Promising signs - Garden Edition

 Over the last few years we've been trying our hand at gardening; experimenting with different techniques and vegetables.  We typically have good success with tomatoes and green beans, everything else has been hit or miss.  Last year we barely had anything, even our tomatoes weren't very productive.  In talking to others it seems that even long-time gardeners in our area had a tough time due to the abundant amount of rain last summer.  

We tried growing melons last year, and while we had several blossoms, we never had any fruit.  I'm hoping to try melons again, maybe next year as we're planning to extend the garden some, which will allow for more sunny areas.

We've tried growing from seeds but haven't had much success.  We've also bought plants from the "big box" stores and had very mixed success.  This year we bought all of our starter plants from the local garden centers.  This year, we also used weed barrier in the garden.  So far it seems that these changes have made a big difference.  

Our garden only gets 4-5 hours of direct sunlight each day but the weed barrier seems to be helping to hold some of that warmth in the soil.  Almost everything we planted is producing; in fact we have already enjoyed some Romaine lettuce.  

One fun thing we did this year was to try growing potatoes.  This was a last minute "nothing to lose" experiment.  We had two potatoes left in a bag I had bought.  The potatoes were a little too far gone but had several good groups of eyes.  I chopped them up into 5 pieces (the amount of blank holes in the weed barrier we had since the corn we planted didn't survive) and Hailey went out and planted them.  We didn't mound up the ground but she just dug a bit deeper.  When I went out today I noticed 4 out of 5 spots had good looking potato plants.  We're looking forward to seeing what they produce.  

Plants in our garden this year are: Tomatoes (a few varieties), Peppers (a few varieties), Zucchini, Cucumbers, Romaine Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Celery, Cheddar Cauliflower, Broccoli, and potatoes. Here are a few pictures I took today.

Potato Plant (left) Kohlrabi (right)

 

 

More potato plants

 

 

Cucumbers!

Zucchini

Mid-year Music Round up

 Since I did a reading round-up I thought it would be fun to share some new-to-me songs that I've been listening to lately.  We went to a Phil Wickham concert earlier this year so a few of the songs are ones I first heard there.  The others are ones that I've heard on Spotify or recommendations from friends. So here are 10 songs for the first half of this year. 

Hymn of Heaven ~ Phil Wickham

Yesterday, Today, Forever ~ Passion

1,000 Names ~ Phil Wickham

 

Nailed to the Cross ~ Rend Collective

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery ~ Matt Boswell

What He's Done ~ Passion

God is in This Story ~ Katy Nichole

Take it to Jesus ~ Anna Golden

My Jesus ~ Anne Wilson

To The Cross I Cling ~ Matt Boswell

Mid-year reading roundup

 Since the year is half over I thought it would be fun to share some of the books I've read so far this year; and a few that I'm currently reading and highly recommend.  

So far this year I've read 13 books.  Here they are in the order I read them.

1) The Book Collectors by Delphine Minoui

    This non-fiction book tells the story of the men who built a library in war-torn Syria; finding hope in the books and cataloging them to return to their rightful owners after the war.  There is also a documentary which closely follows the book.

 

2) Full Moon Over Noah's Ark by Rick Antonson

    This is a memoir and also travelogue about Rick's goal of summiting Mount Ararat under a full moon.  The book details some of the Ark stories in the region as well as his travels in other parts of the Middle East.  A fun, interesting read.

 

3) God Himself by Tony Evans

     This small book packs a big punch as Dr. Evans works through some of the attributes of God.  A read that I took in little chunks to savor and meditate on the truths shared about the awesome God of the universe.

 

4) Last Girl by Nadia Murad

     In the early 2000's ISIS takes over the Yazidi area of Northern Iraq.  This is the harrowing tale of one woman as she loses the life she had, endures unimaginable horrors and fights for those guilty to be held accountable and for the rest of the world to know what happened. 

 

5) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

    This short YA read tells about the Danish resistance during WWII.  A quick read but I learned about some techniques used that I  had never heard about before.

 

6) The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

    This fiction book touches on the French resistance during WWII.  

