Adjusting Focus

Something I ate yesterday is not pleased with me, so I adjusted my plans for the day to accommodate the situation and came to my computer for a bit of encouragement. (And, because I can sit here and not feel like the whole day is being wasted because I don't have the energy to move around.)
Yesterday and today, Nancy Leigh DeMoss at Revive Our Hearts broadcast excerpts of a talk given by a young Canadian woman named Rachel Barkey. Rachel was a breast cancer survivor who has recently found that the cancer has returned with a vengeance. This time there is no cure.
Her courage and candor are truly inspiring. Makes my tiny trial seem insignificant by comparison.

You can watch or listen to her complete talk here:
http://deathisnotdying.com/


Or read or listen to the excerpts here:

PART ONE:
http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=10243

PART TWO:
http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=10245



I promise it will be worth your time.

One Day Vacation

DD4 and I took a "vacation day" on Friday and ran away for an adventure. Our plan was to go to Rainbow Springs, float around on the water, relax the afternoon away, possibly with a book (if we stopped talking long enough) and have a picnic lunch. It was a great plan.

You do know what happens to great plans, right?

The floats weren't allowed. The water was too cold to get more than our feet wet. The only shady spot we could find for our chairs was on an incline that was steeper than it looked so the chairs kept tipping, slipping, sliding and finally collapsing. DD4's sinuses decided not to cooperate with her so her energy was taken up with breathing and trying to clear her head. We forgot to bring the books.

So, when we hit somewhere around Plan Q we changed out of our swimsuits into comfy clothes and walking shoes. She took an antihistimine and we found a beautiful spot on a park bench and ate our lunch. Then we took the camera and hit the walking trails. Only to discover that I had removed the card that stores the pictures and we only had enough memory for about 6 shots. It was just enough to get this one, though.

Pretty much a perfect day.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Sometimes a little attention goes a long way. Yesterday I snapped some photos of my poor neglected plants who were dying of thirst. I gave them all some Miracle Grow and then we had a rainstorm last night. Today I went out after church and took some more photos.

24 hours and a little water later and here are the before and afters.













































I was wondering how many other areas of my life this principle might also apply. What have I allowed to "dry out" in my life?


Relationships?
Ministry?
Skills?


I think I'm going to take a little time this week to do some inventory and see what looks a little droopy, yellow or crunchy.
A little watering might be in order.

Sin of Omission

If you know me or have read this post you know that I do not have a green thumb. In fact I have had very little long term success with plants. This is probably why Beloved has been eyeing me a bit strangely since February when I bought perfectly good seed packets and brought them home. And it has been nothing short of a miracle that the seeds have gone from this (in March):

To this (in May):

We have all been amazed.

Now I must say that like all new projects this one drew my attention quite regularly in the beginning. It was fun, it was novel and it was unbelievable! I actually harvested one squash and two servings of green beans as well as some herbs. Seriously amazing. Then, as happens with all of my projects, the rest of my life began to encroach upon my gardening time. It was ok for a while. We had rain almost every day and the bugs hadn’t all found the plants yet. Also being in pots there were very few weeds to contend with. I could check in every few days and it was fine.
Fast forward to this past week.

I have been busy taking care of other life necessities. We have had no rain. The temperatures have been in the nineties. All the rain we had the week before has brought out all the weeds in town. The bugs are hungry.

When I walked out to the garden this afternoon this is what I found:

This photo is deceptively green. The problem is that most of that green is grass or weeds. And all that green growth in the square pot? Yeah. Clover. Great crop, just not what I was going for. And that spindly thing in the tomato cage at the center back of the picture? That really is a tomato plant. A sad, shriveled two dollar tomato plant. (the one plant I bought instead of starting from seed)

However, on the bright side, I am growing a great crop of plastic spoons.

Gardening tips of the week:

Plants are picky about having water.

Every day, not just when you remember that they exist.

Weeds are bad whether they are in the pots or on the ground all around the pots.

Leaves are not supposed to be yellow, limp or crunchy.

They also should not have holes in them.

Family Expansion

We have a couple of new additions to the family.

Meet Socks (front) and Skeered (back).

They were between six and eight weeks when this was taken.

Their mother adopted my husband last year and makes sure that he has a reason to get up in the morning and come home in the evening. You know, because he has to feed and pet the cat. She is CERTAIN that this is his purpose in life. She truly is the most affectionate cat I have ever seen. When we go out the back door, she comes running to meet us and fusses if we don't take the time to pet her sufficiently.

The kittens have been a joy and delight. We laugh as we watch them discover the world around them. They are about three months old now and exploring more and more each day. Socks has learned how to catch frogs. The other day she had one and brought it over to the one patch of concrete in the yard. I thought she was going to have a snack. Oh, no. She had captured a toy. And the smart little thing brought it to the one place in the yard where she could keep a close eye on it!

The other day we started to go outside and found this on the back steps:

From left to right: Skeered, Mama, Socks, Tux (aka Papa)

Tux actually belongs to a neighbor and probably has another name as well. He "visits" with Mama Kitty when the "mood" strikes. He was good enough to give the kittens some biology lessons last week. Funny, we haven't seen him since. Of course, once she visits the local Neuter Commuter he may not visit at all. Bummer.

Kickin' Writer's Block

Everything I think of to write either sounds stupid or sanctimonious. You have all been sooo encouraging. I WANT to write, the words just get all muddled up in my brain. Well, unless I'm up to my elbows in something else like cooking or driving or just about to fall asleep. THEN I can think of things to write. Brilliant things. Funny things. Inspiring things. But when I sit down at my computer, nothing. It is at this point that all becomes blank. Or stupid. Or sanctimonious. Now, please don't think I'm trolling for encouraging comments here. I'm not. I'm just being honest and trying to explain yet another LONG absence from my poor neglected blog.


So, here I am trying to break through.


This is where reading other blogs brings inspiration. I was reading a post by Carmen from Mom to the Screaming Masses that showed a photo of her blogging area and thought, "I can do that". So here it is:

First, the process. Take a photo. Take two. Review of photo shows VERY MESSY desk. Clean up desk. Take another photo. Take two. Download photo from camera to computer. Download a bunch while you're at it (cause I haven't done that in a while either). Save photos. Begin to write post. Attempt to upload image. Realize it is saved in wrong format. Go back to photo program and save in more friendly format. Go back to blog and attempt to upload photo again. Look at desk and realize I have photographed sensitive personal information that I would prefer NOT to broadcast into cyberspace. Quickly stop upload. Go back to photo program and remove personal stuff. Return to blog and attempt upload for the third time. Continue writing blog content. Accidentally delete photo. Attempt upload a fourth time. Write about the process.

See, that was easy.

Now, about the (now clean) desk. (OK, I confess, I just moved the clutter out of camera range but this part looks great, don'tcha think?) Anyway, this is command central. This is where I conduct all manner of desk stuff that makes Beloved ask things like, "What do you DO all day?" It could be because when he sees me at my desk in the evenings I'm either reading blogs or playing games but I really do actual work stuff here. Not that I get paid for it very often but it's work nevertheless.

And apparently, I REALLY like sticky notes.