Michelle Ule's Blog, page 2

Johnny Appleseed Evangelism for All

Johnny Appleseed Evangelism?

I first heard the term many years ago when a friend explained it.

“Basically, Johnny Appleseed wandered all over the eastern United States to the Midwest,” my friend said.

“He didn’t see a single apple tree grow to fruition, but that didn’t stop him. He just went along, tossed the seeds, and continued.”

I shrugged. “What does that have to do with evangelism?”

Jon laughed. “Don’t you remember the Scripture?”

Apparently not.

Apostle Paul’s version of Appleseed evangelism

He didn’t have to quote 1 Corinthians 3: 6-11 very far.

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3: 6-11 NKJV

Then, I understood. I’m just adding my thoughts to what someone else previously sowed.

Published November 1871 in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine.

I don’t worry about evangelism much anymore.

What does it mean to plant, water, and increase?

The Scripture is clear that there are many gifts in the Kingdom of God.

 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NKJV

 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

Ephesians 4:11-12

Some of us have the gift of evangelism–everyone we talk with turns into an opportunity to share the Gospel.

Some of us are better at teaching the “beginners.”

The gifts are equally valuable and important.

But they need to be used.

So, what’s the Appleseed evangelism version?

I’m an extrovert. I like talking to people, including strangers.

André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons">Actual appleseeds.

I try to find a way to reference church, God, or even Jesus in conversations.

I’m dropping a seed.

If the person picks up, great.

If they don’t, I trust they’ll run into someone else who will.

Where do I drop seeds?

All sorts of places.

Where did Johnny Appleseed drop his seeds?

How about while standing in line at the post office?

Or, while finding myself on an airplane I wasn’t expecting to be on?

Finding yourself in an unexpected situation to pray.

I’m trying to encourage people to think beyond their circumstances and consider God’s role in their lives.

Even in the toothpaste aisle.

What does Oswald Chambers say about this?

OC wasn’t talking about Johnny Appleseed evangelism in his April 25 My Utmost For His Highest devotional.

He was talking about being prepared to share your faith both “in season,” and “out of season.”

In other words, no matter how you feel, just say something!

“Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything.

There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration.”

My Utmost for His Highest, April 25, Updated

You can trust God will bring along the next person to water that seed.

At least, that’s what I think Johnny Appleseed evangelism is.

(Pray for me, please. I’m on a ministry trip.)

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A Navy Wife’s “Plan for Death”

I drew up my Navy wife’s plan for death many years ago.

An Admiral told me–and the other young Navy wives sitting in the lecture with me–to do so.

Our husbands were all Navy ensigns attending submarine school.

We Navy wives were invited to spend the day at the school and learn about our husbands’ new careers.

We visited the dive tower, listened to lectures, heard stories, and even got to “play” in the command “mock up.”

I manned some training dive planes and sank the boat.

(Submarines are boats; surface ships are ships.)

But it was the admiral’s lecture that shook us up the most.

How to become a good Navy wife

I don’t remember the Admiral’s name. It was his words that never left me.

“The secret to helping your husband is simple. You need to become ‘good Navy wives,” he said.

“And that means you need to learn how to be a widow.”

The thirty women in the audience gasped. None of us had been married more than a few years.

At twenty-two, I was only 15 months into my marriage.

What did he mean? And why would he say such a thing?

The admiral explained he had been the Casualty Assistant Call Officer (CACO) when the USS Thresher sank in 1968.

“I’ll never forget making those house calls. I met Navy wives who didn’t know anything about money or even had to fill their car with gas.”

“I accompanied a chaplain, brought condolences, and gave them the facts we had. Too many of them were completely lost without their husbands.”

“No one knew what it meant to be a widow. They had no idea how to take care of themselves or their families.”

He shook his head. “To be a good Navy wife, to help your husband, you need to be prepared that he won’t come home. You need to be independent. The best way is to learn how to be a widow. You need to work out a plan for death. His death.”

Yikes!

