The End of April

It has been three weeks since my last update. I did take pictures, but I didn’t post them since I lost my camera cord. I am still not sure where it is, but I decided to go ahead and use my old camera since things have significantly changed in the last three weeks. Here are the pictures I took today.

The Yard





The Trees
About a month ago I predicted that all the trees would be fully-leafed by May 1st. As you can see that is almost the case. One exception is our Pecan trees.

The Pecan Trees

The Apple Tree

The Walnut Trees

The Pear Trees

The Garden
The Garden has taken shape quite a lot since my last update. There are many plants in it which I did not photograph today, but hopefully I will next time.

Grapes (same cluster as in all of my previous grape photos)


Sweet Corn


Potatoes and Swiss Chard (Left to Right)


Tomatoes, Green Onions, And Broccoli


Raspberries


I actually think it is better doing an update just once every three weeks now that things are not changing as noticeably each week. If things go as planned, then my next update will also be my last, since I hope to move that week. I expect many crops will be very far along by then, so I will be very thorough. The grapes have already come a long way, and the corn is about a foot high and growing nearly an inch each day.

One Last shot for this week is of our Peony blossoms. They normally arrive in mid to late May; but like everything else this year, they are very early. Peonies are one of my favorites.

Restoration

Yesterday I was reading from the book of Luke when a particular verse caught my eye. The verse is Luke 18:8, or rather the last half of verse 8, which reads:       
            “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
It seems every time I read the Bible, I discover something as if I had just seen it for the first time . I think this verse caught my eye yesterday because earlier I had been reading in the Old Testament about the flood, and about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. I shudder whenever I picture a world where the light of the righteous was as faint as it was in the times of Noah and Lot; yet I have always taken comfort in my belief that times of such universal evil are gone, never to return.  The question posed in Luke 18:8 disturbed this comfort in my mind. I know from other verses that there will always be Christians until the day Jesus returns; but this question alludes to the possibility that the Church could some day just be a dwindling light. And that troubles me.

I should state that I am an optimist. I have long disliked the defeatist attitude often expressed in the Church when people talk about how much worse things are than they use to be; and how they use that fact to theorize about how bad things are sure get in my lifetime. Things might get worse; but many people talk as if that’s inevitable, and that all we can do is bunker down until Jesus returns. I combat such thoughts with the argument that “at many points in history things were very bad, and then they got better.” Look at the reformation. Look at the restoration. In both cases the Church was more endangered than it is now; and then the dedication and zeal of righteous people turned things around. I believe that the same thing can happen today! In fact I think things are lining up perfectly for a new restoration. All across the world, people are losing trust in governments, money, and the stability of life which they have always known. Also, even many who don’t claim to believe in God cannot help but admit that the current lack of morals on an international scale is extremely sad. Really, the ingredients are perfect for a big turn around. But as Jesus mentioned in Luke 10:2,  the people needed to foster in this change are lacking. The Reformation wouldn’t have taken place without men like Martin Luther, and the Restoration wouldn’t have taken place without men like Alexander Campbell. Without such people nothing would have changed. So yes, as long as we Christians hide our heads in the sand, things will continually go down hill until they get as bad as people say they’ll be. I don’t want to see that happen! I don’t want to read Luke 18:8 and decide that things can only get worse no matter what I do. I take this verse as a challenge for me to do my best to help the Church grow and to see that faith remains strong on the earth as long as I can. I believe things will definitely get better if we only stop acting like we’ve already lost. This is our chance to turn things around. I know we can do it! It is a time for a new restoration of the Church.

Good thoughts from far away

I just wanted to share a link from my sister’s blog Postcards From Deutschland. She has spent the last eight months as a foreign exchange student in Germany, and has used her blog to share some of her thoughts and snazzy photos. I begin to appreciate the convenience of modern technology more than ever, when I realize the blessing of being able to share thoughts and experiences while separated by thousands of miles.

She always has some great thoughts, but I especially appreciate her latest post about becoming better through the trials that we face. This is a lesson I have been learning more and more over the last year, and I am thankful for the encouragement I get by hearing about it from someone who is able to express the idea much better than I can.

Her latest post is titled
”When Surreality Becomes Reality”

Spring update for April 9th 2012

Although we are now at the point where we aren’t seeing any new growth, it is hard to grasp the changes that are still taking place in just a weeks time. I am now just taking yard shots of all trees except those with fruit on them. I think the whole routine of this update is pretty set, so I will pass on most descriptions and just get on to the pictures.





I have one additional shot. The Backyard as seen from Grant street looking NE.

The Apple Tree (With a debut of baby apples)


Grapes (What I thought was a cluster last week, was really a cluster of clusters)


The Pear trees

Sweet Corn! (A new addition)

Teddy in the Grass

And last, but not least: A picture of our front yard, made by stitching 20 separate photos together.

None of our trees our full yet, and we have several flowers yet to display their brilliance. So Lord willing, I shall have another update next week!

Arrival of April

This evening, Just like last week, I went out for my Monday photographical surveys. And as I started doing last week, greening up was my focus rather than buds and blooms. When I compare the difference that has appeared in just a week I am astounded! After this week it won’t even make since to take close up photos of leaves, and buds, because what buds remain will be gone, and the leaves will be large and dense enough to where the pictures won’t reveal the scope of everything. Even today I had to alter my plans. I will include the pictures of every tree close up one last time, as well as the regular wide yard shots. After this week though the only thing besides yard shots will be following of the garden and other produce as they grow. Here we go….

The usual front and side shots

A look down Monroe street

A look down Grant street

The Apple Tree


Oak

Sugar Maple

Hackberry (the big one)

Redbud (The buds are not nearly as vibrant as last week)


Row of Redbuds


Grape Vine (The green vine shows how much has grown in just over a week)

Baby Grapes

Pear tree (With baby pears)

Walnut

After all the leaves are fully grown, I plan to do a side-by-side comparison of certain wide shots taken from several different weeks. Next week will be mostly looking at the garden.