So Marti has got me sleeping on the couch. But it’s not what you think. This is not a marital problem, it’s a marital necessity.

You see we are having the inside of our house painted, and it has altered our lives significantly. Last week they painted the living room, dining room and pantry. We managed that pretty well because they closed off the rest of the house with plastic.

Now we have a big problem. Their headed into the bedrooms and the bath where we spend most of our working days. The painters’ practice is to push everything into the center of the room and cover it with plastic. That means that in the bedrooms, nothing is in its proper place, and when even one thing isn’t in its proper place Marti can’t see straight. And in our little 750-square-foot cottage, believe me, everything has to have a place or you can’t make your way around here. Even the dogs are troubled; they can’t get to their favorite spots. They’re wandering around like they don’t know what to do with themselves. So I knew that with literally nothing in its place, Marti would go into tilt mode. I had to get her out of here.

If we had had enough time, we could have planned a two-week vacation, but alas with no plan, I decided to get Marti a hotel room and stay here with the dogs. I can manage with the mess. So that’s why it’s John, on the couch, with the Chihuahuas.  (Sounds a little like, “Professor Plum, in the study, with the wrench.”)

And why am I telling you this? I’m not quite sure, except that it’s my life right now and I can’t much write about anything else. So you’ll just have to take me as I
am. I’m usually able to expound like this and come up with some profound spiritual truth out of the story, but not today.

Sometimes our lives can be taken up with the smallest, most insignificant things. Is there anything wrong with that?

I wonder if Jesus had any days like this. Well, what did He do for 30 years? He must have had a few down days. I bet He talked with His Father a lot.

I wonder what tomorrow will look like. Maybe I can do some talking with the Father, too.