If everything dies, this will be my first and only post, but so far green foliage is incrementally moving upward, each day stretching just a little closer to the sky. I feel it is now safe to blog about this garden venture because of the initial growth, but also because financially speaking I’m upside down about 30 years worth of prolific vegetable production, so my garden is an investment I’m motivated to see through. Pretty much if I don’t eat squash and pole beans everyday that I’ve personally grown until I’m in my sixties, I will have lost my retirement.

Here’s how it started. Exactly 18 days ago I was having brunch with two friends, April and Mary Katharine.  Somehow we stumbled upon the topic of homegrown tomatoes, probably because this word gets used often in my vocabulary. I can be talking about almost anything and, bam, the word tomato pops out.

“How about I devote tomorrow to help you build raised beds for a garden?” my now forever best friend in the world, MK, says to me.

My articulate response to her proposal went something like, “That sounds amazing. I’m freaking out backwards.”

April was fit to be tied because she was scheduled for a job the next day and was suffering from what my friend Paige calls FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Having no idea what I was talking about, I assured April that there would be years and years of opportunity for her to contribute to what was about to explode in my backyard.

You should know that at this point my backyard was known only for grass, general blah-ness and an occasional firefly. But I’ve always had higher visions. In fact, starting a garden has been a dream of mine over the past few years, ever since I started canning tomatoes from our farmers’ market and subscribing to a CSA, ever since I devoured Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, along with a couple books by Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin. For various reasons I could never get started, partly because I’m the type of person who thinks I need a doctorate in photosynthesis before I toss my first seed in the ground. Friends are a tremendous resource for me when I get locked down like this.

“If we think we have to know everything there is to know about gardening we’ll never get started”, Mk said. This felt like wisdom to me, so the next day we set our alarms – because farmers rise early – and we tore off to the farmers’ market in a blaze of ignorance. Though I was smitten with the burgeoning vegetation roaring in the display beds of the market, I couldn’t even think about seeds or plants yet. I had to get my beds built and the proper soil put in those beds. Fortunately I met a really helpful store manager named Aaron. He seemed to enjoy me at first until he realized I was an unlearned gardening wackadoo. I think the only reason he put up with my myriad questions was because he sensed that my unharnessed fanaticism may lead me to plunk down the money for enough untreated cedar and organic soil to keep him in business until Thanksgiving, as well as to destroy the shocks of my Jeep.

My friend and I loaded up and made 3 round trips, pulled into my backyard and unloaded each time, put together cedar rectangles, wheel-barrowed bags of soil to those rectangles, and dumped them in one bag at a time. As the day wore on and my muscles fatigued I’d slam the bags of soil into the wheelbarrow, gravity would take over, and then the wheelbarrow would take off with a shaky, pale, 30-something woman tearing off behind it. After 140 excruciatingly dense bags of this, I was beginning to rethink this whole garden “adventure” and my friend was rethinking her friendship with me. Turns out that drilling screws into cedar boards and unloading a zillion pounds of manure and worm castings made “going to work” on a Monday look pretty enviable.

After two beds of bordering on illegal amounts of labor I decided to hire my neighbor Manny to build and fill the third bed – this drove up the cost, but again, think of all the money we’ll save if we eat our own vegetables everyday until we’re 109.

Here are the first two beds before Manny built the third one. (There were only supposed be a total of two but I’ll explain the “need” for a third one in post #2. Assuming everything lives that long.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am celebrating what looks to be pretty much nothing, but it’s all about the hope of what’s to come…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After these two beds were built and filled with the proper soil, I began to obsess about what I would plant in my raised beds. Tomatoes of course, but what varieties and what tomato plant gardener could I really trust? (Heavy stuff.) I had my deep bed for tomatoes and my shallow one for other vegetables like squash and zucchini, beans, peppers and eggplant. Mary Katharine also insisted on okra, cucumber, artichokes, and jalepenos, so these were big dreams we were chasing. And for you gardeners out there, you know they were big dreams limited by small spaces, but I discovered this soon enough.

Next up, my adventures with Lisa Harper to Marrianna’s Heirloom Seed Farm, along with a few spiritual lessons God’s already shown me from elements like plants and dirt. Pretty amazing stuff it turns out.

Would love to hear about your gardening successes and obstacles, especially anything about tomatoes…

 

 

Summer is almost here, that lovely season when some of life’s chores begin to wind down over barbeques and underneath the sun’s warmth. For me, the joy of summer is slower days and lingering evenings, a time when you can breath deeply, hopefully taking some extra time to listen. And seek. And be still. And maybe even extend yourself.

