Worms

photo © 2006 pfly | more info (via: Wylio)
Yep, worms.

Yesterday, Ben and I cleaned our flower beds and mulched some of them. I got the fun job of edging the beds so the mulch won't spill out so much. Just about every shovel-full uncovered an earthworm and I was thrilled!

If you're thinking "yuck" right about now (or... "This chick's crazy if she gets excited by worms!") please keep reading. There's beauty hidden in this post!

The first seven years we lived here, the earthworms wouldn't join us. Mostly, we had slugs. Lots of ugly, mean slugs. My son once commented that "slugs are like satan, because they eat at your roots and kill you." Slugs feast on plant roots and kill them, destroying gardens.

Yesterday, those worms showed me that our once dying garden has come back to life! YAY!

What changed?
1. We replaced the clay that once dominated our yard with a healthy layer of topsoil, dirt full of nutrients to encourage strong plant growth.
2. We fertilized the yard according to the recommended schedule, not just now and then when the thought crossed our minds.
3. We invested in mulch, to insulate the new plants. As that mulch has broken down, it's improved the quality of the dirt.
4. We cut away dead or over-crowded branches, so our plants and bushes aren't weighed down.

The worms remind me of a healthy Christian life. The healthy Christian:
1. Replaces sinful, worldly desires with faith in Christ.
2. Fertilizes the heart regularly: reading scripture and allowing it to seep in, praying, and worshipping.
3. Invests in relationships and activities that encourage growth and insulate us from the harshness of the world: serving on a ministry team, participating in small groups, worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers. These relationships help us keep our focus on that healthy relationship with God.
4. Cuts out the bad stuff: selfishness, pride, and time stealers that keep us from becoming all God wants us to be.

Faithful work in the garden has its reward: beautiful plants and flowers. Faithfully living the Christian life has its reward too: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).

photo © 2006 Clayton Sieg | more info (via: Wylio)

Rejoicing in His love today!
Love,
Karen

Fertilize it!

The weatherman told us that Monday would be warm. It was, a nice warm 83 degrees. He also told us that the rain was coming. It did, about 5:30... and it stuck around for a while too.

Trusting that Greg "O" Fishel knew his weather, I decided to get the early spring fertilizer out on the lawn Monday morning before the rain came. I filled the spreader with the "stuff" and walked the yard, back and forth, in nice neat rows. My goal? To grow the grass of course! And to kill the weeds! Those stinking weeds creep in from everywhere trying to take over the yard. I hate it! Yes, hate is a strong word for weeds, but they really don't look nice.

Anyway, as I was walking back and forth, I began to think, "Why am I doing this?" More accurately, I started thinking, "Why isn't Rob out here doing this?" "Why didn't he get out here yesterday?" You know, bad wife thoughts... condemning my man while I did "his" work.

We've been married a fairly long time, almost 21 years, so I know that when those thoughts creep into my mind like weeds into the yard, I better do something about them. So, I changed my thoughts. Yes. That simple. I chose to change what I thought about my husband.

Instead, I prayed. I told God (nobody else was around, so He -- the ever-present listener would have to do) all the things I love about Rob: that he cleans house, cooks, works hard for our family, cares -- really, truly cares -- about his patients, plays with the kids, reads to Ellie, doesn't complain when I want to go away, encourages me to get out with my friends, and does laundry. Simple. I counted my blessings.

Then I remembered why I was doing the fertilizing in the first place. Saturday, Rob held down the fort (really he was a fully involved dad) so I could attend a women's conference. Sunday, he invested in the kids and me, choosing a day of rest (so Biblical) and play instead of work, work, work. Oh yeah... then God reminded me that we couldn't fertilize on Sunday without seriously inconveniencing ourselves about the dog. She can't exactly go run around in dry fertilizer.

I've been mulling the whole conversation with God over in my head ever since. It seems that maintaining a healthy marriage is a lot like maintaining a beautiful lawn. You've got to:

1. Fertilize it. The lawn gets chemicals (and manure and mulch and limestone). A marriage needs fun, respect and effort.
2. Kill the weeds. Without attention, the weeds creep in and overtake the lawn. Without attention, the bad thoughts about our spouse and frustrations over "bad" habits creep in and overtake the marriage.
3. Invest the time. A lawn doesn't fertilize itself. Rather, it needs dedicated time, focused on the work of fertilizing to help the grass grow. A marriage won't fertilize itself either. It takes dedicated playtime, work time, prayer time and relationship time to grow a healthy marriage. I know to take my negative thoughts captive because I have invested my head and my heart fully in my commitment to Rob. It's a worthwhile investment.

Rob, I am sorry I dared to think bad thoughts. I love you and appreciate everything you do, everything you give and everything you are to our family. We are truly blessed that God put you at the head of this household. I love you! Always and forever.

Summer Bounty

Hey bloggy friends,
My friend Barb recently declared peaches as the ultimate summer fruit. I disagree. Watermelon, sweet, juicy and refreshing, is the ultimate summer fruit. ;-)

This little disagreement (completely acceptable among close friends) leads me to wonder at God's creativity. He created not just an enormous array of fruits for us to enjoy: peaches, watermelon, crisp apples, tender pears, tangy oranges, delicate raspberries... and on and on. He even created us to appreciate them differently. I like peaches, but they've never been close to my favorite. I can't really imagine biting into a peach and experiencing the joy that Barb does. We're all uniquely and wonderfully made! So cool.

How about joining the discussion? What's your favorite fruit? Why?

