Well, it's 2:30 am and I think we are ready to go. The flight leaves at 6:00 am so we need to leave here to go to the airport at 4:30 am. I hope that we remembered to do all the little things that needed to be done. I hope that we have packed everything that we need. I pray that our hearts have been made ready for this journey.
It's been a very long summer, lot's of good times but also some of the most difficult times I have experienced in my life. It's been great to travel and visit with brothers and sisters in different places, we have been encouraged so much lately!
It's hard to express how real God has become to us over the course of the last year. It's hard to express everything that is in my head and my heart right now, I am very tired. Life has becoming more and more surreal each and every day. It feels like God has taken the fabric of my life and unwoven it back down to the individual fibers so that He can craft it again into something new.
Days of the week just don't really mean much anymore, so many of the signposts that usually guide me through the days and the weeks and the months and the years are gone now. The passage of time has become some what of a blur. It seems kind of crazy that I am sitting here now ready to go. I can still remember when we first made the decision to move to Nicaragua.
I really don't know what the future holds for us down there (well duh...nobody knows the future!) but I pray that Becky and I along with the Counts and the Hennigers will be used in a mighty way for God to be glorified and for many to come to salvation in Christ Jesus.
Thanks to all of you who have been and will continue to be praying for us and thanks to everyone who has supported us financially, it has been very humbling to receive so much love from everybody! I hope that you will continue to keep an eye on us here at this blog and also at our website, www.thegoatlife.com.
God bless you all, next stop Nicaragua!
Tommy
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
T Minus 1 Week! - Becky
It was brought to our attention tonight that we need to do a better job of posting regularly, so I thought I would take this opportunity to update you on what we're feeling right now. Sorry if it's kind of jumbled; I'm tired, but I want to get this up here tonight because I know tomorrow will be busy.
We are now a week away from being in Nicaragua. Our flight leaves at around 6:00 AM next Thursday, September 29, so we should arrive in Managua around 11:20 AM (Nica time). As soon as we leave the plane, we should be greeted by the smiling faces of our friends who are already there. We are definitely excited about going, but the idea of leaving in just a week does feel a little weird. I don't know if it has truly sunk in yet that the loved ones we see so casually now are about to be out of reach for so long. The time is close enough now that it has, sadly, become apparent that there are things we really don't have time to do and people we really don't have time to see before we go.
However, there are a lot of things we have gotten to do and people we have gotten to see this summer. We have been so blessed by the friends we have had the privilege of spending time with. I know I have keenly felt the sinews holding the body of Christ together regardless of time and space. As we have dealt with the stress from various issues this summer, the support of these people has been invaluable. It's crazy that "the Body" seems to have a lot of shared frustrations right now. It's clear to me that God is working on and through a lot of people right now. We certainly live in an interesting age. (Yes, I know that God is always working in our lives, but He seems to be especially stirring the pot right now.)
Speaking of God working in our lives, just when we were thinking we would have no choice but to do a short sale of our house, we got a renter! It's crazy, I had a feeling all along that God would take care of everything, and so far He has. But, we were sweatin' it there for a few months, especially in the last weeks. I believe we had 19 sales showings and around 11 rental showings before we finally got our renter. Now we just need to find a good home to rent in Nicaragua. Our friends who are already there in Jinotega are still looking for good properties. Hopefully it will be easier for us since we don't have any children to consider.
It has been pretty cool getting to Skype with our team members since they got there. Seeing their familiar faces against familiar backdrops makes us even more eager to join them. We have been encouraged by reports of interest from the locals in our projects. So far I'm seeing open doors and fertile ground, though there are distinct challenges as well. I'm very curious to get there and to speak with the Nicaraguans myself (in Spanish! - well, soon). There is actually a woman who works for the mission who has recently become the language teacher. She has already been working with our friends, and I am anxious to see what she can do for us too. Learning Spanish is extremely important to us, so I'm happy to know that I'll have one-on-one time with my own personal teacher.
