the most important thing you'll hear this school year

My sister's girls slept over on Friday night and I had the great privilege of tucking them in and saying prayers. We prayed Now I Lay Me, Our Father and Dear Jesus. And then I asked the girls if they had any questions about God or things they wondered about. I am, after all, one of their Sponsors, present at their Baptism, and take this responsibility very seriously.

The room was dark, they were snuggled into their sleeping bags and I felt like a camp counselor. Sonna wanted to know what happens to us when we die, so we talked about Heaven and how this world isn't our actual home. Our home is still waiting for us where we will be face to face with Jesus and there will be no more pain, sorrow, death or sadness. 

I told the girls about the story I read with my kids this morning from the Jesus Storybook Bible. We read about how Satan came into the garden and told Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the tree. And that when they ate that fruit God's very heart broke because he knew that by eating the fruit men and women would forever begin to think they didn't need Him. That they could outwit his wisdom, out-think his logic. Men and women would come to believe the whole story of God and Jesus is just a made-up, feel-good tale. 

I told them this: the most important thing for you to remember is that this is still Satan's goal in this world.  He wants us to eat that fruit and believe we don't really need God afterall.

But then we talked about the moments Satan cannot take from us. The moments when God is so near we just know in our bones that He is exactly who He says He is. Like when you're out in the dark country and see a canopy of bright stars above you. Or when you hike to the top of a mountain and see a view that takes your breath away. Or when you witness the steadfast faith of a grandparent or someone you love and respect dearly...it helps fuel our own faith. Or when you hear a song that stirs your soul. Or when you watch a little life grow inside of a mama...the most amazing miracle for me. Or when you feel pure joy and happiness. Those are all times when you know God is Real. 

But Satan wants us to think the whole story is a lie. And will work hard to confuse us of our identity. We have to always remember that we are Children of God. My prayer is that they never forget that.

We talked about reading our Bibles and how that is the one place where we can hear God's voice clear as day. God wants to speak into our lives, and the Bible is where we can hear him the best.

The room was dark and quiet and I felt so honored to be sharing these big ideas and this good news with them. And for God to be reminding me of his good news even while I was telling of His great love to my nieces.

Then we wondered why Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

And I told them the truth: I would have eaten the fruit. And they would have too. I told them about how I sometimes say things I wish I could take back. How I lose my patience with my kids. How I get frustrated and think mean thoughts. They said they do these things too. I told them its even written in the bible that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Eve was just the first.

And that's why God sent his son Jesus.

Because of our sin we have been separated from God. So God sent his son Jesus to sacrifice his life on the cross to make things right with God. Through Jesus, we are forgiven just as if we had never sinned. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him.

And that reminded them of a Vacation Bible School song they know, so we ended our conversation with singing.  I went upstairs and lay in my bed. I thought a lot about how good it was to walk through my own beliefs, explaining them to a child. It's hard work. But I felt fire in my bones as we talked. I knew in the moment there could be no more important way to spend my time. I loved hearing their thoughts and stories that came up as we talked. And I love knowing that they are starting the school year having heard the most important thing they'll ever learn: That God is real. That Satan would like for them to forget this truth. That all have sinned. That Jesus is the only way to the Father. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

this summer was sponsored in part by...

Lemonade Ice Tea. aka the Arnie Palmer. I have consumed so much of this stuff over the last three months, it's crazy. I actually think I have had enough  now, and can wait nine more months until it's time to buy it again.

Santitas Corn Chips...the $2 bag. We go through these quite quickly at our house. I have found the $2 bag is important for us, as we can't seem to eat the bigger bag fast enough before they get a stale. But we can consume a $2 bag like nobody's business.

The red dress I got at Old Navy for $12. I wore it every other day and sometimes the days in between.

Marie's chunky blue cheese dressing. I ate a whole lot of cucumbers and sweet peas with that stuff. A whole lot.

Honestly, without these items, I wonder what my summer would have been like.

august at the grovestead

It's been a good month. Full of pool-filling, diaper-only-wearing, dirt-digging, veggie-eating, cat-feeding, turkey-watching, dirt-eating, walnut-picking, cock-a-doodle-doing and storm watching. 

girls golf

In 10th grade I was riding in the back of a bus on the way back from a field trip. I was sitting with my friend Kari and she was complaining about how she had to go to golf practice that night. That her dad was making her join the golf team and she did not want to go. I remember telling her I'd go with her. That I'd call my mom on the public phone when we got back and tell her I was joining the golf team.

I went to that first practice having never touched a club. Ever. The coach was this awesome math teacher at Rosemount High School who sincerely wanted more golfers in the world. He dug out a set of clubs for me out of a storage room by his classroom and this began my introduction to golf. This teacher had flashlights taped to the end of pvc pipes that we used in a dark hall to watch the placement of our clubs. It seemed he had a toy for learning every part of the game. We worked with him until tryouts when everyone was placed on a team.

