God, give us grace to accept with serenity
The things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
Which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as we would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If we surrender to Your will,
So that we may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen

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.

Last Saturday morning we were awoken at 3:30 am to a suspicious rumbling crash.  Here’s what we found…

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 hiddne 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.

I was just enjoying a song and thought I would pass it along.

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.

Welcome home to me (actually last week).  So good to be home, except for having to keep up with housecleaning again.

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.

One thought I had this week while hoeing to prepare my garden patch for planting.

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.

Now our attention has turned to our garden in the back.  My little seed packets were begging to be planted.  I had created a sketch/plan for our plots back in March before we left for Haiti.  In late March, we paid for someone to rototill four 4×8 plots, which I then amended with peat and compost, as well as throwing our remaining topsoil from last years lawn project.

The only kink in my plans weighs ten pounds and likes to sleep on our clean laundry – Bianca, our dog.  It only took one trip into the back yard for us to realize that she saw no boundaries between lawn and garden plot.  Which could mean death for my little seedlings.  Hmm.  Three trips to Lowes and Home Depot later I was fearing hundreds of dollars in garden fencing and way more work than my tomatoes and beets merited.  All I had wanted to do was dig in the dirt!

Fortunately, my darling husband came riding in on his white horse and saved me in my moment of desperation.  At his suggestion we created our own simple fence using 3′ bamboo stakes and baling twine.  It certainly won’t keep out rabbits or deer, but hopefully it will signal to Bianca to stay out.

There was rain coming yesterday afternoon, so we put in some early gardening time in the morning and I was able to plant the rest of my seeds as well as transplant the seedlings I had started back in March.  Here’s what I’m hoping to grow:

Soaking seeds in mid-March. Kohlrabi, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Marigolds, Basil, Parsley, Zinnias

Seeds planted in late March: Swiss Chard, Cosmos

Seedlings started in peat pots in Mid-March: Kohlrabi, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Marigolds, Basil, Parsley, Zinnias

Seeds planted this week: White Scallop Summer Squash, Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Okra, Beets

Lots of watering and weeding remain, but there are few things as enjoyable to me as working in the garden.

Hawthorn flower (and thorn)

I screamed as we drove in the driveway, and I’m not the kind of girl who often screams.  Upon arriving home from Haiti, we were greeted by a beautiful transformation in our front yard.

Before

After!

Andy’s dad did the work for us as a surprise while we were gone (Thank you, thank you!) and we now have a beautiful Winter King Hawthorn Tree.  I wasn’t sure at first about a tree with thorns, but further research won me over.  The Hawthorn is a haven for birds and wildlife, it produces white flowers and then red/purple berries that birds can eat.  Pretty and functional?  I like it.

Equally as beautiful, are the things that no longer fill our yard: a couple of half-dead bushes, a haphazard tree, some prickly vines, an overgrown creeping juniper and numerous large rocks in random and impractical places.  In their place?  A lovely stone wall and (soon-t0-be) unbroken lawn.  I’m all for working with the character of a place, but “character” is different form disrepair.  I hope that we are slowly bringing out the best side of our home and lot.

I am both humbled and overwhelmed by such a lovely gift.  Thanks, Dad Olsen.

Eliza and I, flying from Port au Prince to Port de Paix.

Our first week in Haiti was extra special, since we were blessed to share that time with my sister, Eliza.  She came during her spring break week.  We were able to do a girls retreat with twelve of the teen girls both from campus and from the orphanage out in Salines Mayette.  Ednide, Eveline, Lovely, Nerlande, Natacha, Daschna, Miseline, Taylen, Loudia, Naika, and Rose Guerda, with help from Nedjie and Angie, our two interpreters.

Eliza taught the girls a dance to the song He Reigns/Awesome God by Kirk Franklin.  They practiced several times each day.  The girls LOVED dancing with her and worked really hard.  We studied the book of Esther, looking at Inner Beauty, Meanness and Friendship, Purity and Relationships, and Purpose and Choices.  Going along with that, we watched “Akeelah and the Bee” (which they LOVED) and then “One Night with the King” to wrap up Esther.  For fun, we made friendship bracelets (purple for royalty, white for purity), painted nails (even with those sparkly nail stickers!), went swimming, and did an art project.  They also helped with painting handprints with the kids in the Miriam Center (special needs) and then sang and did their dance for the Gran Moun (elderly home).  Our grand finale was an evening performance of their dance for everyone, along with an encore performance.  The girls also taught us a song they knew in Creole that recounts the story of Esther.

What a gift to get to know these girls!  I’ve met them all several times, but never gotten to spend a number of days with them.  As one might imagine, it’s never simple when you bring together twelve teenage girls.  But even with challenges it was beautiful – I loved getting to know these girls.  Thank you for your prayers for us – I think God spoke into so many lives in this time, including mine.  I pray they learned lessons that will carry them through hard decisions in the future.

It was an intense, busy week for sure – but so beautiful.  (pictures to come…)