Well, it isn't quite time to pack our stuff yet, but I'm sure we will begin doing that in the next few days. We've actually been doing a lot of packing for all of the trips we have taken lately, so now that we're home for a week until we go for real, it is good to just "be" for a little bit. We are starting to go a little crazy, though, trying to balance getting the last minute stuff done with just enjoying the last of our time here. In some ways we wish it were already time to go, as hanging around here waiting for Thursday does make us feel anxious. Prayers are appreciated for us and especially for our family members. We are going to miss everyone dearly.
-Becky
We are now a week away from being in Nicaragua. Our flight leaves at around 6:00 AM next Thursday, September 29, so we should arrive in Managua around 11:20 AM (Nica time). As soon as we leave the plane, we should be greeted by the smiling faces of our friends who are already there. We are definitely excited about going, but the idea of leaving in just a week does feel a little weird. I don't know if it has truly sunk in yet that the loved ones we see so casually now are about to be out of reach for so long. The time is close enough now that it has, sadly, become apparent that there are things we really don't have time to do and people we really don't have time to see before we go.
However, there are a lot of things we have gotten to do and people we have gotten to see this summer. We have been so blessed by the friends we have had the privilege of spending time with. I know I have keenly felt the sinews holding the body of Christ together regardless of time and space. As we have dealt with the stress from various issues this summer, the support of these people has been invaluable. It's crazy that "the Body" seems to have a lot of shared frustrations right now. It's clear to me that God is working on and through a lot of people right now. We certainly live in an interesting age. (Yes, I know that God is always working in our lives, but He seems to be especially stirring the pot right now.)
Speaking of God working in our lives, just when we were thinking we would have no choice but to do a short sale of our house, we got a renter! It's crazy, I had a feeling all along that God would take care of everything, and so far He has. But, we were sweatin' it there for a few months, especially in the last weeks. I believe we had 19 sales showings and around 11 rental showings before we finally got our renter. Now we just need to find a good home to rent in Nicaragua. Our friends who are already there in Jinotega are still looking for good properties. Hopefully it will be easier for us since we don't have any children to consider.
It has been pretty cool getting to Skype with our team members since they got there. Seeing their familiar faces against familiar backdrops makes us even more eager to join them. We have been encouraged by reports of interest from the locals in our projects. So far I'm seeing open doors and fertile ground, though there are distinct challenges as well. I'm very curious to get there and to speak with the Nicaraguans myself (in Spanish! - well, soon). There is actually a woman who works for the mission who has recently become the language teacher. She has already been working with our friends, and I am anxious to see what she can do for us too. Learning Spanish is extremely important to us, so I'm happy to know that I'll have one-on-one time with my own personal teacher.
Well, it isn't quite time to pack our stuff yet, but I'm sure we will begin doing that in the next few days. We've actually been doing a lot of packing for all of the trips we have taken lately, so now that we're home for a week until we go for real, it is good to just "be" for a little bit. We are starting to go a little crazy, though, trying to balance getting the last minute stuff done with just enjoying the last of our time here. In some ways we wish it were already time to go, as hanging around here waiting for Thursday does make us feel anxious. Prayers are appreciated for us and especially for our family members. We are going to miss everyone dearly.
-Becky
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Helping People - Becky
From the time I was a little kid in VBS to when I was baptized as a 13-year-old to now, I have done a lot of growing. I have gone through various stages where I have thought different things and acted in different ways. At the best of times I have legitimately tried to do what God wanted me to do; at the worst I have striven for my own interests. But, I'd like to think that I have generally been open to new and better ideas, or at least deeper levels to good ideas I already had. Even now, though I believe that what I believe is right, I have no doubt that something will happen to make me throw out something I currently think for something better. This is not to say that I am fickle or wishy-washy; I carefully examine a new thought before I accept it. Nonetheless, I am open to accepting new thoughts. (Of course, it helps that I have a standard, the Word of God, by which to judge things.)
