Month: September 2010 (Page 5 of 5)

A few weeks ago, Mark the Youth Director asked us each to share why we were present at the meeting, committing to a year of youth-filled Sunday nights. He shared about the amazing summer he’d just wrapped up and we each took turns trying to explain why we’d spend a few hours each week with the kids. I had trouble putting my finger on it – my generalization was when they had one of those aha! moments. I do love that moment.

But this Saturday took the cake. Well, cupcakes, to be more specific. One of the kids from my youth directing days pledged his love and commitment to a beautiful young lady, and I was privileged to be a witness. I watched as he couldn’t stop giving her kisses (I’m pretty sure he paid people to clink their glasses). I heard the speeches as Casey’s family said all the wonderful things about him and praised the man that he has become.

I put on my big girl pants and didn’t cry. Out of sheer joy. For him.

Over the past few years, communication dwindled with Scott, like so many others that I thought about and prayed for for so long. Messages in passing, prayers when I remembered his trips and lots of asking his dad about how things were going. So when the invitation arrived I nearly piddled on the floor with glee.

Oh, what an evening. The beauty of love realized and Christ celebrated. It was enchanting. To top it off, we were seated with another wonderful family of which I have fond memories, and I had the opportunity to chat it up with several other kids-who-are-no-longer-kids. Extrovert hangover, for sure.

But back to the beauty. I took it upon myself to steal Scott away for a few, just to tell him how thrilled I was for his joyous day and to offer best wishes on his marriage. And I did make sure to ask (albeit, 5 hours too late if his response was negative) if the lucky lady *knew* what a wonderful guy she had in him. I think she does.

Scott tried to tell me “thanks” for “all you’ve done for me.” And the compliment was appreciated, but completely backward. Sure, I put in a few hours planning bible studies and events that had a goal of helping him grow in his relationship with Christ. Maybe it did, but only God really knows. And as it says, I’m just watering the garden, I can’t cause anything to grow anyway.

But as I was watering a seed that was planted & tended long before me (by a whole family, really), I was standing in pouring down rain. I was soaked to the bone with blessings to just have had the experience of walking through life with Scott, and with so many of the other kids. Even if at an arms length away.

It sounds cliche, I know. I wish I could draw it as a picture or explain it with better words. While helping these kids was nice, what really makes my eyes well up and my heart skip a beat is seeing them so insanely content. Exploding with love. Ready to take on new challenges. Loving others. Seeking God. There’s no other word I can use to explain it except beautiful.

I don’t say that with an air of wearing a sticker that says “I helped make that” (I’ve read the studies and I’m cool with it). If I were to pick a sticker that most describes my feelings, it would say, “Wow. What a privilege that God has let me know this kid and watch him grow into so much. How was I so lucky to get to know him along the way? My life is much more rich with this relationship.”

Mark’s question was difficult because it was backward. I feel like the peasant coming up to the offering with all I have, but in comparison to the blessings, it really is only petty cash. Whatever I can offer any student really doesn’t come close when put into the light of the blessing of relationships. To have one, with any kid, is worth far more.

Last Sunday, the husband canned 9 jars of homemade salsa. It took no less than ALL DAY to complete said task – there was lots of chopping and simmering and mess-making to happen, but we were very happy with the final product. We have another round of tomatoes ripening at the moment, so there’s a chance we get to repeat the festivities again next weekend.

Just one day prior, I started reading a new book. Let me go on record by stating that husband does not like it when I start with that phrase. It typically means: a) a discussion will ensue b) regarding our current life habits c) involving us questioning best practices d) involving some of his favorite things. I don’t sugar coat it any more. He no longer pretends it’s cute or admirable. We just plough into conversation.

So the new book is called The Face on your Plate about current food practices in the US. The author opens the book with the notion that he is a vegan and thinks everyone should be one as well. I appreciate that he doesn’t cover his agenda (though that is not a dining lifestyle with which I will participate. I don’t think anything quite that extreme is necessary, but even more so it’s sheer laziness on my part). But he’s  a smart guy who has been in the field for a while and, though it’s attached to Hinduism, I appreciate that he “gets it” that food and faith have a symbiotic relationship. So I continued reading his book.

He offered lots of facts about the cost of raising meat – to the environment (greenhouse gas emissions), to the farmer and to the consumer. He brought up a thought that I had not so long ago, but in a differing vein – where I questioned growing broccoli instead of feed corn, he offered the advantages of growing lettuce rather than offering the land to animals grown for mass meat production. He also got my mind stirring when he talked about the gardening practices of levels, that foods work together to treat the soil well and then everything is happy and healthy.

Naturally, I pushed us toward changing some of our eating practices; I’m good with the 8000 pounds of cow in our freezer because of how it was procured – local farmers, good feeding practices. Happy cows and happy people. But I’d love to be largely self-sufficient with a bulk of our food – a massive garden, some chickens for eggs, a cow named Bess for milk (she’d have a bell around her neck for sure). Oh, and about 9 children to do all the work on the farm. We might change our last name to Bontragger and dress in all muted colors.

But I digress. J’s (very good) point was: well, that’s a lot of work. And there are times that you don’t even like to water the garden, let alone weed it (though, to my defense, I have been primary weeder this season!). To be able to grow and then preserve that amount of food would be a lot of work.

And that’s when the lightbulb came on. There is a reason good food is expensive. It costs someone something. When you want things fresh and local and sans industrialization, that means that someone has to do the planting, weeding, tending, picking, cooking and preserving. And if 9 jars of salsa took all day, what will a winter’s worth of green beans take? Not to mention the back breaking task of picking and washing and snapping. And for the food we’re consuming right now, someone is doing that. And if we’re paying little for our food, those who are tending to it are making even less on their labor (because the Guy who puts on the label will surely take his cut).

It really got me thinking about my cheapskate nature. Everyone knows I love a bargain. Clothes, food, endcap sales – I am my mothers’ daughter. But now I have to question – at what cost are these deals coming? At who’s hands? I know that my purchasing decisions barely make a dent in corporate profits – they will hardly miss little ol’ me, but as KLR says, do I want to be part of the problem or part of the solution?

Just food for thought.