Provider

"My" day on the farm alone was beautiful. It started off with a rainy drive trailing Andy and Lalanya to the store so they could show me how to care for the ducks that live there. Then we parted ways - they went on to a busy day at the market and into the Quad Cities, and I returned to the farm. After watering the greenhouse and feeding the chickens I got to spend the morning worshiping and preparing for a phone interview with UNO Charter School Network which was scheduled for noon. God was so good to provide this interview, and it's a school at which I would absolutely love to teach. The interview went... pretty well. It's hard to tell on these kind of things. Apparently it went well enough, though, because I got a follow-up email inviting me to teach a sample reading lesson to 32 sixth graders at 1 p.m. on Thursday! I'm thrilled and anxious. But I know that if God has teaching at UNO in his plan for me, nothing can get in the way of that door being open. If not, it will be a great experience and a chance to have a sleepover with Mom in Wheaton. Win-win.



The afternoon was one big weeding fest. Andy and Lalanya leave their weeds in the garden beds so they will break down into organic matter and richen the soil. When they spot plant something in sod, they turn the piece of turf upside down so the roots are sticking up and the grass is against the grass around the outside of the hole. This will also decompose into organic matter. I also had the job of chopping down the purple flowering thistles on the other side of the fence, which happens to be a cattle pasture. Andy and Lalanya have a deal with the cattle owners that they will not spray pesticide on their thistles (which are very close to A and L's garden) as long as A and L weed them. So I spent one Matt Chandler sermon in a pasture full of bulls planning my route of escape in case one happened to charge and getting pricked by thistles through two pairs of gardening gloves.



I realized I'm eating an average of 5 eggs a day. That's one thing there's definitely no shortage of.

"If we were rich, people would say we're eccentric. But we're poor, so we're just weird."
- Lalanya