Something that has recently become a new thought to me is the idea of helping people. Okay, I knew that it was good to be nice to people and to help someone pick up their books if they drop them, but I have not always been willing to do the extra, uncomfortable things like visiting people in the hospital and talking to "weird" people. (Not that I haven't done these things at all, but I haven't always had the best attitude about doing them.) I guess I always thought that it was nice to be helpful, but that doing so was not actually a requirement of Christianity. After all, we are saved by grace, not by works. While this is still true, my eyes have been opened to the reality that the world's problems are my problems. The thing is that, if something is important to God, it should be important to me. I know that I can't single-handedly save the world, but if Christ is in the business of saving the world, and I am part of His body, I have a part in saving the world. I shouldn't be interested in helping people to gain my own salvation; my salvation has already been gained, so I should act accordingly.
Many Christians act like their "correct" opinions will be what gain them entry into heaven. However, Jesus speaks differently:
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of [or serve] You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
—Mathew 25:34-46 (NASB)
People may have different thoughts about when this conversation with the King takes place, but the point is that God is interested in having people help people. Here is another example:
18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
—Luke 18:18-23 (NASB)
Again, we could quibble about whether or not Jesus wanted this man, or us, literally to sell all of his, or our, possessions, but we would be missing the point. The important thing to note here (besides the fact that what Jesus was asking is impossible and that only God can make it possible, as is shown in the rest of the passage) is that simply following rules is not enough to please God. He wants us to give everything for him... AND Jesus is concerned about poor people.
If you read enough about Jesus and his disciples, it looks highly likely that giving to the poor was something they used the money in their treasury for. When the woman anointed Jesus' feet with perfume and the statement was made about how the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor, Jesus says something along the lines of, "You will always have the poor to help whenever you want to, but you will not always have me." I have heard this statement used as a reason not to bother with poor people. However, Jesus didn't say not to help poor people; he said that poor people would always be around for the disciples to help whenever they felt like it. When Judas went away to betray Jesus, the other disciples assumed that he was going off to give money to the poor. There are multiple verses (fulfilled prophecies, in fact) about Jesus preaching the good news to the poor. If you are really interested, put the keyword, "poor" into a Bible search engine and see what pops up. It will become obvious that God's people helping poor people is important to God.
Of course, there are other ways of being helpful besides giving to the poor. James talks about true religion being that of helping orphans and widows in their distress. In the book of Acts there is mention of the early Church distributing food to widows daily. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about giving to those who ask and going the extra mile. Again, the Bible is full of charges like this. Like I said before, I know that a person alone can't fix the whole world, but if Christ helped people during his time as a human, those of us who make up the body of Christ should be carrying on his work.
Now, how do we actually go about doing this? When you start looking into all of the different ministry methods, it can become quite overwhelming. There are many different schools of thought as to the best way to go about helping people, and I totally respect that. I think it is even possible to hurt people while you are trying to help them, so it is really good to know what you're doing before you start handing out stuff on the street. However, don't allow confusion over the form to keep you from performing the function. I cautioned against handing out stuff on the street. Well, truth be told, I myself have gone and done exactly that. Reevaluating the situation, I may or may not have done the same thing if I had realized then what I realize now. It's possible that I was simply enabling the people I was trying to help. BUT, at the time, it was very important for me spiritually to have done what I did. It was a milestone in my faith journey. I probably wouldn't use that same method again for helping people, but the experience was very valuable in that I learned that helping people is not as hard or as scary as I thought it would be. I learned that poor, homeless people can be very nice and grateful and that they don't necessarily want to kill me. I learned that making connections with people I would otherwise never interact with can be exhilarating. If I had hesitated to act on the Spirit's prodding (and that's what I believe it was) and had waited until I knew all of the ins and outs of ministering to the homeless, I never would have learned those lessons. It is possible that I made a mistake in my method, but my heart and my spirit were right on.
