Mexico

KC and I are leaving in a little over 4 days... I've started packing. On our list of what to pack, it says no bikinis, short shorts or tight shirts... that's too bad, I guess I'll have to put all that stuff back in the closet! :) We decided on bringing one check-in suitcase (plus we will each have our backpacks). I cannot believe that airlines will not let you check-in even ONE suitcase without charging you! You'd figure after all the fees and taxes (and not serving food anymore), they would allow one check-in ...
I have become a little nervous about going, but I just keep telling myself to let God use me to do His work... I go with no expectations, no to do lists, no time tables. That takes me completely out of my comfort zone... I know this trip is going to grow me and I'm excited about that. I think the scariest part is that I don't speak a lick of Spanish! Tu parle francais anyone?
Here is the website for Harvest Hands Ministries - it has pictures and info about where we are going and what we will be doing... scroll down to mission trips. Anne Bennet, a nurse on our team is also leading some women's medical outreach programs while we are there as well. This is something new (and exciting).

http://www.harvesthandsministries.org/

Here are some prayer needs - Safe travel, that we wouldn't lose our luggage (we have 2 plane changes both ways), that we would easily connect with the people of Mexico (there are many barriers like language and culture). Also that God's work (and will) would be done in us, Harvest Hands Ministries and the Mexican people. I am nervous about leading vacation bible school for 75-100 kids that don't understand english - I'm feeling insecure about the lesson and speaking in front of them. Please pray for Cory and Cayna... this is the first time we have really been away from Cayna. And she had some negative reactions when Cory was away during the summer. For Bev and Ken... they will be here all week with the kids and the farm... I pray that it won't be overwhelming! I am sure there are more needs... please pray as the Lord leads.

I know that God is preparing the way ahead of us!

The Pig is GONE!!!

YEAH! The pig is GONE! KC, my awesome pig moving husband and Mark, the amazing animal mover were able to push, prod and maneuver 500lbs of sausage (and liverwurst) into the trailer. And yes, Barney was still alive upon entering the trailer. We were not sure how we would ever get him out of the barn alive or if he would come out alive... but it happened. This is another story where I think God has a really funny sense of humor or at least I can picture Him up above us laughing hysterically as we struggle. It only took KC and Mark about 20 minutes to get Barney outside. Then, they had to try and get him into the trailer. Barney wanted no part of that. But they pushed him in backwards. With his rump on the trailer, Barney found a little hole off to one side and he took it...running. He escaped, but Mark was on the move behind him. KC and I got rid of any obstacles and Mark led Barney right to the back of the truck and guess what that pig did? He jumped right into the truck... no arguments, no pushing, no cajoling... nothing - just jumped right in! I know sometimes we need to struggle... even when we are just trying to move a pig... and in those moments, we need to maintain our dignity and keep our religion. But in every situation... there is always an end - and we just have to laugh when after 2 days and many hours of fighting with a pig... he just jumps in!

Happy Birthday, KC!

Happy Birthday to the man of my dreams! October 11th was a fun and beautiful day... We went to the farmer's market (only 1 more to go after we get back from Mexico). The sun was shining, it was warm and there was a brilliant blue sky. We had homemade New England Clam Chowder and biscuits for lunch. Cory and I surprised him with it after soccer practice. Thankfully, KC was able to get the day off from work... KC came home and took a nap and then we had dinner (ribs, salt potatoes and asparagus) and of course, birthday cake (german chocolate cake w/ chocolate ice cream - by the way... the frosting for german chocolate is addicting... and easy to make). It was so nice spending the day together and celebrating Daddy! Enjoy the pics (and Cayna's very expressive nature)!