 

7) Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Lathan

     One of my girls read this book for a school English class and recommended it to me.  As with a lot of people my age I had never learned about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.  This book pretty closely follows the events of those days through a few fictional characters.  The book is written on a dual timeline, one in 1921 and one modern day. 

 

8) Jesus Over Every Thing by Lisa Whittle

    So this was my second time reading this book; last summer I read it by myself and this winter I read it again as part of our church's Mom's Night Out group.  A helpful read as Lisa shares her own journey of trying to put Jesus over everything in her life. 

 

9) The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon

    This book somewhat follows the story of the Cleveland  torso murderer, also known as "the butcher".  While I normally love Amy Harmon books this was my least favorite.  I had never heard of the torso murderer so that was interesting to learn about but the rest of the story seemed forced and disjointed.

 

10) Little Lost Love Letter by Shari Tapscott

    This cute love story is another book recommended by one of my girls.  It's actually her favorite book.  It's short and very cute about a letter that a woman wrote but never intended to be read by the guy she likes. 

 

11) The Girl Who Escaped Isis by Farida Khalaf

    This book is another account from a Yazidi woman of the horrors of ISIS and how she has overcome terrible abuses to reach out to others and help them heal.

 

12) I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys     

     Ruta Sepetys is another favorite YA author.  She writes historical fiction that brings you into that time.  Her characters come alive.  This book is her latest and is about the time leading up to the Romanian revolution in the 1980's.  I had never heard about this bit of world history and was so invested in the lives of her characters that mirrored so well what the Romanian people faced. This book lead me to do some further reading about Romania; which, to me,  is always the sign of a good historical fiction book. 

 

13) Set The Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes

     This is the most recent book I read.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  While the story kept me interested enough to finish it I can't quite describe it well.  It's about a marine archaeologist who searches for a lost ship.  There's a bit of romance, but that falls flat for me.  The author is good with words and has several memorable quotes but she's too wordy for my taste and while this book includes some mystery, follows a dual timeline, has a bit of romance...all of it somehow falls a bit flat.  Maybe it's because I mostly read non-fiction but the ending seemed too tidy and too unbelievable. 

Books I'm currently reading that I HIGHLY recommend:

1) Help, I'm Drowning: Weathering the Storms of Life with Grace and Hope by Sally Clarkson

    Have you ever read a book where you felt like the author had read your mind?  Well, that is this book for me.  While reading this book I have often found myself thinking "wow, someone else has had those same exact thoughts?!". I have laughed, cried, underlined a lot and have thanked God for the wisdom He has given Sally to write this book.  Each chapter deals with a different area of life where women can, and often do, face real storms.  I appreciate her down to earth style that weaves Scripture and practical advice into each chapter.  At the end of each chapter there are a few reflection questions, a prayer and an "anchoring act"... a practical step to take to work towards implementing the Scriptural teachings.  

 

2) Praying Through the Bible For Your Kids by Nancy Guthrie

    This book is one that I mentioned back in January.  As I shared in the post titled Reading Through the Bible in 2022 I am following the One Year Bible Plan with a group of others.  I'm using this book as a supplement along with that plan.  I have been so encouraged by the devotionals; they are so timely (as Scripture always is!) and each day ends with a prayer to pray for your family or for your children specifically.  There are a few of us in the group also reading this devotional and we often will say "did you read today's devotional?" or in conversation "oh, that was mentioned in a recent day's devotional".  It has just been a great reminder to always be praying.  To remember that God does see and understands our concerns and struggles as parents.

 

3) Women Who Risk: Secret Agents for Jesus in the Muslim World by Tom & JoAnn Doyle

    There are few books where I say "every Christian should read this" but this is one of them.  Tom & JoAnn have spent decades ministering in the Muslim World. This book shares just a few of the miraculous transformations of women who have chosen Christ in a place where they truly face death for that choice.  God is still very much a God of miracles and each of these stories shows how He is powerfully working in our world.  You will be encouraged, challenged and spurred on to pray for these women.  This is actually my second time reading this book as I read it on my own and am now rereading it as part of our Mom's Night Out group at church.  It is just as powerful the second time through...these women are our sisters and they need our prayers, they need us to know...to see what is going on in our world.