If we are to do what God wants us to do, we have to be willing to make mistakes. We certainly don't make them on purpose, but it is our mistakes that help us to learn and to do better next time. I started out this post talking about how I have grown throughout my life. We need to realize that ministries can (and should) grow too. We should always be looking to find better ways of doing things, but, in order to do that, we need to have started doing something in the first place. God wants His people to help other people. It it so easy to make excuses not to do this, but I think it is clear that this is what we will be judged upon when we die. All of our other sins just serve to make us "unproductive and ineffective," keeping us from doing the "good works" which God "prepared in advance for us to do." The Bible talks about sin being something that "easily entangles" us, in the sense that it keeps us from moving forward with what we should be doing. If you look at sin that way, with a goal in mind of doing God's work, it is harder to justify doing it. Anyway, again, as members of the body of Christ, the work we should be doing is trying to help people. We should expect to make mistakes and to grow in our thinking along the way, but the biggest mistake of all would be not even to begin.
-BB
Something that has recently become a new thought to me is the idea of helping people. Okay, I knew that it was good to be nice to people and to help someone pick up their books if they drop them, but I have not always been willing to do the extra, uncomfortable things like visiting people in the hospital and talking to "weird" people. (Not that I haven't done these things at all, but I haven't always had the best attitude about doing them.) I guess I always thought that it was nice to be helpful, but that doing so was not actually a requirement of Christianity. After all, we are saved by grace, not by works. While this is still true, my eyes have been opened to the reality that the world's problems are my problems. The thing is that, if something is important to God, it should be important to me. I know that I can't single-handedly save the world, but if Christ is in the business of saving the world, and I am part of His body, I have a part in saving the world. I shouldn't be interested in helping people to gain my own salvation; my salvation has already been gained, so I should act accordingly.
Many Christians act like their "correct" opinions will be what gain them entry into heaven. However, Jesus speaks differently:
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of [or serve] You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
—Mathew 25:34-46 (NASB)
People may have different thoughts about when this conversation with the King takes place, but the point is that God is interested in having people help people. Here is another example:
18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
—Luke 18:18-23 (NASB)
Again, we could quibble about whether or not Jesus wanted this man, or us, literally to sell all of his, or our, possessions, but we would be missing the point. The important thing to note here (besides the fact that what Jesus was asking is impossible and that only God can make it possible, as is shown in the rest of the passage) is that simply following rules is not enough to please God. He wants us to give everything for him... AND Jesus is concerned about poor people.
If you read enough about Jesus and his disciples, it looks highly likely that giving to the poor was something they used the money in their treasury for. When the woman anointed Jesus' feet with perfume and the statement was made about how the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor, Jesus says something along the lines of, "You will always have the poor to help whenever you want to, but you will not always have me." I have heard this statement used as a reason not to bother with poor people. However, Jesus didn't say not to help poor people; he said that poor people would always be around for the disciples to help whenever they felt like it. When Judas went away to betray Jesus, the other disciples assumed that he was going off to give money to the poor. There are multiple verses (fulfilled prophecies, in fact) about Jesus preaching the good news to the poor. If you are really interested, put the keyword, "poor" into a Bible search engine and see what pops up. It will become obvious that God's people helping poor people is important to God.
Of course, there are other ways of being helpful besides giving to the poor. James talks about true religion being that of helping orphans and widows in their distress. In the book of Acts there is mention of the early Church distributing food to widows daily. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about giving to those who ask and going the extra mile. Again, the Bible is full of charges like this. Like I said before, I know that a person alone can't fix the whole world, but if Christ helped people during his time as a human, those of us who make up the body of Christ should be carrying on his work.
