Garden Going!

Yesterday we finally got out there in the dirt and got our little plants in the ground. We had to wait until the landlord got the tractor working so it took a little longer than we would have liked but we finally got them into the ground. Reeve backed his car up into the yard and opened both doors so we could listen to music while we worked.

We have two rows of corn, a row of potatoes, a row of sugar snap peas, three tomato plants (German pinks courtesy of the wonderful Kink Teater) several bulbs of elephant garlic and a section of carrots and kale.

I put the corn in the ground. I hate dirt. It's really not my thing but I managed to plant two rows of corn without complaint. Look at me, raking away....

Reeve isn't afraid of dirt. He planted the potatoes, snap peas, and tomatoes. He put up stakes and ropes for our cute little snap peas. He says if a third of our snap peas come up we will be drowning in them. Hope our friends like stir fry...

Judah helped, of course. He's getting much better at being trust-worthy off the leash and we let him run around the back acre with us and he stayed with us the whole time.

I was so proud of him - even if he did end up as a mud monster.

Of course, our herb garden is growing like crazy. We have mint, oregano, sage, rosemary and chives.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes up!

One thing we are wondering is how to tithe out of our plants. Anyone have experience with that? I suppose we could bring a tenth of our plants to church to share with the congregation, but we're wondering if there's another way we can share them. Any input would be great!

Laundry Day

My dryer is broken (needs a new timer) so the laundry is hanging out on the line this week. It's kind of nice...actually. It's more work but it smells so nice.

Steak Sauce Disaster

(Observe my off-brand steak sauce, lovely, right?)

Ok, so maybe it wasn't a disaster but it was not nice.

Yesterday I made a new chore chart to help divide things up in our house evenly. Hoping this helps us keep the house clean without killing each other, haha. I used an article from the blog Time-Warp Wife (which can be reached by clicking on the image that says Housekeeping Schedule on the right side of the page) to help me decide what needs to be done and on which days. It's written for stay-at-home moms but I adapted it to fit my needs.

Last night was kitchen night according to the chart. I spent at least an hour and a half using pantry items (like vinegar, water and baking soda) to scrub my counters, microwave, toaster, and stove. They shined up great! I was so thrilled with how well the vinegar water cleaned and was even more surprised when it didn't leave a lingering vinegar odor on my counters. The kitchen smelled and looked fantastic.

So just as I was about to move to the living room to watch American Idol and straighten up in there I opened the fridge to put something away. And before I knew it a whole bottle of steak sauce fell out of the fridge door and shattered on the floor.

Seriously.

So there I am standing in the middle of a glass and steak sauce mess (barefoot naturally) and wondering why in the world this was happening.

And I'm not gonna lie. I almost lost it. I'm pretty sure things like this are what makes moms go crazy. (Thanks goodness I'm not a mom yet.)

And this thought hit me. Just as I'm cleaning up the mess and thinking I don't know why this is happening to me as I'm struggling to get my house into tip-top, perfect shape I think, "The Lord doesn't ask for perfection. He asks for obedience." I don't need to be perfect. My house doesn't need to be perfect. And in fact it never will be. But the Lord isn't looking for perfection, he's looking for submission and obedience. And as Joyce Meyer once said, "Your problem isn't your problem. Your attitude about your problem is your problem." And it's the honest truth. My attitude really needs a major overhaul.

Steak disaster or no steak disaster.

Balance

I haven't blogged lately because right now I'm too busy trying to find balance in my life.

I'm struggling with juggling a house, a job, a family and personal time. I know I've learned a lot in my twenty-four years, but I haven't learned that yet. This balance issue is one that leaves me frustrated, disgruntled and often bitter. But today I'm trusting the Holy Spirit to help me combat that.

Today I'm struggling to find the time to work, have quiet time, keep house, feed my family and work out. Today all I can see is the work - not the joy in it. I know this attitude isn't pleasing to the Lord so my prayer is that today He changes my attitude. Like an old song by Switchfoot I'm singing, "Let me know that you hear me. Let me know your touch. Let me know that you love me. And let that be enough."

I know the Bible speaks absolute truth about the role of women and that truth is seriously unpopular in my modern American world. It calls woman the helper of the man (Genesis 2:20-22) It tells us to submit to our husbands (Ephesians 5:22) and it tells us to be busy in the home (Titus 2:5) These are definitely not the qualities that are praised in a woman today. But these are the qualities God wants from us.

I'll be the first to admit it's hard to have the attitude of a godly wife while living in a me-first society. This attitude is so counter-culture to everything I've been raised in and am surrounded by. Some days it's easier than others but some days our husbands can make it even more difficult. Some days they aren't loving or leading like they should be. These are the days that we as wives feel the weeds of bitterness wrap around our feet. These days Proverbs 31 feels more like a to-do list than praise for a godly woman. Some days I read it reverently and with prayer and some days I read it and think it's completely unobtainable. On these day we need to remember that our husbands are human and they make mistakes and they are still learning how to love and lead, just like we are still learning to submit. It's hard to follow a leader with a bad attitude or a demanding spirit, but remember, it's not their attitude we need to worry about, it's ours. The Lord looks will take care of them and all we can do is pray for our attitudes and their hearts.

But this day is a day when we will rejoice and thank the Lord for the day He has made. No matter what our circumstances or our troubles we will set our hearts on things above (Col 3:2) and trust that He is in control.

With that said I'd love to hear your feedback on how you ladies who work full-time keep your house clean. I'm trying to find a schedule I can keep that will still allow me to work around my schedule. I go to Bible study on Tuesday nights and church band practice on Thursdays and we have youth group Sunday night. So this leaves me only Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and every other Tuesday (day) to keep the house. I also need to start taking a Sabbath. I haven't had a real Sabbath in I don't know how long and I'm not really sure what I'd even do with it! I end up working 7 days a week - if not at a job or church then on the house.

I've also run out most of my cleaning supplies and I'm looking for good pantry cleaners. I know that vinegar and water work well and I use baking soda for my glass-top stove. Any other good ones I don't know about yet?