Oops, it was this morning before I realized I didn't blog last night. I guess I was busy with regular life last night - laundry. Then I fell asleep.
I have no major insights today. Nothing "fun and exciting" occurred. Ballet performance + park with homeschooling friends = our day. Nothing really spectacular. Nothing terrible. Just a day.
And I made dinner.
Except....I made sugared asparagus and mahi-mahi. I have only cooked fresh fish once, Christmas 2005 when we were in Pittsburgh by ourselves, and I was sick! So this was something new. And I have only cooked asparagus a few times last year. And my kids wouldn't eat it. Yet tonight they both ate 4 or 5 pieces (2" ones) of asparagus. And they ate fish. SUCCESS!!!!!
So now I need to order 1 year old asparagus crowns to put into our garden bed. Did I mention that I like the food aspect of our farm?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Godly Connections
Does God plan out our life? I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. I do believe we can find God in all, even the bad, if we only look hard enough within ourselves.
Today is Ash Wednesday and thus begins the Lenten season. A time for reflection, preparation, to find the Empire within us and our lives, and prepare to reject the Empire and live for the Kingdom of God.
Today, my husband was asked to perform a procedure. No big deal. But this procedure is medically, emotionally, and possibly morally difficult. It needs to be done for the patient to live. But it has many layers of complexity. And depending upon your moral (or religious) beliefs, it shouldn't be done.
And yet....today is the beginning of Lent. It is Ash Wednesday. It is the time of preparation and reflection. And maybe, just maybe, on today of all days, I can believe God has a plan.
12 years ago he participated in a procedure, a horrific one, a life saving absolutely necessary one, a life changing one. Observing that procedure confirms that Friday's procedure MUST be done to prevent the necessity of that other horrific procedure. Without that life changing procedure, he might not do this weeks procedure.
11 year ago we suffered a great loss. An emotionally, physically, marriage shaking loss. He can now empathize with his patient in a unique way. And further understands the need for the procedure.
7 years ago he had a mid-career crisis, causing him to completely change his field of specialty. Without that change, he would not be in the unique position to help this patient.
in training he observed this procedure about 3 times. It is an uncommon procedure. Something he never thought he would need to do. But he has seen it done, and more than once.
There probably isn't anyone else in this area capable of performing this procedure. Without him here, the patient would have to go out of town for the procedure, something you really don't want to do when your life is on the line. You want family, friends, your support group available. And because he is here, with the above experiences, he will be able to answer the call to help and treat and heal.
Is that God's plan? I don't believe God plans misery for people. But I do believe that since things occur, we can find God within the healing, and maybe given the circumstances, find God in the simple healing of a patient by a doctor who not only is capable of performing the necessary but also in understanding the pain and loss.
Today is Ash Wednesday and thus begins the Lenten season. A time for reflection, preparation, to find the Empire within us and our lives, and prepare to reject the Empire and live for the Kingdom of God.
Today, my husband was asked to perform a procedure. No big deal. But this procedure is medically, emotionally, and possibly morally difficult. It needs to be done for the patient to live. But it has many layers of complexity. And depending upon your moral (or religious) beliefs, it shouldn't be done.
And yet....today is the beginning of Lent. It is Ash Wednesday. It is the time of preparation and reflection. And maybe, just maybe, on today of all days, I can believe God has a plan.
12 years ago he participated in a procedure, a horrific one, a life saving absolutely necessary one, a life changing one. Observing that procedure confirms that Friday's procedure MUST be done to prevent the necessity of that other horrific procedure. Without that life changing procedure, he might not do this weeks procedure.
11 year ago we suffered a great loss. An emotionally, physically, marriage shaking loss. He can now empathize with his patient in a unique way. And further understands the need for the procedure.
7 years ago he had a mid-career crisis, causing him to completely change his field of specialty. Without that change, he would not be in the unique position to help this patient.
in training he observed this procedure about 3 times. It is an uncommon procedure. Something he never thought he would need to do. But he has seen it done, and more than once.
