Filling the Pool

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

Last week as temperatures soared into the 90s we spread a plastic tarp on the backyard grass, hauled the electric pump out of the basement and inflated the kids’ pool. We upgraded this year. A couple of weeks ago we trolled the aisles of Menards until we found a suitable pool – one that’s  a step or two up from the standard kiddie pool but yet  can still squeeze into our postage-stamp backyard.

The kids danced around the blue lagoon as freezing water sloshed from the hose into the pristine plastic. It took several hours for the pool to fill to the top – 3,463 gallons in all – but it wasn’t until the pool was completely full that we noticed the problem. Because of the slight slope in our yard, the pool was uneven. Unfortunately, the filter side of the pool happened to be the shallower side, so instead of sucking in water, the filter wheezed air, straining the motor and threatening to burn out.

There was only one viable solution: drain the pool and move it to a flatter spot.

So that’s what we did. Granted, we used a few buckets to water the plants and flowers in our yard. And the water we drained from the pool was useful for the grass. But still, while the pool drained and as it filled again with another 3,463 gallons of water, I couldn’t help but think about how that water could have been used much more productively in many parts of the world. How those few thousand gallons might have saved actual human lives.

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Summer Changes

By Ginny (MAD21)

I just can't believe how fast this past school year has come and gone. Over the years I've heard that once your kids are in school that time flies even faster than it did when they were babies and toddling around, but I had no idea how very fast it truly does go by. My heart is aching (big time) as our family slowly leaves this phase of life. But we are all growing and learning as we search to expand our boundaries while still protecting our time together.

My friend Billy wrote last week about similar sentiments as he is also getting older and watching his young kids grow up way too fast. He says, "In the end, that was what made me weary—knowing I was fighting time. And that’s a war I cannot win." Like him, it doesn't matter how much I don't want things to change. They will whether I want them to or not. So, I have to do what I tell my girls on almost a daily basis and that is to enjoy the journey. We need to do the best we can not to squander the time we have, and don't wish our lives away by looking only at the destination.

Therefore, in light of wanting to spend more time with my family over the summer months, and wanting the same for the others who contribute here, we are going to a three-day posting schedule. All of our usual topics and authors will still be here, just on a lighter schedule.

During the month of June, we are challenging everyone we know to make a difference in the lives of many by donating to charity: water and have already begun a series of posts from people regarding this ministry. We will also continue with our One Word carnival, devotionals, Tasty Bites, Fingerprint Fridays, and in July we will begin a new series on Mondays that will continue throughout the summer.

We pray you all have a fabulous summer. Work hard, play hard, read a lot, and remember, no one at their end of days is ever going to say, "I wish I had spent more time at the office and less time with my family." Be sure to take every opportunity to enjoy your family. That investment will last an eternity.

The Undesirables

By Pat

I have been feeding the birds for a very long time. I get so much enjoyment out of it, and I have spent a good deal of time and money through the years buying assorted feeders and seeds that will attract the birds I love to see...the cardinals, chickadees, goldfinches and woodpeckers are my favorites. I go to great leanths to make sure they have food every day so that they will continue coming to the feeders. But unfortunately, they're not the only birds who enjoy eating in my yard! (And we won't even mention my endless battles with squirrels!)

I get really upset when I see the "junk" birds eating the sunflower seeds; the starlings, grackles, red-winged blackbirds and brown-headed cowbirds are delighted when they discover the feeders in my yard, and they come in droves, devouring every seed in sight with very little effort, and it drives me crazy! They throw the seeds this way and that, and in no time at all the feeders are empty, and they are so aggressive that the "desirable" birds end up with nothing. No matter how many times I chase them away, they come back. Fortunately, eventually they move on because they come in spells, but during the times they're here, I am really determined to scare them off.

Isn't it a good thing God isn't like that? What if He only wanted to feed and care for the pretty ones, or the ones who sang well? What is those who are more financially successful gained more favor with God? What if those who were of sweeter nature were treated with special by God? What if God chased away those of us the world deems as "the undesirables?" Wow. That's a scary thought to me. I can't say I'm sure I would be welcome at God's feeders if that were the case! I certainly have plenty of traits that God must surely view as undesirable, but thankfully, God doesn't operate that way. We are all beautiful to God. We are all desirable to God, and He wants to feed each one of us. All are welcome at God's feeders. I thank God every day for his great, fair and unbiased love.

"As for those who seemed to be important-whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance-those men added nothing to my message." (Galatians 2:6)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

One Word At A Time: Farm

By Ginny (MAD21)

This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Peter Pollock's place.
After you finish here, be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Farm.

I have personally never lived on a farm. But I grew up in an area that was primarily farm land so I had lots of friends who did. My best friend, for example, lived about 45 minutes away from me. On the only road between us were your standard crops growing pretty much year round, but there were also two particular farms where over the years, we mastered the art of holding our breaths. The first one was the pig farm. I personally think nothing except perhaps chickens and a sugar factory (from beets) stink more than a pig farm <blech!>. But it was a small farm so it wasn't hard to hold our breaths until we were past the smell. But then there was the second farm... I don't remember how many acres Mr. Simplot owned on that particular farm, let's just say it seemed like miles, and miles, and miles... of STEER. On a day with comfortable temperatures it wasn't a big deal to drive by this farm, it smelled, but you could tolerate it for the 10 minutes or so it took you to pass the area. However, on hot and rainy days... that was a whole other story. Ya, we never mastered holding our breaths long enough to get past the smell on those days.

My dad grew up in eastern Idaho on a farm. He spent his entire youth tending the fields (no animals much to my disappointment). There are a few things I remember my dad talking about regarding farm life from his perspective: he HATED overalls (because he was forced to wear them all the time); he was never allowed to plow the ground for new planting because for some reason he couldn't ever drive in lines straight enough for my grandfather or my uncle; and it was HARD work.

Aside from hearing endless farming stories, having fresh fruit and veggies available during the various seasons, the one thing I liked most about growing up around farm land in Idaho was irrigation. I know that is an odd thing like about living near farms, but think about it from a child's perspective... what more could you ask for during the long hot summers but gigantic sprinklers and ditches to jump in and tube down. Seriously awesome. I remember my dad telling me years ago that just one section of a particular kind of irrigation sprinkler was around $250,000. The first thing I thought of? "Wow, that's an expensive sprinkler for me to run through."

Our challenge to Make a Difference... to many.

I talked a little last Friday in my Fingerprint post about how we have such a different perspective when it comes to water in this country than others do in many areas around the world. My friend and co-blogger Matt over at Becoming Last was inspired to do something big, really big.

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God Is... Sovereign Creator

By Nick (My Experience As...)

Created by Love

When we approach God one of the hardest things to accept is that He doesn’t need us. As a parent I might have thought at one point I didn’t “need” my children, but they define me. I am a dad. I can’t be a dad without children. More than that, I can’t image my life without them. I need them. They make me whole.

God is nothing like that.  He is whole and complete without us.  Some may feel that He is “more” with us, but that would make him less than infinite. That is what makes Creation such an incredible event.

For an eternity, that is an infinite span into the past (I say span instead of time because time as we might be able to comprehend didn’t exist because it assumes a beginning), God existed and needed nothing. At some point He made a decision to create.  In one instant nothing existing and in the next instant everything existed.

Science points to this instant. In my “I Owe You an Apology” series I delve into this in detail, but there is so much more than just the science.  In creating the very foundation of … well everything, God wrote a giant “I love you” across the Universe.

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