6 years later

You know how, in the movies, when you are all caught up in a scene and something big happens, and then BOOM.

Black screen. 

Then, the music starts again. You get a wide angle landscape shot, and then words appear? 

6 years later

 Yep, that's what just happened in Creating Good Soil Blogtown. Sometimes, I'm not even sure if I'm still creating good soil.

Kiddos 3 October 2011

But here are the highlights of the past 6 years:

Got a tattoo

Moved from Sunny Central Oregon to Rainy Willamette Valley.
Began working & living full time/year round at a summer camp

The beautiful space we live and work in

I love hiring, training and mentoring amazing college students 

Kids being silly at our camp

 Sold our Central Oregon home
 Sold Green Plow Coffee Roasters
 Homeschooled

circa 2013

Instagram
Traveled to Washington DC, Mexico (2x), Nepal, California, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Vancouver/Victoria BC.
Helped kids discover amazing, crazy and sometimes expensive hobbies
All 3 kids eventually decided to go back to school
Husband works full time too


 Lowlights include:
 Being away from my tribe
 Ovarian cyst surgery
 Still surviving a fairly drastic faith community split
 Not having time to create regularly


All that said, I find myself in a place where I don't know what the next scene looks like. But for some reason, I find myself needing to write again.

Kiddos 3 + Furbaby 2017

A peek into my journal....

So far, so good....

So far, I love homeschooling.

Having our family on only 2 schedules rather than 4 or five is so freeing! So often as a small business owner, we have “minor” emergencies…. out of milk, bathroom is not working, etc. We have to be available sometimes at a moments notice. Having the kiddos with me has been more freeing then I thought it would be. No longer do I have to worry about missing the bus, or not being able to be at someone’s special presentation. We have more family time together during the week when Pat gets off after his shift. Since we’ve been home together during the week, we have more energy and space for hanging out with friends or having an adventure during the weekend. This newfound freedom is glorious.


Most days we head up to our newly redecorated classroom/office/creative space around 8:30-9 and get started with school. We’re doing a crazy combo of Sonlight/Waldorf/Co-op homeschool. Obviously, we’re not a textbook (literally and figuratively) homeschool family! I hope that once we are a bit more disciplined in our routine, we will have a better idea of what works for us. Jbug has taken to homeschooling like a fish to water. (Note to anyone who has struggled with attachment issues: consider homeschooling.) I have been amazed at the way this little one has blossomed by having close contact with mom and dad most of the day, without having to figure out how to interact with 30 other classmates. She is surrounded with those she knows and loves, who know, love and for the most part understand her. After years of headaches, stomachaches, tantrums, and counseling sessions, it feels as if we have made extreme progress in just weeks with the chosen-for-us little one! Micah is still trying to figure out how homeschool works (aren’t we all?) It has defiantly been more challenging. No longer are the answers being spoon fed. It feels good to challenge his amazing brain! Kj has already discovered the freedom of homeschooling last year, although I am asking for more from her this year. She is very independent and already thinking of testing a grade level ahead. I better start brushing up on my math skills. We love being able to attend Karate classes during the day, or hit a geocache on the way home. Afternoons are spent at the coffeehouse, reading, tending the bar, running errands, etc.

So far, so good.

One Day Without Shoes

Thought I'd share what our family is doing today. Check out www.onedaywithoutshoes.com or check the tweets at #hardwithoutshoes. Consider it a modern day fast and sackcloth. This is the letter I sent out to the kids' teachers.

Hi Wonderful Educators,

So..... Our family does a lot of conversing about those in the world that are less fortunate then ourselves. We try to help out in different ways & stand for issues of injustice. This week we remembered hearing about an event called "One Day Without Shoes" This event, held today on April 8th, brings awareness that most children in developing countries go without basic necessities like shoes...this limits their ability to go to school, and protect themselves from debilitating diseases. Our kids would like to show their concern by participating in this day. Basically, one goes about their day as normal except without shoes.

We have spoken with both of them and feel that their hearts are definitely in the right place. They are choosing to go without shoes to "respect those who do not have shoes." We are providing them with t-shirts that reflect the message of the event and stickers that have a website for those who would like more information. We are asking them to not draw attention to themselves and to remain in an attitude of learning and respect.

We would ask that you as teachers and administrators respect their right to reflect their growing conscience of the world around them. We do understand that if their actions become disruptive to the learning environment that they will be asked to wear shoes. (They will each have a pair of sandals with them.)

Thank you....We know that this is an unusual request. Feel free to contact us for any reason.

Sincerely,

Pat and Mandy

The view from my window

Yeah, the view from my window has changed.

Actually, the window I look out the most has changed. I used to gaze out our dining room window at my three little ones playing on the swingset. I am soooo thankful for the time I got to spend with them when they were little. Good soil for my little ones. Now, they're all in grade school.