Thinking about this makes me especially excited that Beth Moore will be highlighting the book of Nehemiah for her summer blog study this year. Beth is one of my all-time favorite Bible study teachers who I’ve been learning from since my college years. She’s authentic, remarkably funny, passionate, and a continual reflection of how Jesus loves and changes us. She’s just ridiculously fun and amazing.

***To find out more about being part of her Summer Study click here for more information.

***To place an order for Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break Study(s) click here.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What about shipping? Orders that contain 1-2 books take 5-9 business days to arrive. Orders of 3 or more items ship Priority Mail and will arrive in 2-3 business days. If you need expedited shipping or have a special shipping need, please contact Sarah Smith at 615-410-2282 or email info@kellyminter.com.

• Does every study include a leader guide or do I need the kit? Great question! Every study has a leader guide in the back, so you don’t need the kit to get the leader guide.

• Do I need the DVD Kit for Beth’s Summer Study? The DVD Kit is not essential for the summer study, however, Kelly’s teaching sessions will enhance your experience. You can click here for more information on the DVD Kit (note the Kit comes with 7 DVD sessions and a Nehemiah study book).

• Do I have to do this study in a group, or can I do it alone? Either one. If you have a small group you’d like to gather together for this study, that’s ideal. But if you’d like to do it alone, that’s great too.

If you have questions regarding this process or experience any difficulty in placing your order, please contact Sarah Smith at 615-410-2282 or email info@kellyminter.com.

A Note From Kelly About Writing Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break:
While studying the book of Nehemiah I loved how the book encouraged the process of rebuilding. Whether rebuilding a piece of our own life or the life of someone else, God’s heart for the sometimes messy process of rebuilding is what Nehemiah is all about. It’s an extraordinary story of what God can do with a compassionate heart that’s yielded to His heart of love and redemption for people everywhere – People God placed on Nehemiah’s heart, people He’s placed on your heart.

As a few of you know from my writing, God has done much to rebuild the broken places inside me while inviting me to be part of the restoration process in the lives of a few in my community, as well as those I’ve met in the Amazon jungles of Brazil. Never has life been this exhilarating, because when God calls us to tangibly love people it’s because He loves people, and studying Nehemiah reaffirmed this remarkable truth in me – A truth that will absolutely change our lives if we’ll believe it and get out there.

If you don’t already have summer Bible study plans, I’d love for you to come along for the Summer Siesta Bible Study Ride with our dearest Beth Moore…

Love,
Kelly

 

 

Our boat pulled up to the cement school in the village of Chita. I remember it being extra hot that day, the kind of heat that zips you in like the footie pajamas you used to where as a kid. The Amazon air has a way of clinging to you like no other place on earth.

We arrived with our myriad soccer balls, blowup animals and colorful crafts, all of which the kids couldn’t wait to kick, bend, glue and whatever else kids do while squealing and fluttering around like hummingbirds. At one strategic point in our visit, we gathered all the children and moms together for our official program which consists of a ‘rousing’ puppet show, a few songs led by me in my lousy Portuguese, some words from a team member about how God’s love tangibly collided with his or her life, and a time of prayer led by my Dad. Pretty straightforward stuff if you grew up anywhere near Christendom.

Gloria, our Brazilian spitfire, closed our time by explaining to the 30 or so moms and kids that if anyone needed prayer to come forward where a few of us were ready to pray over the needs. Before she’d completed her sentence, a four year-old boy sprung from his chair, clutched his mother’s arm and determinedly led her to the front. Yanno was so little that I was certain he didn’t understand what was happening. I was thinking faithless thoughts like, maybe he thinks we asked for kids to come forward for candy.

He shyly explained that his family had lost its home and barely had any food. He said his mom Mara was sad, words she confirmed with slight nods and a hopeless gaze. We prayed for their physical needs and committed to helping them however we could. My Dad explained the beauty of the gospel, how forgiveness through Jesus would forever change them. Mara and Yanno welcomed this Savior into their lives that day.

When Jesus makes an entrance in the middle of standard, Christian camp fare, I don’t know why I’m so jaw-dropping shocked. I couldn’t fathom that a boy so young could understand that God was his Answer. How guilty I am of motioning through the mechanics of a program, misplacing my expectation on the process rather than the Person of Jesus who said, “Let the little children come unto me.” Of course a four year-old could get it!

