Choices, Changes, and Me

Life. It’s interesting isn’t it? Each day we make choices. Some may seen inconsequential – others can change our lives forever. The diversity is amazing – from what to wear each morning, when to get up, what to have for lunch to who to marry, when to marry, what trips to go on, who to support, who to spend time with…..all choices, all important. Isn’t it amazing that what to eat for breakfast can define your entire day? How you feel, how hungry you are within the next hour, how healthy you become (or don’t)…choices. Can we ever transform a choice? Reverse a choice? Make something great out of a bad choice? What is a bad choice? What is a good choice? Who decides? The world? Us? Religion? Faith? Conscious? Government? I’ve spent just a few minutes looking at pictures of the people in my life, or people who impacted my life and have since drifted away…everyone is living different lives, experiencing different things, impacting others in different ways. It seems that no one is mindlessly existing…or is that an illusion set by the pictures? It came to one choice to set them on their way – the way they follow now – a way that will change them, define them, transform them…maybe for good….maybe for bad….it’s interesting….

"Water, water, everywhere, nary any drop to drink"

When is the last time that, as you were sitting in the shower, you wondered how much water you were using? Has it affected you? Do you truly understand how blessed we are in America to have such a wonderful resource, and how we have abused that priveledge terribly?

Interested - look up you faucet and showerheads. See how many gallons per minute you are using. If you cannot find the style, pay attention to how much water is flowing out. If it is gushing like a broken damn (as I expect most are) then we have a problem.

Here are some tips:

- Don't turn on the water as strong - less water is just as effective!
- Add aerators / low-flow fixtures to your faucets / shower heads!
- Try shortening your showers, turning the water off to shave / shampoo / etc., minimize your bath tup use - uses a lot of water to fill a tub!
- Avoid bottled water and instead bring a reusable bottle - alot of this water comes from Michigan's fresh water taking away from our aquifers, great lakes, ponds, rivers, etc. We pride ourselves on all of the great lakes in this state - what if we lost those? Could Michigan survive? Could the US? The world?

These are just a few tips - keep researching and checking out new ways to our most underestimated but critical resource....if we loose our water we loose our lives......something to think about.

What I would have done - if only....

Have you ever wondered, looking back and knowing what you know, if you would have done things differently? As I was laying in bed last night trying to catch sheep in my head I began to think of all the things that, as a child, I wish I would have done, would have taken interest in - what kind of person and what kind of habits I would entertain today?

Would I be more unwilling to fall into the trap of consumerism?

Would I be able to look at earth in a deeper, more intentional way?

Would it have been easier to change?

One of the weird things I came up with as I was twisting my engagement ring on my finger was thinking I should have bought all my rings to fit my right hand - that way I could wear them no matter what (for some reason my right fingers are a tad larger than my left, but enough to make a difference)! Weird I know and a very minor thing at that but what if I had thought about EVERYTHING with that kind of intention and future vision....

What if everything was done intentionally, EVERYTHING.

Somehow I think my life would be a little different, okay a lot different. It's interesting how foreign languages are now being taught at a young age because it is easier to pick up - what would happen if sustainability was thought of in that way? What if every child knew how to build a wormery at the age of five? What if we were able to connect scripture directly with earth early on? Is it possible? Are you teaching the children that you come in contact with these ways? I'm learning more and more each day that it is about intention....

It is all about intention.

Know what you do, think about your actions, think about cause and effect, ask the tough questions.

Live intentionally.

Green God (An Intro)

When is the last time you went outside - not just to get the mail, go to your car, or run into the mall? Instead you went outside - just to be outside. You looked around, noticed the plants - how green they seemed to have gotten, how had you missed that? If you listened for it, you heard the birds singing and whe you breathed in a long and deep breath of air it left a smile on your face - not forced but one of true joy and fulfillment because you were connected. Connected to man, to nature, to God.

Connected to God.

Maybe the question should be, when was the last time you were truly and completely connected to God? Have you ever been connected to God?

It's funny how the great outdoors, the great wild yonder (I picture Davie Crockett or John Bunyan in my head), have the power to bring out the lost or suppressed emotions in a person.

Freedom.

Purpose.

Strength.

Courage.

Joy.

Worth.

Connection.

No matter who she is, what his job might be, what school she goes to, what role he plays - the mistakes, the failures, the victories, the pain, the tears, the laughs, the cheers - it doesn't matter. There is still a connection when you let yourself go, let yourself outside, drop all your walls and barriers - it becomes something deeper. You feel it. I feel it. I wonder if that is intentional. It makes me think that those great outdoors were created for a greater purpose that to merely exist as a host for humans. Maybe how we interact with nature is, in a small way, how we interact with God - how we view God. Maybe this is His tangible gift to us to connect, on a very real level, with the humans he so intricately created, calls "good", and loves deeply.

Has this vision, this connection been lost today? Do you feel it? God began in a garden, a garden that throughout its creation he called "good". We now seem to be stuck in the tension of highrises, highways, automobiles, noise, busyness, and demands. We are caught in a fog (or maybe it's the smog) of disillusioned visions - visions that the more the better, the bigger the better, the more convenient the better. Is this really better?

A lot of words, catch-phrases, how-to's, and dialogue can be heard right now on the environment, our impact, and what it will take to save it. A lot of you care, deeply even, about the state or our earth but don't know how to go about acting. What can I do? Will it matter? Can I, one person, make a difference?

Know that it does matter and you can make a difference!

The hope for this blog is that it will be the first steps - something that inspires real conversation, tips to learn, encouragement to do further research, and bring about a passion for restoring God's creation to its full intention - a way to get connected, or re-connected, with the earth, our Creator, and the purpose that He has for us - to begin to make our way back to the garden.

The question now becomes, not what can you do, but what will you do?

What will it take to get back to the garden?

What will it take for YOU to get back to the garden?