Developing a plan for death

Even at that young age, I was a good researcher.

I set the task and I began. How do I figure out a plan for death? What did it even look like?

I started with that word “widow” and went to the library (of course).

Lynn Caine’s memoir, Widow, was a good place to start.

I haven’t reread the book since, but several points stand out.

Don’t do anything in the first year that you don’t have to. Your job the first year is to grieve.Find people you trust and who love you, to listen and grieve with you.Don’t make any major financial changes–like buying a car or selling a home–unless you must.After a year, take a vacation by yourself far from home. Think through what you want for your life and make a death plan.Get bereavement counseling for yourself (and, later, the kids).Everyone’s grief is different.

My twenty-three-year-old husband didn’t really want to hear about these plans, but he listened.

We worked it out together. What made the most sense?

We also bought life insurance on him (and for me after the first child’s birth).

And we saved money.

What was this Navy wife’s Plan for Death?

Everyone had different needs or wants.

In those early years, if he died while on active duty, I’d move home and figure out a new life.

Once we started having children, we modified the Plan for Death. I’d take the kids home to his parents and live with them for a year or two.

With both sides of the family living near each other, I’d have support while I figured out our future.

Curiously, now, we never discussed where he’d be buried. I guess we both figured he’d go down with his ship.

No submarine has been lost at sea since the Thresher went down all those years ago.

Some of my Navy wife friends, however, have died.

The value of having a plan

That “not making any changes for a year” has stuck with me ever since.

I’ve passed that advice on to many recent widows. “Sit tight. Your job is to endure the year and then make decisions.”

Realizing you don’t have to act immediately takes one of the (many) pressures off a woman.

Here’s a helpful link to a Survivor’s Checklist (military or not).

Knowing my family would take in the kids and me gave me peace of mind. We had a safe place to go.

Obviously, we modified it later when we owned a house and the children were in school. We would have sat tight in that scenario.

We made wills, bought life insurance, and planned our finances for a “just in case.”

That gave us all peace of mind.

I’m just glad I’ve never had to execute the Plan for Death.

Tweetables

What is a plan for death, and why does everyone need one? Click to Tweet

An Admiral’s advice to young Navy wives: prepare to become a widow. Click to Tweet

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Time to Clear the Grandchildren’s Bookshelf

It’s time to clear the grandchildren’s bookshelf.

I’ve put off the job for too long because it’s emotionally tricky.

It’s not exactly a rerun of clearing the children’s books, but it’s close.

This time, though, it probably means for good.

At least when I had children, I knew I’d reuse the books with my grandchildren.

Now, well, they’re pretty much done.

At least with the toddler books.

So, what’s on the grandchildren’s bookshelf?

The classics I couldn’t bear to part with have sat on my shelves since the firstborn.

Some of them were my (few) childhood books, like Go, Dog, Go.

Some were gifts from my mother to her grandchildren. And now her great-grandchildren, born long after her death.

She’d glue photos of herself on the adult women in the books, and then mail them to my children.

“Grammy!” they’d cry when they turned a page and found her as a flight attendant or a teacher.

My grandchildren never even saw those photos–because their parents ripped them out!

So, what’s on the bookshelf?

Here’s a list of the particularly well-worn books.

Go, Dog, Go. (The perfect gift for a two-year-old. We went through five copies.) Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. (Bought 4 copies–they kept wearing them out!)There’s a Train Going by My Window.Green Eggs and Ham. (One of my child’s first books read aloud to me!) Madeleine and the Gypsies. Katy and the Big Snow. (“Chug, chug, chug.”) Harry and the Lady Next Door. Curious George Gets a Medal. Where the Wild Things Are. (We now have a Max in our family . . . )

What do these books have in common?

They’re all more than 50 years old. I read them as a child myself.

As a result, they’ve proven their value over time. I read them, my children read them, and now my grandchildren have read them.

All you have to say is “Lowly Worm, Lowly Worm,” and my kids smile.

Or, the ever-popular, “Do you like green eggs and ham?” Everyone laughs.

