I am one of those people who hears from God. And by that I mean I literally hear God. It isn't a voice in my head the way schizophrenic's hear them, more a voice in my heart but audible nonetheless. It's a unique experience and since I'm aware it's unusual, I vacillate between feeling very honoured and feeling like God just knows I'm too stinking dense to hear Him otherwise! I bring this up because lately He has been nudging me, none to gently I might add, to grow more of our food. We don't have a huge amount of space and all this growing will need to take place in the front yard or in containers in the back due to the fact that out entire backyard is either pool or cement. However, I've had the space not only picked out but actually partitioned off thanks to the lovely invention of the mail order raised garden bed. It's been sitting there for over a year. It mocks me every time I step onto the front porch and look to my right and see it sitting there all empty and barren.
So, for a woman who categorically refuses to make New Year's Resolutions (because, seriously, who keeps them?) I'm am, for all intents and purposes, making a resolution. I will heed God and start growing more of our food. I have a '2 in 1' apple tree coming via UPS that will be shipped on Valentine's Day (thus giving my husband a built in present to me because he will have to get it in the ground!) I have a Square Food Gardening book being delivered on Friday (New Year's Eve, see how I worked that?) I have space set aside for a lemon tree, tangelo tree and a nectarine tree which I will buy at a local nursery around the time the apple tree gets here and I have a toddler who wants to be outside as much as possible and, let's face it, what child doesn't jump at the chance to dig in the dirt?
I hope to post not only updates to how this endeavour plays out but with any luck, pictures as it progresses. Of course if I fail miserably, I'll do the only honourable thing and post about that as well.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Words of a Homemaker -Author Unknown
God, I want to do great things for you,
And speak to all the nations!
God replies:
That's well and good,
But for now
Fix your children's complications.
Lord, I want to straighten up the world,
Feed the hungry and fulfill someone's wishes!
God says:
Fine, but for the present,
You need to wash the dishes.
Lord, I want to preach, proclaim your name
And bring salvation to the earth!
God says:
Good! Then teach your children
And preach my name to those you've given birth.
At the end of the day,
I think of all I've done.
But as I look it seems,
I've accomplished nothing for the Son!
God I had no time to witness one on one,
I couldn't join my church group,
They said I missed out on lots of fun.
My household is the only thing
That managed to be cleaned,
My neighbor is the only one,
Besides my family I could feed.
The only ones I've read Your Word
Are those within my home.
God I've done so very little
And I feel so all alone!
God says:
I've seen the way you cleaned and cooked
And taught your kids My name.
Tomorrow morning at eight o' clock,
I'll watch you do the same.
The work you do at home,
Though no one really sees,
Is helping to raise little ones
To grow and worship me.
My ways are not your ways,
I don't expect you yet to see,
But the precepts that you've taught your children,
Will help others bow the knee.
Your children will reach out to others,
Your example in their mind.
They'll do great work for Me
And their children will respond in kind.
The hand that rules the world,
Also rocks the cradle.
Because of you, your children love Me,
All their hearts are stable.
Though your house is your domain,
Your tasks seem rather plain,
Your efforts will reach the multitudes,
Though from humble work they came.
I copied this from http://loveaboundsathome.blogspot.com/2010/11/words-of-homemaker.html. I actually cried when I read it because despite the fact that I know God has called me to be the Keeper of our Home, I still have this conversation with Him! It was so comforting to see what is undoubtedly His response, in writing.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Politically Correct is not the same as Actually Correct
I have raised a son and a daughter from conception to adulthood. I am currently, for all intents and purposes, raising my not-quite-two year old grandson. I have several nieces and nephews, I have friends with children ranging in age from 2 months to 45 years. I believe I have seen enough children in various stages of life to say with some authority that sexual stereotypes exist for a reason. They are generally true.
Each Monday the grandson and I stand either on the front walkway or, in inclement weather, on the front porch and watch as one by one the trash, recycling and garden waste trucks come down the street and empty each individual bin into the truck. He is absolutely fascinated with these trucks. Any truck for that matter. He is captivated by basketball or football games, has multiple balls of varying sizes that he plays with every day, and his own ride on truck is frequently being "worked on" by this little bundle of masculinity.
Now, don't get me wrong, he likes to do other things to. He loves to play with his stuffed animals and have stories read to him. He even likes to clean right along side me with his own dust mop for the floors and swiffer duster for dusting! Being able to vacuum is the treat promised if he cleans up at the end of each day. He loves to pretend to cook with the pots and pans in the cupboard that he is allowed in (because I’ve made sure there is nothing breakable in there.) Cooking and cleaning are stereotypically considered “women’s work” and, in our home at least, the woman is the keeper of the home and thus in charge of these tasks. But largely, he does things we think of as "boy things."
Girls tend to do things we think of as "girl things." Girls do things that are typically associated with boys, too. However, there is a reason we think of them as either boy or girl things. It isn't because society has thrust these roles on them. It is because they naturally gravitate to these things. God created man and woman. He made them equally important but he did not make them interchangeable. There are roles for each gender outlined in the Bible and unfortunately, over the millennia, societies have twisted those roles and made them far more rigid than I personally believe God ever intended. That, like all other forms of legalism, is a failing of humanity, not of God. This twist is the cause of so many saying that gender roles are wrong and merely a creation of those who would keep women repressed. This erroneous thought is, of course, the beginning of the evil that is feminism but that is another post.
