Beauty and bounty

Wilson's Apple Orchard is one of my favorite places to go this time of year. If you haven't been there yet, it's time to go! The Cornally's and I went yesterday and just soaked up the beauty all around, walking up and down the hills, in between the rows of apple trees, looking for those flags letting us know which ones are ready to pick. Burgundy and Ginger Golds are ready now; Song of September should be perfect next weekend. Anyone want to come join me next weekend? Shawn said this is not something we should do once a year for the fun of it, but we should be here every weekend getting the freshest bounty of the latest ripe variety. Let's stock up for the winter with apples, applesauce, apple cider, apple butter, apple turnovers, apple pie - would you ever get tired of apples? Not me! When are you coming, family? Remember, it isn't just apples, either. It's pumpkin time; they are turning orange now. How about next weekend?

Prayer for a change

I usually like to read My Utmost for His Highest. Today was no exception, but believe me, there are exceptions. Sometimes, it is either over my head, I don't agree, or it's application is just too hard. But today's post really hit home. I hope you will read it, but in case you don't, I included a few quotes from it. When my kids were little, I prayed all the time, which is probably because I was at my wit's end a lot and did not know what to do. "Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end." Although becoming a mom was the best thing that ever happened to me, it was hard sometimes, and even scary, so I prayed often: most of the time for protection for my children and for them to grow up loving Jesus. I prayed with them at meals, at bedtime, on walks, when they hurt, when they were proud or thankful or scared. Somewhere along the way, we stopped doing that together. I am not sure if it was so gradual I didn't notice or if I made a decision to stop doing the "mother says it is time to pray" role. But I did notice that when we get together now, we usually don't pray. I pray by myself, but we don't pray as a family. So today's message hit me hard. "God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature." I still pray for my kids (and now my grandkids) all the time. I still pray for their protection and that they will grow in their love of Jesus. But I don't pray with them and I don't know why. "When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished." I want to return to the "mom says it is time to pray" role, at least when I am serving the meal. If I am going to nourish someone with physical food, shouldn't I also offer to nourish them with the life of God is us?

Blueberries!

I got an exciting text from Lianna saying, "Blueberries are ready to pick! You should take S & S!" So Sierra, Savanna, and I took the trip out Sand Road to the U-Pick blueberry farm. The drive itself is worth it - the amazing array of colors of all the wildflowers and trees and crops along the way is stunning! I kept saying to the girls, "Oh my gosh, would you LOOK AT THAT!" They started joining in with it too. "Did you see those purple ones?" I taught them about Queen Anne's Lace and promised to show them the lacy flower up close in my backyard.

The blueberry farm is a favorite place of mine. It used to be the strawberry farm with the goats that would run to the top of their roof to get treats when you dropped a quarter at the bottom. Very entertaining. But now it is blueberries. We strapped the milk jug buckets onto our waist with a belt so we could use two hands to pick. That was important because we found the best bushes on the place and could just pull handfulls off at a time. We felt like we hit the jackpot! The girls were great workers and never complained. Even when we were ready to go and headed back to the farmhouse, they would still stop along the way and say, "Oh here is a perfect blueberry!" and "Oh, I just can't stop picking!" (that last line was one I repeated). We came home and made the best blueberry muffins we have ever made (stressing the word "we").What a lovely day! I am just crazy about Iowa and that I have sweet little nieces who enjoy it with me.

Song of Solomon 2:12 Spring flowers are in blossom all over.
   The whole world's a choir—and singing!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

When people I respect tell me I should read a book, I usually do and I rarely regret it. Shawn and Lianna recommended Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and I have already devoured my way half through it. I don't know to explain the importance of this book other than it is changing my worldview. (It has changed Shawn into a Locovorus Rex.) I have always had an obsession with food, but it was not in a healthy way. Now I think I am reclaiming the joy of eating through the healthiest choices possible. Don't get me wrong - this is not a diet book. It is a delightful, enlightening narrative of one family's move from Tucson to an Appalachian farm, abandoning industrial food in favor of only locally grown food. No more processed foods- but it is not about deprivation, it is about amazing abundance and FLAVOR! Did you know lettuce has flavor? Iceberg from the store does not even seem like the same food I am eating from my garden. I have been eating Shawn's homemade doughnuts and bacon, Lianna's lattice top cherry pie (cherries picked and pitted by us), Melanie's pasta salad, and more. It is all delicious and I lost almost 2 more pounds this week. Again, this is not an "eat all you want and lose weight" diet book; it is very informative about the food industry and what we have been missing out on. I highly recommend it. Enjoy the Iowa harvest - it is wonderful!