1 pig, 5 1/2 hours...no luck

Today was the day! We were finally going to get rid of our boar (or as we like to refer to him, our 500lb. money pit)! We acquired him last spring from a friend that raises pigs as well. He gave Barney to us and told us to just pass him on when we were done. He finished his 'job' in May... We didn't find any takers for his services. Let me tell what happened today...
About 8:30am, KC, Cayna and I proceeded up to the barn (Cory was at school, thankfully) - I was dressed not like a farmer, but instead like someone who thought this was going to be an easy job and wanted to look and smell appropriately when going out in public. Through past experience, it has not taken long to move the pigs into the trailer... a little grain and in they go... what pig doesn't like food? That was my first mistake.
After setting up the area to move Barney, we were prepared to let Barney out of his stall and entice him with grain into the trailer. He made it to the barn door, put one foot on the ramp, shook his head no at me and turned around to go back to his stall. KC was behind him with a cattle gate - he couldn't get all the way back in, but the problem now was that we were right next to our sow... Ok everyone, just so you know for future reference - boys like girls, that is the natural way God intended. We cajoled, begged, pleaded, bribed with tomatoes, and yelled - I am proud to say we did not use any choice words as there was a preschooler present, but BOY, did we yell (and mainly at eachother). We put Barney back into his stall... This was after a good 2 hours. Uhh!
After settling down, rethinking our plan and changing my clothes, we decided that it might work better to back the truck up to the 2nd door in the barn. And we built a sort of tunnel system. I even tried to camoflauge the ramp by covering it with leaves, hay, etc. We got the feed bucket ready, had the tomatoes handy and KC was in position with the cattle gate. A little reminder here - Barney weighs at least 500 lbs. - Oh and normally when I'm trying to move a pig (I don't think I'm really any better at moving the pigs than KC, it just usually ends up being me), I use a sweet, high pitched voice, that really sounds nothing like me, but seems to work. With a few more tomatoes, Barney again left his stall and followed us through our new path. He looked at the sunshine, shook his head and turned around....again and again and again... UHHHHH!
KC came up with the brilliant plan... he said, let's just sit quiet and let Barney check it all out. Ok... I can do that. And we waited - probably about 30 minutes. He smelled the door, scratched himself on the door, smelled the yummy food on the trailer waiting for him and he took a step on the ramp! Then he put another foot on the ramp... and a 3rd... and a 4th...
He put his nose on the trailer, felt it bounce a little and went back into the barn! We lost him... again! I have to say that I really wanted to scream at the top of my lungs at this point. I did throw a tomato against the wall sometime during the day (yes, I know, quite the temper). We tried getting him to follow the grain bucket again, tried to get him to follow a tomato path again and well, I think we tried just about everything. I thought maybe it was the sunlight that was bothering him - SO, we put up walls and a roof over the ramp that he needs to walk across (I will show pictures tomorrow). That didn't make a difference either. To make things even better - at this point, Barney decided he had had enough and laid down to take a nap. What could we do, but go have lunch...
During lunch, I said to KC, 'there must be something positive from all of this'. He being the optimist in the family said the following things were positive - 1. We got to spend the day together 2. We were able to shell some beans together during lunch (I don't know how positive this was for me) 3. We learned that Barney is kind of cute depending on the light 4. Cayna did an AMAZING job waiting in the truck 5.We learned that patience really is a virtue and goes a long way when you choose to be patient, esp. with eachother.
I collected some apples during our break and we went back to try again with Barney. He wasn't really done with his nap. He wouldn't budge. And he wasn't hungry. We decided to call it a day. That was about 2pm. The trailer is still backed into position, the ramp is level, secure and covered. We will try again Friday morning...
Here is an excerpt from a pig book we keep handy for situations like this - 'Actually, the most difficult and time-consuming task on a great many farms with hogs is getting them from point A to point B while maitaining a modicum of dignity and your religion.' Well said... now, while I know we won't lose our religion over this, I can't help but think that God really had a good laugh today. To make myself feel better... pigs are listed as one of the smartest creatures on Earth...

Mary of Nazareth

I was sadly disappointed when I finished reading Mary of Nazareth by Marek Halter today. I love reading historical fiction novels - I've read many about women in the Bible (Sarah, Zipporah and Mary Magdalene to name a few). Most of the time, after reading the book, I am inspired to learn more about the story of the woman as the Bible tells it. It is fun to see how people interpret stories differently. And I learn a lot from them. But this book was... it's hard to put it into words - unbelievable is the first word that comes to mind. And yes, I know it is historical fiction, but it should be at least loosely based on fact, right? It was a story about Mary, the mother of Jesus. It started off pretty well, but it came to the part of Jesus' conception and it turned it into something way out there, difficult for me to grab hold of. At the conclusion of the story, the book included a translation of The Gospel of Mary supposedly about Mary, Jesus' mother. Maybe it is my interpretation, but instead of portraying Mary as the strong, loving and chosen mother of God, in the book she became a defiant, rebellious, unwed and prideful mother of a baby boy who SHE wills to be the son of God. I was reading a little bit on the Internet about The Gospel of Mary and it is very controversial about whether the writing actually was written about Jesus' mother or Mary Magdalene. I am NOT a Biblical scholar and this is pretty unknown territory for me. Does anyone have any incite they would like to share? Or a place I can go to learn more? Maybe there is something to the text known as the Gospel of Mary?

Writer's Block

As I read other blogs, I notice that I'm not very loquacious, expressive or humorous in type (yes, I love vocabulary). Which is funny because if you really know me, I don't usually have an issue with figuring out something to say. I have also noticed that things sound MUCH funnier in my head than they do on paper (or on screen I guess is a better way to put it). I was trying to come up with possible explanations for my writer's block - Here is my list -

1. I live a boring life and there isn't much to write about (yeah, right - it is far from boring)

2. I have so much to say... I can't narrow it all down

3. I'm trying too hard

4. I need more hours in a day

5. I wrote too many papers in college and I'm out of words

6. Pictures are worth 1000 words - why write when you can use pictures?

7. I use preschool language all day and when I start to write, I forget how to write and speak like a grown-up

8. I'm afraid to get too personal...

I'm sure there are more excuses, I mean explanations, but truly I can't think of any more at the moment because Cory is making little annoying noises and picking at his sister and she is being little Miss Princess and trying to run the roost. SO, that being said, maybe I'll add one more to the list -

9. Don't try writing when my kids are awake

Leaves...

Yes... that is Cory's bike. I did it too...very fun! If you look towards the hill, you will see Cayna... we started way up there!

These are in no particular order and they do span over 2 days (we saved the pile for today so that Daddy could enjoy the leaves with us too!)

Every year I LOVE to rake the biggest pile of leaves I can (that is, I rake until my back and arms are killing me). Then I let the kids jump in and enjoy. Of course, I do make them sit still for a couple of snapshots first - I have pictures in the leaves every year and I'm sure when the kids are older, they will roll their eyes and not enjoy it so much, but for me... I will keep raking until I'm too old, but not too old to jump in and enjoy...