Earth Care part 5

Well the earth care has been slow in my house this last week or so. We have been doing a pretty good job of recycling but it seems that we must be using more of the materials that can be recycled because it seems that the kitchen is filling with cardboard boxes, plastic containers, paper and the like faster than it ever did when it was all going into the garbage. My son continues his practice of picking up the school yard and feels proud because of it. He does this in spite of all the people that were helping telling him it was getting boring and that they were going to do something else. He has a great heart and natural ability for these things. My daughter is becoming more and more attentive and does not truly understand still but knows that it is good for the fish in the lakes that we like to catch. This is the one who said to me on Good Friday, "it is ok daddy, Jesus had to die, so he can come alive on Sunday." From the mouths of babes.

Another practice that we soon will be adopting in down sizing and simplifying what we have in our storage and in life in general. I was placed as the next intern at Prairie STaR Ministries in Windom so we will be headed "South" for the next year. It is our hope between now and the time we move there to consolidate our vast network of storage units and take what we pear down with us. Please pray for us as we open boxes that I am sure have not been opened for over 3 years. our hope is to give what we can to families and individuals that need it and discard the rest. We are also committed to trying to be more attentive to care for creation practices. Once we are there we plan to buy part of a holy cow and I know my wife hopes there is a garden she can get her hands dirty in. Speaking of Holy Cows, Deans letter is very good and gets to the heart of the matter and if you have not already agreed to do so you should let him know you will sign on.

This should be my last post on this issue so I thought that I would summarize things. This task of recycling was a good one for us as a family. it provided something tangible that all could participate in. It will help as we move to the Prairie and adopt the care for creation practices there. Unfortunately, I have not expanded as much as I had hoped with this, but life has gotten in the way. Picking up trash around our building was an eye opener in how much waste can accumulate when we are not looking or paying attention. Mostly, it has just opened my eyes to the amount of reusable stuff that goes into the landfills on a daily basis and how relatively easy it is to take the extra step to help out, even my 4 year old can do it, or if you prefer it so easy a caveman can do it. So I sign off for now and hope to have my reviews of social statements and the Orr book review done soon.