Before you answer.... I suggest you try this recipe. Not that I'm trying to convince you that watermelons are best or anything!

Watermelon-Cucumber Salad
1/2 red onion, sliced thin and chopped. Soak in ice water for five minutes!!! (this takes the bitter edge out)
1 cucumber, deseeded, sliced and diced.
4 cups of watermelon, deseeded, sliced and cut into 1" cubes
4-6 mint leaves, finely chopped (depends on how much mint you like)

Combine these items.

Drizzle with:
1/4 cup light olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Toss everything.
Cover and chill for at least one hour.

YUMMO! (Thanks to Food Network for inspiring this recipe)

Get out there and enjoy God's glorious bounty!

Lots of love,
Karen

Housework!

Good morning, my sweet friends!

As I sit here, sipping coffee as the rain comes down... again (HELLO, GOD! This is North Carolina, not Ohio... please move the clouds somewhere else!), I have a great view. Why? Because I'm sitting on my screen porch looking out at all the green -- and the raindrops.

Home sweet home! Even when it rains.

If I were in the house, ohhhhh, that would be an entirely different scene. The laundry's piled up on the couch. Why do I never seem to get it folded before everything is wrinkled? There are Ellie toys all over the place (thanks in part to her friend who gave her so many hand-me-downs last week that Ellie had her own personal Christmas in May!). There are dishes in the sink. The swim bag sits on the floor in the kitchen, waiting for someone less lazy than me to put it away in the hall closet (it was wet yesterday, which is why I didn't put it away when we got home from the pool)....

The swim bag... Trust me, the rest looks much worse! :(

Anyway, you get the idea. My house is a WRECK!

I'm not the world's best housekeeping wife to begin with. And this weekend, every chance I got, I opted instead for family time over chores. Maybe, perhaps, there's some balance in there that I missed, but I think I'm okay with that. I'm glad we watched movies together, went to the mall together, went to church together, served our children's ministry together, went to the pool together, and played wii... yep! together!

Some of Ellie's toys... the water bottle IS for exercising at least :)

Nathan leaves for college in two short years. Ben will follow soon after that. Ellie, well, she's here for a while yet.... but, that time, too, will pass quickly. If it comes down to housecleaning or family time, I'm choosing family!

So, friends, how do you manage your time?
For those of you who are beyond me, how did you strike a balance?
Is it even possible to have both???? Clean house AND family time? (NOTE: My kids have chores each day, but we still can't keep up all the time.)

God bless!

Faith of an onion... yes, an onion!

Have you ever studied an onion? Really taken the time to examine it? Onions are amazing. The outside is dry and brittle. Often, it's bruised or cut up. Not all that pretty. Onion skin doesn't taste too good either, like eating stinky paper.

Then you peel off the outer layer. Inside, the onion is perfect. No cuts, no bruises. Not dry or brittle. Perfect for use to improve the flavor of whatever it joins: a pot of soup, a stew, a stir fry, or even a hot dog.

Faith in Christ is much the same. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor. 5:17

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the old broken part is peeled away, much like the outer layer of the onion. We are a new creation, full of possibilities.

There's more to the onion, though. When you peel off the outside layer, you discover a beautiful food. But if you peel an onion and don't use it, what happens? (I know - theology from an onion... sounds crazy... but stick with me, please). The fresh outer layer dries out. It becomes fragile, unusable, easily bruised. A fresh peeled onion left to itself, just wastes away.

In the Christian world, it seems like the same thing happens sometimes. Sometimes, people accept Jesus as their Lord, filled with joy, hope and promise. Reveling in His love and forgiveness. But, over time, they drift away. The gifts and talents God has for them lay unused. They forget the joy. They forget the peace. They forget the hope. They dry up, get fragile again, and are easily bruised.

The only way to live like the onion is to be used - by God - to make a difference in the lives of people around us. We need to invite God in fresh, each day, and ask Him to guide us. We need to spend time in the Bible, really letting His Word soak in and become part of us. We need to let Him peel off the rough spots to become more perfect in Him.

Dear God,
Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to stand in our place and cover our sins.  Help me remember all you have done for me so that I might live strong and bold for You. Open my eyes to the hurt around me and nudge me to help. Let my life always be lived for You.
In your Son's precious name I pray, Amen.

Roots

If you are in Carolina today, I hope you are enjoying the incredible weather.

Walking through my yard this morning, I noticed two things: some of our beautiful plants have already sprouted fresh growth. One bush has grown by about 5 inches, and it's only April. We have two bushes, though, that don't look so good. The leaves are misshapen. They just look sick. I know if I dig into the soil, I'll find slugs feasting on those roots. There might even be some ants nibbling away too, enjoying the feast.

Years ago my son, Ben, pointed out that "slugs are like satan. They eat at your roots and you die." I see that happening to my two sickly plants.

However, plants, with healthy roots firmly set in the soil, grow. As a tree spreads its branches, the roots grow beneath the soil, strengthening the tree. The larger the tree, the deeper the roots. We see it. We know it. This is God, providing us with a beautiful illustration of His word:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6-7).

Accepting Jesus' gift of salvation, our faith is rooted in Him. As we continue to live in him, we grow stronger, "built up." Like the tree, whose roots spread far and wide. Also like the tree whose branches spill over with leaves, flowers and fruit, we spill over with hearts of thankfulness.

Today, you can find me on my screen porch. I'll be listening to the birds, smelling the fragrant flowers, and admiring the trees and bushes... Mostly, I'll be letting those gifts of God from nature remind me of the great gifts that come from Him: salvation, hope, forgiveness and love.