fruit farm fun

This is one of Peter's recent Monarch's, raised from a large Monarch caterpillar.  When they hatch from the chrysalis they stay still and dry their wings for a couple of hours, then we watch them fly away.

Drying its wings on our blind cords.

A bad picture of a gray tree frog, caught in our yard.  Peter loved it sacrificially, letting it go after a couple of days.  I was so proud of him!

This is Peter's female praying mantis.  He loved it sacrificially as well, letting it go after about eight days.  Daddy helped him release it in our garden yesterday, after which Peter shed no tears, surprisingly.  The gray tree frog did have tears shed over it--he loved that thing dearly!

We had a delightful time today picking raspberries and Jonathan apples at a lovely spot about thirty-five minutes away.  Just lovely, although the weather doesn't make it seem so.

Grandma and Mary

Mary feeding the delicious berries to Beth.  What a sweety.  Beth's tiny tummy has a large berry capacity!  I was sorry to have to keep her in the stroller, but she wouldn't have treated the plants nicely.  She was content as long as we kept feeding her berries!

I assumed this place was an organic farm, but tonight I checked their website to make sure, and since I couldn't find the word "organic" anywhere, I suppose they use pesticides.  Oops.  We probably shouldn't have indulged without washing them first!

My mother is 69 and quite pretty.

I love pick-your-own farm locations!  Love, love, love it!  Daddy was studying for a computer exam today so he couldn't join us.  Picking as a family is a tradition; I really missed him today.  We'll go back in a couple weeks with Daddy accompanying us.

In the meantime, I'll be busy with a lot of baking and applesauce making!  A bushel is a lot of apples!

You can use this website to find a pick-your-own place in your location.  Happy picking!

Loving Heidi

I've been reading Heidi (Johanna Spyri) to the boys for a couple weeks now.  How I loved this book as a child!  And oh, people! I am loving it all over again.  What a masterpiece!  I spent two hours reading ahead the other night, after tucking the boys in.  Then on two other nights, I was so involved in the story that I ended up reading to them until 10:00 p.m.!  Me, who is such a stickler for a consistent bedtime!


About the third day into it I told the boys how I loved it so much as a child, that I wanted to be Heidi.  Peter said, kind of embarrassed:  "Me too.  Is that okay?  I wish we lived in the beautiful mountains too and could run with the goats." 


I love that Heidi always puts the feelings of others above her own.  She loves sacrificially.  I love her contagious good nature and her unabashed joy regarding nature.  She reminds me of my Peter, at times.  I love her conversion story and how she led others to faith in the book. 


Funny, but I don't remember this being a Christian book.  Reading it now, as an adult, I see so much symbolism.  I wonder if it influenced my heart for God, all those years ago?  I know I read it at least three times as a child--only Little Women was read (and cried over) more times by my little bookworm, childish self.   


A classic isn't just a book that's timeless.  I'm finding they're also books that teach and appeal to children and adults alike. 


Anyway, we are loving the Charlotte Mason learning style!  I'm reading a number of wonderful living books to the boys right now.  It's all such a pleasure!  More on that to come.


My mother is visiting right now, although she's staying with her sister.  I love her dearly, but why do mothers say things such as the following?


"Oh, my goodness, Christine!  You're so skinny!  What size are you, a 2!"


To which I answered, "No, I'm a 4.  I haven't seen a 2 since the second child was born."  (My bone structure in the hip area is completely different now.)


"Well, that's a good thing.  If you were any skinnier, you'd look like a meth addict!"


Gee.  Thanks.  


Let's make a pact right now, Ladies!  May we only say uplifting things to our daughters about their physical appearances (except in the case of immodest clothing, and then only gently.  Very gently.).

according to your purpose

When God is working on you, he is purposeful, kind, and patient, but also unrelenting.

Recall I posted that I sometimes obsessively check e-mail?  Apparently God thinks I can't solve this problem on my own.  I must have shown a lack of cooperation with the Holy Spirit's whispers.

As I crunched the numbers for bills and incoming resources, it became clear.  Our in-home Internet service days are numbered.  By the end of the month, I think we'll be visiting the library to go online.

What does this mean?  It's all good!

I'll be able to publish a blog post and check e-mail two to three days a week.

"And we know that in all things the Lord works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28


Praise God to be called!  Yes, Lord!  


Search me.  Help me.  Change me....


according to your purpose.

