World Food Day 2012

Our Garden Adventure - 06

Today I worked for about 3 1/2 hours to spread the rest of the second load of wood chips. My lovely bride was kind enough to lay out the newspapers, so that made things go a lot faster. Well, the garden is ready to sit until spring now. Whew! Hard work but well worth it for how this will bless our family! As for tonight ... I'm going to sleep so well!

Our Garden Adventure - 05

Load #2 of wood chips from Larry was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday! Thanks Larry! Mr. Bob from across the street offered me his wheelbarrow and pitchfork to use. So kind. I think he's as excited as I am! And I have plenty of newspapers from our friends and neighbors.

Luke immediately conquered the mountain. This also gives you a good idea of how big this pile is!

Johnna mowed the areas that we plan to claim as garden.

It was a beautiful day for working outside!

After about 5 hours of work much was accomplished! Lots of water throughout the afternoon was a necessity. Johnna fixed a delicious lentil soup for dinner.

Still some more to do tomorrow before the rain comes this weekend.

The big pile is much smaller now! Just a few more hours in the morning.

The peas in the current garden are looking great! Makes me excited to think how much we'll harvest next spring, summer, and fall!

A garden here ... a garden there

This project posted on Pure Charity today, and I know the folks at JAM. Since it has to do with gardens, I thought it would be appropriate. So if you're following our garden adventure, perhaps you'd like to help back this garden project in Mozambique!

Our Garden Adventure - 04

I finished spreading the first load of wood chips. The entire load covered 400-500 square feet. The first thing I do before spreading out the wood chips is mow the area where we're going to put the newspaper. Cutting the grass very short makes it easy for the kids to see where to lay down the newspaper. Fortunately, there wasn't much of a breeze today, so it was pretty easy to get and keep all the papers in place, which helps the kids from getting frustrated!

If you're wondering what the gray area is in the upper left corner of the first picture, it's the ashes from the grill. In my current little garden area, the green peas are flowering, and the mint is like a bush!

We're not done yet! Larry said he expects to have another load of good quality wood chips for me this week. Also, a friend from church has been saving newspapers for me for a few weeks. Combined with the daily newspapers from several neighbors, I've got a pretty good stash in the garage. FYI - I did call the local Embassy Suites regarding newspapers, and they said they no longer deliver a paper to every hotel room, so they were unable to help. No worries, friends and neighbors have been happy to help!

Opportunity Cost

Three years ago, I wrote a post that I said would be continued. Alas, the continuation. When is it that a profit can become a loss?   

"Whatever was profit I now consider a loss, compared ..."

There is a business principle called opportunity cost. InvestorWords defines it like this:

The cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision. For example, if an asset such as capital is used for one purpose, the opportunity cost is the value of the next best purpose the asset could have been used for. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes, but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement.

When Paul was writing about opportunity cost, he was comparing his pedigree with knowing Jesus of Nazareth. Now, you have to keep in mind that Paul (formerly Saul) was SOMEBODY in his day. Just before the comparison, he lays out his credentials. They are weighty indeed, and he had placed tremendous value in them ... until. Until he met Jesus, and his life was turned completely upside down.

Now he's writing a letter to a group of Jesus followers, many of whom might have been struggling with their faith. Paul essentially says, "I understand. I thought I had it all. Lots of prestige. Tons of street cred. But it's just a big pile of, well, you know ... compared to knowing Jesus. In fact, EVERYTHING is just garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus. Losing everything? Those things weren't worth anything anyway. Knowing Jesus? Priceless!"

Jesus once told a story about a man who found a treasure buried in a field. When he discovered it, he went and SOLD ALL THAT HE HAD and bought the field. Opportunity cost. When you find something of greater ~ surpassing ~ value than that which you currently have, you're willing to exchange it all, that you may possess that which is of far greater worth.

Check it out for yourself. Paul wrote a short letter to some followers of Jesus who were in Phillipi (modern day Greece, I believe). Jesus' story about the man and the treasure was recorded by a tax collector named Matthew.

Our Garden Adventure - 03

After getting the wood chips delivered, we set out to get newspaper. Several neighbors were very generous, and I was able to get a bunch of newspapers while at a company meeting. We were all staying in a hotel that delivered the USA Today to each room each morning, so I asked my co-workers to give me the paper when each one was finished reading it. I probably could have asked the hotel manager for all used papers for a day or two, and that's something I'm considering to do here in Bentonville. I have a friend who manages a hotel locally, so I'll call her tomorrow to check on it. If there are 200 rooms in a hotel and I'm able to get papers from 1/2 of those rooms, that should provide what we need!

The greatest challenge to getting the newspapers put down was that Isaac kept stopping to read the comics section!

A few newspapers then a few wood chips to keep the papers from blowing away.

Making progress!

Isaac worked hard. Glad we have that little red wagon!

We're getting there!

Luke and Isaac spreading out the wood chips.

Done for today!