Generous Christians

The other night a new friend and I were talking about our Faith Journeys when he asked, "Why do you like your church? What is it about Mars Hill?" I had to stop and think. How do I summarize all that I feel and know about my church into a few words or phrases? Mars Hill feels like home, but it's not the Place that I love, it's the people and what I learn there and through them. I said, "At my church we talk a lot about living the Best Life Possible. We talk about Loving People and Loving God. We wrestle with what that means and looks like. We discuss The Third Way- for sometimes it seems that we have 2 options to solve a problem or a conflict, but often there is a Third Way and it involves Love." Not to mention my Community of Friends who walk My Story with me and I with them. They make me feel a little less crazy and show me what it means to really love and be generous.

My answer seemed simple yet I knew it was true. Those are the reasons I love Mars Hill. My love is not based on how I feel about sermons, worship songs, theology or decoration. It is based entirely on the fact that I am better for knowing people there and have learned how to love God more.

Yesterday I spent 7 hours working in my Garden. I thought about God, the Creation Story, how plants burst forth from seeds, and about my answer to the question, "Why do you like your church?" I wasn't sure if I answered well or if I had really touched on the heart of the matter.

Today I went to church.

Church started with singing and immediately I was smiling because the worship team was using a red, plastic Kazoo. Love it. Then later we sang a hymn from 1848, nice and slow, with the sounds of an organ. Rob and Ed team taught today on this passage and it was all I could do to stay in my seat without clapping and hollering. Acts 2:44-45, "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone who had need."

Beautiful.

This was the early Christian church. It was a group of people who found a way for those who Have to give to those who Have Not. It's about community, sharing, loving and living together. They talked about leaping with Joy - meaning, those who have enough are so happy that they are literally leaping with Joy. They have the ability to Leap because their are no stones in their shoes (it's hard to walk with a pebble in your shoe). And then there are those among us who are Limping with the burden of having nothing. How can we share our Joy? While Ed explained this Rob was placing buckets around the stage. Then we heard this, "If you are leaping because you have enough and are paying your bills and have a little bit left over, you may come forward and give. If, however, you are limping because you have to choose between buying food or paying for medical bills, please come down, reach into the bucket and take what you need."

By now I am crying. Such leaky eyes.

Before Ed could really finish the invitation to give, people were already going forward and dropping money. I heard purses being unzipped and saw men reaching for their wallets. The stage was flooded with Generous Christians. After a few minutes Rob and Ed interrupted and said, "We see a lot of people giving and we thank you. But we know a lot of you are out there and you are hurting. Please. Please. Please, come forward and take what you need." Never in my life have I heard a pastor stand on stage and invite people to take money. They were begging people to take it. I saw a few people go forward and sheepishly reach in and count out a few bills. Ed said, "Some of you have taken a bit, please come around a 2nd time and take More." I was still sobbing from the sheer Joy of watching it all unfold.

This, then, is why I love my church.

Turning a Yard into Garden

I didn't know. I just didn't know.
I've been planning on turning part of my parents yard into a garden for about a year now. Last week Mom called my cousins to see if they would rototill the garden for me. Um, it turns out we should've put weedkiller on the grass last August to aid this process along. They said that they Could but it would make for a clumpy garden. A few days later my Mom spoke to a family friend who also has a garden and a rototiller. He said, "Well, sure, I can do that for Diane, but she'll need to turn over that yard with a shovel first."

I was not dismayed.

Friday night I bought a sprinkler. Saturday morning we hooked up that sprinkler and soaked the ground in order to make this process easier. (I tried to shovel the dry ground and it just doesn't work). Also, I have no sneakers so I was wearing sandals. I worked for about 2 hours Saturday and turned over 6x14 feet of yard. Sunday afternoon I came back (shhhhh) and tried again but it was too hot.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday afternoon I called Mom, "Hey - can I come over and spend the night? I'd like to try the garden again and I know if I stay the night that I'll get an early start." I worked that night until 8:30 and expanded the garden to 9x24 feet. This did not feel like work. I was having Fun.

Monday morning at 9 a.m. I was outside once again. This time I was barefoot. This time I had to turn over all those dirt clods in order to dry them out. I need to rescue all that dirt and toss all that grass. Flipping the sod took me 6 full hours and I was dancing and singing the whole time. I cannot tell you how great it felt. The work was hard, yes, and some of the clods weighed at least 10 lbs but I had dreams of melons and peppers in my head.

