early autumn in our home

for the past 5 years of my life, august/september has marked a significant life change each year.  in september five years ago, i left america and went to germany for almost a year (wow, hard to believe that was almost 5 years ago!).  the following august i got married to the love of my life :) .  the next next august we moved from ohio across the country to california.  the next august we took in four foster kids (well, the first two came in late july and the older two boys came in august) and moved from a two bedroom apartment to a house.  the following september esther was born.  and this year in early september, our new foster baby girl was born and came to us three days later.

things have been a whirlwind again.  we are re-adjusting to waking up in the middle of the night for feedings (without the luxury of sleeping in the next morning!).  laundry is once again a daily affair.  when esther naps, my hands are no longer completely free to do gardening and housework.

in addition to the new baby, we also got 5 new english sussex pullets who should be laying in December some time.  we look forward to having enough chickens to satisfy our need for eggs, and hope that they will even produce extra for us to give away.  right now they require the extra work to keep them separate from our full grown rhode island reds (affectionately called the divas) who like to pick on them.

i am struggling to get it together to put a nutritious dinner on the table each night, which partially due to my lack of planning.  i hope to have a meal plan laid out for next week to make things go more smoothly (i almost always meal plan except for during crazy times of life like when you unexpectedly get a newborn baby.  if i would have known her timing of coming to us, i would have stocked up on freezer meals.)

as long times of bible reading and praying are a struggle right now, i seek to memorize and meditate on scripture for a few minutes here and there throughout the day, especially while feeding babies.  this is more conducive to short periods of time when you are sitting but your hands aren't really free then extended bible reading (and more fruitful than going on the computer, though it requires discipline!)

i am mentally preparing myself that for this season of life, where i will never be caught up with housework or gardening and i will have to be satisfied with "good enough".  being a perfectionist this can be hard for me at times, but it has a positive humbling and sanctifying effect on me.


i have fallen behind on watering my garden (dang so cal weather with no rain! :/ ) and am getting very little produce as a result (although my cantaloupe plant has already given us three good sized cantaloupes, with four more ripening on the vine!  thank you Lord!).  i am trying to start planning for my winter garden, which i probably should have already started by now.  still trying to figure out what grows well here in the winter.  i might attempt some broccoli and leafy greens.  does anyone know if green beans will grow in so cal in the winter?  it sounds more like a spring crop to me, but i never really know with so cal weather.


in things with baby girl, my heart vacillates.  its hard when you don't know what the future will hold.  the saying "take it one day at a time" definitely applies to foster parenting.  it could also be the reason that God lead me to memorize part of psalm 37 recently which instructs us to "trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act".