Isaiah 62:9
but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.

Live Simply

My mom and siblings gave me a little pocket charm that says "Live Simply". It was chosen for me because they know me well and understand that is what I want to embrace. I have a tiny plaque that says, "A happy Family. A cozy house, A heart at peace. All is well" That says it all for me. But it isn't always simple to live simply, is it? It is easy to get caught in the complicated webs of career, commitments, consumerism, other people's problems,the insanity of politics and economics, the multitude of philosophies...the list could go on. Even if I can keep myself out of that madness, my brain just likes to complicate things. So, I decided the first step in living simply is thinking simply - the 'what and when' of my thinking . The only time I am really stressed is when I am regretting yesterday or worrying about the future, so the 'when' of my thinking simply has to be in the now. OK, so brain is engaged in the now. Next, what do I think about in the now? I have to decide what to do with my day. So I choose to live my hobbit-like existence worrying myself only with what to plant where on my little plot of land, what is ready to harvest today, how much to eat and how much to store, should I go play with children at the Cornally's or keep reading my book, should I take a walk or go for a swim? Simple problems with no wrong answers. If God should choose to call me out of the Shire and go on a mission to fight some world evil, I will be ready and willing. (That is how I kind of view my job). But it is still July and life is indeed simple. Today the beans need picked. Can we eat them all or should I freeze some? I might play with children at the Cornally's while Lianna freezes sweet corn. An afternoon swim would be nice. A happy family. A cozy house. A heart at peace. All is well.
1 Thessalonians 4:9, 11-12: You have been taught by God to love each other....and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I can see clearly now

I stopped writing. Not entirely...through encouragment of my family and some truly happy moments, I could still write occasionally. But the clouds have had me blind for awhile and I couldn't write much. Also, my name has changed so I had to change my google account and it took me forever to figure out how to get my blog from bailey.janis to jan.powers. But here it is. I read through my past entries and I am blown away by the changes in my life over the past few years. It is really painful and really beautiful all at the same time. That is how I tend to experience life. I wonder if other people feel this way too or if it is just me. I can have deep pain over one thing and absolute ecstasy over another all in the same day. Example: November 19, 2010. My baby girl had a baby girl - I was there to witness the first breath of Lenora. That is the same day my divorce from Darrell was finalized. I have never been happier and sadder in my life than that day. But happy wins over sad, good triumphs evil, and this blog will not end here. Even though most of my previous posts contain stories of Darrell, I will not erase this blog or start a brand new one. The whole me continues, happy/sad, good/bad,real me. My journey is not the fairytale that I thought it was, but I believe it will have a better ending than I could have dreamed up. I may not even see it until it is all over, but I still believe it. I am so thankful for my family who stays with me on this journey no matter what.
My family gave me the best birthday bash I could possibly imagine. I am now officially a senior citizen, which is weird because I can still feel a 5 year old girl in my heart that has been around for 55 years. It is possible that I could double my age before going on to the next life, so in a way, life is only half over. Probably not, but it COULD happen. What will the next half bring? I hope this birthday party was the beginning of what it will continue to look like: family that stays as long as they can, friends and neighbors that drop by to join the fun, sunshine, really good food and drink, vegetable and flower garden, art, great music, talking, laughing, dancing, singing, playing games, sweet surprises, loving words, hugs and kisses, babies crying, children laughing, phone calls and cards from those who couldn't come, the grace of God covering it all. I have everything I need. Thank you family. Thank you, God.

Eli

Last Tuesday was a fantastic day! I got to leave work at noon because I had a very important meeting with very important people - Melanie and Eli came to Iowa City! We met at Lianna's and then went to Wilson's Orchard. It was a beautiful day, but I didn't spend much time looking at the beautiful scenery because I could not take my eyes off of Eli. Check out the pics - it's just me babbling at Eli and trying to get him to smile again and again. He smiles so easy but I just couldn't get enough of it. Isn't he so handsome? Mel calls him muscular...of COURSE it's muscles! We also drove down a gorgeous country road and enjoyed the sights downtown Iowa City. No, there are no pictures of any of that - just me oooing and ahhing over my Eli and enjoying the time with my beautiful daughter. This is the stuff that life's about.