To say that gender roles are just restrictions we force upon our children to fit some agenda of our own is ridiculous. All you need to do is watch small children at play. I think we, as a society, might do well to consider that trying to force children out of gender roles is far more harmful than just letting them do what comes naturally to them because of God's great plan. Politically correct is not the same as actually correct. Politically correct is whatever we humans decide is correct and is frequently a way to pretend God doesn’t exist and didn’t create us. Actually correct is what God has told us is correct. It isn’t difficult to figure out which is which. Actually correct is all written down in the best selling book of all time, the Bible.
Each Monday the grandson and I stand either on the front walkway or, in inclement weather, on the front porch and watch as one by one the trash, recycling and garden waste trucks come down the street and empty each individual bin into the truck. He is absolutely fascinated with these trucks. Any truck for that matter. He is captivated by basketball or football games, has multiple balls of varying sizes that he plays with every day, and his own ride on truck is frequently being "worked on" by this little bundle of masculinity.
Now, don't get me wrong, he likes to do other things to. He loves to play with his stuffed animals and have stories read to him. He even likes to clean right along side me with his own dust mop for the floors and swiffer duster for dusting! Being able to vacuum is the treat promised if he cleans up at the end of each day. He loves to pretend to cook with the pots and pans in the cupboard that he is allowed in (because I’ve made sure there is nothing breakable in there.) Cooking and cleaning are stereotypically considered “women’s work” and, in our home at least, the woman is the keeper of the home and thus in charge of these tasks. But largely, he does things we think of as "boy things."
Girls tend to do things we think of as "girl things." Girls do things that are typically associated with boys, too. However, there is a reason we think of them as either boy or girl things. It isn't because society has thrust these roles on them. It is because they naturally gravitate to these things. God created man and woman. He made them equally important but he did not make them interchangeable. There are roles for each gender outlined in the Bible and unfortunately, over the millennia, societies have twisted those roles and made them far more rigid than I personally believe God ever intended. That, like all other forms of legalism, is a failing of humanity, not of God. This twist is the cause of so many saying that gender roles are wrong and merely a creation of those who would keep women repressed. This erroneous thought is, of course, the beginning of the evil that is feminism but that is another post.
To say that gender roles are just restrictions we force upon our children to fit some agenda of our own is ridiculous. All you need to do is watch small children at play. I think we, as a society, might do well to consider that trying to force children out of gender roles is far more harmful than just letting them do what comes naturally to them because of God's great plan. Politically correct is not the same as actually correct. Politically correct is whatever we humans decide is correct and is frequently a way to pretend God doesn’t exist and didn’t create us. Actually correct is what God has told us is correct. It isn’t difficult to figure out which is which. Actually correct is all written down in the best selling book of all time, the Bible.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
I AM at work!
I've been having this minor issue with my telephone lately. It keeps ringing.
I realize that telephones do that, it's just that lately whomever is calling seems to want to chat. Everyone in my life knows I am the fulltime caregiver of my 20 month old grandson Monday through Friday. However, for reasons I will never understand, there are people who don't think there is anything wrong with calling up for a chat in the middle of what is my work day. These same people, I'm sure, would never call a friend at their office in the middle of the work day and expect to chat unless it was during that person's break. Even then, because it can be difficult to know exactly when someone is on their break, you would generally start the conversation with, "Is this a good time?"
It's a simple thing and I'm probably ranting out of all proportion to the situation, but today the grandson is having a particularly difficult day and requires my full attention.
When faced with a toddler who is literally throwing himself on the floor in a screaming tantrum every other moment, there are only two responses. You can ignore him and so whatever you feel like doing at the time or you can give that child the attention he so clearly needs and try to figure out WHY this normally cheerful, obedient child is behaving like a spoiled brat. I obviously choose the latter which is why these phone calls are my current irksome issue.
That's all. No deep insights. Just my need to rant for a moment. I do, however, feel better now.
I realize that telephones do that, it's just that lately whomever is calling seems to want to chat. Everyone in my life knows I am the fulltime caregiver of my 20 month old grandson Monday through Friday. However, for reasons I will never understand, there are people who don't think there is anything wrong with calling up for a chat in the middle of what is my work day. These same people, I'm sure, would never call a friend at their office in the middle of the work day and expect to chat unless it was during that person's break. Even then, because it can be difficult to know exactly when someone is on their break, you would generally start the conversation with, "Is this a good time?"
It's a simple thing and I'm probably ranting out of all proportion to the situation, but today the grandson is having a particularly difficult day and requires my full attention.
When faced with a toddler who is literally throwing himself on the floor in a screaming tantrum every other moment, there are only two responses. You can ignore him and so whatever you feel like doing at the time or you can give that child the attention he so clearly needs and try to figure out WHY this normally cheerful, obedient child is behaving like a spoiled brat. I obviously choose the latter which is why these phone calls are my current irksome issue.
That's all. No deep insights. Just my need to rant for a moment. I do, however, feel better now.
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