June Recap

 Well, here it is the last few days of June and I'm just now getting a blog post done.  June turned out to be a very busy month.  It started with my computer deciding to die.  Thankfully it was a relatively inexpensive fix but took a few weeks to get to the store to have the issue diagnosed and then another couple weeks for it to be repaired and returned.  But...now it's all nice and fixed with some shiny new parts.  

We also planted our garden. This year we decided to try weed block and so far are pleased with how it is working.  

Maisie helping Ethan get around at the garden center.

All the kids helped put in the garden.

June also brought graduations.  Ethan graduated from High School and Keira from 8th grade.  We had several friends and a niece graduate as well, so there were a lot of graduation festivities.  

Later in June we made a last minute, whirlwind trip to South Carolina. We spent a weekend seeing some friends that we hadn't seen in over 20 years.  We took the older girls with us and it was fun to have some time with just two kiddos.  While in South Carolina we made a day trip to Helen, GA.  

Helen, GA started as an old logging town.  In the 1960's, the town was dying so the counsel decided to reinvent the town as an "Alpine Bavarian Village".  It's a bit touristy but was a fun side trip to see and spend the day walking around the town. You can read more about the history here.

It was a busy, but great month.  We're looking forward to having some time to relax a bit this summer with the kids home from school.  This past weekend the town lake opened and we enjoyed the beautiful weather there.  

The blues and greens were much more vibrant than this picture shows.

I hope you all are enjoying some sunshine and find time to relax and breathe. 

What do you do when evil seems to win?

 This past week has been HARD.  I've spent time crying, praying and questioning how we as believers respond when horrific things happen in our world.  The truth is that we cannot expect goodness, truth and compassion in a world living in darkness; following the "murderer from the beginning" and  "father of lies" (John 8:44), the one who only seeks to "devour" (I Peter 5:8) and to  "steal, kill & destroy" (John 10:10). 

We in the US are blessed to have freedom to practice our faith, to serve Jesus and to share the Gospel openly with others.  But, I fear we've also been lulled by these freedoms, taking for granted the benefits we've been given.  We've become so focused on politics, on our "rights", on arguing with other believers about things that have no eternal value, and about protecting ourselves and staying safe.  And in the process we've lost sight of what DOES matter.  We have not been called to a life of protectionism...we've been called to lay down our lives for the Gospel (Mark 8:34-35).

These are things I wrestle with.  As a mom, I want my kids to be safe; it's easy to think that it's all on us to keep them safe.  As Christian parents our responsibility is to raise them to know God!  A friend often says "there is no junior Holy Spirit"; it's a great reminder as parents.  God knows the maturity of our kids but when they accept Him as Savior they receive the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11).  God's got them, they can NEVER be snatched from His hand (John 10:28).

So what do we do when we hear about an 18 year old taking the life of his grandmother and then head to a school and taking the lives of 19 elementary children?  Or another church denomination plagued by those in power taking advantage of the vulnerable in their own congregations..and more...being protected by others in those organizations? Or when we see a madman decide that he wants to rule more of the world and bomb maternity hospitals and other civilian sites?  Or when those in our own government try to pass a law stating a woman can kill her child on her due date? You can certainly contact your government officials about these things; I'm not here to argue politics, because again, that's just a distraction.  Here are three steps that are supported by Scripture on how we are to live our lives.  

When we feel helpless we can:

1. Pray!  The world mocks prayer because the devil knows it is the most powerful weapon we have.  We have access to the God of the Universe; we are told we can boldly enter the throne room of the King of Kings (Hebrews 4:16) and He will NEVER cast us out! (John 6:37)  While we can't completely fathom this; just a glimpse from Scripture gives a window of what a privilege this is; and lest we think God doesn't care...He tells us that He holds every tear!  (Psalm 56:8)

2. Faithfully teach our children!  Our kids need to be taught from an early age that there is truth, there is a God who is the definition of Truth (John 14:6, John 17:7).  That they need Him (John 3:16) and any good gifts come from Him (James 1:17).  We also need to teach them that there is a God given authority and instructions for this life (Ephesians 6:1-4).  We cannot solve all the problems in this world but we are each called to be faithful with where and who God has put us. We are to keep our focus on Him!

