Compost

I recently began composting after reading about the many beneficial nutrients that it adds to the soil. Not having a bin, I started small by saving eggshells and coffee grounds in a covered bowl on the kitchen counter. My hope was to eventually invest in a good receptacle. So, as I rounded the corner on my morning walk the other day, I was elated to find a compost bin on the sidewalk with a "free" sign on it. (Thanks, Lord!) Better still, the neighbor who was discarding it emerged and allowed me to move it into her driveway, so that I could continue my walk without fear of it being adopted by someone else.

After I'd planted the container in our yard, I headed online to research exactly how this whole composting thing works. I sometimes wonder if those who write about gardening make a conscious effort to complicate even simple processes; to convince us novices that we are inept to grow so much as a tomato. But, I figure that if my ancestors managed to feed themselves without advanced degrees in agriculture, botany, or horticulture, I can figure out how to layer food scraps and yard debris to make compost. I will keep you posted.

What I've learned so far is that successful composting requires the right mixture of ingredients coupled with the correct temperature, sufficient moisture, and oxygen. It's all scientific. I plan to throw in compostable things, stir them up and hope for the best. I've heard from others that they have been successful with that formula. Like I said, I will keep you posted.

After I got to thinking about the whole concept of compost (how all those scraps mixed together in the right way creates "black gold" coveted by gardeners for what it adds to the soil),
I thought again about how the natural reflects the spiritual. Doesn't God take all of the by- products of our life and mix them together so that "all things work together for the good of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose"? And doesn't He know just how much of each ingredient we need? Doesn't He allow us to be formed in the heat of the furnace, and then rain on us to refresh us? Doesn't He breathe new life into us again and again? And doesn't He know just how much time it takes until the process is complete? I am so grateful that I don't have to understand His formula. Rather, I just have to give Him all of me (past, present, and future) and allow Him to do His work.

Vacuum

In a nation that celebrates mavericks and hedonism, we often fail to remember that we do not live independently of each other. As such, one's personal life may not be so personal. The words of John Donne remind us that life is not lived out in a vacuum. He stated that, "No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less..."

Over the weekend my hubby and I had the opportunity to attend a local production of the Arthur Miller play, "Death of a Salesman." It was my first time seeing this work and the theater company executed it beautifully. In the play, adolescent Biff Loman is derailed upon discovering that his father, whom he idolized, is having an affair with another woman. This revelation comes late in the second act. In the initial act, we'd become fairly well acquainted with Biff the young man, who has lost his way. This new information helps us finally understand that the consequences of his father's actions have left deep scars in Biff; accounting for the restless man that he has become.

As unpopular as it is, our actions are not remote. They have consequences that extend beyond ourselves effecting countless others in unforeseen ways. As such, we are very much our brothers' keeper. I pray that my life is a source of encouragement to my fellow travelers, rather than a stumbling block.

Thrift

While I am not a big shopper in the traditional sense ( I do not enjoy spending hours at the mall ) I do very much enjoy a good treasure hunt at thrift stores. It always amazes me to see the what people have discarded and I love to rescue useful things to repurpose for my own use. In addition to saving money and resources (recycling), I usually find one-of-a- kind things not readily available elsewhere. The things that I find thrifting are often my most favored possessions.

I believe that God is the ultimate "thrift shopper." He spots treasure amongst what has been been abandoned, discarded, or unused and gives it new purpose for His glory. I am so glad that He saw potential in me and put me to use fulfilling the purpose for which I was created.

Seasons

I thought that I had better get something posted on my blog before I am listed MIA. It's been a while.

Fall is in the air and the children will soon be returning to school. It has been a wonderful summer and I have squeezed every drop of goodness out of it, savoring long morning walks, sweet berries, fragrant blooms, sun tea, warm evenings on the deck listening to the frogs sing, and the unhurried pace. Now, I am looking forward to favorite sweaters, raindrops against my windows, crisp fall apples, coffee dates with friends, and the routine that the school year brings.

I love the seasons. I appreciate the rainfall so much after experiencing blisteringly hot summer nights during which it is nearly impossible to sleep. Likewise, I appreciate the warmth of spring after being snowbound by record snow fall. Every season has its wonderful advantages that make me long for them, and challenges that make me grateful for their departure.

I am also loving this season of my life. I don't know what lies ahead but I know that according to Jeremiah 29:11, its something good.

