Blessings abound

We've had a lot of pans on the fire the last couple months, some of which will be the subject of future posts. But perhaps the biggest news for the moment--we are expecting! Another baby is due next spring--three now with us, one with Jesus. Our arms and our hearts are very full. Thank you, Lord, for your blessings! 

Made in the image

One of the qualities of a complete education is to teach children what it is to be made in the image of a creative God. Everything we can see was made by God. The grass the flowers, the trees, storms and sky. All the animals in the world were made by Him. We can see that our God is endlessly creative just from creation itself.

Even if we just looked at Man we can see that it has been thousands of years since creation, and no two men are fully alike. How many millions of people have existed and never two the same? And yet each one of us is made in His image.

When we as people choose to create we are joining in the act of creation with our creative God. Of course, we can't create from dust but we can create from the materials God has given us.

Creation can take many forms. A musician will create a new piece of music, an artist a work of art, a mechanic a new machine, an engineer a new bridge, a barista an artistic cup of coffee. The possibilities are truly endless--there are as many creative possibilities as individuals. Emily Freeman explores this idea in depth in her book, Million Little Ways.

One of the foundational goals of any education program should be to train the students in creativity. They should learn to to express the art that God has put inside them, no matter what form that art takes. Teaching creativity would involve a wide exposure to many disciplines of study, along with a great deal of practice.

If our children are made in the image of a creative God, they should learn to create.

Gardening exploits

It happens every spring. The weather gets pretty, the plants start growing, I start seeing the occasional flower, and I get the bug to grow things. Every time. I'm not a particularly skilled gardener (yet). I'm not sure what color my thumb is (probably not green). But I make up for what I lack in skills and experience with a bushel of enthusiasm combined with a few hours on pintrest and long conversations with people who do garden.

There are two things I like to grow--flowers for my own personal enjoyment (whether as cut flowers in a vase or in my yard) or fruits and veggies to eat. Unlike my hubby, I'm pretty unenthusiastic about landscaping as an art form, or "curb appeal." I just want to see things grow.   That said, I was outlining my rather ambitious plan for a HUGE square foot vegetable garden and HUNDREDS of flowers in the back yard, when hubby told me we really should do something with the front of the house before we planted our entire acre with tomatoes and gladiolas.

I had to admit, he had a point. While the front of the house does have three really pretty arched windows that I adore, everything else is overgrown and ignored. We have a couple bushes obviously intended for some sort of sculpturing, but they've been growing wild and free since we moved in. Those overgrown ugly bushes are the only nod to "landscaping" around, and I actively dislike them.

So, we put our heads together and came up with a plan. It's going to involve ferns, and I might have used the words: wild, fairy, elf and garden as I planned it. The old ugly bush/trees are coming out, and good riddance. Pictures to follow once we get the project started (the plants arrived yesterday, so that should be soon!)

The vegetable garden is still happening--we have a lot left over from last year, and so will just expand a bit on what we already have. I'll be posting updates on the veggies as well. I think I learned a lot last year, and should be able to make it more productive this year.

My favorite sprouted bread recipe

I make this sprouted bread recipe several times a week, and we all enjoy it. The bread comes out with a good crumb, and makes excellent sandwiches. I haven't had to experiment with the recipe at all, which is a major bonus for a mom of toddlers!

• 4 tablespoons room-temperature butter
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups room-temperature water
• 4 cups Essential Eating Organic Sprouted Flour (wheat or spelt)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast

Combine all ingredients in the bread machine, in the order listed: wet ingredients first, followed by the dry ingredients. Set bread machine cycle to "quick bread" and press start. On my machine it takes about 2 hours, and the house smells amazing the entire time it is cooking!

NOTES:
When I ran out of butter I successfully made this recipe with avocado oil.

I have also used this bread for pizza crust, by starting the "dough" cycle instead of the "quick bread" cycle. I usually sub olive oil for the butter, and add some Italian spices to the dough.

I purchase sprouted flour through my monthly Azure Standard order. It is also available on Amazon, though the price is not quite as good.

This recipe works just fine with regular flour, though I prefer both the flavor and health benefits of sprouted flour.

I'm sure this will work just fine if made by hand. I prefer the machine, and so have never tried it. If you do, please let me know in the comments how it goes!!

Recipe Credit: I found this recipe on Essential Eating, however because they have changed their website I can no longer link directly to the recipe.