Handwritten

"Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left; in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel."

Deuteronomy 17: 18-20

Have you considered handwriting your own copy of the Word?
I started with Psalms, then Proverbs, then worked my way slowly through the New Testament, filling several spiral notebooks. The slow, methodical, word-by-word progress through the Word was worth the time, filled with new insights. Highly recommended!

joining others with www.jumptandem.net for a quiet Sunday

The Seeds You Plant

We went to an outdoor seminar on composting today, sponsored by our county at the local park.

Pouring rain, kind of fun to get all soaked and stand around with other gardeners, all of us drenched and motivated to compost and help our gardens to flourish, the natural way, using the processes that have been around since creation. He didn't say it that way, of course.

 This quote is in the April, Country Living Magazine.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant."

                                                                           -Robert Louis Stevenson

Brave

Five Minute Fridays with www.thegypsymama.com. One word, write for five minutes, for fun and without lots of  over-thinking. This week,
Brave

Brave is a tough word. Images of soldiers and firemen and police and military come to mind. I am not of that category. Timid would describe me much more accurately. I am extremely grateful for those who do that type of work, grateful and amazed at their boldness and courage. Some in my family are that category: one son described it as, when something happens, they run toward the danger/event/crisis, while I would run the opposite direction, fast.

Yet, I have been called brave. For the choices I made with child rearing and home teaching and being a stay at home mom. Brave? Some days were terrifying. Some days still are. The relationships, the conflicts, the work involved are hard, challenging.

Those who run toward the danger, what are they thinking? Of helping, of coming to the aid, of rescue and giving hope and healing to someone in pain or danger. Perhaps what I do isn't all that different. Just not as dramatic. While I work quietly at home, working in these young people's lives, my goal is to help and heal and protect.

Time is up.

Putting Down Roots

                        

              

Those of us who are gardeners at heart have trouble as roots-challenged renters.  The desire to put down roots – literally – is a bubbling, overflowing, cannot-be-contained fountain for some of us.  We have to be planting something. Have to. It is possible to have a gardener’s heart, put down roots and live in a rental. Especially now, with spring here, I need to have my fingers in the dirt, poking in little seeds, planning and dreaming and looking forward to blooms and fresh food to eat.

How  can we put our touch on plants that aren’t our own, or how can we fill a rental with plants that satisfy our gardening needs? Containers filled with plants are an obvious choice, but there are other options.  I like to think of plants as investments- this plant will be there, continuing to produce and share its beauty long after I have moved on. A hollyhock, for example, once established, will be there for years to come through its offspring, growing tall and blooming with very little care.

Each rental scenario is different.  Here, our landlord pays for blow-and-go gardeners. They storm through once a week, doing all the basics of mowing and trimming the edges of the ivy and blowing the dust and pine needles off the patio, keeping the basic maintenance under control. I am pretty much limited to pots because of their tromping feet and noisy cutting and blowing machines. In the few spots I have put roots in the dirt, I have to mark the spot and place pots around them for boundaries. By keeping plants in pots I can decorate our yard with color, and keep them out of the gardeners way. 

these pink wave petunias show up in the satellite photo of the house

At one rental, the owners loved to have me plant and grow.  The renters before us had destroyed the yard with hulks of old cars and broken machinery.  Even after we had been there a few years, weird pieces of metal would re-surface from the underworlds. I love these before and after photos – they remind me and encourage me to work with what I have, use what is available, and make the best of any yard or patio or ground space I have. My desire is to leave each house better than we found it.

when we moved in

after

Most of our houses have not had such dramatic changes.  Mostly, I have pots on the porch or patio, or narrow beds along the house stuffed with flowers or vegetables, or, in the houses with snowy, cold climates, potted plants in the house.  Each house has its unique opportunities of shade and sun, abundant or limited space, and at each house I have found something to plant, to satisfy my need to put down roots.

When it comes time to move, I can be quite emotional about leaving these living things behind for someone else to (hopefully) care for. I admit to shedding tears over plants that had to be left behind.  To this day, I wonder if the matilija poppies I started at that one house are growing or if they were mowed down.  Did the Mexican primrose spread along that driveway?  Did the flax seeds ever flourish on that hill? Did that baby Cottonwood tree ever start to grow? One previous neighbor we hear from occasionally.  They enjoy the hollyhocks that spread in to their yard and up a small slope, blooming for them each year. Encouraging news, and a challenge to continue investing in the beauty of plants, no matter where we live, even without roots of ownership. 

Because, really, we are all temporary travelers here.

Opportunity Cost

In an article I read, the term, "opportunity cost" was used. It sparked my interest. What does that mean?
It is a term from the confusing world of economics, a complex term that really evaluates a simple thing. It involves what is given up in order to follow a certain action. Or, what you could have gained by taking a different path. Opportunity cost evaluates what is given up or gained.

