Finally Starting a Garden!

I'm venturing out into new territory today.  Well, at least it's new for me. :)  I just started my first-ever tomatoes from seed.  A lot of my friends are surprised when I tell them I've never had a garden before.  Yes, I grew up on a small farm.  My dad has had a garden every year for my entire life (and then some!).  I even helped him in it as a child.  His green thumb, however, did not get passed down to me.  I was always good with animals, but have notoriously black thumbs.  I've even killed a cactus!  A few of years ago, I got a couple of small tomato plants from my dad and tried them in huge planters on my porch.  I yielded one tomato.  One.  There were originally three, but the other two became collateral damage during a pool noodle fight.  I still don't know exactly which of the three possible culprits actually did it.

In spite of my black thumbs, there are so many reasons why it is so important to have a garden!  To name a few...

1. Nutrition - providing fresh food for my family to keep them healthy.

2. Money - a few bucks now for seed, starter trays, potting soil, etc, compared to all the money I would otherwise be spending on tomatoes for the coming growing season.  This carries even further when you add in the possibility of making my own tomato sauce, which gets used in our house at LEAST once a week right now.

3. Stewardship - for us to have the space we do, and NOT grow our own food, would be some pretty poor stewardship of what God has blessed us with.

Back to today.  I'm going to try to chronicle our gardening adventure on here as a way of keeping motivated with it.  Here is what I've done so far...

My methods are far from perfect, but I'm learning.  Please keep us in your prayers... the lives of these poor tomatoes may depend on it! ;)

She's Walking! Time for gripper socks.

Well, Miss P turned one last month, and started taking single steps a few days after her birthday.  I've been meaning to find some gripper socks for her since we have hardwood floors, but everything I've found locally seems too cheaply made to bother spending my money on.  While at the store yesterday, I finally broke down and got a pack of socks (she's about to outgrow most of her socks anyway) and some puff paint so I could make my own.

All you do is lay the socks out, soles facing up, and apply the puffy paint in whatever design your heart desires.  The bottle says to let it dry for four hours, but mine were still a little soft at that point, so I left them overnight.  By morning, they were ready to go!

As you can see, Miss P decided to "help" me with the white/purple pair. :)

Here's one last picture... she's wearing the sixth pair, "helping" R finish her homework before school this morning...

Where are YOUR priorities?

"Now this is what the LORD Almighty says:  "Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much, but have harvested little.  You eat, but never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.  You put on clothes, but are not warm.  You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-6, NIV)

Unfulfilled.

Discontent.

Dissatisfied.

How many other words can we come up with to describe that feeling of emptiness we all have known at some point in our lives?  According to Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, some synonyms for "discontent" are depression, displeasure, envy, regret, restlessness, uneasiness, and unhappiness.

What causes this?  Why do we all feel so dissatisfied when we keep pouring ourselves into the things that are supposed to make us happy?  We think our priorities are in line, but are they?  We work hard all week long to bring home that paycheck, which is immediately spent on the important things: food, shelter, transportation.  What time we have at home, we spend focusing on our families, on our children.  That's what we're supposed to do!  Isn't it??

Not if we're placing these priorities before God.

Don't get me wrong here... those ARE critical priorities!  However, they will amount to nothing if we are not placing God FIRST in our lives.  "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33, NIV)  Jesus promised our needs would be met (notice that I say needs, not desires), but we have to place God's Kingdom first!  Seek out His will for your life, and pursue that first. Does He want you to serve where you are?  Awesome!  Do it!  Does He want you to drop everything and do something totally different, or go somewhere totally new?  Awesome!  Do it!  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, NIV)

My challenge to you today is to read the book of Haggai (less daunting than it sounds... it's the 2nd shortest book in the Old Testament!), then read Matthew 6:25-34.  Study and pray on these passages, and your priorities.  Ask God what steps He wants you to take to place Him first in your life.

Praying for God's blessings on you!
~Rebekah