Now, how do we actually go about doing this? When you start looking into all of the different ministry methods, it can become quite overwhelming. There are many different schools of thought as to the best way to go about helping people, and I totally respect that. I think it is even possible to hurt people while you are trying to help them, so it is really good to know what you're doing before you start handing out stuff on the street. However, don't allow confusion over the form to keep you from performing the function. I cautioned against handing out stuff on the street. Well, truth be told, I myself have gone and done exactly that. Reevaluating the situation, I may or may not have done the same thing if I had realized then what I realize now. It's possible that I was simply enabling the people I was trying to help. BUT, at the time, it was very important for me spiritually to have done what I did. It was a milestone in my faith journey. I probably wouldn't use that same method again for helping people, but the experience was very valuable in that I learned that helping people is not as hard or as scary as I thought it would be. I learned that poor, homeless people can be very nice and grateful and that they don't necessarily want to kill me. I learned that making connections with people I would otherwise never interact with can be exhilarating. If I had hesitated to act on the Spirit's prodding (and that's what I believe it was) and had waited until I knew all of the ins and outs of ministering to the homeless, I never would have learned those lessons. It is possible that I made a mistake in my method, but my heart and my spirit were right on.
If we are to do what God wants us to do, we have to be willing to make mistakes. We certainly don't make them on purpose, but it is our mistakes that help us to learn and to do better next time. I started out this post talking about how I have grown throughout my life. We need to realize that ministries can (and should) grow too. We should always be looking to find better ways of doing things, but, in order to do that, we need to have started doing something in the first place. God wants His people to help other people. It it so easy to make excuses not to do this, but I think it is clear that this is what we will be judged upon when we die. All of our other sins just serve to make us "unproductive and ineffective," keeping us from doing the "good works" which God "prepared in advance for us to do." The Bible talks about sin being something that "easily entangles" us, in the sense that it keeps us from moving forward with what we should be doing. If you look at sin that way, with a goal in mind of doing God's work, it is harder to justify doing it. Anyway, again, as members of the body of Christ, the work we should be doing is trying to help people. We should expect to make mistakes and to grow in our thinking along the way, but the biggest mistake of all would be not even to begin.
-BB
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Oklahoma!
Becky and I just got back from ten days in Oklahoma! We visited with Ben, Crystal and Caitlin Martin in Edmond for the first few days then finished up our time with Keith, Shelia, Sarah, Tim and Emily Bowman in Mustang (both areas are suburbs of Oklahoma City).
We had a great time relaxing, eating, sleeping, playing Wii golf, Apples to Apples, Rock Band, Band Hero and Back Words. I also got the chance to shoot rifles, shotguns and a pistol with Ben and his friend Britton and Britton's wife Carie. It was a true Oklahoma experience!
We also enjoyed three trips to Braum's for ice cream and chicken fingers. Other fine dining experiences included Slim Chicken's, Chicken Express, Steak n Shake, Flat Tire Burgers, The Mantel and Cattlemen's.
We were able to fly for free since I had $800 in flight vouchers that I got last year for bumping off of a flight out of Chicago to Charleston! I always love to travel and travelling for free is even better! I just remember feeling like God was telling me to get off that plane last October; I'm really glad that I did! We were extremely blessed to bask in the fellowship of our friends for the week.
I have added a few pictures from our trip below.
Enjoy!
We had a great time relaxing, eating, sleeping, playing Wii golf, Apples to Apples, Rock Band, Band Hero and Back Words. I also got the chance to shoot rifles, shotguns and a pistol with Ben and his friend Britton and Britton's wife Carie. It was a true Oklahoma experience!
We also enjoyed three trips to Braum's for ice cream and chicken fingers. Other fine dining experiences included Slim Chicken's, Chicken Express, Steak n Shake, Flat Tire Burgers, The Mantel and Cattlemen's.
We were able to fly for free since I had $800 in flight vouchers that I got last year for bumping off of a flight out of Chicago to Charleston! I always love to travel and travelling for free is even better! I just remember feeling like God was telling me to get off that plane last October; I'm really glad that I did! We were extremely blessed to bask in the fellowship of our friends for the week.
I have added a few pictures from our trip below.
Enjoy!
