Does it seem like most what I post about these days is rain or water?
It's because hardly anything else consumes my mind these days. I don't worry much about politics or any other big thing. What consumes me these days is agricultural pursuits and water. Not a day goes by that I'm not carrying water, pumping water, or watching the sky to see if it's going to rain.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Rain!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Rain
Praise God! We are getting a good soaking. Slow and heavy without the winds. Just what we needed here.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Home Church
My wife and I have been trying to start up a small New Testament home church. We have been doing the reading and getting an understanding of what that means, as well as looking for other believers who would participate.
On Wednesday I got a call for a job in Shreveport, Lousianna. I picked up and went without much thought. The problem turned out to be a non-problem and basically I got paid for the trip but there wasn't much real work to be done.
For some reason, the people I was working with immediately identified me as a Christian and we began discussing Christian topics. One man mentioned he was going to a home church meeting that night and I asked if I could go along with him.
First thing you should realize is that this is out of character for "work Ernie". Unlike "internet Ernie", I keep a relatively low profile.
At the home church I was welcomed as if I'd been coming there for decades. It was a very simple affair. We ate, then prayed, then began chatting. At the reading of the bible, I suddenly became aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This was strange to me. I've never felt that in the company of others. On rare occasions, during long prayer sessions, I feel the presence. Never in church. Never amongst others. And it was very clear from their faces that the others could feel it too. One man, the most outspoken (not me), announced that the Holy Spirit was with us. It did not need to be announced! It would have been like saying, "There's Bill!" when Bill was clearly standing by the table.
Now I had not given much backstory to the others about my own personal life at this point, but a man began speaking to me about my purpose here in the desert. He simply said that there's a reason for it and it would be shown to me in time. Then he looked surprised and stated that those words just popped into his mouth.
At the end, we prayed together and a woman beside me began speaking in tongues. I have ALWAYS thought of this as fraudulent. At best I felt the people who do that were decieving themselves and at worst they were practicing deception. From a pastor I believe in, I had read his proof texts which he said proved that speaking in tongues does not happen today. Since I did not believe it in the first place, it was not difficult to convince me.
Still, I cannot believe that with the Holy Spirit so filling the room that I wanted to throw myself on the floor and cry, any Christian would knowingly participate in the fraud.
But there was something extra to this. We were holding hands in a circle and when she began to speak in tongues, my hand went numb as if it was asleep. The numbness proceeded, not in an uncomfortable or painful way, up past my elbow. It persisted for the next two hours until I went to sleep and even in the morning when I woke I could still feel a slight difference in my fingers.
God must know I'm a skeptic and that I would require some physical proof. I would have easily convinced myself that this was fake had it not been for the numbness. That was something I could not easily dismiss.
I returned from Shreveport fundamentally changed. God is moving more overtly in my life now. I am not having to reach quite so far to find Him. I am both pleased and frightened by this.
On Wednesday I got a call for a job in Shreveport, Lousianna. I picked up and went without much thought. The problem turned out to be a non-problem and basically I got paid for the trip but there wasn't much real work to be done.
For some reason, the people I was working with immediately identified me as a Christian and we began discussing Christian topics. One man mentioned he was going to a home church meeting that night and I asked if I could go along with him.
First thing you should realize is that this is out of character for "work Ernie". Unlike "internet Ernie", I keep a relatively low profile.
At the home church I was welcomed as if I'd been coming there for decades. It was a very simple affair. We ate, then prayed, then began chatting. At the reading of the bible, I suddenly became aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This was strange to me. I've never felt that in the company of others. On rare occasions, during long prayer sessions, I feel the presence. Never in church. Never amongst others. And it was very clear from their faces that the others could feel it too. One man, the most outspoken (not me), announced that the Holy Spirit was with us. It did not need to be announced! It would have been like saying, "There's Bill!" when Bill was clearly standing by the table.
Now I had not given much backstory to the others about my own personal life at this point, but a man began speaking to me about my purpose here in the desert. He simply said that there's a reason for it and it would be shown to me in time. Then he looked surprised and stated that those words just popped into his mouth.
At the end, we prayed together and a woman beside me began speaking in tongues. I have ALWAYS thought of this as fraudulent. At best I felt the people who do that were decieving themselves and at worst they were practicing deception. From a pastor I believe in, I had read his proof texts which he said proved that speaking in tongues does not happen today. Since I did not believe it in the first place, it was not difficult to convince me.
Still, I cannot believe that with the Holy Spirit so filling the room that I wanted to throw myself on the floor and cry, any Christian would knowingly participate in the fraud.
But there was something extra to this. We were holding hands in a circle and when she began to speak in tongues, my hand went numb as if it was asleep. The numbness proceeded, not in an uncomfortable or painful way, up past my elbow. It persisted for the next two hours until I went to sleep and even in the morning when I woke I could still feel a slight difference in my fingers.
