Manure is a Rich Growing Medium

Our garden isn't very big, but people comment about how much produce comes out of its small square footage.  Would you like to know one of my secrets?  A friend advised us to work a bag of manure into the soil every spring.  By now, most of the soil in the garden is decomposing manure.  Manure is a rich growing medium.

Let's take this one step further.  Do you have any areas of your life that are kind of poopy?  You're not super happy about how things are going?  Do you sometimes do things that make you feel like a sack of manure?  Well, I've got good news for you!  Manure is a rich growing medium.  But it works best for growing after it has decomposed a little.  Then it doesn't stink so much.

Late in April we did a little decomposing.  There had been a lot of bickering and back-talk and very little parental patience for that behavior.  Prayerfully our family took some time to identify the things we really value in life.  What makes us feel alive?  What do we love doing?  If you try this, I recommend you do this prayerfully because God knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139:1-4).  Each person listed 10 things that were very important to them.  Then we compared our lists.  We identified five common values on everyone's list.  

How did this help the bickering and impatience?  It gave us a conversation starter.  Since each individual identified what THEY VALUE, it wasn't was just the parents rules or values.  So when someone criticizes his/her sibling, we can say "You value family.  Is what you just said in line with your value system?"  Or we can have conversations like this, "You value knowing God, but you consistently bring a novel and toy to church instead of your Bible.  Tell me about that."  Our children need to decide what they value and learn to live by their own moral code.  They are growing up and must learn to listen to their consciences and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I won't always be there to create or enforce the rules.  

This exercise has also helped me.  The past few years have been very busy for me.  My husband just finished his masters degree.  While he was working on it, I worked full time and did the bulk of the parenting and housekeeping.  During the school year, I rarely had any free time.  Towards the end of his master's program, I found myself bored.  The list of what I valued helped me to find things that I enjoy doing.  I had forgotten some of my interests.  

So if you're feeling kind of crappy, have hope.  Manure is a rich growing medium.  You're just ready for some personal growth!  

Pot Head!

Oh Amazon, you have so many thing to inspire me!  I've been admiring trendy plant pots with a face on them; the plant sticking out the top of the pot is the hair.  The terra cotta pot holding my aloe vera has split, so I need to repot it.  Unfortunately, it's a big pot, 8 inches in diameter!  I haven't found a pot head on Amazon that is so large.  So, I thought I'd try my hand at painting my own.  Here's what I did.

1) I ordered a plain terra cotta pot, 8 inches in diameter from Wal-Mart.  It cost about $3.50.  Then I wiped off any dust, inside and out, with a damp paper towel and removed the bar code. 

2) After the pot dried, I used some masonry sealer on the pot, inside and out.  I believe the brand I used is Drylok.  We had it left over from a repair job at out old house.  I needed 2-3 layers to get it sealed and I had to wait at least 3 hours between each coat.  This was a pretty time consuming step.

3) The sealer has some grit in it.  I thought about sanding the grit off, but it gave the pot a nice texture.  Just make sure you are not using a foam brush because the grit pulls pieces of the brush off.  You could sand it at this point if you don't like the grit.

4) Next I applied 1-2 coats of white, acrylic, craft paint.  The pots in my window are white, so I wanted this one to match.  Of course, you have to wait an hour between each coat.

5) I'm not the most confident painter, so I pencil sketched the features of my pot head's face.  Then I used acrylic craft paint to paint her features.  I recommend thicker paint.  The paint for the red lips was really liquidy and ran when I set the pot down.  It took a few coats of white to cover up the error.  Most of the features took two coats to get the color intensity I desired.  I used a cotton ball to get the blush for her cheeks and a q-tip to get the black pupil in her eye.

6) I did not attempt to paint the outlines of the facial features.  I used a black paint marker instead.  

7) Once the paint was all dry, I covered the entire pot with clear polyurethane.  

8) After the polyurethane cured for a day or two, I planted my aloe vera inside the pot.  

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!  If you make one, post a picture of it.

