I wrote this post last week....I thought I had published it.....Guess I didn't, so I'm going to add a couple more things before I publish it today!
Yesterday we celebrated my husband's birthday. The week of his birthday I thought it was a neat (not) coincidence that I read this verse in Genesis, "And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold." That was our prayer for him yesterday that he would reap a hundredfold for all that he has literally sown, i.e., seeds, plants, etc., but also that he would reap for all the ways in sows in the life of our children, myself, and others in his life. Only God can do that. This week we celebrate our first day anniversary, thus the post coming up, and it has been neat to see that God has already blessed him (and me) a hundredfold in many ways....Ok....here's the original post:
It's been almost 3 weeks since we planted and for the most part everything is coming up, but there are some seeds that actually did not. The only explanation we can come up with is that the soil was either still too cold or that that part of the garden did not have the best soil. So next week we will plant again. There's still enough time we figure in the season to give it a go. We'll just add some manure and hope for the best.
Meanwhile, the vines were calling our names. Every day for weeks, someone has been in the vines hoeing around each plant. This has been the most gruelling work for sure. But as the weeds were starting to grow like crazy we had to kick it up a notch and we called in all the older kids and friends to come help. We managed to finish it yesterday and now it looks absolutely amazing. My mowing son mows in between the rows to keep it looking neat and that just makes it look so good.
When it isn't horrifically hot, I'll then go back and weed the garden....so between the vines and the garden, I never wonder where I should be. To my kids disappointment, we'll be starting hay, too, soon. I wonder why the summer goes so fast?
We've been enjoying the last couple of Sundays with another young couple and their two kids. My daughter has been in a band with the dad before as he is also musical and so whenever they come over, every instrument comes out and we've been enjoying the most amazing worship times. My daughter plays piano, my husband plays bass, my son is on guitar alongside the other dad, my younger son plays drums and then everyone else sings and does the most amazing harmonies. It truly sounds heavenly and when it is all over, we just look at each other in amazement wondering what just happened.
After we sing and worship for awhile, we then move into "the sanctuary"/family room where I organized the couches to accommodate way more people. We then just start sharing what we've been up to and how God has worked in our lives that week. It's such a good time. Then Scripture is opened and everyone gets to analyze and discuss it. And of course, then we pray and it's just awesome. Then there is food and fellowship in our "foyer"/farm and it goes on for hours. The best part is we didn't have to leave our home and yet church happened. In some ways, it'll be hard to go back to regular church as I've enjoyed this kind of church so much.
There have also been some interesting developments in one of my son's lives.....we call it a girlfriend "proposal". He is officially in a relationship with a girl he met a few months ago. Right before the pandemic started they had wanted to enter into a more intentional friendship with the idea it might turn into something more serious, but then once we all went into lockdown that kind of put the brakes on everything....sort of....they ended up having a "long distance" relationship and literally wrote letters to one another even though they only live 25 minutes apart. Thanks to phones, letters, etc....they decided that, yes, they did want to move past friendship into something even more intentional, dare I say, with the possibility of marriage, and so my son "girlfriend proposed" and made it official a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry to say I cried more than once that day as I realized if all goes as planned, that was the day I lost my son to another person. It was the weirdest saddest feeling, though of course I was happy for him. It was another reminder that our kids don't stay with us forever and having them all around for these last few months, I've kind of enjoyed this "forever family that never changes and never leaves" feeling, but that's just it....they do change and they do leave and I have to just accept that and get over myself. Everyone loves this girl and I'm getting to appreciate her more and more as she is in the vines with us and doesn't complain. My other kids complain more than her!
The best part of their official first date was that my son was inspired by my first date with my husband. I told him everything that he did to make it special and then my son went and did basically the same thing. Very cool. I think I've written about this before, but I will rewrite it in honour of our twenty fifth anniversary coming up:
It all started with a phone call inviting me to go sailing. Sailing? Sure! On what boat? Who knows, who cares...I just wanted to go sailing! The night before our date, OJ Simpson was chased down a highway....that's what I remember to mark the date, June 18. I was with a couple of girlfriends and I told them I was going on a sailing date the next night....I was very curious how this was going to go as I really didn't know him very well.