God must know I'm a skeptic and that I would require some physical proof. I would have easily convinced myself that this was fake had it not been for the numbness. That was something I could not easily dismiss.
I returned from Shreveport fundamentally changed. God is moving more overtly in my life now. I am not having to reach quite so far to find Him. I am both pleased and frightened by this.
Gardening Update
I was told by some of the agrarians who've been here longer that in this part of Texas, the gardens tend to die around midsummer. Mine seems to be doing just that. Some stuff is hanging in there, but other plants are just withering up and dying no matter how much water we're putting on them. I suppose they can't handle the heat.
Here's the basic rundown:
Okra - doing well still. The plants which got established before the real heat began are thriving and producing pretty well. That's only about 4 plants but they're producing a little bit of side food for us.
Tomatoes - Most are doing pretty well but they aren't setting fruit. The heat is too high and the pollen melts. This was something we faced in Illinois as well, but when the dog days of summer start winding down then it should pick back up a little, if the plants stay alive.
Peppers - They suffered from water shortage early on and have begun to bounce back now that we're giving them a lot of water but there's only a few peppers and a few blossoms.
Beans - Dying back except for very few plants. They were planted very late in the season and were mostly intended to help out the soil, not to get a crop. They've got plenty of water but the heat is brutalizing them.
Cucumbers - All dead. They never really did well and I suspect poor quality seed had something to do with it. They came out of one of those $1 Burpee packs.
Squash and zucchini - They were stressed due to lack of water early on and this led to a massive bug population. I pulled them all up to try and prevent eggs from being laid in the soil to cause me a problem next year.
Cantaloupe - Most are doing fine but some at the fringes where they get less water have turned yellow and are dying back. Right now I'm focusing the watering effort on the ones which have fruit.
So here around the last week of August we'll begin planting our winter garden. So far I've got kohlrabi, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes, and garlic set to go.
Water is not much of a problem right now. The pond is getting low but there's still quite a bit in there. More than adequate for our needs between now and the anticipated September rains (God willing). Some of my trees have lost leaves. Very foolish to have planted new trees at the end of July. They did not get enough of a chance to set roots before the real heat set in. Some made it though and I'm only out about $20.
It seems as if much of our life revolves around water. There's not a day goes by that I'm not hauling it, pumping it, storing it, or pouring it. I can easily see now why so many bible references center around water.
Here's the basic rundown:
Okra - doing well still. The plants which got established before the real heat began are thriving and producing pretty well. That's only about 4 plants but they're producing a little bit of side food for us.
Tomatoes - Most are doing pretty well but they aren't setting fruit. The heat is too high and the pollen melts. This was something we faced in Illinois as well, but when the dog days of summer start winding down then it should pick back up a little, if the plants stay alive.
Peppers - They suffered from water shortage early on and have begun to bounce back now that we're giving them a lot of water but there's only a few peppers and a few blossoms.
Beans - Dying back except for very few plants. They were planted very late in the season and were mostly intended to help out the soil, not to get a crop. They've got plenty of water but the heat is brutalizing them.
Cucumbers - All dead. They never really did well and I suspect poor quality seed had something to do with it. They came out of one of those $1 Burpee packs.
Squash and zucchini - They were stressed due to lack of water early on and this led to a massive bug population. I pulled them all up to try and prevent eggs from being laid in the soil to cause me a problem next year.
Cantaloupe - Most are doing fine but some at the fringes where they get less water have turned yellow and are dying back. Right now I'm focusing the watering effort on the ones which have fruit.
So here around the last week of August we'll begin planting our winter garden. So far I've got kohlrabi, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes, and garlic set to go.
Water is not much of a problem right now. The pond is getting low but there's still quite a bit in there. More than adequate for our needs between now and the anticipated September rains (God willing). Some of my trees have lost leaves. Very foolish to have planted new trees at the end of July. They did not get enough of a chance to set roots before the real heat set in. Some made it though and I'm only out about $20.
It seems as if much of our life revolves around water. There's not a day goes by that I'm not hauling it, pumping it, storing it, or pouring it. I can easily see now why so many bible references center around water.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
HOT!
The thermometer says it's 109 degrees outside right now. Of course it's in the sun so it may be reporting hotter than it actually is, but I have sympathy with it since I'm normally out in the sun too.
We're planting some more crepe myrtles today. We plant a tree and then go jump in the pond, then plant the next tree while we're still dripping. The pond and Gatorade seem to be the only things keeping us going this week.
We're planting some more crepe myrtles today. We plant a tree and then go jump in the pond, then plant the next tree while we're still dripping. The pond and Gatorade seem to be the only things keeping us going this week.
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