Saturday, June 17, 2017

2017 Garden Update

Displaying IMG_5707.JPGMy garden isn't up to snuff this year. Right now I have five or six, sad little plants and lots of weeds. I didn't even turn over the dirt this year, instead I'm using the same rows from last summer. I keep telling myself I'm going to plant more, but that probably won't actually happen. That said, my sisters will be happy to hear that one of the three plants I did put in produces mini pumpkins.

Despite my lack of care there are a few plants that are surviving from last year. Most remarkably are the strawberries which aren't just alive, but thriving. Since I haven't had much success when I actually try to grow them, finding red gems tucked between green leaves was a pleasant surprise this spring. (Something else that will make my sisters happy.) Now if I can just get to them before the ants or birds.

Displaying IMG_5694.JPG
70F with hail last week, 100+ this week
Speaking of animals stealing food, did you know rabbits love banana pepper plants? We have some wild bunnies running around and the poor pepper seems to be their favorite snack. Not quite sure what I'm going to do about that yet. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. In the meantime, I hope the bipolar weather doesn't stress the plants too much. (What's with that by the way?) This week's challenge, can this neglectant gardener help the plants survive this hot spell, or are they gonna end up burning to a crisp?


Monday, June 5, 2017

A Thought from Work

  I manage student’s employees, but my office is removed from their physical location. Recently some work I assigned wasn't completed. I have spent most of a work week trying to obtain a status update so I could communicate what still needed to be done. All week the sheet marking their progress was not updated. Friday, I finally had enough and had to go down into their space myself to figure out what was going on. Once I understood where things stood I took a rather stern tone with them and reset expectations. 
     As I was walking downstairs to enter their work space myself I realized this is what Jesus did. God communicated from on high, made His plan clear, but because we couldn't get the job done He came down and took care of things Himself. In the time between giving His instructions, and His coming, He provided some sternly worded messages when Israel ignored their project. (Although, I would argue their punishment was much harsher then the point system we use with our students.) And in the midst of holding them accountable for their actions God always forgave, reset the goal, and promised something even better. 
     Which led me to this question; how often am I like my students who don't always understand the reason behind things, but just see our processes as tedious and mundane? How often in that ignorance do I say, "no, I have a more efficient way", to God?