As we made our way toward the boat for the next village, I hated to say goodbye to Yanno. I felt a strong sense that he needed to be blessed, unofficial as anything I could bring him seemed. So I placed my hand on the top of his prickly-haired  wigs head and prayed a blessing over him – it was just the two of us. He must have been wondering what this shockingly white woman was doing with her hand on his head and why her speech was so strange and unrecognizable. I asked God to set Yanno apart like King David. I don’t know why that specific plea, though my urgency for him to be blessed has now become clear:

A few days ago I received an email from Gloria entitled, “Yanno, The Boy From Chita.” She relayed to us some tragic news that while Yanno was in his new house with his Mom and baby brother, Mara was struck by lightening in front of him. After vainly trying to shake his mother awake, he picked up the baby and waded through the river until he found a fisherman who could help.

Yanno is seven years-old. Mara would not be revived.

Gloria has since discovered that Mara was baptized weeks before the lightening struck her. She had gotten back with her husband and the family was attending a jungle church in the village. These expressions are powerless in and of themselves, yet when attached to Jesus they are vibrant signs of a heart transformed by Him. Mara knew Jesus and He welcomed her into His presence that day.

I’m not writing to saddle you with despair or sadness, we have enough coming at us from countless streams. I’m writing out of the discovery that comes from a story like Yanno’s that is still being told. I have no idea why if God had the power to lead us to this boy, He wouldn’t use that same power to thwart the lightening that struck his mother. Without a satisfying answer, I believe that the Spirit who led that little boy to the front of the room for prayer three years ago, was the same One who knew what Yanno would one day face. When God whispered in my heart, “Put your hand on that child’s head and pray for him because he’s special” I didn’t know why I was praying, but God knew.

And now I know too.

Yanno and his family will need our support over the coming years. I pray I will be able to see him when I return to the Amazon this June. I pray His experience of Christ and His church will be ever sufficient in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.

Dear Father, thank you for sending us ahead of such loss. And as we now come behind it, may Christ and His church be the filling Yanno and his family desperately need. Amen.

*A few friends snapped family photos backdrops that day in Chita. This is probably the only picture Yanno will possess of his mother and him. A gift Gloria will bring to him on her next visit.

I just returned from the first ever Abundance Event in Houston, TX. Next stop: Minneapolis, MN on April 27-28. I’m taking a moment to write about it because it was that awesome. Because I’m hoping you’ll be able to gather with us for one of the remaining three Abundance Events of the year (Event Info and Video Here). First off, it was amazing to be out on a “work” weekend with friends: Angie Smith, Lisa Harper, Tammie Head, Jen Hatmaker, Angela Thomas, Travis Cottrell, Jennifer Rothschild, Keely Scott (Compassion), Melanie Shankle (BigMama Blog), you get the idea. It was like summer camp without the smores, although we did sneak Tex-Mex in there.

What I loved most was that the event provided an amazing blend of highlighting the abundance God came to give with the call to give our abundance away. There was opportunity to give in big and small ways, especially since many local ministries unique to Houston were represented. Since Christ called us to be co-laborers with Him and not just spectators, Abundance offered a tangible way for us to be involved with international and local ministries. Oh, and if you came on dead-empty, there was no pressure to do anything but simply receive the abundance of Christ’s love. Brilliant.

The whole gathering meant a lot to me after spending the better part of last year in the book of Nehemiah where Nehemiah himself left the abundance of his prestigious palace to serve his brothers and sisters in the broken down city of Jerusalem; It meant a lot to me after spending some time in the Amazon regions of Brazil where I’ve encountered a great deal of poverty. But, here’s what’s cool – it meant a lot to me this week when I had a pile of unexpected expenses, some plumbing problems, mice in the house (I’m still recovering from the assault on my hygienic sense of well-being), a fleeting health concern, etc. I came back encouraged and strengthened by the speakers, singers, testimony givers, and dynamic women in attendance. I’m not alone. You’re not alone.

The weekend made me grateful for LifeWay and their persistence in seeing this event off the ground, not for their/our abundance but so the abundance of Christ can be shared in very tangible ways that include US as participants. So, my encouragement to you is if you have the ability to make it to Minneapolis, Atlanta or Greenville, SC for one of the remaining Abundance Events, put it on your calendar! I’m telling you, this is a special one. Oh, and if you’re particularly weary and empty and feel like you’ve got nothing to give, definitely come.

Houston Abundance Event Recap Video.