Garden of Weeding

School's out for summer!  That means I have more time to read books and play around in the yard.  I'm reading God the Father Revealed by Lewis Erickson.  I started this book earlier, but I didn't have time to finish it.  I re-read chapter 1 and I came across this idea that when Adam and Eve sinned, that did not end their relationship with God.  Sin did not sever their relation with God; they felt exposed and fled from Him.  He provided them with a covering so they would not flee from Him.  The covering was made of animal skin because sin when it is full grown produces death (James 1:15).  God went with them when He banished them from the garden.  

Now this reminds me of something I read in another book, You're Going to Be Okay by Holley Gerth.  I don't have the book to look back at and re-read.  I loaned it to someone else and it never came back.  Guess they needed it more than I did.  So we will have to rely on my memory.  Holley talks about weeding in her garden.  She says the weeds are like sinful patterns and habits in her life.  She talks about the seeds of those weeds have been in the soil of our souls for a long time: doubt, covetousness, selfishness, and the like.  God allows the right conditions to come along to cause those weeds to spring to life.  When we see them growing in our lives, we are made aware of the seeds' presence.  God has known it all along, but we have not.  When they grow, we can now partner with The Farmer to remove them.  His desire is to heal us of the damage of those seeds, to stop the spread before death has fully grown into our relationships with others.  His goal is not to expose us or embarrass us but to heal us.  

There's one more section of another book that I've been thinking about.  This one is Daddy Loves His Girls by T.D. Jakes.  He talks about when we are born, our parents are adults.  They know we will mess up and hurt them.  That is a normal part of the human condition.  It didn't change their love for us.  They knew the day would come.  He compares this to our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  God knew all the days of our lives before we were born (Psalm 139:16).  When we sin, it's not a surprise to Him.  

I love these passages because I've written about how occasionally the enemy likes to torment me by reminding me of past (or current) mistakes.  I like to use this to God's glory by thanking Him for saving me when these thoughts come up.  Sometimes I think I should have things figured out by now.  I'm 42 and I've been walking with the Lord from childhood.  But every once and awhile (probably more often that I'd want to admit), a weed springs up in the garden of my soul.  It's freeing to remember that God knew I would make this choice before I was ever born.  It doesn't change His love for me.  He wants to be a part of fixing the mess, instead of me trying to deal with it on my own.  This is all a part of cultivating the beauty and fruitfulness of Christ-like character in my life.  

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law."  Galatians 5:22-23

Book Review: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

This past week marked 35 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  It was one of the first big news stories that I remember.  I've always found it intriguing and continued to learn about it.  If you find it intriguing, I'd recommend Midnight in Chernobyl.  I picked this up at my brother's house and then checked it out from the Valley Center Public Library to finish reading it.  It took me a while, but I'm glad I did.  I've even referenced it in some of my lessons on atomic structure and engineering.  

On a Donkey?!?

"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Zechariah 9:9 NIV

I've been told that a king riding on a donkey was symbolic of times of peace.  Contrast it to a king riding on a horse, that meant the king was leading troops into battle.  I've heard this before, but it never really clicked.  I've always thought Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfilled prophecy.  I also find this parallel interesting:  Mary rode into Bethlehem on a donkey and Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  Today I was struck by the symbolic meaning of peace.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey!  People were expecting Him to lead a political revolution, liberating Israel from Roman rule.  Instead Jesus spoke about a heavenly or spiritual kingdom, but the crowd just don't get it.  Jesus used not only His words to convey this message, but also cultural traditions of the day.  He came in peace, on a donkey, not on a war horse.

This is my 43rd Palm Sunday, although I don't know if you want to count the first 10 or so.  I know this story.  I've heard it many times.  I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit quickened my mind to a new aspect of Mark 11 today. My Rabi still has things to teach me. 

What part of Palm Sunday did you see in a new light today?

Hide and Seek

Do you know why I like physical science?  Honestly, there is more than one reason.  Physical science has a lot of math in it.  Those type of calculations have one answer.  Either you get it wrong or you get it right.  There's not a lot of grey area.  It's important to learn to correctly apply the process to get the right answers.  Eventually, you might get so good at the process that they let you use it to research questions that we don't know the answers to, yet.  Then you might discover something new to share with everyone else.  So cool!  

There's a question in Christianity that already has a lot of great answers.  This is not a physical science type of question, because I believe it has more than one correct solution.  

