Generous

This morning I started writing an outline for a post in my head. I thought I'd call it Generous. I'd put a link to the Generous series from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church Seattle. I'd talk about how I used to be really stingy, miserly and keep a tight rein on my budget, always tracking every penny, committed to the local church with a tithe (and proud of it), until God called me to be Generous. There have been times when I was in need of accepting others' generosity-- and I always felt blessed. Touched by the very hand of God. Loved and cherished by the Creator, who knows every hair on my head and when I'm out of toilet paper and could use a visit to The Storehouse to get a load of groceries, fat roll of TP sticking out of the top of the bag. What I never truly appreciated was how it felt to be Generous.

Oh, I'd give here and there. Once there was a special offering taken up at church, and for some reason I had my grocery money in cash, in my purse. I never had grocery money, cash, in my purse. I usually used a credit card. But that time I had cash, and I put $100 in the offering plate for the special need... leaving $15 to feed my family for the week. And I went to purchase rice and beans and felt quite proud that I'd been generous. I was always happy to make a meal for a family who had a birth or illness or hospitalization or death, although I never thought of it as generous- just my duty.

So I do my shopping on Wednesdays, and several times I've thought of a certain person while I was shopping... and I'd thought, I should call her up and see if she has a list I could shop for her, while I'm at it. She's busy and this may be a blessing to her, yet it wouldn't inconvenience me. Then today, she was brought to my mind again, with the thought "Just do it. Take her something." So I did, but this time it was... Generous. A different feeling. A HABIT. Yes, a habit of generosity.

Because last Fall, I just started making it a habit to look for ways to just give. Give what I have. Out of my abundance, and out of my sufficiency. Out of God's sufficiency. I was reading a blog just last Fall (if you are the author and are reading this, please make yourself known- I didn't bookmark and can't remember). In this blog, the author spoke of the Old Testament law of leaving the edges of your fields for the poor to glean. She said- how can I make that contextual to my city life? Well, I use cash (a la Dave Ramsey) and had been carefully counting out my purchases, each to the penny, and then tracking each cent. What if I pay with only dollars, and the change is always given away? The change is the edges of my field, for the poor to glean. I felt released from fear of giving the homeless people on the corner beer money. I felt released from fear of not managing my coins. The first 6 weeks I saved all my coins in a box, to give to Mission India. By the end of that time I had $38, and my Generous husband told me to keep the coins, he'd send the gift to Mission India online.

When I got home from the grocery shopping today, my man and two hired men and my 12 year old son were busy working on my remodel. I dove right in with them. We worked hard all day (I have the aches and pains to prove it). The kitchen was completely ripped out by the afternoon. I was waiting for my son to come out of the bathroom so that I could wash my lettuce in the bathtub so I could make a salad... but he overflowed the toilet, so I was about to give up... when my husband walked in the door with a box containing a fajita feast. We were the recipients of another's Generosity.

It is Well With My Soul

The author of this song, who lost his only son and most of his financial holdings during the Chicago fires of the 1870s, was held by business from boarding a ship with his wife and 4 daughters. He was to meet them in England as soon as he finished his business dealings, but their ship was struck and sank in the Atlantic. He received a wire from his wife, "Saved Alone." As he crossed the Atlantic over his daughters' watery grave, he penned the words, "When sorrows as sea billows roll...."

I have several friends right now who are in fear of losing their sons or daughters. Some of them know the Prince of Peace, the Peace that Passes Understanding. Some of them do not. Watching them fight their children's illnesses, watching from this distance, I can see literally, the words "they mourn as those who have hope" vs. those who mourn with no hope. I want so badly to communicate to these mothers and fathers what makes us say, "It is well with my soul."

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(repeat chorus)

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(repeat chorus)

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(end chorus)

Are They Serious?

Hybrid Cars + Smart Growth = Carbon Knockdown
Smart Growth Development
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil (DVD on Smart Growth)

The following is written by Robert Bruninga, and posted with permission:

For what it is worth, my hobby built Solar PHEV Prius is in the center of the Green Car Pavilion at the Washington DC auto show [Feb. 4-8] as part of the EVA DC club. The Green pavilion of all the future eco friendly cars are basically off to the side of the main entrance. With all the big MFRS in the halls below and above. The theme was "Driven by the Environment." (They shoulda added a subtitle... "kicking and screaming"...)

I was only able to attend during the first day which was PRESS day. With the Press, congressmen and VIP's of all kinds, plus 11 acres under roof of brand new clean carpet floors with cars from every MFR in the world, I was surprised at the experience! It was depressing...

1) All the Detroit VIP's and congressmen had only one mantra... "we gotta sell more cars"... very little about "building anything new, or smaller, or with less features!"

2) Looking at the American products (mostly trucks and SUV's and big luxury cars), all were big, crammed with luxury junk we don't need, and just more of the same but with slick environmental verbiage to make you think they care.