There probably isn't anyone else in this area capable of performing this procedure. Without him here, the patient would have to go out of town for the procedure, something you really don't want to do when your life is on the line. You want family, friends, your support group available. And because he is here, with the above experiences, he will be able to answer the call to help and treat and heal.
Is that God's plan? I don't believe God plans misery for people. But I do believe that since things occur, we can find God within the healing, and maybe given the circumstances, find God in the simple healing of a patient by a doctor who not only is capable of performing the necessary but also in understanding the pain and loss.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Summer of Yuckiness
There is much I dislike about living on the farm - and I am sure that will be discussed in a separate post. But there is one thing I like...the food. I like our beef, our eggs, our growing fruit trees and grape vines, our muscadines and blackberries, and our veggies. Yep, the veggies.
Veggies have not been a part of my life long diet. I didn't grow up eating veggies, and didn't like the few I tried. When pregnant with Dude, Hubbie and I decided we needed to learn to eat broccoli. So I bought frozen broccoli, cooked briefly in microwave, added lemon juice and cheese. And it wasn't half bad. Add a few frozen peas to a few things. And some canned green beans. Raw carrots. And some potatoes. That was it for veggies.
But if you want to leave the commercial food cycle, you really need to grow your own. And if you are gonna grow it, you have to figure out how to cook it, and hopefully preserve it. But it isn't easy. I have 4 people I have to teach to eat their veggies.
So, summer of 2009 was the Summer of Yuckiness. Summer 2010 was SoY 2 - the year we learned to like our veggies. I am determined this year will be Sumer of Yuckiness 3 - the year we learn to LIKE our veggies.
So far the kids have added to their diet potatoes, peas - cooked and fresh, cooked tomatoes, green beans, cooked green peppers, corn (not just on the cob), eggplant and squash in some recipes. I eagerly await this years crop of veggies and the new recipes that follow.
Veggies have not been a part of my life long diet. I didn't grow up eating veggies, and didn't like the few I tried. When pregnant with Dude, Hubbie and I decided we needed to learn to eat broccoli. So I bought frozen broccoli, cooked briefly in microwave, added lemon juice and cheese. And it wasn't half bad. Add a few frozen peas to a few things. And some canned green beans. Raw carrots. And some potatoes. That was it for veggies.
But if you want to leave the commercial food cycle, you really need to grow your own. And if you are gonna grow it, you have to figure out how to cook it, and hopefully preserve it. But it isn't easy. I have 4 people I have to teach to eat their veggies.
So, summer of 2009 was the Summer of Yuckiness. Summer 2010 was SoY 2 - the year we learned to like our veggies. I am determined this year will be Sumer of Yuckiness 3 - the year we learn to LIKE our veggies.
So far the kids have added to their diet potatoes, peas - cooked and fresh, cooked tomatoes, green beans, cooked green peppers, corn (not just on the cob), eggplant and squash in some recipes. I eagerly await this years crop of veggies and the new recipes that follow.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Lent
Ash Wednesday is in two days. Last year I decided to write Thank You notes during Lent. I wrote them every night for the first.....3 days. Those I mailed. Then I wrote for 3 more days, and never mailed them. So much for the 40 days of Lent. The prior year I gave up Diet Coke. In some ways that sounds silly. But if you knew me, you would understand. It was hard, it was work, it was painful, and difficult, and miserable, and I broke down twice and popped the top on a glorious can of DC and chugged to my hearts content. It was that - or beat my kids - and I figured God would forgive the DC more than the kiddo beating. (and they really didn't deserve a beating, but mom was losing her mind and needed a sanity restoration).
I have tried "bible reading" and "devotionals" in the past. To about the same success at the Thank You notes. Fasting isn't for me as I become nonfunctional, which again isn't conducive to homeschooling.
I did reread "The First Christmas" by Borg and Crossan over Advent, and plan to start "The Last Week" on Wednesday to read over Lent.
But my true Lenten practice this year will be this blog. My plan is to blog every day of Lent, even if just one sentence.
So begins my Lenten blog...a process of putting my thoughts, life, and experiences into a written format. I might not be interesting, in fact it might be plain boring, but within the boring is the Unexpected, like the radical life changing message of Jesus is unexpected.
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