Content or Malcontent???

i have just returned from a week in the Philippines, working at Rehoboth Children's Home, the orphanage our kids come from.  

every time i leave that country i leave a little part of my heart behind

for the children who deserve a home

for a land that has natural beauty beyond compare

and a people who have learned to be content

and i return to a country where

what we have is never enough

the competition to be better is always driving us

and family life is fit around our personal commitments and not what is best for our children.

i have been challenged yet again to simplify my life .... too much junk in my head, heart and life!

and it runs even deeper .... with each step we take on our path and journey that is "this life" we should be becoming better people, truer to the goals and ideals that we have.  i know my ideals are not selfishness, waste and disrespect for this amazing world .... and yet, it is easy to slip into that selfish mindset.

far too easy.

a dear filipino friend shared with me about their people, "see ... we do not have much, and yet we are a content people."  they have learned to live life each day and embrace that and not worry about tomorrow.

i am envious of that.  in all my faith and belief in our Creator God, my sinful human side knows that i do not live my life that way often enough.  that i let the selfishness of each day wrap me up in its claws ... the tentacles of wanting more and having excess shroud me heavily.  

i would love to have that stripped away.  to truly live a simple life that embraces each moment.

are you content with what you have or malcontent in wanting more than you need?

i am honest enough to admit that more often than not i am malcontent .... but, by the grace of our Creator God, i learn each day to be a bit more content .... because HE is sufficient for me.

... for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need,
and i know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,

whether well fed or hungry,

whether living in plenty or in want.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13

Selah.

The World of Bamboo

a while back i promised a post on some impressions i have had of bamboo.  stunning.  amazingly diverse.  hardy.  so easy to use.  SUSTAINABLE.

we were walking around the Djanbung Gardens a month ago and i was taken aback by their ability to use bamboo in so many ways.  it made me smile when i thot back to our trip to Hong Kong 3 years ago and saw these 5-6 storey scaffolding structures made out of .... you guessed it .... bamboo!

i could wax lyrical .... but that does get boring after a while.  so i thot i would let the pictures of what you can do with bamboo speak for themselves.  please forgive the blatant child photo's .... can't help it .... they are an integral part of our lives and seem to follow us everywhere!  <g>

take a look at the bench!

these are beans growing up a bamboo
pole.  the spikey bits from the bamboo
have been left on and make great spots for the
beans to grab on to!

a shade house of course.  will be early on our agenda
to build.  and of course it's out of bamboo!

a shot under for how it is put together

and an even better shot!

bamboo, stripped down and used to create raised
bed gardens!

nothing from bamboo goes to waste ....
these are the leaves that fall off ...
used as mulch

hey mum!  that's a huge bit of
bamboo!  

you do need to choose your bamboo
carefully.  talking to the staff at djanbung they indicated
that this bamboo is useless for building big
structures because it didn't stand up to the elements
very well. however for furniture .... well jeepers!
it would be gorgeous, aye?

a stand of bamboo that they use to build with.
takes about 4 years for it to be big enuf to do much with.
guess we'll have to get planting early!

now that is pretty darn cool!

more bamboo leaves .... they were used as mulch for the
turkeys and chooks.

yeah .... she is cute and having fun .... but look at
the trellis behind her!

and of course the required curing station
to allow the bamboo to dry out and
harden.

a big picture perspective of some of the ways they have
used bamboo in the garden.  hodge podge ... a bit.
but it works and it's sustainable!

and even as fencing around some of the gardens!  

in mid march i will be heading off to the Philippines to visit the orphanage our kids come from, Rehoboth Children's Home.  they have over 2 hectares of land and have many opportunities to do sustainable ag in a small space.  there is a place very near them that does sustainable / organic permaculture.  look at how they use bamboo!  i reckon my march trip is gonna have me seeing bamboo in my dreams!