Update

Things I really must do:

• Finish the darn chicken tractor. I will post pictures...I am not talking about this.
• Get the stupid baskets emptied. You know the ones that you take out to the car to help you empty it out and end up being full for ages!  Yay!!
• Wash the window sills. I can't help it...I'm pregnant.  Three done, several to do.
• Find a workable framework for preschool at home. So far I am liking Charlotte Mason. Please don't point out that preschool is a waste of time and I don't need to worry about starting organized learning until my kids are at least potty trained. Laine needs projects. He asks fifty times a day to do a project. So sue me for getting excited early. Anyway he is super bright (just ask me, I am very objective).  Still loving Charlotte Mason.  We have made leaf rubs.  I think I have three kinds of oak trees right in front of my driveway.  And, gumball trees are actually sweetgum trees.  And sweetgum trees are actually sycamores!  Laine cared very little for this.  Almost three year olds do not care what kind of tree the awesome acorns fall off of; they just want to throw them.
• Plant the fall crop. I am thinking lots more spinach and broccoli this time. Also, excited about the possibility of a wheat crop. It's Luke's idea. That reminds me...Bunnies ate our fall crop...
• Order wheat seed. Cover crop...I am pregnant...super farm next year.
• Make Laine and Preggie's fall wardrobe. Looking into fair trade material. Getting excited about the options. There are more and more options for the home sewist who wants to support fairly made material AND notions! Near Sea Naturals and Organiccotton.biz have caught my eye so far.  Having so much fun with this one...except I have nothing done for me, one pair of pants and one sweatshirt for Laine, and three and a half dresses for Annabel...GIRLS ARE WAY FUNNER TO SEW FOR.  Also, the budget dictated upcycling and thrifting this year.  Not quite fair trade, but I am trying!

Extras:

• Powerwashed porch
• Trimmed bushes...badly
• Tamed toys
• Tried to clear kitchen counters

Shhhh....it's quiet time.

How to Grow A Canteloupe

Reflection: I found a volunteer cantaloupe in our compost pile this week.  What kind of awesome farming is that...also a pretty failed compost pile.  I have been tossing scraps in this spot for a year now getting it ready for a new garden plot next year.  I have literally done nothing except dump scraps out there, and it grew fruit.  Really good fruit that we ate down to the last piece.  Fruit packed with juice and nutrients.  Fruit I didn't work for.

Sometimes when we despair of the "fruit of our labor," God shows us that it isn't our fruit we are growing after all.  While my ranting yesterday was heartfelt, I am not discouraged about the fruit God can grow in unlikely places.

Last night I watched a family exploding at the park.  A mom, a dad, a daughter and a grandpa were living through the worst kind of hell right there in front of everyone.  Luke and I felt totally helpless in the face of such pain and anger.  Praying seemed so inadequate.  Like throwing scraps on the ground and hoping for fruit.  I was challenged by my disbelief in prayer (is God's action dependent on mine).  I prayed honestly and shakily for that family.  I will probably never know how God worked in their lives, but I do know that God showed me the value of my obedience through a small, ugly, delicious cantaloupe.

Skip this post...

I warned you!

What does it mean when we baptize our children?  What does it mean when we call ourselves Christian parents?  What kind of changes are we willing to make to allow what we say and profess to line up with what we do?

When I look at my life and my church...almost nothing.

No, you say...God is the most important thing in my life.  I believe that through God's SANCTIFYING grace, that will one day be true in our church, but right now, WE are the most important things in our lives.  Do you know one of the lines that we use to convince people to do mission work?  "Even though you are helping other people, it will make YOU feel great."  Another one I heard recently, "you should do mission work because it will make YOU feel so good about YOURSELF."  (An adult said that)

My husband frequently uses a quote from Kenda Creasy Dean about how teenagers want to give their passion to big causes (paraphrase).  I think American, Methodist Christianity is way too easy.  We talk about the disciplines (maybe), we talk about tithing (once a year), we discuss "The Cost of Discipleship," but the truth is; the most Christianity costs us is about 10% of our income (net or gross?).

This kingdom was instituted by a homeless guy who died for what he said.  Although Jesus was trained as a rabbi (comfortable income level) he chose to focus on bringing a kingdom of grace and mercy to earth (homeless).  What are we doing with this legacy?  I don't mean American society, I mean me and you.  When did our culture start shaping our religion?  We love to talk about how we live in a Christian nation, but we need to realize that we live in the world: a world that is raping our religion.  We are driven by what gets us the most for the least effort.

What is your pastor supposed to say when you tell her or him that you won't be bringing your child to Bible study because he or she needs to do homework?  Or baseball?  Or scouts?  Or whatever else...What are we telling our children?  Six year olds who are told that they may skip church for baseball practice will be twenty year olds who give their time and passion to something more worthwhile.  Why bother with the church if something he or she does not even remember doing was more significant.  I am certainly not saying that we should go back to a rigid society that demands mindless observance of a ritual.  What I am saying is, God's kingdom is the most desperately important thing on earth.

There are still people who experience hell all around us, and we still have "not resisted to the point of shedding our blood." (Hebrews 12:4)  That passage refers to sin.  I am saying our selfish culture is not funny...it is sin.  It is sin that others are enslaved for our capitalism.  It is sin that teenage mothers feel so rejected they would rather have a dangerous surgery than seek the shelter of churches.  It is sin that our children are unaware of the stories of our faith.

When we baptist our children, we profess that we believe that Christianity is so important we would symbolizing drowning our children and allowing God to raise them into God's kingdom.  Church is not a hobby or a social club or even a healthy community to raise children in.  The kingdom of God coming to earth is the most important thing in the world.  It should be costly.  Is it worth it?  Ask the woman who was willing to accept the crumbs under the table of the chosen people.  (Matthew 15)

So, what do I say when you are too busy for Bible study?  Our churches must have misrepresented what it is they are selling, because if you knew, you would be telling the baseball coaches of the world that it's ok for my son or daughter to sit on the bench, because there are things that are just more important than your practice.

I warned you!

Today is Luke's birthday!  Hurrah for wonderful men who dedicate their lives to serving others!  I really wanted to return the favor today, but today while he turned 29, I turned 32 weeks pregnant.  That means...I really pretty much managed to keep our post birth children alive.  So, sorry honey, I wanted to serve you breakfast in bed (or at all), have the house clean, and have your slippers ready when the kids went down, but instead we lived merrily through another day.  We cried, we laughed, we sat exhausted on the driveway.

Daddy, Luke, we love you and truly appreciate everything you do for us and others.