J said: “Baba! You look like you want to marry me!”  (darn. too much Little Mermaid.)

Baba: “Well J, I’m your Baba. I can’t marry you. Your going to marry someone else.”

J: “Who am I going to marry?”

Baba: “I don’t know. You will pick when  you get older.”

J: “Will you pick for me?”

Baba: “Sure.”

This conversation is forever recorded. J, when you’re 16, we’ll remind you that you asked your Baba to pick your husband!

Last year, we attempted a garden but we were late in planting due to just moving in and it wasn’t very successful.  Well, I’ll be honest. We spent hours together in that thing and nothing grew. Nothing. Sad but true.

This year, we have much higher expectations. With the help of garden-wiz-friend Matthew, J learned about Ecology Action . In their own words, this is “ Sustainable Mini-Farming — that nurtures soil, produces high yields, conserves resources and can be used successfully by almost everyone.”

Did you catch that last part? “Can be used successfully by almost everyone.” Too bad they put the almost in there but we are thinking we have a chance.

Step 1 is to dig a hole 1 ft deep, 5 feet wide and dig the dirt out, saving it for later. Then, break up the ground another 12 inches below.

Step 2 continue with another 1 ft. deep, 5 ft wide hole immediately adjacent to the first one, this time filling the first hole with the dirt from the second.

Ernie spent the majority of one afternoon with his head in this hole. He looked like a headless fuzzball and he made us all laugh!

J finally finished the digging process this afternoon, just before the rain hits tomorrow. The finished product is a 5 ft. x 20 ft. ‘double dug’ bed.

Phase 2 involves a 2 inch layer of sand mixed into the current soil and then a 2 inch layer of compost also mixed in. That’s about all I know about the next phase. To be continued….

God gave all men all earth to love,

But, since our hearts are small,

Ordained for each one spot should prove,

Beloved over all.

I immediately thought of Central Asia. Our friends, the natural beauty, the slow paced and warm culture, the food (which I am craving right now); all the things we suprisingly grew to love. The only reason two small town Texas folks love these things is because God loves that land more. He is the one that has allowed Central Asia to be the place we find ’beloved over all’.

This reminded me of something our pastor said a few weeks ago. He asked for a show of hands as to how many people in the audience had all their life dreamed of living in our current city of several million.  The response was laughable- maybe 10 people raised their hand out of a few hundred. No one really wanted to be there. He went on to challenge us to put down roots in this place. To see these roots as an ‘investment in hope’. Hope of the things to come in our city, our church, among our circles of influence.

I was challenged by this. Challenged to acknowledge this place as the one that God has currently ordained for me to love. If I’m not choosing to interact with my drug selling neighbors so that they can experience Christ’s love, who is? Until God leads elsewhere, I’m gonna love this place, put down roots, and as my Faith grows, my investment in Hope is bound to grow too.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
       whose confidence is in him.

  He will be like a tree planted by the water
       that sends out its roots by the stream.
       It does not fear when heat comes;
       its leaves are always green.
       It has no worries in a year of drought
       and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

******************************************************

Here are the first and last stanzas of Sussex by Rudyard Kipling. I was going to post the whole thing but it is pretty long. Sussex is a little town on England’s coast that surely  is easier to love than where we live now.

GOD gave all men all earth to love,
    But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
    Belovèd over all;
That, as He watched Creation’s birth,
    So we, in godlike mood,
May of our love create our earth
    And see that it is good.
So one shall Baltic pines content,
    As one some Surrey glade,
Or one the palm-grove’s droned lament
    Before Levuka’s Trade.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
    The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground—in a fair ground—
    Yea, Sussex by the sea!

Instead, here’s the recipe for the cinnamon rolls we made this weekend. (Thanks Michelle!) This is the last of my baking for a while since I have 3 months left of pregnancy but am only 5 pounds off what should be my final weight. These cinnamon rolls were worth it though. The recipe was from Pioneer Woman and that lady can cook. Like her doughnuts, the dough for these rolls can also be made the night before allowing the morning process to go much quicker. It also made enough to freeze a pan. I don’t know if they will keep well and we’ll have to wait until April to find out since March is ‘no sweets month’ around here. This one was a keeper. Click here for Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon roll recipe and enjoy!

(They like to race to see who can buckle their seat belts first. The winner yells, “I won you!”)

N proudly announced, “I ALWAYS win you, J.”

J just as proudly answers, “No you don’t. I win when you’re at school!”

Not Funny: Getting on the scales for a doctor’s appointment to find out I’ve gained 10 pounds in one month!

Goodbye doughnuts. Goodbye cinnamon rolls. Goodbye Schlotzkys. Goodbye soft drinks and chocolate!

We froze at our favorite train park with friends.

Thursday was Dad and Doughnuts day at N’s school. J took off work and N and J dressed alike for the occasion. N was so proud to have his Baba there.

Friday night we went to the rodeo with Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a great time last year but the weather was much nicer. We still had fun this year but we sure were cold! It was worth it to brave the weather to start a family traditon.

The line up, before the stick horse race.

The proud winners with their ribbons. Everyone gets a ribbon so they think they won the whole thing!

Catch me in my anxious scurrying, God,

and hold me in the Lenten season:

hold my feet to the fire of Your grace

and make me attentive to my mortality

that I may begin to die now

to those things that keep me

from living with You

and with my neighbors on this earth;

to grudges and interferences,

to certainties that smother possibilities,

to my fascination with false securities,

to my addiction to sweatless dreams,

to my arrogant insistence on how it has to be;

to my corrosive fear of dying someday

which eats away the wonder of living this day,

and the adventure of losing my live

in order to find it in You.

Amen.

Examine me O God and know my heart, test me and discover my thoughts, and lead me in the way of everlasting. PS 139:23-24

I know this is from a book of prayer but I don’t know the author or the book. If I find out, I’ll add it to the post.