Abundance

Last night, several friends gathered on short notice to celebrate my milestone birthday with me. My husband and another one of my dearest friends insisted until they finally wore down my resistance and I conceded. I'm glad that I did because as much as I tried to avoid having this gathering and being forced into the spotlight, it blessed me. In fact, I will still be basking in the memory of the evening for years to come.

The two party planners did an amazing job! The hosts created a welcoming oasis in their park-like backyard that could easily have graced the cover of any home and garden magazine. My sweetheart also worked at this project with unmatched enthusiasm and delight; running errands, making phone calls, and relishing the opportunity. Together they pulled no punches. As we share a mutual admiration of all things cake (www.communitycake.wordpress.com ) they even asked each guest to bring one. It was a cake extravaganza!

Once everyone had arrived, I took a moment to make introductions telling how I had come to know each person there. But as I reflect on those words now, they are grossly inadequate descriptions of the amazing individuals that I am blessed to have in my life. I wish that I could have taken hours to describe who each one of them is to me:

the constant friends who I have now known for more years than I didn't know them, with whom I have shared adventures too numerous to count...

the ones who drove well over an hour to be there last night, and also drove 15 minutes in the middle of a September night in 1995 to care for our son, while I labored with, and delivered our daughter...

the ones who drove nearly as far, despite debilitating health issues...

the ones who remained in contact over the years and over the miles, as we followed my husband's career across the country, so that our friendship never missed a beat...

the ones who make it a pleasure to go to work each day...

the friends who have quickly established their place in my heart and become part of the fabric of my life...

my Daddy who has always been in my corner cheering for me....

my handsome, teenage, nephew who I am told is sometimes surly but has never shown me anything but love and respect and who took the time to come and wish me well...

my own two teens who I have seen surly on occasion and have the privilege of watching grow into amazing individuals that I am thankful to know...

my sweet husband, with whom I share this privilege, and who is the salt in my life enhancing every part of it, making the journey more flavorful...

and all who have shared my laughter and tears, prayed with me and for me, opened their hearts and homes to me and mine, countless times, as well as graced our home with their presence.

Though there was an array of cakes, I barely touched them. What I really craved was more time to sit down and fill up on that buffet of beautiful friends that feed my soul. I am honored to have such abundance in my life.

40!

Besides being serenaded by many different voices using various arrangements of the standard, I have also been asked by several people over the last few days how I feel about being 40. I thought that the best way to address that question, is to blog about it.

Forty, so far, feels amazing! It's like life 4.0 (the enhanced version of my life at 20). In this season of my life, I am more at ease, more comfortable in my own skin, and beginning to enjoy the harvest of things that have taken years to cultivate. I wouldn't trade where I am now for anywhere that I've been so far (even if it included reclaiming my girlish figure). Every season of my life has held wonders that I would hate to surrender. This is good stuff.

I've also been told more than once that "it's all downhill from here." To this I reply that I certainly hope so! Riding up hill is the hard part. Down hill is just coasting... and there is usually a great breeze!

Celebrity

I was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Michael Jackson last week. Like millions of little girls who grew up in the 1970s I had a crush on the littlest member of the Jackson 5. I memorized every lyric and audible gesture on his Off the Wall album that dominated the eight- track player in my parents car. I watched in amazement as "the gloved one" effortlessly glided across the stage at Motown 25 introducing the world to the moonwalk. And, I squinted with one eye open at the horror that was Thriller. He was a spectacle to behold.

In spite of this, my grief doesn't stem from the loss of a childhood heartthrob or the realization that I will never again see his fluid movements grace a stage. In fact, my grief for Michael Jackson began long before the news announced that he had suffered fatal cardiac arrest. Deprived of a childhood and lacking a Godly foundation his life had become a slow-moving train wreck. The ongoing voluntary mutilation of his face provided visible evidence of a deeply trouble soul. I have grieved for Michael for a long time.

But now I grieve the fact that I was unable to tell my childhood friend that the metamorphosis that he sought couldn't be found in the hands of even the finest plastic surgeon on Earth nor by willing the "Man in the Mirror" to change. This transformation that he needed and longed for is found exclusively in the surrender of power, not in its pursuit, to Jesus. I grieve that he didn't experience the rebirth that is possible when one comes to know Christ as Saviour and Lord. I am saddened that Michael was unable to realize the unconditional love of his Heavenly Father, in who's image he was created. And I am incredibly saddened that the shallow, temporary, fame and fortune of this world are of absolutely no value to him in the end, no matter how many fans pay tribute to him now that he is gone, "for what does it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose his soul?" Mark 8:36