3) The green car pavilion seemed to have little interest by the press except for some diesels and the Prius PHEV from 123 that got the most press that I could see. I was next to them (about 20 feet away) and got no press interest except for one small reporter from China but with the language problem it basically boiled down to "nice car." Some of the cameramen did take shots of my "bug zapper" Jacobs ladder I had on the roof as an attention getter.

4) The few people that did ask about the cost of my conversion ($2400) seemed shocked at the expense. Yet when they go to the Ford or Chevy displays where you can pay $2400 for the backseat video headrest, and fry the brains of your kids, everyone wants one.

If big klunky couch-potato cars crammed with every possible electronic trinket is where we are today as a country, I worry for us and our future.

The Smart car was the only small car out of hundreds that was anything close to what lots of us want for the future. And they only had two on display. They were over in a corner next to the booth selling iPod accessories!

Oh, and the Detroit bigwigs, when asked, just shrugged their shoulders and said that with the low cost of gas, the demand for trucks is on the rise, and "we have to sell what people want." No taking responsibility that they spend BILLIONS on advertising creating that "want" because they get bigger profits on the trucks.

I'm sure it was not as bad as what I saw, but I went with great expectations of the FUTURE of green transportation and found little to get excited about. Yes, everyone had hybrids! But they were all still big cars and SUV's getting around 21 to 25 MPG... ho hum.

Even Prius was bragging about the 2010 being bigger and with $10,000 of new neat gizmos and add-ons...

The EAA-PHEV list is intended primarily for the discussion of
the technical aspects of PHEV conversions. Other lists that
relate to more generic or specific PHEV topics include:
* http://www.greencarcongress.com -An online publications about green cars.
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news -PHEV News from CalCars.org
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gridable-hybrids -Info on gridable hybrids.
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/edrivephev -PHEV and EDrive group.
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hybridsplus -PHEV and Hybrids-Plus group.
For even more generic discussion of stock hybrid vehicles see the links
to specific forums for each vehicle at http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Hybrid

The Darjeeling Limited

From Netflix:
Following the death of their father, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a journey on the cross-India train the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up some old wounds and proves that their sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in Wes Anderson's lyrical comic drama.

I enjoy Indie movies. I am fascinated with India. I recently spent over an hour looking at over 600 photos in the FlickR folders of friends of ours who were in India recently. I find Owen Wilson to be a bit dull, and this story moved sort of slowly. But the colors, the scenes, the French song in the end credits that proved to me I still got it..... altogether made this movie a really great date night movie.

Waste Free Wednesday

The Green Parent blog has a new Waste Free Wednesday post about lunches. I can't let that slip by without pointing out that one of the largest examples of waste in the U. S. is the public school system. They generate more trash than all the collective households put together, effectively doubling the trash footprint of each of the children. The ineffectiveness of resources and modern U. S. education leaves us with kids who get little more than "free" babysitting while their parents work. And the poor parents are only working so hard to pay the taxes required to support the behemoth system. So my addition to the idea of waste-free lunches is that if you were home schooling, lunch would be easy and waste-free. :) Of course I know home schooling is not for everyone, but I can't help but point out what a wonderful option it is!

Here is a Waste free Wednesday tip from me:

Watching the amount of waste you generate at the point of service. I mentioned last time how I made grocery sacks with old teeshirts-- here is one in action. I used it to get split peas from the bulk bin. I have also used the teeshirt sacks to get sugar from the bulk bin. It's great, because the shirts are so easily washable. I just twist and knot them good so they don't spill on the way home, and once I'm home, I pour the contents of the bag into a (usually recycled) glass jar.

The cookie dough container? I picked up the cookie dough right after Christmas for only $1.50 (compared to normal price $4.33). Another handy container to have around-- it's been used for a sack dinner for a Boy Scout hike already, and today I took it with me to the store for the butcher to put my chicken into. The butcher still had to use 1 plastic bag to put the chicken in while he weighed it-- next time I'll suggest he put a layer of butcher paper to line the scale instead of putting the chicken in a bag. But he didn't double wrap the plastic, then wrap with butcher paper, then re-wrap the package in cellophane, like he usually does.

Day in the Life, brought to you by my iPhone

Woke up this morning to rain, the first rain we've had in eons. I put on workout clothes and headed out to the car by 7:40 a.m. to drop my teens off at school. Sang Really Love the Rain until the boys groaned and protested loudly.

I pulled into the 24 Hour Fitness. Did a short interval run/walk for a warm-up, then went upstairs to do some weights. I did 100 reps of 75 lbs blah blah blah until I couldn't walk, then I somehow made it back to my car and went home, where I found Bethany making smoothies.

And I noticed Mt. Vesuvius in the background. And a wet bed from a child who refused to put on Pull-Ups last night.

My friend showed up to drop off her 8yo and take my 2yo. This is how I homeschool now, and I love it (without a 2yo). The candle was an idea from another Sonlight e-friend: the peace and calm and intense concentration I get astounds me. So simple.

The boys are copying a lesson from Serl's Primary Language Lessons. In the girls' room, Belen is entertaining a pair of friends who have come over for a short playdate. They share a Pre-K co-op on Tuesdays.

