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Nurturing Soil & Soul: MCC Kids in the Garden |
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Growing Point: Garden lessons in the Bible Soul Water: Nurturing your soul through prayer Earth Explorations: Nurturing Connections to the Soil Seeds for Thought: Additional Resources to Nurture Soil & Soul
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Garden lessons in the Bible Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. -Proverbs 3: 9-10 The Message There are two ways to approach life: the competitive approach and the first fruits approach. In the competitive approach, there is a limited pile of ‘stuff’ and we are all fighting/competing to get as much of the pile for ourselves as we can. We perceive that the more of the pile we have, the better our life will be – the more money we will have and the more we will be able to do. But, when we get more of the pile, it means someone else will have less of the pile – when we benefit, someone else suffers. Sometimes it is easy to believe that this is how the world works. After all, it seems like there are only so many cookies in the cookie jar and so much money in your pocket. But the first fruits approach is based on the belief that there is enough for everyone, and even more. As the scripture verses suggest, share the very first fruits of your harvest with others rather than keeping them for yourself. Don’t just give the poor quality, overgrown harvest away and don’t wait to start sharing your zucchinis until you have eaten so many yourself that you can’t face the thought of eating another one. Scripture assures us that if we do this, that we will be rewarded with even more than we gave away – your barn will have so much in it that it will burst and your wine vats will be overflowing. What if you give the first cookie away while it is still warm and gooey and then the person you give it to in turn bakes you a dozen muffins, or takes you to a movie, or gives you a toy that you have really been wanting? Be careful that you give the cookie away out of love rather than with the expectation of anything in return and you will be rewarded.back to top of Lesson 10:First Fruits
Nurturing your soul through prayer Dear God, Thank you for the first fruits of our garden. We have worked so hard to plant the seeds, to hoe the weeds, and to water the plants. It has been hard to wait for the harvest to be ready. We are learning a lot about patience. We are finally beginning to harvest – lettuce, swiss chard, raspberries, basil, peas, zucchini and more. We offer to you the first fruits of our harvest. Thank you for nurturing the soil and thank you for nurturing our souls. Amenback to top of Lesson 10:First Fruits
Nurturing Connections to the Soil How long does it take to harvest first fruits?The vegetables in the garden take different lengths of time between when they are planted and when you will likely be able to harvest their first fruits. Also, different varieties of the same vegetable take different lengths of time to mature. You may have heard of people talking about Early Girl tomatoes or 70 day corn – they are named based on when they will be ready for harvest. Check out the list below to see how long will have to wait to harvest your favorite vegetable. Radishes 29 days Lettuce 45 days Spinach 45 days Beans 55 days Peas 55 days Zucchini 55 days Corn 65 days Cucumbers 65 days Eggplant 65 days Carrots 70 days Pumpkins 70 days Watermelon 70 days Peppers 75 days Tomatoes 75 days Winter Squash 90 days back to top of Lesson 10:First Fruits
Additional Resources to Nurture Soil & Soul Challenge Your Ideas about What is Possible This is a story about Kyle MacDonald. He traded one red paperclip for a house. He started with one red paperclip on July 12 2005 and 14 trades later, on July 12, 2006 he traded with the Town of Kipling Saskatchewan for a house located at 503 Main Street. Available as a book, DVD, and website. The website describes, “The Secret reveals the most powerful law in the universe. The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world's history, and through the lives of all truly great men and women. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law. Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance.” The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel
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Madison Christian Community • 7118 Old Sauk Road • Madison, WI 53717-1099 • Phone: 608-836-1455 |
