We've been anticipating the arrival of our grain grinder for some time now. And it finally made its way to our door today, with much excitement on our part! I have to work tonight otherwise I would be baking a batch of bread with freshly ground grain! Check out the pics below for the un-boxing. Check out Picasa for the rest of the photos.
Well, that's not exactly true. What would be, is that bees absolutely love me. It seems I am always the one to get eaten alive if there are any mosquitoes around us during the humid summer months. But do you know what I hate more than mosquitoes? Ironically, it's the trucks that come spraying to kill them multiple times a week.
I have been taking strides towards becoming a beekeeping this year. Just yesterday my Langstroth hives were delivered, along with all the beekeeping supplies I need to get started. All with much thanks to my beekeeping resource and friend, Scott Shold. Scott is a local beekeeper who is getting me and a few other people started with beekeeping this year. My situation is a little different than Scott, as they spray insecticides multiple times a week during the summer around my house, where I was planning on keeping the bees.
I have asked Scott, and the jury is still out. But it looks like I am going to have to find another place to put my hives. The Illinois Department of Public Health said a few things about this that caught my attention. Particularly the lethal ingredients sprayed right out front of my house,
The most commonly used products are synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (such as Scourge® and Anvil®), pyrethrins and malathion. All insecticides used for mosquito control in Illinois must be registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA). You can find fact sheets about some insecticides commonly used to kill mosquitoes on the USEPA web site.As well as,
During the pesticide registration process, USEPA considers the effect of insecticides on wildlife. If the insecticide is applied according to label directions, wildlife should not be killed or injured with the exception of insects similar in size to mosquitoes. If you have any concerns about this issue after they have sprayed in your area, contact IDA.
So in my excitement of it all, I might need to relocate my plans to another location. We shall soon see, as my bees will be coming in the next few weeks!
If you have any information about honey bees and adult mosquito insecticides, or petitioning the mosquito trucks to leave town, please give me a holla.
We have been following the happenings of a Church in Seattle WA, and this Easter season looks to be quite powerful for the congregation there. Check out the below preview, for a taste of what good Friday is going to look like for them. I'm excited!
They have a live broadcast scheduled on April 2, and I was toying around with the idea of getting a bunch of people together to view it collectively. If you're interested, drop me a line. Or post something here.
For more information, check out whokilledgod.com
I started reading a great book last night called Parenting in the Pew, by Robbie Castleman. It's a great book, and it truly encourages my spirit with keeping our children with us in worship. It seems like such a hard thing for people to grasp, but this book really puts eloquently what Amy and I have been trying to explain to people about our children in the service. Here is an excerpt from page 37/38, referencing Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony:
In many of our modern, sophisticated congregations, children are often viewed as distractions. We tolerate children only to the extent they promise to become "adults" like us. Adult members sometimes complain that they cannot pat attention to the sermon, they cannot listen to the beautiful music, when fidgety children are beside them in the pews. "Send them away," many adults say. Create "Children's Church" so these distracting children can be removed in order that we adults can pay attention. Interestingly, Jesus put a child in the center of his disciples, "in the midst of them," in order to help them pay attention. ...The child was a last-ditch effort by God to help the disciples pay attention to the odd nature of God's kingdom. Few acts of Jesus are more radical, countercultural, than his blessing of children.
Here is an excerpt from the book, referenced in that quote above:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me..."
- Matthew 18:1-5
We know that sitting with your children during the service isn't what everyone wants, but it is truly what we want. As the book says in the first chapter, we want to say, "Daddy, I'd like you to meet my children."
So we made the first DQ run tonight! We decided to leave the kids in the dark on the plan, and surprise them at the last minute. We took a long walk, hoping to throw them off the trail. But as soon as we rounded the corner and DQ came into sight, Noah exclaimed, "Are we going to get ice cream? I think we are." And he was right. A couple dilly bars and a waffle cone for mama before the sun set and left us with a run home in the cold. The good weather is only as good as the sun stays in the sky!
On our walk, we saw a brick structure in someone's yard and Noah exclaimed, "Look! It's an altar!" We told him that it wasn't, but didn't really want to explain what it truly was either. It looked like one of those Mary shrines people have in their yard. We did think was funny however, so we took a photo of the "altar."