I was going to go back later this week and shake out all the dirt but we have rain in the forecast. I hope the rain shakes out the dirt. If not, I have more work ahead of me before I plant one single seed. My plan is to start planting this weekend.

Then a fence, and maybe some sort of mulching, oh and fertilizer and watering and oh I cannot wait. Please come over and watch my garden grow!

I'm returning to Europe.

I believe life is a story. On some level we're all in charge of our own story. Am I living a Great Story, or a Lousy one? I think that the older I get, the better I am at living a Great one.

Tuesday, May 5 - I called my friend Kerri and asked her if she was up for joining me in Holland to take in some Tulip Time festivities. Kerri is always up for spontaneous fun. Actually, Kerri is usually up for anything and I really like this about her. We met downtown, watched the Dutch Dancers, made our way over to the Fattening Food Carts for Elephant Ears and Caramel Apples. We sat on a bench in the setting sun and told stories. Kerri said, "Are you up for a beer at New Holland?" When have I ever turned down a trip to New Holland?!

We settled in. We were talking about our experiences on Priceline.com (the good and the bad) and out of the blue Kerri says, "You know, diane, tickets to Europe are really cheap right now. We should go." To which I promptly reply, "No, I can't. I'm going to be debt free in December and I've worked really hard to get there. If I went to Europe that would set me back. Nope, can't do it." Pause. "On the other hand, when I'm 70 years old will I really care that I was debt free in Dec 2009 or March 2010? So yes, let's go to Europe." Folks, that is nearly verbatim. Welcome to my thought process.

Next we discussed where go to? I lived in Europe in 1998 for 3 months. I traveled extensively on the trains throughout Northern Europe, but never went to Italy. Kerri has never been to Europe at all, so she had no preferences. I suggested that we go to Switzerland and Italy for I know how much she loves the mountains AND Switzerland is full of adventure. Perfect for Kerri. She agreed. 

Then we discussed how long to go? A week? Two weeks? Somewhere in the middle?

And finally, price. I said, "I'll go if we can find a round-trip ticket for under $400 pre-tax" She held up one hand, "How about $500?" We met in the middle at $450.

That night I went online and searched for good flights. Flying in and out of Rome was around $700 and my heart sank. In the span of a few hours I was already looking forward to my trip! But it looked like it might not work after all! The next day I thought maybe flying into Zurich would be cheaper than Rome? I gave it a shot and found round trip tickets to Zurich for...$358! 

And the cool thing is that our return flight has a lay over in Rome! So we don't have to make our way back up to Zurich after all our travels! We'll just catch the flight in Rome!

By now it's been 14 hours since Kerri first suggested this trip. I immediately emailed her my findings (I had the day off from school). And then I waited (she is also a teacher). She emailed shortly with "Let's do it! We'll meet after the parade today!"

19 hours after the idea was born, Kerri and I were sitting at Herrick Public Library, buying two tickets to Europe from July 6-16! We checked out travel books and have randomly exchanged emails which mostly say, 'We're going to Europe!"

I have no idea where we're going or what we're going to do. All I want is 2 days in Rome and I'm leaving the rest up to Kerri. We have a lot of brainstorming to do! This trip is helping me get through these last few weeks at school. For Serious.

It's a start

A week ago I started my indoor seeds and yesterday my neighbor Nate built my garden box!

Tomorrow I plan to plant spinach, salad bowl lettuce and endive in this 4x5 foot box. This morning I noted that my indoor seedlings sprouted over night. I cannot tell you how much this excites me!

In 2 weeks my Mom and I are going to turn over soil in her yard and plant The Family Garden. I purchased the seeds weeks ago and it's been terribly hard to wait.

The Plan:

Oregano

Basil

Rosemary

Cantelope

Eggplant

Green Peppers

Red Peppers

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Yellow beans (lots and lots)

Sugar Snap Peas

Spanish Onion

Carrots

Cucumber

Corn

The Family Garden

It's that time of year again, folks. Time for me to talk about food, and food alone.

I started my garden this weekend, but left my camera at school which meant I couldn't take pics.

We'll talk more later, I promise.