What I Came Home To........

So we went away to CYC for two weeks and came home to some interesting stuff....


An Exploded Garden...

When we left we had one struggling tomato plant with about six mini-tomatos, a few tall sunflowers that showed no sign of budding, some nasturtium plants that were all leaves and a few healthy green bean and herb plants.

Upon our return, our eyes widened. The garden looked like to had exploded. The tomato plant was now HUGE and had about 50 tomatos and many, many flowers. (A week later, the tomatos are starting to ripen.)

The sunflowers had shot up about 1 1/2 feet and there was an open flower. We headed back to OP for a wedding after a few days and we returned the next night from that trip there were six flowers open and several buds.

The nasturtium plants had more than a dozen flowers.

The green beans yielded a big harvest and the spices had gotten bigger.

Jordan wants to plant more and go away for two weeks again. But that isn't all we came home to. There was also

Notice of Jury Duty

The federal government wants me to serve. I have been called for state jury duty before, but never assigned a case. In the federal government's case, I will be "on-call" for 15 days. Since I homeschool, that means moving in with a friend for at least part of the time, so that Jordan will have supervision and education if I am unavailable.  But, hey, I like New Bedford...

As inconvenient as it may be, I am OK with serving the court system. It might even be interesting to get on a case as long as it isn't too extensive and doesn't deal with a horrible crime. We also came home to, well,

Home

You know, clean showers, a comfortable bed, private time with the family and ........

an intense longing to go back!!

There, that'll do. What did you come home to, after your vacation?

Song...

Came across this song at a wedding over the weekend. Hope it touches you as it did me.

In Christ Alone lyricsSongwriters: Getty, Julian Keith; Townend, Stuart Richard;
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand

A Bit More Independent..

So now that the laundry from two weeks at camp is pretty much behind me, there is something I am going to do. Teach my son to do laundry.

He already knows a little about it, but I want to make him thoroughly competent with it this year.

Here's why:

At CYC, I spent an afternoon in the laundromat. With a two-week program, it's just something you have to do. Counselors were taking campers to various laundry facilities that day and some of them ended up in the same one as me.

"What cycle should I use?"
"How many minutes should I set this for?"
"Do I need to use a dryer sheet?"

Now, it's not a problem that kids are asking questions, whether of me, their counselors or any other leaders. That's what we are there for. Part of going to camp is learning to be a bit more independent and this is one way to do it.

But, it's also part of my role as a parent to prepare my child for independence and making sure he can do tasks is part of that. This year, it will be laundry because that came on my radar screening. He can already do some cooking and cleaning. I'm going to just try to keep expanding his repetoire.


How are you getting your children ready for independence?