Challenge for today – where have I allowed self-indulgence to break down the walls of my life?

Am I a consumer of life?  Or do I invest in the lives around me?

Today I met with Marie Lourdes, a young woman who is sponsored and going to school through the help of the Mission.  She had just begun her first weeks of university classes in early January.  She was studying accounting in a university in Port au Prince.  Now she has returned to Port de Paix where she lives because there are no classes now after the earthquake.  She doesn’t know if her university will reopen or when.  I asked her why she is studying accounting and she said it is because the university didn’t offer the course she wanted to pursue.  She wants to become an airline stewardess or flight attendant!  Marie Lourdes asked for prayer that God would provide a way for her to accomplish her dream.  She has a twin sister, Marie Therese.  Their mother died many years ago and they now live with their father, who is unemployed.  They have eight other brothers and sisters.

I saw my friend Kenslen again today.  He is a young man in the local community in his mid-teens.  Kenslen is very studious and determined to work hard to study and accomplish his goals.  He speaks quite good English and always looks for the opportunity to practice.  I had met him almost two years ago at their local foreign language club.  It consists of twenty or thirty young students who want to improve their foreign language skills, so they will meet together and practice, interpreting from French, to Spanish, to English and back again.  Kenslen asks for prayer that he could accomplish his dreams – he wants to become either a doctor or a pastor.  He will graduate high school in two years and then search for how to continue his schooling.

Tomorrow I will begin travelling throughout the Northwest.  I will visit a school in La Fonte, then stay with our friends, Curtis and Danielle, who are missionaries in La Baie du Moustique.  After church on Sunday I will travel with a mission team to another campus in Beauchamp that is a couple of hours away.  The team will be doing VBS and groups with the teens.  They will also help me at the children’s home in Saline Mayette as we get updates and letters for all those kids, and just spend some time hanging out with them.

For tonight, a group is hosting a dinner/dance for the local teens.  As I sit up on the roof I can hear them testing the sound-system and carrying food and decorations back and forth – should be quite an event!  We also will spend our last evening with Pierre Garcon, the wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, who has been here working with us.  I still need to pack my bags and finish a few odds and ends before we travel tomorrow, so I will sign off now.

Bon nwit!  (Good Night)

I’ve decided one of my favorite coping mechanisms is anything to do with cooking and gardens, farms and growing things.  Since the ground is white outside (yes, here in Kentucky!) that means this is a time to read and learn.  A few resources I’ve been excited to explore are:

Locavore Network – great place t o find local resources for fresh produce, meat and eggs.

Grass Fed Beef Suppliers

I’m planning out our garden for this year, as well as reading up on local sources for beef, poultry and eggs.  I like the idea of both buying these things locally as well as getting a product that hasn’t been treated with hormones and lots of antibiotics.  I’m considering Tarleton Tavern Farm for their meat and egg shares.  Lots to learn.

Reinhold Niebuhr

I have extended family dealing with a difficult illness and they shared this prayer.

A wise, hope-filled perspective on this life and the next.

This is our stairwell in the kitchen. That's our ceiling and insulation on the floor.

We redid our roof a couple weeks ago…and turns out there was hidden little spot where the ridges meet that didn’t even have plywood…or flashing…yeah.  Like a water spout, pouring water onto our ceiling.

Andy with our hole...early in the morning.

Well, much thanks to Andy’s dad for helping.  The holes are fixed – both on the roof and ceiling.  Better now than mid-winter.  Still not spackled and painting, but there’s no more insulation falling on our heads.  The joys of homeownership.

But so thankful for all the ways God protects us from what could have been.

A couple years back, Caedmon’s call put out an album called, Share the Well.  As I understand it, the album was heavily influenced by mission work they had done, primarily in India and Ecuador (a place close to my heart).

If you’ve never heard it – get the whole album.  It’s excellent!  But for the moment, I was dancing in my desk chair to the title song, Share the Well.  (This is a link to a site where you can hear or buy it.)

I love how they use the concept of the well of water.  We have so many wells to share – physical water, financial wells, and the well of living water – Jesus Christ.

Nothing new, but music that shouldn’t be missed.  Happy Wednesday.

Zinnias from my garden

I recently asked on Facebook for some good worship music recommendations.  (I have an iTunes giftcard burning a hole in my pocket!)  I was given many good recommendations:

Hillsongs (Various folks)

Red Mountain Music (Molly Rego, AL)

Glory Revealed I & II (Christine Engert, NH)

Sovereign Grace: Psalms (Kristin Middleton, Washington, D.C.)

Kari Jobe (Eliza Olsen, GA)

Christy Nockels – formerly of Watermark (Christine Engert and Leann Morrow Ward)

I’m adding a couple of recommendations of my own – Indelible Grace (We intro’d their song – To Christ the Lord in our church this past Sunday)

Curt Vernon – Curt is from Nicholasville and has come to Haiti several times, including to lead worship for our Staff retreat this past February.  He doesn’t appear to have an album out, but has recorded a number of his songs and you can hear them on his myspace page.