It’s a shared family history everyone knows–and loves.

I hate to take them off the grandchildren’s bookshelf, but, frankly, they’re worn out.

Other great books on the shelf

Other books provoke memories.

I took The Berenstein Bears’ Science Fair to Europe when my older kids were two and four.

Technology and Sharing MY Voice(Opens in a new browser tab)

We only had a few books with us, so we read this long story many times!

The older child got a copy of Paddington at the Tower while in London, and we read it frequently.

And, of course, Daddy’s Book–which I wrote myself!

We’ve got an entire collection of recent STEM books like Ada Twist, Scientist, (Part of The Questioneers book series.)

A lifetime of book-loving is one of the best intellectual gifts we can give our children and grandchildren.

Not to mention the rich memories for us.

Kids’ Books Blog posts.

Make room on your grandchildren’s bookshelf for some of these suggestions!

Even the dog loved Go Dog, Go!

10 Classic New England Kid Books

Favorite Books for Toddlers You’ll Love!

Good Books for Young Boys

Tintin, Snowy the Dog, and My Boys’ Childhood

Favorite Children’s Christmas Books

Kid Books for Christmas 2017

On Starting a Collection with Ozma of Oz

Hamlette the Pig Takes a Walk

Tweetables

A list of favorite children’s books from the last 50 years. Click to Tweet

What’s your favorite children’s book? Click to Tweet

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Along a Rainforest River

In 2024, we took an hour-long trip along a rainforest river in Queensland, Australia.

On a trip reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, we traveled down the Baron River near Kuranda, Australia.

The tour boat operator (who did not have a pistol) pointed out a variety of things I did not see.

Like crocodiles.

Can you see them?

I missed seeing them half the time.

It helped when they moved.

What else did we see along the rainforest river?

Biodiversity.

Or, maybe we didn’t see much of it, but the boatman pointed out the facts!

According to him, and signs we read along the Skyrail trail, Biodiversity refers to many things.

“The rainforests of the world are home to more than half the animal species that live on Earth. Many of them live only in the rainforest.”

In Australia’s tropical rainforests, scientists have found:

58 frog species 64 fish species 110 mammal species 162 reptiles 327 bird speciesmore than 40,000 insect species.

We didn’t see that many!

Along the rainforest river

On that slow day, we saw mostly turtles, fish, and birds.

We did learn more facts about the rainforest as we voyaged downriver.

A large number of animals, insects, birds, reptiles, and plants also live in the ravines above the river.

Here’s a list:

Not a real cassowary.30% of Australia’s orchids65% of their ferns.36% of their mammals.50% of Australia’s bird species.25% of frogs and other reptiles60% of Australia’s butterfly species.

From the rainforest river, it appeared to be a dry forest stretching up to the sky.

The one bird I really wanted to see, I only glimpsed at the zoo.

The flightless cassowary — a prehistoric-looking bird — is responsible for much of the diverse plant life in the forest.

It runs around, eating, defecating, and spreading seeds.

More sights along the rainforest river

Modern life, fish, birds, and is that a crocodile?

A calling birdIs that a croc?Ducks and busy fish

We learned about crocodiles and their ability to surprise folks at the Australia Zoo.

Crocodiles make no ripples on the water surface as they cruise underwater.

That’s why they can sneak up on folks standing beside even the smallest creeks.

Too often, people never knew what was coming.

Unless they were pointed out to me along the rainforest river, I never saw them.

In a surprising twist, I learned the river is the sole source of sand for beaches north of Cairns!

This cruise ended at a dam, which generates enough power to produce electricity for most of eastern Australia.

The Australian rainforest is a powerful place, whether you’re on the rainforest river or merely riding above.

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Identity Issues and Jamie Winship

Identity issues keep coming up when I pray for people.

In my case, it’s with women who have young adult and adult sons.

(Or in one case, a son-in-law).

I’ve been pointing them to Jamie Winship and his Identity Exchange (which he founded with his wife, Donna).