After two weeks of Christmas vacation at home with the kiddos, it's back to the regularly scheduled program. We all wake up and head out the door at the same time. They to fill their heads with knowledge. I to fill empty coffee cups with great coffee and hopefully a drop of love|peace too. I missed all my people at the shop. I really feel that God has placed me where I belong right now. Those mothering skills of the past 11 years go really well into the customer service realm. 3 different kids= 3 different sandwiches. 3 different customers=3 different drinks. Oops...a dropped glass jar of peanut butter. Oops....a dropped ceramic cup. (Actually, it was me who broke a cup today!)

I find some of the same "mothering hen" emotions come into play at the shop, too. If I have a regular customer who doesn't show up for a while, I start to worry a bit. After a well played music gig, I rejoice for the success of the musician. I love gazing out around the shop and seeing my community connecting. Yeah, the window is different, but the view is pretty much the same

What a Song!

Every once in a while, a new song catches in my heart. This one captures so much of what's important to me. Enjoy!

The Hand Song by Nickel Creek

The boy only wanting to give mother something,
And all of her roses had bloomed.

Looking at him as he came rushing in,
without knowing her roses were doomed.

All she could see were some thorns buried deep,
And tears that he cried as she tended his wounds.

And she knew it was love, it was what she could understand.
He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands.

He still remembers that night as a child, on his mothers knee.
She held him close and she opened her Bible, and quietly started to read.

Then seeing a picture of Jesus, he cried out:
"Mama he's got some scars like me!"

And he knew it was love, it was what he could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

(instrumental break)

Now the boy is grown and moved out on his own.
When Uncle Sam comes along.
A foreign affair, but our young men are there.
And luck had his number drawn.

It wasn't that long till our hero was gone, he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross.

But they knew it was love, it one they could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

It was one they could understand.

He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

Livin' La Vida Local

Today the kids and I went for a What-cha-ma-call-it hunt. The local library hides this crazy handmade sock puppet in one of the downtown stores. Whoever finds it and reports back to the library first, gets a brand new book for keeps. Hearing of the new quest last week, the kids made their strategy.
"We'll only go to the stores that like kids. And not any of the ones where the What-cha-ma-call-it has been hidden. We'll start at 9:30 after some of the stores have already been open, and get back to the library by 10, when it opens."
Things didn't go exactly as planned. I had forgotten "The Plan," and headed out for errands while my Mountain Man struggled to herd everyone out for a day of work at the coffeehouse. The car died, so I took it to the Subaru guy and walked back to the coffeehouse, dressed in full out paint clothes. Finally around 11:30, we were walking the newly renovated 6th street searching for a sock puppet. Tried the pet store...only really cute puppies. Tried the pottery place...nope. The card shop. Then, the shoe shop across the street from our soon to be opened coffeehouse.
Over the past couple of months, I've gotten to know Steve, the shoe guy, a bit. He's one of our new "neighbors" downtown. We chatted a bit while the kids searched the store, finally spoting the sock puppet in -where else?- a boot. That ended our conversation quickly in a "controlled sprint" to the library.
Two of our favorite librarians, Heidi and Linda, were bombarded by my kiddos three all whispering (loudly) "We found the What-cha-ma-call-it! At Steve's shop!"
Linda says to us, "It's always so cool when our regulars find it!" She and I chat about the coffeehouse....Our librarian friends are excited for it to open too! We gather our prize, find a couple of more movies to check out, talk with a scrapbooking buddy, then head out.
Oh, but it's Monday...the Farmer's Market is half a block away. So we peruse the veggies, buy some kettle korn, beans, nectarines, cherries, catch up with an old neighbor. Finally at 1:30, we walk back to the coffeehouse ready to eat our Farmer's Market lunch.
All that within walking distance! All that among people we know and love! I'm lovin' this Local Life!!

Sacred Spaces

This week at Plowshare Coffee Roasters we had a gathering to celebrate God's gift of a space for our new business. I wrote this question on the wall as a way to focus on how/where God shows himself to us. I see sacred spaces as being a place where God and I connect. Space really does matter to me. For example, it's hard for me to center down in our living room. There's always so much energy in there (not to mention laundry). Perhaps I need to attempt to make it a more sacred space. My garden is one of those sacred spaces, a special spot out at Smith Rocks, these are current spaces. Back in my Newberg days, it was a corner armchair at Coffee Cottage, and the Big Swing at Camp Tilikum. I'm glad God is big enough to not be confined to one space!

Happy Rainbow Birthday, J-Bug!

Thought you all might like to see why I haven't updated this for a while....We were partying! Happy Birthday, J-bug!
Birthdays are big around here. The birthday kid chooses a theme and away we go! J-bug chose a Rainbow Party. Take a look....Each kiddo got to choose their own color of the rainbow for an Italian Soda. (That's what happens when your folks are opening a coffee house.)
Pretty gift bags all in a row! We made ribbon streamers, danced to Somewhere over the Rainbow, and hung rainbow curling ribbon everywhere!

