Some come out only with prayer...

I was weeding the flower beds while Pepper, the mutt, went about her business and came to a stubborn creature with roots that had to run to New Zealand and back again.  No amount of pulling was going to get this baby free of the clay that hugged its deep-seated root system.  This guy was not giving up, but then neither was I!  For some strange reason the Holy Spirit used that moment to put in my head the story in the gospel according to Mark about the disciples' inability to cast out a demon from a boy.  Jesus had just descended from the mountain following his transfiguration before James, Peter, and John.   What the disciples had been helpless to do took only a command from Jesus and the demon fled.  "Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, 'Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?'  Jesus replied, 'This kind can be cast out only by prayer" (Mark 9:28-29).

I know this going to sound like a wild connection, but it turned my thoughts to Brother Lawrence, but then my attention has been known to wonder like a chipmunk in a forest.   I had been attacking that weed with its deep, strong, stubborn roots like a mad woman instead of bending to the task as an act of worship in the presence of God.  Now, some of you may be thinking pulling weeds is far from worship, yet what isn't worship or should be worship if we're completely sold out in love with God?

Brother Lawrence bent to the task of mopping floors and washing dishes with the attitude that he was doing so in the very presence of God.  Why shouldn't I do the same with weeds?  I started singing and praying and saying a few of my favorite passages and...the weeds didn't grow any shorter or miraculously jump from the ground like an exorcised demon.  Instead, it was I who was transformed. I was exorcised of the need to conquer and filled with the desire to worship the God who makes stubborn weeds and stubborn women.

New additions...

Mark and I went to the Mary Kendall Campus of Kentucky UM Homes for Children and Youth in Owensboro a week ago for their annual auction day.  Needless to say, we had an awesome time and picked up a couple of goodies for Anam Cara!  The stained glass cross hangs on the main level in the center window pane of the great room, while the popcorn popper is in the fellowship hall in the lower level.  I've already put the popcorn popper to use when our work team from Lawrenceburg UMC was here and got a little carried away...we had popcorn coming out our ears!

Our first team work day!

 The Lawrenceburg United Methodist Church confirmation class, mentors, and parents arrived at 9:30 Saturday morning and put in a hard day's work!  We had a stone removal/hauling crew to line the path and the outer ring of the labyrinth, a crew hauling cedar chips, a chain saw crew, and a crew fastening cedar stumps together for the labyrinth outline.

 The original path was way too steep.   Thanks to Lance and his chain saw we made a detour through the woods which required the removal of some downed trees and the wood was used for more cedar stumps in the labyrinth.  By the time 3:00 pm rolled around we were absolutely beat, but everyone still had enough energy to hike down to Eagle Creek.

Thanks again Lawrenceburg UMC!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Our labyrinth begins to take shape!

My original plan was to put a full sized labyrinth on the south lawn, but Mark convinced me it was too close to the road. We walked through the woods and found this spot along our trail. We decided it would make a wonderful station for our woodland prayer walk. After clearing the ground, I used a stake and a rope with knots tied at varying intervals to mark out concentric circles using a can of spray paint. As the sun began to set, we were able to decide where the western entrance to the labyrinth would be located.

On Saturday, the confirmation class from Lawrenceburg United Methodist Church in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky will be out to help us complete the labyrinth by picking up wood, hauling wood chips to fill in the labyrinth, and outlining the exterior of the labyrinth with rocks.




Once the circles were drawn, I marked the turns in the labyrinth with rocks and then spray painted the whole design on the ground with an outdoor spray paint.

We started by placing our cedar stumps around the design to get an idea how many stumps we would need and then I began connecting the stumps in about two foot sections by stapling them together with a heavy gauge wire.

We're getting there...

The bid to do the backyard landscaping was a bit, shall we say, extravagant.  We have another landscaper coming out to give us a bid in the morning, and I'm hoping it's within our price range.  I'm so ready to get it finished!  Our son, Jason, and a friend, Rusty Williams, came last weekend to help cut down part of our "wall of cedar".  A tree trimming company, Asplundh, was out this evening chipping all the branches we cut down and tomorrow Jason will be back with Mark, both armed with chainsaws, to tackle more of the cedars.    The descent sized trees are being cut into 6-8" stumps which will be used to line the path of our labyrinth on the south lawn.  The chips from the brush will fill the labyrinth path, so I'm feeling pretty good about our attempt to reuse the resources God has given us.

While the guys are doing their chain saw thing tomorrow I'm going to make a giant compass with a rope and stake.  After tying knots along the rope to coincide with the different concentric circles that will make up the labyrinth, I'll use a can of white spray paint to  make a temporary outline of the labyrinth so we have an idea of its general layout.  The last Saturday in May, the confirmation class from Lawrenceburg UMC is coming here for a work mission day  with Lee Ann Williams to help us actually build the labyrinth.  I can't wait!  Once the labyrinth and back landscaping are done I'll hold a huge open house for the churches in the area from all denominations as well as people within the United Methodist Conference in Kentucky.  Hopefully, it will generate some activity for the coming year!