The reason?

We’re in a crisis these days. People–young and old–don’t understand the value of their personal identity.

It’s a problem in society as well as within the church.

Men and women both need help. Teenagers, in particular, are afloat in personal uncertainty.

What identity issues does Winship discuss?

As a result, we’ve been binge-listening to Jamie Winship’s podcast interviews and discussions lately.

They’re so interesting, amusing, and sometimes hair-raising!

The Winships

We’ve never quite heard a Christian talk like this–about hearing God and identifying with Him.

And, notably, about our identity in Christ.

Living Fearless Quotes

Young men and identity issues

We are living in unprecedented times when young men have been told lies about their worth.

You can see it all around–particularly in young men who have grown up without fathers.

Who will demonstrate how to be men of honor? How to treat others properly–particularly women?The value of a work ethic?How to overcome personal temptations: sexual, financial, ethical?

I think some of the problem lies in how we parent our children.

My father was driving into that above list when a teacher pulled him aside.

I wrote about it here.

A male history teacher asked him what he planned to do when he graduated from high school in 1948.

Raised with an absentee father, often hungry, working to buy his clothes, he had his eyes on money.

He shrugged. “Maybe be a printer.”

“No,” the male teacher said. “You’re smart. You need to go to college.”

Dad had never considered that idea. The last person in his family to go to college graduated in 1785.

(Though they didn’t know that!)

The teacher gave him a vision for himself that was greater and more focused than his wildest dreams.

It made all the difference in the world.

How do you see yourself?

Unless we had people in our lives who spoke to us about our identity–and what it meant–it can be hard.

The basic one, of course, is simple:

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt.

~Jeremiah 31:3-4 (NKJV)

When God spun the suns across the galaxy, He had you in mind.

Unsplash Photo

He gave you specific gifts, talents, and abilities for the time and place in which He put you.

It’s not a surprise to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit that you are the person you are.

Winship has thoughts:

“The journey in discovering your true identity in the kingdom of God is an eternal journey. There is no end to the depths of who God made you to be.”

  Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God

Our identity issues–who we see ourselves to be–affect how we think and act.

“If your identity is unworthiness, you will act like an unworthy person. It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are with. You’ll still act to prove your worth and value.”

Leaving Fearless

Does the above quote sound like what you’ve observed in society recently?

What to do

I was praying for a woman recently when the Holy Spirit put a thought into my head.

“Do you have sons?” I asked.

The woman nodded.

“I think it’s important that you speak to them about who they are, and the strengths you see in them.”

She opened her eyes and looked at me.

gryffyn m on Unsplash">Unsplash photo

“You need to remind them that they have value. The world isn’t going to tell them who they are. It’s important that you speak the truth to them.”

She nodded.

I nodded right back. “Yes. Give them a sense of their worth. They’re important to you and to others. The world doesn’t want them to know that. We need to tell our young men about their worth because of who they are.

“It’s not about doing something. It’s about being. Pointing out their character will remind them of who they are.”

I then returned to her prayer request. After we said, “Amen,” we hugged each other.

Our boys, our men, are precious.

Sometimes, though, they need to know why. Sometimes it’s our job to help them sort out their strengths and their identity issues.

Or, here he is on a podcast talking about Following God’s Voice.

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Praying in the Toothpaste Aisle

Praying in the toothpaste aisle for a stranger?

How did that happen?

And then what happened?

How I found myself praying in the toothpaste aisle.

I was minding my own business.

But you know how sometimes you find yourself do-si-doing in the grocery aisle?

That was me and a man about 40.

Obviously, we both needed toothpaste.

But there were so many choices!

(I was praying in the toothpaste aisle, so I asked, “Which one, Lord?”)

Back and forth we weaved, until he finally started laughing.

I joined him, shaking my head.

“I tell you what,” he said. “I have to go to work. You have a good day!”

“Thank you,” I said. “Can I do you one better?”

He shrugged and smiled. “Sure.”

“I’d like to give you a blessing.”

“I’ll take it.”

I just raised my hand, praying in the toothpaste aisle.Praying in the toothpaste aisle happened right here!

I put up my hand toward his forehead–but I did not touch him.

(I didn’t know him. Why would I touch him?)

Standing there and praying in the toothpaste aisle, I called down the Holy Spirit.

“Bless this man with His presence at work that day.

Fill him with your joy, success, and give him reason to be thankful at the end of the day. Amen.”

He nodded his head. “Amen.”

Then he jerked backwards about a foot–to his shock and mine.

“What was that?” he cried. “I’m not even religious, but I know something just happened!”

My hand was still up in the air–now two feet away from him.

What would you say?

“God’s got his eye on you. Have a wonderful day at work.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what that was, but it was powerful. I got to go to work.”

He staggered down the aisle toward the exit.

I returned to scrutinizing the toothpaste choices.Amirali Parsa on Unsplash“>Not Ed, but the smile is close enough!

I shrugged at yet another adventure in the grocery store.

Smiling to myself, I continued praying in the toothpaste aisle that God would bless him at work that day.

I’d never found myself praying in the toothpaste aisle before!

But here he came again, his arms wide-stretched, shaking his head.

“My name is Ed. Can I hug you?”

I laughed. “I’m Michelle. Sure.”

Which is how I ended up hugging a stranger at the grocery store.

“I don’t know what that was, but something is going on.”

I laughed. “God’s got His eye on you, Ed.”

“Yeah,” he said, walking toward the entrance again. “I guess he does.”

And that, friends, is how you can find yourself praying in the toothpaste aisle!

In what unusual places have you prayed for strangers?

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A Clothing Allowance for Kids

Do your tweens and teenagers have a clothing allowance?

Why not?

It’s a wonderful tool for teaching them:

Personal responsibilityThe consequences of choicesHow to manage their moneyIs that a want or a need?

It takes a year of trials, then you, the parent, are set.

What’s a clothing allowance?

I served as a volunteer Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society budget counselor many years ago.

My children were young then, and didn’t pay any attention to their clothes.

I did. Money was tight during those years. They wore many hand-me-down clothes.

Since I spent one day a week as a budget counselor, I adapted those skills to my own family.

Very helpful.

I read books about managing my money, and eventually discovered Larry Burkett.

I listened to his radio program on the same topic every week. Our kids did, too, when I drove them to school ten years later.

Burkett emphasized the need to train both ourselves and our children. I listened closely.

A clothing allowance gave them the freedom to learn how to make financial choices, while still under our care.

Clothing allowance details

We began our financial practice with the kids when they were young.

If they got money as a Christmas or birthday gift, we let them spend half of it. The rest went into their piggy banks.

When they hit their teenage years, I calculated how much I usually spent on clothes in September. I then added 10 percent to the number because they were new at managing their money.

I instructed them to go through their clothes and school supplies to make a list of what they needed.

They counted how many pairs of socks they owned, for example. Did their school clothes fit?

Were their shoes or sandals worn out? (We lived in Hawai’i when we instituted the clothing allowance.)

What did they actually need?

NOT what did they want?

Photo by No Revisions on Unsplash

I then had them write up a list of what they would need for the new school year.

We discussed their list, and then I gave them the news.

“I’m going to give you ___________ (a sum of money). We’ll go to the store and you work through your list. You can buy anything you want off your list. I’ll give you back whatever you don’t spend.”

They were shocked but excited by the idea.

The boys were eleven and thirteen.

How was the shopping?

Fascinating–to me.

They carefully looked at prices for the first time. They pondered the selections and put back items when they concluded, “My old backpack will work.”

Weighing what they needed versus what they wanted meant shopping took longer.

But it also brought surprising results.

They decided they’d buy t-shirts at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet rather than the store.

Our second son was a keen shopper. To my surprise, he bought five t-shirts for $10 and then spent $20 on a pair of sandals. (These are 1994 prices.)

He really wanted a specific type of sandal, which this mother would never have wasted money buying.

Later, we learned the reason why.

“Everyone in my class wears sandals like these. They don’t care about our t-shirts, but the sandals made a difference.”

Whatever type of local sandals they were, they helped him fit in with his classmates.

Later, he told us the clothing allowance was a face-saver and made all the difference in the world to him.

Who knew?

Did it work?

Scouting America Link

Absolutely.

Ultimately, all our children received a clothing allowance when they reached junior high.

They loved it.

It taught them how to manage their personal funds. (Okay, I confess, I always bought their underwear. Everyone still gets socks for Christmas.)

The boys all easily earned the Boy Scout Personal Management Merit Badge.

(Download a free version of the Personal Management 2025 booklet.)

They learned how to budget, enabling them to save money for themselves if they managed their finances effectively.

It taught them what they really valued — style over quality, even!

And also how to save — especially those years when they grew four inches and needed longer pants!

A clothing allowance of their own meant I didn’t have to say no all the time,

If they wanted a clothing item, I’d ask, “Do you have any money in your clothing allowance?”

Then we’d discuss why or why not.

And I could always pay them to do a household chore.

We weren’t cruel, but we were firm.

Closing thoughts

A parent’s role is to raise adults, not large children.

Allowing our kids to “experiment” with money while they were home meant we could help when they made mistakes. (I also got needed Christmas gift suggestions!)

It also meant that when they left for college, we knew we could trust them. They’d had practice managing themselves.

And that was more valuable than anything else.

Tweetables

How to manage a clothing allowance for teenagers. Click to Tweet

The value of a clothing allowance beyond buying clothes. Click to Tweet

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Seeing Butterflies in Kuranda

Seeing butterflies in Kuranda, Australia, charmed us all.

A small town in Australia’s northeastern rainforest, Kuranda, marks the end of the Skyrail.

Guidebooks told us we’d love it.

We were traveling through the rainforest, so we stopped.

And we were charmed by seeing butterflies.

Big butterflies.

Delightful.

Busy.

And funny.

Seeing butterflies meant color and size.

We saw them at the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, a short walk from the Skyrail.

We entered a large, screened building through two black curtains.

(The curtains kept the butterflies from flying out when the doors opened.)

The tropical setting featured a man-made waterfall and an abundance of lush rainforest foliage.

Seeing butterflies in this setting required careful observation.

And then laughing when one landed on my pink hat!

(Look carefully. Do you see it?)

As more and more butterflies landed on my hat (?!), people surrounded me and took photos.

Who knew they loved the color pink?

Butterflies certainly loved flowers!

Getting a closer look

The sanctuary included a “lab” area that featured a microscope for better examination of butterfly scales.

Fascinated, our granddaughter spent a lot of time gazing at a butterfly’s “wing scales” through a microscope.

Using the microscopeWhat she saw.Butterfly wing scales

Who knew butterflies had tiny scale-like feathers on their wings?

The lab area also featured a butterfly life-cycle display, which didn’t look as charming as the butterflies themselves!

As a butterfly sanctuary, it included information about the species, explained on signs throughout.

For example, “What do you call a group of butterflies?”

Choices:

KaleidoscopeSwarmRabbleFlutter.

(Answer at the end).

All the choices sounded appropriate to me.

The Magic of Seeing Butterflies

Is it any wonder people might think they were seeing fairies?

Action filled the air. Children laughed as butterflies landed on their open palms.

Seeing butterflies flitting about in the filtered light caught our eyes time and again.

Some liked to cling to the roof, some sat on the rim of a shallow pan to drink.

The tricky part of the visit was taking their photos!

Oh, a group of butterflies is a kaleidoscope. Isn’t that a splendid description?

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The Strawberry Plot or are they Weeds?

My strawberry plot began simply enough.

I saw a six-pack end-of-the-year container of bedraggled, half-dead-looking plants.

We had a blank spot in our gray water garden that wasn’t doing anything that fall.

I bought them for $2 and took them home.

Several days later, I remembered to plant them in the dry, empty, and not very good soil patch.

From experience, I knew strawberries were hardy weeds.

I figured that if they survived, they would survive. I wasn’t going to demand or expect much.

This is what happened.

Am I playing games with the words strawberry and plot?

Of course.

This was not my first time dealing with berry plants.

Just ask my kids.

Gardening in general began in Connecticut when my older children were toddlers.

I grew up in a Los Angeles suburb, where we rarely even weeded the lawn. Plants were on their own.

All the thumbs were worn from turning pages at our house, not planting things!

Things changed when I had kids of my own.

Mom, is this a strawberry plot?

“You mean plant,” I said.

He was three.

I wasn’t sure.

It was then that I realized I needed my friend Liz to tell me what was growing in our yard.

I had no clue.

Well, maybe that was a tomato bush?

She laughed when she arrived. I had a pad of paper to take notes.

“Those are wild strawberries,” she told my son. “You can tell by how small they are.”

The current strawberry plot started from a tired six-pack.

He promptly ate them.

Which is what he did with everything safe and edible that Liz pointed out!

How hard could it be to grow strawberries?

Not hard at all.

We planted them in Washington in one cleared-off spot in the grass. They went wild.

The children and the wild deer ate them right from the bush.

Things slowed down in Hawai’i.

We couldn’t grow tomatoes or strawberries in the islands 30 years ago.

We did grow a pineapple,

But only one.

Are they weeds?

They are in our mainland strawberry plot.

I cull them, give them away, and invite folks to take plants.

I took a barrel-full to my son’s house last year.

His first-grader wants me to bring more to grow his strawberry plot!

Strawberries love the gray water garden–and have taken over half of it.

This year, for the first time, I applied fertilizer in the spring.

We now have good-sized strawberries.

And everyone is happy.

Try it. Really.

Strawberries grow easily in North America.

And they always make great jam.

The post The Strawberry Plot or are they Weeds? appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.

Christmas Cards in July?

I received two Christmas cards in July one year.

The first one surprised me and made me laugh.

My Texas friend made a point. “I forgot, so I thought I’d send Christmas cards in July this year.”

Perfect.

I settled down to read her Christmas letter at my leisure. No Christmas presents to write, no cards of my own to write.

Nothing was pressuring me except the need for a glass of iced tea on the porch.

I brought all the other mail and magazines with me to read. After I savored Wild Girl’s family news, I sighed with satisfaction.

Running my finger down her letter’s prayer points, I prayed for her daughters.

I’m so glad she sent the card and letter six months later than I expected.

Then another one?Nong on Unsplash">Making laundry fun!

The next envelope, from a friend in Maryland, truly surprised me.

A Christmas card fell out, followed by a letter on Santa Claus paper.

And she began her letter this way:

“Oh, that I could write like Michelle Ule–who even makes doing laundry sound exciting!”

What?

She, too, apologized for sending her Christmas cards in July, but she’d moved.

“It took me a while to unearth the Christmas card list,” she said.

A notoriously busy woman, I didn’t mind getting her card later, either.

Again, I had a chance to pray for her and her busy family.

It made me laugh, though, that she had such confidence in my writing skills.

If you send Christmas cards that are not Jesus-nativity-related, it doesn’t really matter when you send your missives.

Below is composer Claude Debussy’s Christmas card. It would have worked just fine without the holiday greetings.

Claude Debussey’s Christmas cardWhy not send Christmas cards in July?

It’s such a whimsical idea, isn’t it?

Who says we have to mail greetings in December?

Other friends have taken the pressure off the holidays by sending their annual missive at Thanksgiving. “We’re thankful for you, so we thought we’d tell you.”

Another friend likes to write her letter for Valentine’s Day, “because we love you and are thinking of you.”

Any time of year would work, though, since the purpose is to touch base with a letter.

You can still include the important information, particularly as outlined in this post.

And, of course, by sending the family newsletter during the summer, you might even get some visitors!

The post Christmas Cards in July? appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.