Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Patriotism and Idolatry

As we move closer to the 4th of July, I remind myself and my brothers and sisters in Christ: God's greatest gifts to us are frequently the things we wrongly turn into idols - including our freedom, our rights, our privileges. Be careful that in your celebration of the freedoms you enjoy you do not neglect the Lord of All who has no ties to one nation.

~Wes

Saturday, June 12, 2010

a little ugly...and what we're doing with it

"We're in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture."
-Joel Salatin, Polyface Farms, Inc

I loved this quote from the time I first read it almost a year ago. I love it because it very much falls in line with what we're trying to do here in our nook of Indiana. Case in point: the kids and I were out for a walk early this spring and stumbled upon this:
Mind you, this isn't the only 'dump site' we've discovered on our piece of land. Slowly, bit by bit, we're working to redeem the ugly. We've taken most all of the tires (two truck loads) to the city's tox-a-way day, and Grampa Joe has taken much of the metal (can you spot the old motorcycle in the photo above?) and sold it for scrap. While walking that spring day, though, I spotted these beauties:
Old chimney tiles it turns out. I immediately loaded up three of the best ones, cleaned and painted them, then reused them as a much needed, multi-functional table for our living room:

Apologies for the dark photo, but you get the idea. The top is also a reclaimed piece - a door from a stall in the old barn.
As I've told a good friend, I don't need anymore ugly in my life. I'm determined to help make this land - this life - beautiful.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

reading

For Anna, A People's History of the United States. It's been on my to-read list since I bought it at Vroman's in Pasadena; I'm loving it. Highly recommended if, like me, you haven't managed to get to it yet.
For Wes, The Chosen. I know nothing about this book, except that Wes is really into it. Potok also wrote My Name is Asher Lev, which we both read and thought was fabulous. Sorry for the dated cover photo.
For Wyatt, Casey at the Bat. This is a really neat version with an old-timey, historical feel due to illustrations that all look like newspaper clippings.


For Elise, Kitten's First Full Moon. I dunno, she's in a 'kitty-cat' phase, and will actully sit and listen to this one.