why we are doing this ...

i have been doing a heap of grumbling this week .... sorry to admit it .... but that is where it is.  i even found myself walking around the garden telling the seedlings that i planted before the decision to move that i wasn't gonna water them and hoped that they would die (thank you Father Creator for sending the rain to reinforce that You are in control and not me!).

but i'd be lying if i didn't say it's been really hard.  we've toiled at making our backyard something sustainable and regenerative.  we certainly weren't "there" ... but were well on our way to it.  i had spring dreams of giant sunflowers and corn with beans growing up them.  a ground cover of asparagus and strawberries with heaps of over canopy beans.

but it's all stopped.  because we are moving.  hubby has even been pulling down the old chicken coop, where we were gonna keep the poultry / eating chickens, but in order to make this a reasonable and manageable rental, we have to pull that down.  <sigh>  i've been gradually giving away my seedlings that haven't been planted, and even pulled up a lemon tree today and gave it to a dear friend.

grumble, grumble.... and then i get pulled up by that inner voice that reminds me of everything that we do have.  of everything that we are promised, and the possibilities and the opportunities that lay ahead of us.

and even more importantly ... why we are doing this.  to create a place where our kids can live a sustainable life long after we are gone .... long after the peak oil skeptics finally cave.

we are doing this for our children.  there is no better reason or purpose ... 

thank you Father God for that reminder.

A Kid's World

yesterday was a great day ... i had another one of those affirmative epiphanies.

yesterday we had a few mums and their kids over for a play date.  my children, being the highly social type .... thot this was gonna be a grand day.  i have to admit a slight bit of trepidation on my part.  we have done all this work in our backyard .... what will having 10 kids under the age of 10 do to our yard?  will they trip and fall into the beds .... or worse yet .... step on and destroy all the new plants that i've just put in?  i was truly feeling very protective about our garden and all that we had accomplished so far.

slap yourself maggs ..... silly girl!  several of the mums simply said ... wow!  this is such an interesting garden now!  so many nooks and crannies for the kids to play in and be interested by.  and that is exactly what happened.  the kids had a blast .... running between the beds with their light sabers or swords .... swinging from the trees like little monkeys.  oh yes, and the animal husbandry inclined just couldn't leave the chooks alone ... and had to hold every single one of them and get the others to do the same (i am wondering a bit what that will do to our egg production the next few days!).  and at the end of it all .... nary a plant was plowed or busted up!  i should've given the children more credit than that.  seeing them play in the yard and enjoy that space truly  warmed my heart.

and it really got me to thinking about our move to a sustainable lifestyle.  isn't this why we are doing this?  to provide a better future for our kids, their kids and so on?  to affect the lives of these little ones who's futures we can mold and shape to care for this amazing creation that God has blessed us with?

i have been really pleasantly amazed at how much our kids love being out in the backyard now.  the other day, they came home from a full morning of playing and skating in the park with school mates .... only to wolf down their lunch and go straight back outside .... and the three of them spent all that time just drawing .... they could've done that inside ... but because they are falling in love with their world, they wanted to be out and "in" it.

i am being grounded.  reminded of why we are doing what we are doing.

it's about quality of life .... about caring for this world, our family and our community. learning to respect the way God put the systems in place that work in such an amazing way.  about caring for our family and showing them love and respect.  and thinking about our global community that doesn't have what we have and what can we do to help and meet those needs.

it's about a sustainable, yummy lifestyle.  the kids are helping me to plant veg.  yeah!  they love seeing that.  and seeing that translate as they harvest the food, help cook it and enjoy eating it.  new flavours that THEY helped grow.  that THEY had an active part in bringing about.  and being really honest .... they love spinach from our garden .... but i just don't think they'd get as excited about the slimmy frozen stuff from the grocer!  i can't keep the cherry tomato's or pea's!  they eat them all before i have a chance to bring them in for dinner ... and they are proud because they helped to grow them too!  ENGAGEMENT.

it is truly a kid's world.  it is their future.  i have a responsibility to be a wise steward of what God has given us.  for them.  because the future is theirs.

Kid Friendly Sustainability Web Sites

• Eco Kids
• KidsPlanet
• KidsRegen
• The Big Blue Bus
• A Student's Guide to Global Climate Change
• Massive list of links to kid's eco-friendly web sites

my daughter's rendition of me in the backyard ..... <g>  way cool!

why we do what we do!