3.  Be the light! (Matthew 5:14-16) An attitude I have noticed within the US church is one of protectionism and pride. We see evil in the world and instead of reaching out to minister and share the hope & peace of the Gospel we shrink back into our corners and wrap ourselves and our kids more tightly into our "Christian Cocoons".  I get it!  Often that's exactly how I feel, I want to run away with my family, keep them from having to deal with all the evil in this world. But that is NOT what we are called to do!  We are called to share the Gospel and make disciples (Mark 16:15) and we are to go out because how are people to believe if they never hear the "word of Christ" (Romans 10:14-17). 

I don't have the answers, I struggle with these very things but here are a few questions I've been asking myself lately:

- How can the world ever change if we never share Jesus?

- How would the atmosphere and culture of our public schools change if MORE Christians sent their kids to them?  If we as Christian parents were on the PTO, school committee, volunteered?  How would this change our communities as we became more involved?

- How do we discuss these events with our kids; keeping them informed but not living in fear?

- Is this all a sifting and a wake-up call?  To pull us out of our lulled, sleepy state; to show the wolves in sheep's clothing within our midst?  To show how desperately those around us need the love, hope and peace of Jesus?  

- What CAN I do to follow God's call on my life better? 

Bluey! And a couple parenting tips.

 If you have littles, by now you've most likely heard of the show Bluey.  The show centers on a family of Blue Heeler dogs; Mum - Chili, Dad - Bandit and their daughters Bluey and Bingo.  The family live in Australia.  The family dynamic, relationship between the parents, Bandit & Chili, and the overall feel of the show is just really wholesome.  It's one that I enjoy watching with the kids and I've seen Maisie mimic the positive lessons from the show; she's also picked up some Australian phrases which is really cute.  I thought I'd share a fun clip with a great parenting tip and also a second parenting technique that I've found to be very helpful

The other day someone online commented on the episode titled Wagon Ride; specifically the technique Bandit uses to help Bluey when she's impatient.  It's a technique that we have used for years with our kids so I thought I'd share the clip from Bluey.  Our kids aren't always perfect in using this method but it's been a huge help and usually with a quick reminder they do it.  As an aside, if they do forget and interrupt we do ask them to apologize to the person with whom we were chatting. 

The specific technique is from 0:59-1:20 of the video.

The second technique we've used, is one to keep the kiddos safe when in a parking lot.  When they are young we teach them to put their hand on the car when they get out and keep touching the car until we take their hand.  This way they can't go further than their arm's length.  Again, we are still cautious and aware in case they forget but for the most part they have been very good about following this instruction.  As we had more kids this was very helpful for when I was getting a baby out of the car or grabbing something I needed from the car.  

What kids shows do you actually enjoy watching with your kids?

Are there any quick tips that you've found to be simple yet extremely useful with your kiddos?

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 After a few cold and somewhat cloudy days here; we are welcoming in May with a gorgeous warm, sunny day.  Over the past week the flowers in our yard have really started blossoming.  

One of my favorite Sunday School lessons to teach is on Matthew 6:25-34; which speaks of how, when we are tempted to worry, we can look to creation and see God's care for the birds and flowers.

 "And why are you anxious about clothing? 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which 
today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"
Matthew 6:28-30

The activity for this is to have the kids glue paper clothes onto flower pictures to see how silly it would be for flowers to try and wear clothes.  Getting out in nature and seeing the truth of these verses is always a great reminder: 

Tulips

Crab apple tree in full bloom

Rhododendron

Ornamental Cherry 

Rhododendron (close up)

Crab apple blossom (close up)

This picture is for Maisie.  She gets so excited when she sees

dandelions in the yard. 

Daffodil