Ann is home

Ann arrived home in the wee hours.  She will need prayer.  On the last day of these trips the bloggers visit the worst the area has to offer, in terms of physical poverty.  In Guatemala's case this was the city dump, next to which 20,000 people live in one square kilometer.  The water isn't even fit for rats. Her husband and her six children, as well as her community, will not understand the depths of her sorrow.  She is forever changed, and will need lots of prayer as she lives in the tension of that change, and as she listens to what God wants her to do next, in response to the truth she's seen.   Here is what Kristin did, six months after returning from Kenya. If you don't have the $38.00/mo. required to sponsor a child, you can write to a Compassion child that someone else sponsors.  Some children don't get letters from their sponsors, and the letter writing ministry addresses that yearning in the children's hearts.  This post explains that to the children involved, the letters mean everything.  They are the life-changing link--relationship.

Are You a Disciple?

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Mark 8:34


It's so easy to think that as Christians, we have no tasks greater than believing and repenting, praying and reading.  And to be sure, these are wonderful things--great starting points in the Christian walk.


But these things do not make us disciples of Jesus.  Nor do they give us an abundant life.


To be a disciple and to experience the abundant life here on earth, Jesus said a man must:


1.  deny himself - This does not refer to giving up a luxury.  It refers, instead, to giving up the ownership of ourselves.   To deny yourself means to sit in the passenger's seat, rather than the driver's seat--purposely giving up control over your life.


2.  take up his cross - This does not refer to a trial, a hardship, or a handicap.  To take up your cross means to be like Paul the Apostle--willing to suffer, willing to be persecuted, willing to be humbled, willing to die for the causes of Christ.  It doesn't mean you will die for Christ, literally--just that you are willing to.  


3.  follow me - To follow Jesus means to obey him.  We must do whatever he asks of us, relying on his power to do it.


"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."
Mark 8:35


Can one be a Christian, but not a disciple?  Yes.  You will make it to heaven, but in choosing to remain in the driver seat, you lose the abundant life.  You will not know true fulfillment, true joy, here on earth.  Whatever fleeting joy you do come across, it will never compare to what a disciple experiences.  


"For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life (soul in the greek).  For what can a man give in return for his soul?"
Mark 8: 36-37


So, what is the question of the week?  The question I've been pondering so much these last couple months?  What was the catalyst for this post?


Just this:  Why is it that only ten percent of Christian readers click on a poverty-themed post?  


The first reason is a simple one.  Sometimes, people are battling something so big in the here and now, there's no room for more conflict.  


The other reason is tragic.  


The vast majority of Christians have said no to discipleship.  


The cost is too high, and like the crowd Jesus spoke to, they've walked away.  They've chosen to save--and therefore lose--their lives.


Taking up poverty as a cause is costly.  Messy.  You'll be shunned by family, friends, and fellow churchgoers.  Kristin, from We Are That Family, did a lot of posts about poverty after returning from Kenya as a Compassion Blogger.  She began getting comments from readers, complaining that she was trying to make people feel guilty.  In truth she was only describing how and why her heart had changed, and how difficult it was at times, living in the tension of that change.


Really, it's no wonder the shunning occurs!  For what does it look like to really care about poverty?


- You won't look like the Joneses anymore.  You're giving so much to charity that you can no longer afford luxuries, like a stop at Starbuck's, or a weekly dinner out, or weekends away, or the latest fashions.  


- People will stare.  They will talk about you.   "Why are they suddenly less well off?  Don't they have good jobs?  Aren't they successful, like us?"  


- You won't have as many friends.  Even if you don't flaunt your giving, people will probably find out anyway, and they'll be uncomfortable.  They'll avoid you.


- You will be inconvenienced.  Your life won't be as comfortable, and at times it might be downright uncomfortable, physically speaking.


Don't all these things happen anyway, though, when we choose discipleship?  Yes!  Discipleship looks just like this--messy, hard, lonely at times.  


But let's not forget the reward!  "...whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."  This isn't referring merely to salvation, but to an abundant, fulfilling, worthwhile life.  


Few people in this life will choose to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus.  


So what about you?  What about me?  Have we been "saving it to lose it"?  Or "losing it to save it"?  Can we call ourselves disciples?  


Here is Ann Voskamp's latest post about poverty in Guatemala.  If you can't give, can you bend your knees for the cause?


Even if your own heart is ready, husbands aren't always on the same page when it comes to helping the poor.  While this can be painful, we can't nag.  We submit.  We let Jesus do the heart work.  We pray, "Make me a disciple, Jesus."


These verses speak of the rewards for helping the poor:
Ps 41:1-3; 112, Proverbs 14:21; 19:17, 22:9, 14:31, 28:27,  Isaiah 58:6-10


These verses speak of the consequences for not helping the poor:
Ezek. 16:49, Is.10:1-3, Luke 1:52, Ezek. 22:29, 31, Jer. 5:28, James 5:1-6, Luke 6:24, Luke 16:19-25