Plant Seeds and Sing Songs

(This was originally posted at my other blog, wkmcconnell.blogspot.com )


My family has always grown things. Every spring, my dad and grandpa would start tilling a huge garden plot for vegetables, and my mom and grandma would start pulling out flower bulbs they had stored or take a trip to the nursery to buy more plants. Spring is the time for growing things! And this spring, I decided to carry on my family's tradition!

I may have gone a little overboard, though... I planted a total of 18 pots of herbs, flowers, and vegetables! After I spent all the time planting them, though, I started worrying that I none of them would grow! I've never really done much gardening on my own before, so I decided that if at least half of the things grew I would be happy. But so far things are coming along great!!! I have sprouts in my dill, chives, 3 of 4 daisy jars, 2 pots of cosmos, thyme, morning glory, cilantro, and 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes. (I was especially excited about the tomatoes because my mom told me that it was really hard to grow tomatoes from seed.) I'm still waiting to see sprouts from 2 varieties of basil, rosemary, and my green pepper pants. The roommate and I will (hopefully) be eating well this summer!

I had been watching them grow for a week or so, and I was SO excited when my first plants began to sprout! I feel such a sense of accomplishment!!! E joked that we were going to have our own little garden out on the balcony... Sounds good to me!!!










ALSO, my African Violet finally started to bloom! Apparently it's normal for African Violets to go through a long period where they don't get any blossoms, so I haven't really paid much attention to the poor little plant. (Plants without flowers or that you can't eat are boring!) But it's getting ready for a magnificent spring!

Plant Seeds and Sing Songs

My family has always grown things. Every spring, my dad and grandpa would start tilling a huge garden plot for vegetables, and my mom and grandma would start pulling out flower bulbs they had stored or take a trip to the nursery to buy more plants. Spring is the time for growing things! And this spring, I decided to carry on my family's tradition!

I may have gone a little overboard, though... I planted a total of 18 pots of herbs, flowers, and vegetables! After I spent all the time planting them, though, I started worrying that I none of them would grow! I've never really done much gardening on my own before, so I decided that if at least half of the things grew I would be happy. But so far things are coming along great!!! I have sprouts in my dill, chives, 3 of 4 daisy jars, 2 pots of cosmos, thyme, morning glory, cilantro, and 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes. (I was especially excited about the tomatoes because my mom told me that it was really hard to grow tomatoes from seed.) I'm still waiting to see sprouts from 2 varieties of basil, rosemary, and my green pepper pants. The roommate and I will (hopefully) be eating well this summer!

I had been watching them grow for a week or so, and I was SO excited when my first plants began to sprout! I feel such a sense of accomplishment!!! E joked that we were going to have our own little garden out on the balcony... Sounds good to me!!!










ALSO, my African Violet finally started to bloom! Apparently it's normal for African Violets to go through a long period where they don't get any blossoms, so I haven't really paid much attention to the poor little plant. (Plants without flowers or that you can't eat are boring!) But it's getting ready for a magnificent spring!

Just for Today

by Marjorie Holmes


Oh God, give me grace for this day.
Not for a lifetime, not for next week, not for tomorrow,
just for this day.
Direct my thoughts and bless them.
Direct my work and bless it.
Direct the things I say and give them blessing, too.
Direct and bless everything that I think and speak
and do. So that for this day, just this one
day, I have the gift of grace that comes from
your presence...

The Song is Life

I am in the process of trying to read through the Bible in one year, in conjunction with my church's One Year Bible Club. I have a dated Bible, and I believe I am currently supposed to be somewhere in 1 Samuel. Unfortunately, I just started Joshua! I'm a little behind. But I will press on!
I know some people think that the Old Testament is boring and tedious and filled with lists of names, and YES, some of it is. But despite that, I really love the Old Testament. There is so much history, and so many great stories about God and the way he works in and for and through his people. Let me share with you what I've been reading from Deuteronomy.

Being a Christian is so hard sometimes! It's hard to be faithful to God in the midst of a corrupt society, and to consistently do the things that we know are right. But God (through Moses) says this to the people of Israel: "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." (Deut 30:11-14) The Word is accessible to us, and even more than that, it is attractive to us! We hear it everywhere: in nature, in other people, and even in song, as Moses refers to it here: 31:19 "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them... And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. (Deut 31:19, 21) And the song is LIFE: "Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."" (Deut 32:44-47)

Isn't that awesome?

I Need You

Last night at the college fellowship group I help run, we talked about music. I love music! I love singing it and playing it and listening to it. Since becoming friends and then roommates with Elizabeth, my musical repertoire has gotten vastly larger. Whereas my musical roots are mostly contemporary Christian and country, hers are heavy metal, rap, and of course 80s. She has opened me up to a lot of things that I would not have listened to in the past, and hopefully that is a two-way street. Some of it I like a lot, and some of it I can tolerate.
Our main goal last night at Nine.Thirty.Seven. was to give students a taste of the wide variety of Christian music styles there are nowadays. We weren't trying to say that they ought to be listening only to Christian music, but just to give them some options that would be more positive and uplifting than much of the music on the radio today. It can be said of any era that some of the music is really bad, and some is really good! The thing that worries me is how little we think about the music we listen to. Several months ago, John Mayer had a song out called "Waiting on the World to Change." I really like John Mayer's musical style, and initially I really liked that song. But the more I listened to it, the more I felt unsettled. The premise of the song is that the state of the world is very poor, and we would like it to be different, but things are out of our control and so we just have to wait for it to change. This is ridiculous! And it typeifies an American attitude of today, that we should just whine and complain about things being horrible instead of actually doing something about it.
Another song that I've been thinking about recently is called "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance. It's a good song, generally positive and not derogatory, and for a while it was my roommate's ringtone. It is catchy and singable and upbeat. But there's something off about it. The first part of the chorus goes like this:

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone

One part of me really identifies with those lines. I am a very independent person, and I have been from an early age. (Heading out for the bus on my second day of kindergarten, I firmly stated, "I can do it myself, Mom!") I am fairly self-sufficient, and I get a little annoyed when people try to tell me that I can't do things, particularly if it has to do with me being a woman. I take pride in the fact that I know how to do lots of things.
At the same time, though, something about those lines unsettles me. Putting aside my pride in independence, the fact is that I am afraid to walk this world alone. From the beginning of time, human beings were created to be in relationship with one another, and I am not exempt from any of this. I need other people to help me learn things, to keep me accountable, to make me laugh, to tell me when I'm wrong or affirm me when I'm right. The fact is... I need you.
So the next time you hear a song on the radio, take a few moments to think about it. Is it right? Is it wrong? Why? Why not? A little bit of critical thinking has never hurt anybody.