I’ve just finished the Beth Moore Bible study on the Psalms of Ascent.  It has gotten me thinking about the beauty of music written very directly from scripture.  I enjoy many types of music, meaning both of diverse musical styles, as well as different lyrical approaches.  But at the moment I’m longing for some rich soul-food.  And it’s been exciting to spend some time listening to how God is speaking to His Church through “new” music.  Some with fresh lyrics, others with fresh music for words that are hundreds or thousands of years old.  There really is nothing new under the sun.  How wonderful to take a fresh look at the very familiar, only to discover enduring beauty.

It will take me a while to work through all this great music, bit by bit.  But thanks to my dear friends, near and far, for your great recommendations.  I’m excited to listen to the Spirit’s voice through these songs.

Blessings on your Monday.

I got a new haircut – thanks to Laura Braun at Euphoria Salon.  She’s good!

Pam, a coworker friend from the Mission, was kind enough to surprise me with an immersion blender she found at a Garage Sale.  This may rank in the top of the “greatest kitchen gadgets” list.  It’s AWESOME!!  I’ve already made an Asparagus Spinach soup (yum!).  And I must say, my head is spinning with all the soups, smoothies and milkshakes that I hope to make.  Thank you, Pam!

A handblender - not mine, but the same idea.

Lastly, this isn’t new, per se, but we celebrated out 5th anniversary last week.  My husband racked up some major bonus points in the process.  I flew into Louisville last Tuesday at midnight, expecting that he was driving me home.  But a couple turns later, we turned into the Crowne Plaza (yeah for Priceline!) for the night, where I found flowers, chocolates and even clothes that he had packed for me.  A complete surprise!  This meant no exhausted drive home (after a 20 hour travel day).  And we spent the day in Louisville, most importantly going to the Zoo – which I LOVE.  Not only was it a fun way to celebrate our anniversary, it also made for a nice transition back to the US.  No checking email, stressing about house cleaning or scramblign to fix supper.  Just a day to breathe.  So, cheers for my man who knew exactly what I needed!

Mother's Day 2009

Here’s our latest garden project – Team Olsen built a raised bed!! (Thank you Andy!!)  We had a lot of fun doing it and are so pleased with the results.

Rhubarb in the back. Gladiolas, morning glories, moonflowers and others (?) to come.

My front entry pot. I haven't done combination plantings like this before...it was fun and I like the result!

Here’s where I need advice. If you look at both photos below, you’ll see my quandery.  I’ve done a lot of work on the foundation plantings in front of our house.  They were non-existent when we moved here.  I’ve been able to transplant some plantings from other parts of the yard.  I’ve used stones from around the yard to begin to edge it (although we’re going to go rock hunting to complete it – it’s pretty wimpy right now.  And I hit a great clearance at Lowe’s last summer to add a lot of the boxwoods,evergreens and a couple more daylilies.

This spring, I did a little more transplanting, expanding the planting bed under the picture window and we bought a bush for the corner – a Juddi Viburnum.  That bush will grow  to six or eight feet tall, eventually.  We’ll prune it to not get too wide.  So, that still leaves a hole (or two) in the middle of the bed.  What should I put there?  If you look at the second photo, you’ll see there’s a smaller space on the other side of the step, where I’d like to put a second of whatever I plant, so they match.  I’ve considered a knock-out rose bush.  They’re blooming like crazy around here and are GORGEOUS.  Roses scare me a little – I tried one last year and it did not survive.  But they say the knock-out roses are really easy, so I might give it a try.  Any advice or thoughts?

(Left to Right) Phlox, Juddi Viburnum bush, daylilies, sedum, boxwood, yellow evergreen thingy...What should go in that hole in the middle?

I want to put a matching planting in this hole on the other side of the front step.

Swiss chard - needs to be thinned soon.

As I picked out grass clumps and weed roots, I was reflecting on conflicts, confrontation and resolution. There are some problems in life that will just die off and decompose if your turn them over and bury them a little. But problems that have a good strong root – they don’t respond to that treatment. They’ll just reroot and then pop-up again at an even-less opportune moment. It’s much easier to remove weeds before I’ve planted the seeds. Weeding is a lot harder once I’m trying to work around delicate seedlings that I don’t want to damage.

Two things this teaches me: Problems rarely just go away – they usually require attention to resolve. So I can deal with it now, or I can deal with it later. Either way, action is needed. If I deal with problems now, they can’t hurt the people and things that I care about in the future.

Finally, a closing thought from Proverbs 1:20-33

20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; 21 at the head of the noisy streets [c] she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you simple ones [d] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. 24 But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, 25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, 26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you- 27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. 29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, 30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Wisdom must be sought after, nurtured, and heeded before the moment of crisis, before the moment of need. If I only look for wisdom in my times of distress, I will never find it. One becomes wise in the quiet moments of everyday life, in listening to God and being a student of life. Then, when I am facing a great problem, my heart will already be tuned to hear the wisdom of the Holy Spirit guiding me out of the maze. Pray that I would practice that discipline now and become that kind of woman.