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.

too much of a good thing!

i have a story to share .... about our worms and excess.  don't laugh ... the analogy holds true for life .... and practically speaking, i have learned from it!  <g>

have you heard the story of the very hungry caterpillar?  where he is hungry and goes on the hunt for food and eats his way through a week of really rich, yummy food that made him sick at the end?  when what he really wanted and needed was a good, healthy, yummy green leaf.  and he felt all better after that!  <g> and was able to do what caterpillar's need to do!  weave a cocoon and become a beautiful butterfly!

 so ... we got our worms, right?  and i thought ... way cool .... these little guys are gonna chomp through all these leftovers and make it into gorgeous castings for our garden and worm tea to fertilize with .... right?  WRONG!

i left them for a few days and when i went to have a sneaky little peak at my gorgeous critters .... what did i see?  MOULD!  EVERYWHERE!  egad!  what did i do wrong?  i tore open my little instruction book .... not much help there except to say that you shouldn't over feed them .... they DON'T need it.  gee .... should've read that sooner!  so i go straight to the computer and do a trusty search on worm mould and come up with the fact that simply speaking .... i have been over feeding my babies with all the wrong things!  oh good grief!  how silly am i?  feeding them all the rich stuff when what they need is a good diet of shredded newspaper and grass clippings!

and you know the remedy?  the icky and gross work of picking out all the mould bit by bit and piece by piece.  and the reminder that what they really need is more is the good stuff .... some grass clippings and lots of shredded newspaper.

so for the past two days i have spent a good 30 minutes each day picking through the worm farm trying to get out anything that looked remotely mouldy.  the worms aren't stupid .... they've gotten as far away from that wretched stuff as they can ....and i'll have to keep this up until i get rid of it all.  some might give in .... dump the worms and just start again.  i refuse to give in to that defeatist mentality!  we will conquer this and we will learn from this.

what an analogy for us with our lives, huh?  between what we think we need and what we actually need.  i would love a huge house .... with heaps of stuff to make my life EASY.  i want to hire a landscaper/permaculture guru to come in and do all our permaculture and backyard work for us.  it would be the EASY thing to do.  i would really like brand spankin' new things that are top of the line and make me feel like i'm top of the heap.  oohhhh ... and a new fangled TV!  wouldn't that be delightful!  but i'm so glad that my Father in Heaven knows that would be one of the dumbest things in the world to have happen to a selfish and self centered person like me -- to give me things i don't need or wouldn't truly appreciate.

i need to appreciate what i have .... NOW.  what i have today.  a dear husband and three amazing kids.  friends near and far that i would lay down my life for.  i have a roof over my head, which is more than many people can say in this world.  having just returned from the Philippines, I KNOW i have heaps more than most people ...i have seen people with so much less than i have and they are amazingly joyful and happy.  we don't need to fill the bellies of our greed with stuff .... we need to be grateful for what we have and to live in the moments that we have rather than loosing ourselves in what "might be."  may i be ever mindful of this. and i have no doubt that i will need to be reminded of this constantly!

next time i covet what someone else has may i think of the worms we have and the mould that greed and excess can cause in our lives.

as for our worms .... the table scraps will be going back to the  chooks ... who will make good use of them.  i am thinking for the worms that the yellowpages directories that still get delivered (WHY????) will make good food for the worms for a while.  shred it up nice and small and give it them a little bit at a time .... so they enjoy it and indulge themselves on the good stuff.  hey ... those stupid books are made out of trees ... what better way to use them than to return them to the good earth!

Contemplation.

i have just turned 50.  woohoo.  <g>  instead of a big party i did something for myself .... i indulged in what has until now been a fairly closet passion: a greenie love of the environment. i went to a permaculture course, had a blast -- and had my eyes opened!

surely my christian friends would laugh at me.  surely compared to the need to show God's love and grace to others this is miniscule in comparision.  so i rarely talk about it .... rarely discuss what sits heavy on my heart: God gave us this world to use, love and be wise stewards of .... and, quite frankly, we've screwed it up.  this time away taught me that i should no longer be quiet about it.

we have a mandate now more than ever to care for the Creation that God has entrusted to us.  i want my kids to enjoy fresh, non GM food and to live an abundant life .... and to know our Saviors love through that.   so for me, being a wise steward (trying ... not perfect, but trying!), and teaching my kids how to cherish God's world will only make them fall in love with the Creator more ... and want to share His amazing Love with others.

i learned a term this weekend ... Evangelical Environmentalism.  it is the new term for those believers who take seriously our stewardship of this world.  now this course was certainly not about faith or about religion!  but i saw the core principles of permaculture and said .... man!  those are straight from the bible!  they are using God's mandate to love others, care for others, live in community and be wise stewards .... all which can be scripturally supported. 

 i am forced to reflect on so much.  i have wanted to live today better than yesterday and hope for tomorrow more than i have today.  i think of two things from the weekend that have been profound for me.
-- life happens!  it is the way that God designed it.  i see this in the area that our chickens are scratching away at ... the left overs i feed them and the borlotti beans and cherry tomato's that can't help but spring up!
-- we have all been made in the image of our Grand Designer.  He has given us the ability to design and reclaim this world in the way He intended it to be.


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reflection  ..... 5 July 2011

so ... i've been doing this blog for over 3 months now .... is my heart still passionate about our role in God's redemption of Creation?  of what he has called us too?  for me, and more importantly, for our family .... that answer is a resounding YES.

each day we are learning a little bit more about the small and big things we can do to honour our Lord by understanding how He created this planet, the systems that are the best for growing things and providing for our family.  what does that mean?  well, truthfully .... it means heaps of fun!  we are learning about cool things in our garden .... mushrooms, aquaponics ... how to grow stuff with less effort and more reward -- and regenerating and making good soil to boot!  understanding that we don't have to have things brand spankin' new .... but that recycling and reusing is actually MUCH MORE REWARDING!  and ... learning about our friends and neighbors .... living in community more.

so yes ... we are continuing to move towards a creation care mentality .... and with each step we take, we are more committed to it and this call that God has placed on our hearts.  will you join us?

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought.