Springtime!

For the first time, our family is experiencing the quintessential American springtime tradition of baseball.  Luke decided that he would like to try Little League this year.  He played soccer a few years ago, but didn't really like it.  "I like baseball better," he told me on the way home from practice on Saturday.  "In soccer you have to be running around all the time, but in baseball you get some breaks."  He loves practicing in the backyard (with training baseballs, so our windows don't break) and at the nearby elementary school ball field (with real baseballs).  Our neighborhood is overrun with little boys--four besides ours, all within two houses of us in several directions--so Keith usually has to pitch to a crowd!

Our backyard, in addition to serving as a mini ballpark, is currently home to a giant pile of topsoil.  Keith is transferring it by wheelbarrow to the desired locations elsewhere in our little patch of yard.  The resulting permaculture-inspired garden will be a sight to behold, and will provide lots of fresh produce for our family.  In the meantime, it is a neighborhood attraction for the aforementioned pack of boys.

Joshua is an adorable, busy 18-month old.  He loves being outside.  I suspect he may have already eaten his lifetime quota of dirt, but at least he is happy in the process.

In other news.... Keith will begin his new job at the end of April. With tying up loose ends at the greenhouse business, he hadn't even begun job-searching when this great offer came along!  God is so gracious.  It felt pretty dark there for a while, but God walked with us every step of the way.  Sometimes it was just a sense of His presence. Other times He worked through His people to send encouragement our way, from local friends who kept hanging out with us even though we were decidedly glum, to mentors who guided our processing and gently challenged us, to friends in faraway places like Kenya and British Columbia who called "out of the blue."  A dream died...but the underlying call and vision is still very much there, so we will wait and see what God does next!