Kari and I were placed on the intramural team. And we were so excited because that meant we got to work with Coach Farrington. The hot college student who was hired to oversee those of us who needed some serious help on our golf game. Kari and I mostly giggled around Coach Farrington. It was decided early on that I was the one who should marry him because then we could hyphenate our names: Harrington-Farrington.

I loved golf from the start. I loved being outside, I loved the pace of the game. I loved talking to Kari each night after school.

I always felt bored around hole 7 (we only ever played 9 holes, a rule I still follow to this day), but by my senior year had improved enough that I was playing the #1 JV spot pretty consistently. But my coaches never moved me to varsity because as I was told, "Becca, you talk way too much to your opponents. You need to focus on your game."

And the idea of not talking while golfing sounded utterly boring. Why bother. So they never moved me up.

Flash forward to this spring. My friend Allyson and I talked about joining a league. And thank God we did not! But we did find another friend, Alexi, to come out with us. We met at a coffee shop in May with our calendars and tried to get a date on the calendar about every two weeks. (side note: Alexi had her calendar on her phone, Allyson had her calendar on her tablet. I had my kitchen wall calendar all sprawled out on the coffee shop table. Because I am that old fashioned!)

We met for our first night to play, which was the first time I had touched my clubs in five years. And you know what? It totally showed. That first hole was soooooo long and I was trying to figure out how to gracefully back out of these golf dates. But by the ninth hole I had hit enough clean shots that I wanted to come and try it again. And the second time we golfed I was better than I would have ever expected after that first game. (Still not saying much...but better.) Plus, after each game the three of us went out to eat where we'd talk for another few hours.

These nights were some of my favorite of the whole summer. It was so fun to be without kids for a while, fun to be outside on stunning, glorious (sometimes rainy) nights, fun to be hitting a white ball, fun to be laughing so much and fun to be making new friends.

We haven't had our end of season golf banquet yet, but when we do we have some awards to give out. I'll for sure get Most Improved. Alexi earned the Team Spirit Award. And Allyson will take home MVP.

See you next season, ladies.

two years at the grovestead

At the end of July we hit our two year mark at The Grovestead. We were between vacations and I didn't have time to write about it, but I have reflected on this milestone quite a bit. My sister has always said that two years is the magic number for a new place to feel like home. And I would fully agree. It took both years to get here.

And just like one year ago, I am having trouble processing what was the greatest change: was it going from one kid to two kids? the actual lifestyle change from the city to the country? surviving two of the longest, coldest winters ever?

I'm not sure.

There are still moments when I rub my eye balls and shake my head that this is my life. Like the week I was looking all over for the bathroom scale, only to find it out in the garage being used to weigh potatoes. Strangely, I hadn't thought to look in the garage. Or the night Rory was away in Wisconsin and I found myself awake at 3:30, worrying that the chicks didn't have enough water. So I went outside on a very dark night, by myself, with a flashlight between my legs, pouring water into their water feeder. It was a moment I'll never forget because I was proud of myself for taking on the responsibility. And because it was dark and spooky outside. Becoming the keeper of the honeybees is another "who have I become?" adventure. But a good one. I feel stretched and surprised and so empowered by learning something so completely new.

This move was a really good one for us. It's full of adjustments and challenges too, but overall we are living a dreamy life. One night in particular comes to mind, that sort of sums up our new lifestyle. The night before we left for Family Bible Camp, we were at a friend's birthday party for their kids. We were eating homemade doughnuts and pasta salad and Rory and I started telling each other what all needed to get done before we could leave in the morning: we needed to buy chicken feed, I needed to check on the bees, we desperately needed to mow the lawn, the beets needed to be pulled and maybe the potatoes and the apple trees had to be watered. Not to mention packing up the family for the week. We looked at each other and then checked the time on our phones and realized we had to bust a move. We had actual farm chores that had to get done before the sun went down.

But five hours later we had the car all packed up. We had worked like a machine, taking turns with the kids while one parent did something outdoors, the other cleaned and packed inside. Eventually the kids were in bed and on that starry night, Rory brought our tallest ladder so we could climb up on our roof to watch a lightening storm moving our direction. There was no moon that night and it was so dark except for the lightening illuminating the clouds in front of us and the milky way stretched out above us.

There were fireflies blinking in the woods and I remember really having it sink in that we are living a rich and full life. Even though hours before while tending to our animals and land, laundry and children, I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.

That evening seems to sum it up our transition to the country the very best. Our life here on this hobby farm is a mixed bag. There are moments that feel demanding and exhausting followed by moments that feel absolutely perfect and incredibly blessed.

And what I'm finding is that the blessed moments outweigh the frustrating ones. I'm excited to be here for a good, long time.