Monday, August 1, 2011
What's Brown and Dirty and Crawling with Worms and Small Bugs?
Compost!
A couple of weeks ago Becky and I buried a pile of leftover food scraps, used coffee grounds, filters and melon rinds in a hole in the ground that we dug in my Dad's backyard. We are very interested in using composting as part of a sustainable/high yield agriculture approach in Nicaragua over the next five years.
I read Composting for Dummies which said that it could take 6 months to a year to get usable compost. I was a little dismayed to think that it would take that long. Enter Nurse Karen Thompson! She is a composting authority (recognize her authoritaaay!) and she assured me that it wouldn't take nearly that long. The conversation went something like this (emphasis on the word something)
Me: "But Karen, Composting for Dummies said that it would take 6 months to a year to produce usable compost..."
Nurse Karen Thompson: "You don't need no stiiiiinking book, (insert swarthy Mexican accent here) but you are a dummy so I agree with the book on that point...
Me: "So you don't think it will take 6 to 12 months for organic material to break down to the point that it can be used in a garden?"
Nurse Karen Thompson: "Honey, dig you a hole, put some food scraps in it, cover it with dirt and dig it up again in two weeks..."
Me: "Two weeks! Wow! That's a lot shorter than what the book said...
Nurse Karen Thompson: "Trust me."
Me: "Ok."
Well, for the record she was right! Becky and I went over to Mom and Dad's house this afternoon, two weeks from the day that we put the food scraps in the ground and sure enough we had compost! In fact, we thought that maybe we weren't digging in the right place because I was pretty sure that we would be able to identify the food mixed in with the dirt. WRONG! We finally found one piece of an eggshell so we knew that we had found our spot. We were both amazed, two weeks was all it took.
We are going to do another turbo composting experiment starting later this month and we will be taking pictures and measuring the pH of the soil on a regular basis over the course of about three weeks. I will post on that once we get it rolling!
A couple of weeks ago Becky and I buried a pile of leftover food scraps, used coffee grounds, filters and melon rinds in a hole in the ground that we dug in my Dad's backyard. We are very interested in using composting as part of a sustainable/high yield agriculture approach in Nicaragua over the next five years.
I read Composting for Dummies which said that it could take 6 months to a year to get usable compost. I was a little dismayed to think that it would take that long. Enter Nurse Karen Thompson! She is a composting authority (recognize her authoritaaay!) and she assured me that it wouldn't take nearly that long. The conversation went something like this (emphasis on the word something)
Me: "But Karen, Composting for Dummies said that it would take 6 months to a year to produce usable compost..."
Nurse Karen Thompson: "You don't need no stiiiiinking book, (insert swarthy Mexican accent here) but you are a dummy so I agree with the book on that point...
Me: "So you don't think it will take 6 to 12 months for organic material to break down to the point that it can be used in a garden?"
Nurse Karen Thompson: "Honey, dig you a hole, put some food scraps in it, cover it with dirt and dig it up again in two weeks..."
Me: "Two weeks! Wow! That's a lot shorter than what the book said...
Nurse Karen Thompson: "Trust me."
Me: "Ok."
Well, for the record she was right! Becky and I went over to Mom and Dad's house this afternoon, two weeks from the day that we put the food scraps in the ground and sure enough we had compost! In fact, we thought that maybe we weren't digging in the right place because I was pretty sure that we would be able to identify the food mixed in with the dirt. WRONG! We finally found one piece of an eggshell so we knew that we had found our spot. We were both amazed, two weeks was all it took.
We are going to do another turbo composting experiment starting later this month and we will be taking pictures and measuring the pH of the soil on a regular basis over the course of about three weeks. I will post on that once we get it rolling!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Eye of the Tiger
Becky and I went to Clemson, SC this weekend to visit with our friends Jay and Anita Wood and to speak at the Clemson Church of Christ this morning. We were really looking forward to this trip as many of our friends from Palmetto Bible Camp worship at the church in Clemson. In fact, our friend Danny Vaden is the preacher there and Matt Fields is the Youth Minister.