Pretty soon the girl-friends have left, and my tutee has left and my 2yo has returned. Daddy has come in for lunch, and served the kids:


a healthy, balanced meal of popcorn.
(The truth is they had fried eggs on tortillas. Popcorn was a treat.)

I had helped the boys pick up the mess on their floor, and they helped clean up their popcorn mess under the table.

While the girls checked their Webkins accounts.

The baby fell asleep on the floor there, so John picked her up and put her in my room-

Reuben took his turn on the computer and chose PBSkids.org.

I glanced at the mess on the table from the morning's homeschooling:

and vowed to get it picked up by 3:30. I peeked in to find the girls coloring,

and John reading and working on his Dialectical Journal.

Then I checked in on my trusty Asko set, which in the 9 years we've now owned it, has done approximately 7,000 loads of our laundry.

The rain stopped, the sun came out. But I am working. While the kids were doing their copywork I called Buffalo Trail Council, BSA, to verify summer camp information for our troop, 729, and I called our district leader to confirm information about a fundraiser for camp. Our Troop meeting is tonight- if it stays dry, we're taking a night hike through Walnut Creek Park. If it starts to rain again, we'll have a regular meeting at our sponsor church.

I have beans cooking on the stove and will make cornbread when I get up from here. Throughout the day I have worked on this blog post, checked my Craigslist searches for beds for the boys, and browsed my CHEACT newsletter that came in today's mail. I read a chapter in each of the 8 books I am currently reading, read probably 50 emails, wrote 15 or 20 and checked my Facebook page. I have a bit more mail and Facebook activity than normal today- it's my 39th birthday. Got to go answer the door- it's UPS. Ah, it's my wine club shipment. Good night!

Response to the Population Control nut in England

It has been brought to my attention that the Greener Living Tips in my sidebar is promoting the nut in Britain who is being publicized opening his mouth to insert his foot, by telling folks not to have children.

Here is the comment I left at Greener Living Tips-- which I'll post here as well in case GLT doesn't post it:

This idea is the most ridiculous "greening' idea I've had to dispute. First of all, the Brit guy in the article is seen in his country as a whackjob by all the Brits I know. They've all been rolling their eyes and saying "Yeah, that guy. No one listens to him." And Prince Philip, they say, is known for saying goofy and stupid things, like our own W. He has 4 kids himself ya know.

Raising children is absolutely critical for life on this planet. That may come as a surprise to you, but without people, life will cease to exist on Earth.

I have 7 children and I am the greenest person I know. My kids will support your retirement. Your kids? Oh yeah, they won't be there to support it so be glad that I had some. Russia and Germany, and even China can tell you how bad population reduction is. China has relaxed* the one-child policy. Germany and Russia are paying women to have more children. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Your economy, your ecosystem, depends on Producers. You will not be able to be a producer much longer, bud. You need to raise some producers to support you in your twilight. Germany and Russia found that out the hard way.

It is important to have children- and even lots of children. And then train them carefully. Do not give their every wish and demand. Teach them to think of others first, to make do or do without, to care for what has been entrusted to them. To think before they act. To put it Biblically, to be stewards of this world loaned to us for our short lifetimes. To leave a better world for the grandchildren.

Having children makes us grow up and see the future. Staying in a state of perpetual adolescence-- which remaining childless allows-- leaves the world with fewer people ... but more selfish people who are more likely to live for today with no thought for tomorrow. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die~ and if you have no children, then there is no impetus to protect tomorrow.

*I had mis-understood what I had been reading about China. The policy is certainly not revoked, it is relaxed. Parents who were both themselves only-children are allowed to have a 2nd child. Parents whose first child is a girl or has a disability, in rural areas, are allowed to have a 2nd child. Further, certain minority groups are allowed to have 2, and sometimes even 3, children.

One Chapter at a Time: Books I'm hogging, what I'm learning, what I'm reading

Drive: 9 Ways to Motivate Your Kids to Achieve by Janine Walker Caffrey
reThink by Steve Wright
Transforming the Difficult Child - Updated Edition/2008 by Howard Glasser & Jennifer Easley
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions (Relit Theology) by Mark Driscoll

and at DailyLit, I'm subscribed to Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Podcasts I listened to this week:
Mars Hill Church
Dave Ramsey
High Pointe Baptist Church
Ask Dr. John (Piper)

Blogs I learned something from this week:
Playful Parenting
Psalms from Susan
on prayer, from Todd Terry
on church and community, from Jonathan Dodson

Get out of the blanket fort

My kids love to make blanket forts- it always drives me a little nuts to see blankets haphazardly arranged all over the living room. Someone always wants to push it, securing an afghan on a high shelf with a stack of books (that will inevitably come crashing down on someone's head). They'll sit in their cozy caves all day, cramped as miners. They come out with hair all static-shocked and flying straight up.

Sometimes I wish I could just make a cozy little fort and climb in it all day. Block out the real world and have a new world devoid of most sensory input, just my blankie and me.