Investopedia.com used the example of a college education: the salary lost while in school, compensated by the possibly higher salary after the degree is earned. Or, a stock investment that earns a small percentage, compared with the higher percentage you could have earned in a bond, the difference being the opportunity cost.

Opportunity Cost is about choice. If we decide to grow carrots in our garden, rather than strawberries or chrysanthemums, the different result gives us the opportunity cost. A choice is required. Knowing the results would be helpful, but the option we choose will give us either benefit or loss.

Both Investopedia and Wikipedia discussed that opportunity cost goes beyond monetary or material values, which I was glad to see. This applies to anything of value: how we use our time, how we build relationships, how we use our creative energy, our efforts to build memories and establish foundations in our homes and families, all can be calculated with opportunity cost.

For those of you who are algebra fans, there is a formula (on Wikipedia) for calculating good y vs. good x relative to the good forgone. Or something like that. It was over my head, but their example of choosing between parties and a date and mathematically calculating the result was amusing.

Opportunity Cost: what is given up or what is gained. What does all this mean?

• A choice to spend the time talking with the kids when I would rather be [whatever] is weighed by the benefits to our family relationships
• A choice to browse through a magazine instead of cleaning the shower or organizing the shelves is evaluated by the loss of order and cleanliness in our home
• A choice as to how I spend my time in the afternoons will result in good management of the resources I have, or wasted resources (thank you for this idea, Deidra)
• Being aware of the long term value gained by time spent together, reading aloud, playing games, learning together, just doing stuff together
• Choosing to eat smart and exercise rather than indulge my sweet tooth and idleness will yield a better opportunity cost, long-range
• Money I spend on one thing will be money I cannot spend on something else, perhaps something more important

What opportunity cost choices do you think of? We all make choices every day. The results are seen in hindsight, but by thinking ahead and evaluating the value, the opportunity cost, of our choices, perhaps we will be able to make wiser decisions.

Great Intentions

I start the weeks with Great Intentions. Coffee mug full, my planner charted, my days rich in accomplished tasks. Productivity flourishes. Results guaranteed. Then--oops, reality hits.

The problem - my list this Monday looks pretty much like it did last Monday. With Great Intentions.
I would like to point a finger at interruptions and events beyond myself. The difficulty is me.

"I'm tired."
"I don't feel like sorting that file right now."
"I don't feel like exercising this morning."
"I don't want to scrub that shower."
Or, "I feel like eating that brownie."

Instead of doing what I plan, I go by feelings-of-the-moment. And at the end of the day, or the week, the lack of checked off accomplishments is discouraging. Part of the problem is being on idea overload. I read too many books or magazines or spend too much time on-line reading about cleaning, or organizing, or writing, or home teaching, or health, or nutrition; instead I miss the actual doing. The reality.

Have you heard the term, "Reverse Engineering?" Chalene Johnson, in her book, Push, explains reverse engineering as a way to achieve a goal. Think of the goal, accomplished. Then, work backward, through all the individual, small, steps that would be involved in meeting that goal. Begin the steps, one by one, in order to accomplish the goal. It is a helpful way to focus and clarify the needed tasks. (But you still have to do them.)

                   REVERSE ENGINEERING

One of my projects this week is sewing a dress for upcoming weddings. Last week  I set aside twenty minutes in my planner for three days. Small chunks of time. Twenty minutes doesn't seem like a major chunk out of my day. It seems quite do-able to fit in a mere twenty minutes. I might not have finished, but, I didn't even start.

Also, the file drawers I want to sort out. Condensing six file drawers down to three, part of my "get rid of half" mantra. Sounds monumental. Overwhelming. It is. But it won't get done by thinking about it or looking at it. Little chunks, set the timer, or do just a few files at a time, a little bit each day.

 Great Intentions can become more than targets. Shall I let you know on Friday how I do this week?



As a balance point, I realize the value of time is not in productivity alone. Time spent with the guys, time to study and learn, time to enjoy and thrive in all that is going on around here, time talking with distant, grown kids - these are the vital activities that do not go into my planner because they are already part of my days, part of life. It is the extra tasks, the in-addition jobs that I ignore far too easily. Without getting too philosophical, life is not about the doing, but about the living. Savoring, appreciating, thriving in each beautiful day.

Great Intentions. Reverse Engineering. The joy of life.
How do you balance the doing tasks with the living?

Out of the Desert

"For the Lord's portion in His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them, 
He carried them on His pinions."

Deuteronomy 32: 9-11

Joining others with www.jumptandem.net for a quiet Sunday