Breakfast with Great Men

This morning I’m having breakfast with two great men; Mark Coleman and Craig Shuff. They’re on staff at my parent’s church in Davie, Florida. Mark is the pastor and Craig is the administrator.

At yesterday’s Baptist 21 panel discussion, we had a chance to catch up and talk for a few minutes before returning to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). I really enjoyed our abbreviated conversation about the younger generation pulling out of the SBC and disengaging from the conversation as a whole.

There is so much to talk about and so much wisdom to learn from Pastors who are not constantly involved in the bureaucratic discussions that surround the convention. Mark, after working for Florida Power and Light, got his seminary degree and planted New Life Baptist Church in 1993. He has 15 years of experience with his church that I can learn from. They’re connected to real people doing real ministry in South Florida, where life is much more hectic and the pace is much faster than what we’re doing in Kentucky.

I barely know Craig but I am looking forward to knowing him more. He handles all of the administration at New Life and is a SBTS grad.

And as if this couldn’t be a better breakfast, we’re meeting at Blue Dog Cafe, one of my favorite Louisville places to eat. I hope to post a few pictures after we get to meet.

I anticipate we’ll talk more about our churches getting involved in the Cooperative Program (CP), how to educate the younger generations in enacting change in the SBC, and how to thank our churches for the good work they have partnered in by giving to the CP.

More than anything, I anticipate this being a beautiful meeting of two different style churches that want to partner to see the gospel advanced and Jesus given the glory. I don’t imagine we’ll ever serve together at the same local church, but we get to partner in bringing the Gospel to the world. That’s pretty awesome.

Going Green

We read about rain barrels in the past and thought it would be a great idea for our garden. It’s essentially a large barrel that you attach to your gutters and will hold the rainwater that would otherwise flood your yard and seep into the ground while it is over-saturated. Then, you can use the water in the barrel to water your garden or yard on days when it does not rain. 

However, a quick search online left us disillusioned about getting a barrel. They’re pretty expensive for a decent barrel.

Then, after looking at our water bills from last summer, we decided to commit. We drove to a local nursery and asked if they carried these barrels. They did not. But, they did let us in on a well-kept secret. Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), our local waste and storm water government division, is selling rain barrelsfrom their Nature Center for really cheap!

I was excited, called, and picked one up the following Monday. It rained all Monday thru Wednesday, and I didn’t have any time to get outside and install the rain barrel. But, come Thursday, I used my evening to install this barrel. Here are some before and after pictures for you:

Before

After

Lucy was really excited to be able to help out in the process. 

Next, we’re going to add some flowers to the south (left) of the barrel and our house to add some landscaping, make it easier to mow around, and to hide the barrel. Stephanie has some ideas with some flowering plans, so we’ll have to keep you updated before it all happens. 

And as you can probably tell from the before (3/9/09) and after (4/16/09) pictures, the blackberry bushes are coming in nicely. I hope the barrel’s shade doesn’t mess with that one bush. Oh well, the free water is going to be worth it. 

Oh, and for those of you that are wondering how much water we’ll be able to keep in our barrel… the barrel holds 58 gallons. With the back half of our roof (I’m estimating 300 square feet), and 1″ of rainfall, the barrel will receive 260 gallons of water. Luckily, there is an overflow valve that points away from the house. So, we could get a few more and daisy chain them. I have a feeling that would be overkill.

Hey Florida family: you should consider doing this. It rains every day down there and it seems like every spring and summer there is some sort of “water shortage.” Imagine if you could harness the runoff from the little bits of rain you do get to keep your flowers and vegetables fresh! I know most Floridians don’t have gutters, but if you did… it would work well!

A Fall Breakfast

On our recent trip to Jamaica, Steph read a book about eating local foods. Though the author took the philosophy a bit far, they had some really good points. The one I like the best is eating what is in season because it is the freshest and tastiest at its peak. This also creates seasonal menus. For example: pumpkin pancakes in the fall.

We went with our community group to Huber’s Family Farm in the middle of October to pick pumpkins. We got one for our Annual Halloween Carving Contest and picked up two more for baking. Steph has mastered how to harvest fresh pumpkin.

She started this pancake recipe with fresh, home-pureed pumpkin. Then she found a recipe online and modified it to her preference. The result was fresh and delicious, fluffy pumpkin pancakes. 

Then, she topped them with powdered sugar and local honey. 

I know some of you out there (maybe not one of our two readers) don’t think there is that much difference in what you can pick up at your local grocery store and what you get at a farmers’ market. Though it is true that some things are nice to be able to get year round, like flour, other things lose a lot of their flavor in mass production. 

Eggs, for instance, don’t have the same flavor. Free-range eggs are better because the chickens scavenge their normal diet of bugs in addition to the grain they are fed. This results in a thicker egg with a tougher yolk. They scramble up a lot brighter yellow and have a ton more flavor. They really add to the taste in everything from a scrambled egg sandwich to cookies. Check out this picture of free-range eggs. The color hasn’t been messed with at all.

Free Range Scrambled Eggs

It has been an awesome morning with really good food. 

I’ve realized this blog is almost always about food. That’s ok with me. Leave me a comment and tell me if there are other things you’d like to hear about.

Check out more pics on our facebook album.

Picking Pumpkins at Huber’s Family Farm

We went to Huber’s Family Farm in Starlight, IN today with a bunch of friends from our community group. It was great. We picked a pumpkin for our fall decorations as well as picked 2 more for baking. We could not have asked for better weather either. It was amazing.

I’ve included a couple of pictures for you to enjoy. Our friend Emil was the designated cameraman. He not only took some cool shots of people but some awesome shots along the way. You can see the whole collection in our Picasa Web Album.

Love Louisville

Love Louisville is the latest campaign at my church. We’re posting all kinds of things about Louisville that we love about our great city. Check out this latest post by our friend, Elizabeth Yeiser, about Old Louisville.

The Yeisers, by the way, are the people who got me interested in local everything.

A farmers market breakfast.

We go to the local farmers market on Saturday mornings to get some of the best food around. Then we come home and have a breakfast fit for a king.

This morning we has free-range rainbow eggs, thick sliced homemade toast, and snow St. Jerome cheese. It was so good!

Design Intellection

If you like good designs and artistic attention to detail, you need to check out this site.