christmas memories and new beginnings

So, we made it back to el salvador after a very relaxing christmas break in NC- there were so many fun times...playing Catch Phrase with 89-year old Memaw, singing carols with the fam, eating hot white chocolate macademia nut cookies with mom and dad pretty much every night, playing Pit with good friends, thrift store finds, Elvis catching some huge fish for dinner, getting to eat all those comfort foods i sometimes miss, etc etc etc.

Me with MemawElvis with Grannymom and dad with the flamingo flower pot we made them

Here are some pics from when elvis and marty went fishing with some real fishermen out on the open water in 19 degree weather..yeah, elvis learned what long johns were that day....

watch out, they let marty park the boat! Anyways, it´s always interesting to come home and see how the plants survived our absence, what rotting vegetable we accidentally left in the fridge, etc, and yesterday i took the lid off of our compost bucket that we havent looked in on in about a month, and found a pleasant surprise! well, let me back up by saying that thanks to marty and sara´s organic influence on us this summer, we decided to start a compost pile. i wasnt sure how that would work, since we have no backyard, only a small patio, and i was worried about the bugs. so, we opted for a compost bucket, with a lid. we dumped in dead leaves, dirt, fruit and vegetable scraps, etc etc and let nature take its course, i mean the worse that could happen was that it would rot, which is exactly the desired outcome!!

anyways, we took the lid off the bucket to throw in some new leaves, and to our delight, we no longer saw just trash, but rather actual soil instead of trash!! and the best part was that out of that soil was growing a new, very green plant, a cool symbol for this new year. i have no idea what kind of plant it is, but surely its from one of the old fruits or veggies that we threw in there. imagine, new life springing up from what was just trash before. it just made me think about how God is, and how He always brings something good and new and beautiful, even out of a rotting, stinking situation. ive been thinking about Romans 8:28 a lot lately, about how God works everything together for the good of those who love him. and how always, after a while, we can see that new green plant bursting out of what used to just look like trash. when you look back on your life and all those good and bad situations, you can start to see a glimpse of the perfect quilt that God is weaving together through those situations. i like something that i read from The Shack...that God doesnt justify those bad things that we have to go through....He redeems them and makes them into something beautiful...beauty for ashes.

so, i would encourage you to start a compost pile (if you have a big yard) or a bin (if you dont have a big yard). a good, easy website for making a bin is:

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Compost-Bin

you get to help the planet a bit, and to see a first hand example of how God makes all things new and beautiful.