Onward into Summer

So, mom and I sat down yesterday to look at calendars for the summer and I am STOKED. To be honest - I haven’t used a calendar all year.  This has been the pinnacle of my messy existence and I am ready for it to come to an end. I am going to get organized and calm down. I don’t know how exactly that is going to happen.  

In fact, one of the most awesome employees we have ever had at Bethesda is leaving us in a month… and our guys just keep on getting older.  In the meantime - Jarod and dad just keep making bigger and bigger gardens and getting more trees. Students rotate - and we continue to make more global friends (just made my first Indian and Pakistani friends this last week and REALLY enjoyed that).  Kids are growing more involved and I hear from others that dreaded word of “busy” expands through the next dozen years. I can’t imagine “busier” - nor do I want to.  

In fact, Jarod has been speaking to me lately about the difference between “work” and “toil” and how one is God ordained and proceeded the curse and one is simply a futile exhaustion as result of the curse.  I have known for years that Jesus is “our Sabbath rest”  - but what does that mean?  What does that look like in our day to day - too-long-of-day lives?  Honestly, I don’t know.  But it has become one of the my great missions to find out. I have know people far “busier” than me who live life in fullness and grace and calmness… and I know people who do little and are constantly stressed out.  And then of course there is personality and seasons and age and support ranges.  

I think of Eccl. 3.  A time for EVERYTHING… and EVERYTHING in time.  How do I live in the appropriate time? Recently I heard my cousin describe our life (specifically life at Bethesda) as living in a MASH emergency zone… and it struck me with depth.  How do we live in the humorous chaos of this existence and avoid PTSD?  That feeling of constant striving?  The students who have graduated this year… and even some from before tell me they are struggling with depression and unbearable stress of their future purpose and great unknown.  And I tell them to rest in Jesus.  And we are honest enough for them to say, “To me - that is stupid!”  I get that.  Often to me it is stupid.  When a 2 minute run into the pharmacy results in a man with disabilities and a broken arm dizzy on Percocet missing in a 90 degree parking lot - the weight of responsibility sits heavy and rest alludes.  Two minutes.  This whole thing could fall apart in any 2 minutes. That thought induces PTSD. Inevitably ... without faith - without rest - without Jesus.  This is just me rambling… my thinking… about how to make this beautiful existence of ours sustainable... any thoughts are appreciated... what does rest and balance look like for you?

Cutting my hair felt good.

Jude is into his mess... but I'm hoping the heat gets to him :)

We are so proud of Salah's graduation and what a professional he has grown into - 

and of course we love all the cousins he brought our way :)

Here are some MBA's who obviously don't know how to handle children yet.  :)

Annie with her wonderful roommates!

Some of my favorite men.

Good bye to our dear sweet Vanessa... :(

So we held the graduation party at Bethesda this year.  This is all the graduates who were there... but only the ones who had lived with us got the honor of planting trees...

I laughed at Team Meeting when I saw how many people it takes to run Bethesda... and to think mom and dad did it alone for so many years.  What is this world coming to??

Goodbyes upstairs are always weepy...

But another BLAST at Bear Trap..

And then back home for a quality week with family from 4 different states...

(More of some of my favorite men)  

And finally - back home to impromptu outdoor BBQ's... all - summer - long :)

holiday to holiday

So a weekly blog was obviously too much for me to handle. 

How about just capturing life from Easter to Mother's Day?  

 So.. Aron's mom had a baby... and these boys have been spending a lot of time together.  Sleep overs, movies, but mostly just running around the farm avoiding work and terrorizing sisters and chickens... like any boy of 7-9 is want to do.

Unless of course the sister is terrorizing the chicken first... then they must tattle.

A few boys from school came to farm a played king of hill... among other things... and Jude says, "I don't know why everyone in my class wants to come over all the time." I hate to tell him it isn't his warm an friendly personality.  Of course nor is it the GIANT sticker pile that one boy rolled into at the bottom of the hill - after my warm and friendly son pushed him off.

We've been getting ready to say goodbye to unpredictable Annie... but the little blonde visitors always bring her out of her room :)

And we have found mutant asparagus in our yard.  This thing is a bit creepy... but it is super cool that Randy picks over 10 lbs a day at Bethesda!!!

Megan and I died my hair red... well just the tips... and it is already fading.... so now to decide on the hair cut :)

We started a CSA experiment... seemed to be a huge amount of interest... but since Randy tends to talk 45 mites at each stop this may not be the most time conducive activity :)

The Hughes learned how to plant trees...

Kids for Truth Picnic... windy weather brought us indoors but I am NOT going to complain because the kids still had fun and we have had some awesome weather for other events this month!!

Also... we found this dead fish in the middle of a road on our walk to school. SO PUZZLING.

That was the day 3rd grade and kindergarten came to plant at our house... they missed the dead fish in the road but accidentally tried to kill off our fish with fertilizer. Yikes!  But the Saudis made that look like nothing when they accidentally poured all the salted ice water on the garden the children had just planted.  So... I'm really not having a garden this year.... or maybe ever.

Seonjin's birthday coincided with the ice cream social.  She just really loved all that attention!  

What a line up of servers and ice cream!

How many ways can I say I love our front porch... and the love that grows on our front porch :)

And... the poor tormented fish... and Kingson... how we will miss this man...

And how we miss this little man... and my kids are just terrible at long distance communication and the adults are perhaps worse.

We have been eating some AWESOME garden produce meals.  Bok choy and onion stir fry with sides of Asparagus and flash fried spicy radishes.  They are happy eaters... but they'd take a snickers:)

Also - John showed me a picture of his distant relative... and I think the resemblance is a bit freaky - I SO want John to grow his hair out now!

So - there was the little snake that got lost in the van... and then 2 days later there was this snake that did make it all the way to show and tell and back to the farm... wooh!!

And there was field day!!!

And there was final prep day for Garden day... of course on the same day... but no big deal because these guys had EVERYTHING under control.

And there was our last diner out as a family - off to Cancun - where the women owed the men dinner but they were so chivalrous to cover the bill... which was good because it turned out Lucy brought a whole 9 cents to cover her share.

And then there was Garden Day yesterday with the most AMAZING weather and the blessings just kept coming with surprise quality volunteers and a great community turn out.

This is my family that my parents chose for me... and I love them and I am proud of them.

This is my family that I choose - and I love them too... and I am proud of them too!

And this is my husband who I chose.... who is BEYOND amazing.  Because he doesn't really like people and he'd rather get 9 hours of sleep - but he loves us all so much better than we could ever have asked for.

And these are some friends... and life is GOOD.

Also ... on mother's day when the house get's quite... they are just having a very serious conference in the guest bedroom - probably about how to solve all the world's problems.

Well at least they pray for rain... and 20/100s is something.... but I think I'll fall asleep praying for more.

So that's it til after memorial day.  K?