If God wants us to seek Him and find Him, then why is He hiding?

Some say that God isn't immediately obvious because we would not have a chance at faith.  If everyone could see Him, then we wouldn't need to believe.  Some say that we can't see God because of us.  God is obviously there, but the moral condition of the human heart does not allow us to see Him.  Some say our limited human minds and souls wouldn't be able to take His unveiled manifest presence.  We would short circuit.  Maybe we shouldn't use the word 'see' because some would tell you that God is spirit and not physical.  Maybe we should say 'perceive' Him.

May I suggest one more answer?  

As humans, we like a little mystery.  What kid doesn't love to play hide and seek?  I'll hide, and you find me.  Teens love the thrill of the chase, pursuing your crush to catch his/her eye.  Who loves a good mystery novel?  Or a crime show for that matter?  We like to hear the story and figuring out the clues.  It's intriguing.  I wonder if one of the reasons God doesn't make Himself immediately obvious is because He made us and He knows this about our nature.  What if God is playing hide and seek with us just like parents play with their children?  He might leave us a clue, peek out from behind a cabinet door or leave His foot sticking out.  That just whets our appetite to seek Him more.  Then we might discover something new about God, something that we can share with others.  Just like when we use the scientific method to learn something new about the world.  Each of us has a unique perspective.  Each of us can perceive Him a little differently from everyone else.  He's just too big and awesome for any one person to fully perceive.  And then there is this thought that is almost too good to bear, what if the Creator of the Universe really enjoys interacting with us?  Enjoys us just like parents enjoy playing hide and seek with their children.  

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

Get with the Program!

I try to blog once a month around the middle of the month.  Here it is the last day of January and I'm just now getting around to it.  Why is that?  I'm having a difficult time getting with the program, getting into the swing of things.  This month has been full of transitions.  School went from full remote to hybrid.  A few of the kids' after school activities starting meeting again in some form or fashion after the holiday/covid break.  Toby is transitioning from working full time and going to school to working part time and going to school.  I'm still trying to figure out how all this fits together.  

I've enjoyed a regular quiet time with God for years now, decades.  My parents encouraged it by buying me devotionals and I probably started regularly practicing time alone with God when I was in middle school.  My usual habit is to do it at night.  When the kids were little and napping, I'd do it during their naps.  A few years ago I tried doing it first thing in the morning.  I've heard a lot about starting your day with God helps to frame your entire day.  I gave this a try but it just didn't work for me.  I have trouble sleeping.  I find that my soul can rest best if I've just had my quiet time.  Then I can lie down and sleep peacefully knowing my Shepherd is near.  Also, I just don't want to get up any earlier to have my quiet time before I leave for school.  

I still want the benefit of framing my day in prayer.  So, at breakfast, I use 30 Days of Praying the Names and Attributes of God calendar put out by the Navigators.  It gives a different name or characteristic of God for each day of the month.  When I'm still waking up, I can praise God for that attribute and ask Him to help me portray it to those I come in contact with during my day.  Sometimes, when I'm awake enough, I also used this time to review my day and invite God into it.  Over the last few months, I've felt the Shepherd's gentle nudge.  Am I asking God to bless my plans, or am I seeking Him out to find out His plans for my day?  It's a good question, because my days the past few months have had many, many, changes in schedule.  Changes cause me to view life from a new perspective.  I have to find my focus, to fix my eyes on Jesus, from this new vantage point.  It's a good thing.  I'm learning to see Him more completely from every angle, but it takes time to adjust.  It was very confirming to hear Scott Porter talk about this in his sermon at GPC on 1/17/2021.  He titled it It is Hard to Repent When You are Already a Good Person.  He talked about his nephew taking time to ask God what He wanted him to pursue for a career.  I feel like I've settled that.  I felt God calling me into teaching when I was a teen.  But as Jarod Daniel pointed out in today's sermon, commitment in your relationship with Christ is like commitment in your marriage.  That commitment isn't a one time thing.  I'm committed to my relationship with Toby every day.  The same thing is true in my commitment to following Christ's leading in my everyday life.  He's my Lord in the daily decisions as well as in the big ones.