He picked me up in a red Porsche. Interesting vehicle choice. I knew he drove a sports car and it wasn't that I was impressed by it, it just made me wonder what kind of guy had that kind of confidence to drive a car like that. Everything about him that night kind of makes me wish he had just proposed then and there. He had the best shirt, best jeans, best shoes, I even remember the belt he wore. His hair was long, hilarious. He drove me to the marina where he had a sailboat. I found out later he had bought the boat and had refurbished the whole thing. The owner before him had lived on it and it had been destroyed and repossessed. Apparently quite a project to take on. It was painted red, like the car. He had redone all that, too. I should have known then that this guy was a catch. It only got better.
He had brought another couple along that we both knew, but not because he wanted to hang out with them. He completely used them to sail the boat so that we could talk on the front while they hung out in the back! The weather that night was perfect, super warm summer night. Once we got on the boat, within a few minutes of getting into the water, he pulled out a picnic basket with a variety of crackers, cheese, spreads, grapes and a bottle of wine. We sailed what seemed like into the middle of the lake towards Ontario Place where fireworks were going off. I swear, how symbolic was that? I don't remember a thing we talked about. I don't remember talking with the other couple at all. I DO remember coming home and saying to my mom, "That was THE BEST first date EVER!" Like I said, he should have just proposed then.
That was the beginning of the six weeks of hard core dating. I had to leave to go back to Colombia where I was teaching that August, so from June 18 to the first week of August, we spent a LOT of time together. I had planned on dating a bunch of guys all summer. That didn't happen. I had all sorts of friends trying to set me up with these different guys and I literally had to let them know, uh....sorry, met someone!
My only regret was that I did allow confusion to enter into my head during the summer. Satan tried to confuse me and I nearly fell for it. I am so grateful to my parents' prayers, a couple of wise friends, and Scripture to set me straight. I would have married the wrong person without that counsel. Looking back, the confusion was so unnecessary and, like I said, I kind of wish he had just proposed on our first date...maybe it would have helped!
We were in the vines hoeing away a couple of days ago. It was sooooo hot and I had blisters on my hands. I looked up and saw what seemed like an endless row ahead of me. I put my hoe down and yelled, "I MARRIED THE WRONG ENGINEER!" Everyone laughed. It was kind of funny though. Marrying him put me in a vineyard with a hoe, but that's just it. If I had married the other person, who was also an engineer, I'm quite certain my hands would not have been holding a hoe. I think that's why I'm so happy. It wasn't that I married a guy who drove a sports car and had a sailboat (we got rid of both of those in our first year of marriage!). It's that I married someone who is willing to do crazy hard things. Over twenty five years ago he had the nerve to buy a broken down sailboat and the resourcefulness to fix it. I've seen that same resourcefulness 1000x since. He should have just passed me his character traits resume on that first date...the list would have been long. But still, I never ever thought, "If I marry this guy, maybe he'll buy me a broken down farm one day and plant a vineyard..." I never could have guessed what lay ahead for me. But ...he had it in him all along. Yes, my hand modelling days are way over and yes I have blisters and achy joints, but I have the excitement of a garden, a vineyard, a bunch of kids, a still broken down farmhouse (but making progress!), the wonder of potential fruit and vegetables coming, and even a broken down Porsche in our garage (he hopes to get it running one day!), not to mention the wonder of never knowing what a day will hold and what crazy idea or family project he'll have next! Marrying him has certainly never been boring. He has more nerve than most and I feel like marrying him was like marrying ten men.
When my son took this new girl out on her first date, all those old memories and emotions came flooding over me. I wanted to tell her, "Do you know how amazing my son is? Do you know how amazing his Dad is? Do you know if you marry him you'll be marrying the most amazing husband EVER?!" Maybe that's why I cried. If she's at all like me, she might miss it. The fact that my son recreated the whole first date thing, minus the sports car, boat and wine (underage and all....but did go to a winery for a picnic!), it brought up all those thoughts from that date so many years ago. The thing is, I do think she knows. Maybe that's what is also hitting me. I think she realizes she's met someone super special. I think she's more aware then even I was that she shouldn't let him go. How I pray for them and for my other children that they will be wise and that God will continue to lead them into the perfect relationship. I thank God so much that He did this for me.