Words I never thought I would hear together

"FONDUE FIGHT!!.......Hurry, get onthe boat!"

-uttered by Boodle-Bug in some sort of imaginary game involving the couch and all the stuffed animals in the house.

You know it's Christmas vacation at the GoodSoil home when......

....door decor is skis, sleds, and snowshovels.
...little monsters take over the house. (jbug & bugaboo made these for boodlebug for christmas.)
....kangas and snow boots are the outfit of the day on jbug.
...snow boy appears.
...baby jesus wears a peruvian hat
....boots out number people.

The Girls are a-layin'

Look at that! 18 eggs laid by our own chickens! Well, at least three of them. Leola (named after the children's book, Leo the Late Bloomer) is staying true to her name. I feel like a chapter out of Little House on the Prairie. We all have a definite fondness for "chicken eggs" as opposed to "store eggs". Friday nights have become breakfast dinner time.. a new family tradition.

Summer Reading

Yesterday, was our (usually) weekly trip to the library. Yet again, we dragged home a huge bag of books. As soon as we land in the living room, the bag is dumped out and the scurry begins. Every kiddo digs through the pile, searching for their own book treasure. (It looks a lot like the chickens scratching through their food plate.) And then .....peace settles over the household! Everyone in their little corner being transported to castles, barnyards, and pirate ships. Then I take a look at my books.....Which one should I choose to read for this moment?

My daughter and I are very similiar, in that, we both usually have 4-5 books going at a time. Here's what I'm reading:

Jesus for President by Shane Clairborne: Asks the question, "What would our lives as Christ followers look like if we truly let Jesus be our leader in all we do spiritually, economically, and politically?" Great words...but I love the scrappy art style too.

Keep Chickens! by Barbara Kilarski: My guidebook for raising chickens in a small suburban place.

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'engle: One of my all time favorite authors. We've been listening to this one in the car as a family. I love the allegories that can be drawn from this book. If you've ever wanted another picture for John 15 ("remain in me," Christ the vine, etc), this has some beautiful thoughts.

Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast: The history of coffee and the world. My husband and I are in the early stages of starting a coffee roastery/shop, so this has been very interesting. More about that development later.

Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller: Good stretching-your-faith stuff.

DragonFire by Donita Paul: I need some sort of east fictional story in all of my spiritual, world politics, history heaviness. A allegorical dragon, wizard story with a strong female character..might be handing this one down to my daughter after I'm done....If she doesn't finish her list first and grab it from my pile!

This is the day.....

that the Lord has made, not like tomorrow or yesterday. He made today in a special way, so let's all sing and be glad." This little song, learned when I was young, has become an oft sung meal-time grace for our family. Sometimes, when it's been a tough day, I'll sing it in a cranky voice with a grouchy face, just to make the kids smile. I'll replace the word "glad" with "mad" and finally raise a chuckle among those around me.

But, today, there is no need to sing it cranky style. This whole day has been amazingly perfect. Here's why:

Beautiful sunshine
Happy chickies in the violets
Dear friends moving in with us for a bit
One week till the Church Basement Roadshow (www.churchbasementroadshow.com)
Laundry on the line
Helpful kiddos and most exciting of all....

a brand new niece arrive safely today!

Thanks, God, for a sweet day! May I be as able to praise you as readily during the hard times too.

Clean hands, Clean hearts

It must be getting to be summer. The kiddos wanted to do an lemonade stand. We didn't have lemonade......or lemons..... or kool-aid. "How about Ice Tea?" Whew, that idea flew. Now, lemonade, I mean ice tea, stands tend to take more work on the part of the mama, than the kiddos. I was determined to change that today.

"Go find the paper cups. Holy cow! On second thought....First go wash your hands." If you've ever had the joy of raising a son, you know what I mean. Seven year old boy hands can be nasty! Who knows what they've touched along the way throughout the day. I know I would not eat, drink or even smell, anything that those little grubby hands had touched. And I certainly was not going to be responsible for a neighborhood outbreak of samonella or e. coli.

Thoughout today I've been thinking about our first Finding the Way of Jesus gathering. (Just wait, I'll get back to the Ice Tea Stand.) We read through Matthew 4-8 and listed all the things Jesus said to do or modeled for us to do. (Quite a list, I might add) Then, from that each person chose a command to work on this week. Being in a social justice mind frame lately, I wondered why so many of us had inner actions to work on. Rather than selling all our stuff, or going out to find needs to meet, we were asking, seeking, knocking, forgiving. All inside our hearts, minds, and souls.

Then it hit me. First, go wash your hands. As I said these words, I realized our hearts, minds, and souls need to be scrubbed up before we go out feeding the world. Not that every thing must be perfect. (Think 7 year old ice tea stand vs Martha Stewart Ice Tea Stand). But, there are preliminary inner actions that must take place before our hearts are ready to bring Jesus's action to others.

First, go wash your hands. On the other (clean) hand, let's not take too much time in getting ready.