We ran into some pretty gnarly traffic coming into Columbia and my car has an issue with a loose belt that occasionally makes the engine overheat and the air conditioner not work. What this all means is that we ended up sitting still on I-26 with all the windows down and the heat on full blast to keep the engine from going supernova on us. Oh yeah, and it's already like 110 degrees outside to start with. Thank you God for GPS! (seriously, I'm not joking) We got off at the next exit and let the GPS on my Droid phone guide us about 10 miles around whatever was causing the congestion and we ended up right back on I-26 in the middle of Columbia with no traffic what so ever! Being able to get the car moving always seems to make that belt connect again and drive the components that turn the radiator fan and the compressor on the air conditioner. As long we are moving we're fine; if we sit too long we overheat. I really need to replace that belt...tomorrow...
Same thing happened on I-85 just outside of Anderson and once again the GPS did a great job in guiding us around the problem and right to Jay and Anita's front door.
We had a great time Saturday night hanging out with the Woods! Anita made pork chops (awesome!) and we did a lot of talking while working on a puzzle together at the dining room table. Anita displayed that she is a lot smarter than Jay, Becky and I by going to bed at a reasonable hour. The rest of us stayed up till 2:30 in the morning talking and searching for just one more piece of the puzzle that would fill that annoyingly empty spot on the table. Anita is originally from Ecuador and was very gracious and helpful to Becky and I by answering all of our questions about the Spanish language; now we are fluent! (not really but that would be great)
This morning we got up and enjoyed this really good hot, gooey, cinnamon roll bun thing that Anita made for breakfast. In fact she wrapped up the half we didn't eat and we brought it home with us (yum).
The Clemson church was really cool. They are a close knit group of believers who obviously love and care for one another very much. I made a short presentation before Danny Vaden preached a great sermon and I think we were all blessed to be there. Many thanks to Danny, the Elders and all the Brothers and Sisters at Clemson Church of Christ for making us feel very loved and welcomed.
Oh yeah, how could I forget? Danny is doing a series of fasts this year and right now he is fasting from sound; which means he walks around with a pair of large earmuffs on his head that are designed for shooting guns without losing your hearing. I can't lie; he looks really funny with those things on but I love what he is doing. Check out his blog at...
http://www.yearoffasting.blogspot/ .com.
After service we all went right down the street to have lunch at the Mellow Mushroom (pizza joint) which was really good. Becky and I split a large mighty meat pizza and a chef's salad. Afterwards we went back to the Wood's house and took a much needed nap before hitting the road for home. We ran into a lot of rain on the way home and got some Lenny Kravitz song stuck in our heads (which was really weird because we never had the radio on at all and still can't figure out where that came from).
Now we are home, unpacked and ready for bed. We had such a good time! It was very relaxing and fulfilling. What a blessing to be able to travel and enjoy worship and fellowship with the family of God in different places.
Thank you so much Jay and Anita and thanks so much also to the Clemson Church of Christ. May you all be richly blessed in Jesus Christ!
We ran into some pretty gnarly traffic coming into Columbia and my car has an issue with a loose belt that occasionally makes the engine overheat and the air conditioner not work. What this all means is that we ended up sitting still on I-26 with all the windows down and the heat on full blast to keep the engine from going supernova on us. Oh yeah, and it's already like 110 degrees outside to start with. Thank you God for GPS! (seriously, I'm not joking) We got off at the next exit and let the GPS on my Droid phone guide us about 10 miles around whatever was causing the congestion and we ended up right back on I-26 in the middle of Columbia with no traffic what so ever! Being able to get the car moving always seems to make that belt connect again and drive the components that turn the radiator fan and the compressor on the air conditioner. As long we are moving we're fine; if we sit too long we overheat. I really need to replace that belt...tomorrow...
