Saturday was a dream.
I slept over at my parents house in the country then spent the day with my mom walking around the Capital and listening to farmers/ranchers of the more “earth friendly” practices talk about why they went organic and why they hate that word (does it seem fair that our government owns the rights to that word?).
After the hot day in the Texas sun, mom, my friend Chris, and I drove out to Green Gate Farms. We drove down a short, dusty rode and parked next to the traditional red barn. I stepped out and instantly was drawn to the goats hanging out in their pen…then I saw the chickens…then the fatest pigs I’ve ever seen.
After signing in we walked the small farm oohing and ahhing over the tomato plants, eggplants, greens, and so forth peaking up from the earth. In the middle of the fields a long table with a white cloth and oil lamps sat elegantly inviting us to a great healthy meal and good community under the vast Texas sky. Stars winked back and forth as we sat down and got to know our company. As we talked family style plates of locally grown foods were passed around as were ideas, political thoughts, and funny stories.
It was a surreal moment. I felt like we were posing for the fall issue of Martha Stewart …. or maybe a special on Planet Green. My biggest regret was that I forgot my camera.
At the end of the night I finally met the woman who runs the farm. She was very friendly, smart, genuine and…well dressed. She walked around the farm in heeled boots. I was impressed in every way. I shared with her my plans to learn more about permaculture and LEED, my desire to teach others how to turn their lawn into food, and my desire to have my own farm. She encouraged me greatly, suggested a book, and invited me to join the other volunteers who work on their farm. I was very excited about the opportunity to actually get involved on a farm that uses healthy, natural process to grow food. I cannot wait to go back…I’ve been dreaming about it for a few days now.
Tonight I walked to Barnes and Noble. I bought a small coffee and began browsing the Christian book section. As usually I laughed at the self esteem/self help books masked as christianity and bemoaned the lack of intellegent, Christ-based non-fiction. Another trend I have started to notice of the past year is the strange desire to paint Christians as some sort of dangerous rebels. Why is this so cool? I don’t understand why we have to dress ourselves up all the time, trying to make us seem mysterious and dangerous. One book claimed that to follow Christ was to leave monotony behind and go on a crazy adventure. It just blows my mind. I don’t know where they find this stuff in the bible. Unless you become a deep jungle missionary or serve in a hostile country you are not going to find too much adventure being a normal person who loves Jesus. Yes you will find some issues living in the modern world and applying your faith, but my life is very monotonous and I find it just wonderful to serve Christ where I am. Those of us normal nine-to-fivers have just as valid a mission field as anyone else, but it is not glamorous so the authors dress it up and say that we are rebels because we are not having sex freely with anyone and we are not “bad”. Why do we need to dress Christ up? Are you bored with Him? Why can’t you just focus on Him, the cross and trying to share the gospel with others?
I feel like a lot of self esteem issues and desires to seem cool and dangerous will fall away if we focus on the Cross.
Peace and Blessings.
