Just Start!

Quite a few weeds have spring up after the rain. I don’t have much time so every time I go into the garden I pull up a few. When I saw how many were still left I wondered if it was worth the effort, but it struck me that the weeds I had just pulled up wouldn’t grow again. At least they were gone. It’s like the little boy on the beach throwing stranded starfish back into the sea. When someone told him he would never be able to rescue them all, he said that at least the one’s he threw back would be fine.

Life is like that. We can’t help everyone. We can’t rescue everyone, but we can still make a difference, even if it’s a very small difference. Giving one homeless person a meal does make a difference. Telling one person that Jesus loves them does make a difference. Mentioning to the cashier at the supermarket that she has a lovely smile does make a difference. Just smiling at a stranger does make a difference. Praying for someone that God puts on your heart does make a difference.

There may be a lot of things in your own life that you would like to change and maybe it’s so overwhelming that you don’t even know where to start. Just start – anywhere. Every little change makes a difference. If you have a bad habit that you know is a problem start working on it today. It’s never too late to start and before you know it you’re going to be working on the next thing.

Start by changing the way you think. Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Don’t allow your mind to become a breeding ground for toxic thoughts that can poison your whole system. Philippians 4:8 tells us what we should be thinking about. Everything that is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, has virtue and is praiseworthy. Now if we fill our minds with those things we surely can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Matthew 6:33 – 34, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. If we take Jesus at His word we won’t need to worry about our circumstances.

Worrying isn’t going to add one day to your life. In fact, there are so many diseases that are caused by stress that it is going to take days away from your life. Start by reading the Bible and believing what it says. Start looking for the promises God is giving you and own them. Start today. Tomorrow may be too late.

More weeds

Yesterday I picked the last dried pea pods and pulled out the dried remains of the peas which had been so green and lush just a month ago.  I used their stakes (reeds) which hadn’t actually sprouted and started to grow, and made little teepee structures for my cherry tomatoes.  I had put stakes in next to them but they were totally inadequate.  Now my tomatoes can hold their heads up high and the birds can see the ripening fruit even more clearly!  When I turned my attention to the rest of the garden all I could see was weeds.  All beautifully green and thriving.  But how was this possible?  I had weeded just last week.  What do they say in the old plays, “Woe is me, woe is me!”  That’s how I felt.  How could this be happening.  I am going to have to spend more time on my knees – weeding!

I was speaking to a friend a while ago about anger and he was saying how he recognized anger in one area of his life and he realized that because he hadn’t dealt with it, it was spreading to other areas as well.  Anger is like weeds.  You have to be on top of it.  You can’t ever allow it to get out of control.  It will take you over and swallow you up.  You won’t be able to see the wonderful fruit because of the weeds.  They get so big and ugly that they overpower everything else.  Please take care of the anger, pull it out by the roots, don’t allow even a little bit to stay behind else it will slowly start to grow again and before you know it will be a problem.

OK, enough of the negative, on Sunday I cooked a lovely lunch for my family.  All gluten free and delicious. The chicken was the best.  I learned to cook chicken this way from my aunt.  She had spent a few years in Israel and this is how they do it there.  You need one whole chicken, a packet of coarse salt and a roasting pan.  You pack the salt around the sides of the roasting pan.

 

Busted!

I wrote about Spinach and Clover a while ago, and how clover wasn’t growing around the spinach, and it wasn’t.  My theory was that something in the spinach stopped the clover from growing near them.  Well, it rained again and I had a brand new crop of weeds, and my theory is busted!  There is clover growing right next to and around the spinach.

There’s the proof!!

As I’m watching my nice little theory float out of the window, it seems to me that very often we think we know the answers.  We have the proof and we can solve the problems life throws at us.  Until our theories as busted and everything we thought was a certain way isn’t anymore.  Our very foundations are shaken because things that we took for granted or built our lives around fall apart.  It could be because of illness, financial crisis or emotional issues.  There is always something that won’t work the way we planned it to.  That’s when our faith gets tested.  What do we really and truly believe in and stand on.  Do we have foundations that are strong enough not to crack?  Because human beings are really very fragile we can’t rely on our own strength and intellect to sort out every crisis that’s going to come our way.  I believe in God.  I believe that He sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ to die for me so that I can have eternal life.  I also know that when things go crashing down around me, He will be the one I can rely on. The only one.  I am not perfect and I can panic and doubt with the best of them, but when push comes to shove, I know where my faith lies.

Anyway, I have killed some weeds (organically) by using a mixture of vinegar, salt and dishwashing liquid.  I got someone to dig over the section of ground next to the piece I’ve already planted on.  I allowed the weeds to grow and last week I decided they were really flourishing, but they hadn’t produced seed yet.  I waited for a warm day and sprayed them quite early.  By the middle of the day they had stared to wilt and by the end of the day the leaves were already turning yellow.  I removed a strip of weeds from the edge of that patch and dug it over again.  I divided it into 6 sections and make little mounds that I planted mealies (maize) on.  I’m going to plant beans around them so that they can climb up the mealie stalks and then I’m going to plant squash around them to keep the soil cool and free from weeds.  I read that the indigenous people in America did it that way and called them the Three Sisters.  So we’ll see if it works in Africa too.

I had some very over ripe bananas that I dropped into holes that I dug between the mounds the mealies are planted on.  This is where I’m going to plant the squash seeds.

The other thing I’m really excited about is the apple seed that germinated.  I can envision the beautiful tree full of lovely apples. I also sowed some nasturtium seeds next to my cabbages.  Hopefully they are going to attract the bugs that would normally attack the cabbages. Like a decoy.

My apple seed

This week I’ll try and get rid of the rest of the weeds and see if I can get some beetroot and carrot seeds sown.  Have faith and keep smiling!

 

What’s the difference?

As I was pulling up the weeds in my vegetable garden I was reminded of the parable of the tares. Matthew 13:24-30.

Some of the weeds look exactly like the plants when they start growing eg. Tomatoes. As I was working I was thinking how hard it was to distinguish between the weeds and the plants. I let the plants grow a little before I take out the weeds so that I’m sure I’m not pulling out the plants. And that is how it is with people. Some people really show all the characteristics of believers, but its just for show. At the end of the day when the genuine plants bear fruit there is no fruit to show on the look-alikes. I looked up “tares” and its a weed that looks exactly like wheat when it starts to grow.

This photo actually has nothing to do with this blog. I just thought it was so funny – my husband had been practicing his chipping and a golf ball landed in the centre of the cycad!!

Every person deserves a chance, and its not for me to judge whether he is heaven or not. I’m really grateful that I don’t get to judge because that’s a very scary assignment. Way out of my comfort zone. God will be our judge and He even set out a day for it – The day of Judgement.

On a lighter note, I have discovered the nutritional value of lentils and I’ve made a few different variations of lentil salad. What wonderful little legumes. They’re very low GI, gluten free, and versatile.

To make a salad you boil a cup if brown lentils ( the red ones become mushy) in two cups of water for 25 minutes. Let them cool for a bit and add your favorite salad ingredients. Mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, gerkins etc. Either salad dressing or mayonnaise works well with it.

This salad also has roasted pumpkin seeds and I used Ranch salad dressing that my American friend, Jackie gave me.

Have a great weekend.