Same thing happened on I-85 just outside of Anderson and once again the GPS did a great job in guiding us around the problem and right to Jay and Anita's front door.
We had a great time Saturday night hanging out with the Woods! Anita made pork chops (awesome!) and we did a lot of talking while working on a puzzle together at the dining room table. Anita displayed that she is a lot smarter than Jay, Becky and I by going to bed at a reasonable hour. The rest of us stayed up till 2:30 in the morning talking and searching for just one more piece of the puzzle that would fill that annoyingly empty spot on the table. Anita is originally from Ecuador and was very gracious and helpful to Becky and I by answering all of our questions about the Spanish language; now we are fluent! (not really but that would be great)
This morning we got up and enjoyed this really good hot, gooey, cinnamon roll bun thing that Anita made for breakfast. In fact she wrapped up the half we didn't eat and we brought it home with us (yum).
The Clemson church was really cool. They are a close knit group of believers who obviously love and care for one another very much. I made a short presentation before Danny Vaden preached a great sermon and I think we were all blessed to be there. Many thanks to Danny, the Elders and all the Brothers and Sisters at Clemson Church of Christ for making us feel very loved and welcomed.
Oh yeah, how could I forget? Danny is doing a series of fasts this year and right now he is fasting from sound; which means he walks around with a pair of large earmuffs on his head that are designed for shooting guns without losing your hearing. I can't lie; he looks really funny with those things on but I love what he is doing. Check out his blog at...
http://www.yearoffasting.blogspot/ .com.
After service we all went right down the street to have lunch at the Mellow Mushroom (pizza joint) which was really good. Becky and I split a large mighty meat pizza and a chef's salad. Afterwards we went back to the Wood's house and took a much needed nap before hitting the road for home. We ran into a lot of rain on the way home and got some Lenny Kravitz song stuck in our heads (which was really weird because we never had the radio on at all and still can't figure out where that came from).
Now we are home, unpacked and ready for bed. We had such a good time! It was very relaxing and fulfilling. What a blessing to be able to travel and enjoy worship and fellowship with the family of God in different places.
Thank you so much Jay and Anita and thanks so much also to the Clemson Church of Christ. May you all be richly blessed in Jesus Christ!
Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Sign the Lease
Well, we thought we had some renters lined up to rent our house. We thought that all of our house disposal problems were over (at least for the next year that these people were going to rent our house for). You may have seen on Facebook or on thegoatlife.com that our troubles were over...
But alas, they are not.
Our renters had given a verbal commitment to rent our house and had passed an income level check and a credit check, but one minor detail had not yet occurred...
They hadn't signed the lease.
They had until last Thursday (July the 28th) to do so and we just assumed that they would, but they didn't. They instead decided that they wanted to rent a condo rather than a house. That's cool, no problem, no hard feelings. In fact after mowing my almost half acre lot for two summers I sometimes wish we had rented a condo instead of buying a house.
But the moral of the story is that God is really, really good and if He wants us to live in Nicaragua He will take care of this issue and every other one that we will face. Me jumping the gun out of excitement and then having to make a great big sandwich out of my words does not in any way nullify His faithfulness.
Please join us in praying for faith and patience as we wait to see how He will handle this.
Our renters had given a verbal commitment to rent our house and had passed an income level check and a credit check, but one minor detail had not yet occurred...
They hadn't signed the lease.
They had until last Thursday (July the 28th) to do so and we just assumed that they would, but they didn't. They instead decided that they wanted to rent a condo rather than a house. That's cool, no problem, no hard feelings. In fact after mowing my almost half acre lot for two summers I sometimes wish we had rented a condo instead of buying a house.
But the moral of the story is that God is really, really good and if He wants us to live in Nicaragua He will take care of this issue and every other one that we will face. Me jumping the gun out of excitement and then having to make a great big sandwich out of my words does not in any way nullify His faithfulness.
Please join us in praying for faith and patience as we wait to see how He will handle this.
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