Sunday, February 8, 2009

Last week missing snow, this week dreaming of gardens

So, a few days ago I was planning this funny post about the (sometimes crazy) things that I sometimes miss about the average 13 feet of snow back home in the UP:
  • The smell of snowblower exhaust
  • Cleaning your car off in the morning
  • Snowy roads
  • The sparkling like diamonds
  • Shoveling snow
  • Your eyes hurting because the sun on the snow is so bright
  • Walking through snow covered woods
But it's funny because right now we're having a warm spell here in PA, so now I'm dreaming of spring and gardens. Thursday it was in the teens, but yesterday was in the 50s and I worked in the garden in shorts.

Here's to sitting on the front porch in the sun, feeling the fresh air coming in an open window, listening to the birds singing, and planning this summer's veggies!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Just Do...Something

I often find myself overwhelmed in light of realities like this:



In the words of Edward Everett Hale:

I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.


For too long I have been waiting for the someday and that something bigger, but I am beginning to realize that God has placed me where I am for a reason, and I need to be faithful to that, responding to the opportunities in front of me.

Let's just do something, and together we can do much.

Maybe for you, that something is giving an hour or two of your week here in Lancaster for one of the many organizations extending love by investing in the lives of middle schoolers, serving meals, counseling, offering shelter or AIDS relief, educating, or giving in one of many other ways.

Maybe for you it means packing peanut butter and jelly for lunch instead of eating out as a commitment to begin living more simply to have more freedom to give.

Maybe for you it means allowing God to mold you into an awesome neighbor, friend, or spouse.

Maybe for you it means prayer and advocacy, giving a voice to those who are so often ignored.

Or maybe it looks like one of the infinite other creative ways we can begin partnering with God to bring healing in our suffering world.

These are the things I have been taking steps toward in my life. Will you join me?