk about not wanting to host a certain missionary family, because they break or ruin things! That's probably what has contributed to my over zealous feelings about this (my husband might call it "obsessive compulsive")!

In the previous post I mentioned the kitchen being filthy and that it drew the critters. This "drama" makes for interesting stories for now, and will be forgotten. I am saddened to see that the previous tenants have not kept the place nicer for this generous owner who lets us stay here FOC. It's not really a hardship for us to hunker down amidst cockroaches. We've lived in challenging places before this, but thinking of this owner's generous heart, and this being Singapore and not China, or Romania, or Peru, I'm sorry to see he's been taken advantage of.

In this case, it's not just his home, but our bedroom set and living room furniture have been here for a year. I had noticed on the first day an inordinate number of scrapes and scratches on the wood furnishings, but didn't get disheartened too much by it. But last night, when the flatmate brought out our bedroom dresser from his room to prepare for the movers coming today, we discovered that a large section of the top has been discolored. I thought I'd prepared myself for some damage or wear or loss, but this is more than I'd mentally bargained for.

Of course we'll roll with it. It's just stuff, and I'm reminded again to let heaven fill my thoughts. In the big picture of life, and the smaller one of living here amongst so many we've come to know and love, there are so many other things to be grateful for. I'll just do a bit of whining here in the blog; like King David did in his Psalms. And also like him, I'll come around in the end to proclaiming God's goodness and my trust in him.