IN-DEPTH BIBLE SEMINAR

The In-Depth Bible Seminar sponsored by International Student Ministry, Inc. is an annual weeklong event held in the St. Louis area. Baptized Christian and "serious seeker" international students from our campus ministries are invited to attend this conference.

The three goals are:
     1)  Equip individuals with a grasp of the whole of Scripture (using The Bibles Big Story)
     2)  To share teaching about some of the major theological themes (Baptism, prayer, the Church, etc)
     3)  To train in small group ministry using small groups for evening discussion and prayer

The desired outcomes are for these students to either return to their campuses or as they return home to be instrumental in Biblical and faith-enhancing studies. Each will eventually return home where they will be able to speak in their own language, relate to family and friends, and, really, go where we could never go or never send missionaries.

Sessions are held morning, afternoon, and evening with substantial breaks inbetween for conversation and questions. And, I am amazed at the questions and conversations that take place.

How wonderful it is to hear the group singing songs like "Lord, I lift Your name on high."  Devotion times are dedicated to prayer and song (most of the songs are new, but well learned as the seminar goes on).

Chiung-Hua is totally wrapped up in giving praise to God.

Computers and cell phones have found their place at the conference. Fifteen years ago, when we began these special conferences, no such technology was available.

Funds for this seminar come both from the participants and their ministry sites, but the primary gifts come from the prayer partners of ISM, Inc. Those prayer partners have been more than generous since the cost per participant runs about $900 - we also cover transportation.

Hannah Mcculloh, Ames, Iowa, poses with three of the Chinese participants.

Participants come from China, Egypt, Ethiopa, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan

SPRING GARDENING

I know that this is the picture that you have all been waiting for: my garden. It's early in the season and things are just beginning to grow. The garlic is to the left and the rhubard to the right.

I have most everything planted that will be growing for this year. Here's the scoop: garlic, onions (sets and plants, and multipliers that winter), chives, rhubarb and asparagus (perennials), kohlrabi, radishes, lettuce, rainbow swiss chard, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatos, eggplant, okra, peppers ( banana, green, gold, and salsa), cabbage (purple and green), cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans, snap peas, parsnips, beets (golden and cylindrical), and carrots. I don't think I missed anything. Both the upper and the lower gardens are full, but perhaps when the radishes are done, I will be able to plant a bit more.

Some of the lower garden (closer to the house and fenced in with the nice wood rails). I've also planted herbs for Karol:  parsley (moss curled and Italian), cilantro, basil, and dill.

The lupine have just started blooming. They grow in soil that is fairly poor, and this patch has expanded each year so that now there is a substantial area where the lupine bloom.  I'm remembering them while I'm here in St. Louis

I love this time of the year when everything is "springing forth" from the earth, whether perennial or planted this year. It's fresh, clean, new and beautiful.

While I work and explore and enjoy during the daylight hours, there is also activity during the hours of dark. Check out this video, FROGS GALORE, to see what happens at night. http://youtu.be/R30zj4El7Bs

Presently, I'm in St. Louis serving at the In-Depth Bible Seminar. This year, we have 16 international students who are with us. The next blog will share some pics and news about the Seminar.

ODDS and ENDS

The ferns are most beautiful at this time of the year when you can almost watch as the fiddleheads unravel. Later, they will fill this area and cover all the logs that now you see so clearly. I've tried eating fiddleheads, but they weren't pleasant!

Matthew called today to remind us that it was Sarges fourth birthday. We are dog-sitting from now until July 20 when we return to Pittsburgh.

Kind of a goofy picture. The whole point of it is to thank son, Matthew, for his coaching in getting straight lines when you mow your lawn. Since he told me about that, I marvel at the mowed stripes on baseball fields. Simply beautiful.

Karol took this picture yesterday of some of the trillium that are growing in the woods on the east side of the house.

On the north side of the house is our perennial bed. Late blooming tulips have just opened. These are some of the prettiest that we have. Karol pics one or two and brings them in the house for our enjoyment.

What a beautiful day in Wisconsin. Temperatures in the low to mid 70's with a gentle breeze and a sky that varied between partly cloudy and full sunshine. The beautiful weather made my grapes get serious about beginning their growth.

Nathan and Megan, and Andrew and Suzanne and kids were here for the afternoon and supper (chicken on the grill and Karol's famous broccoli/craisin salad). How the kids love to ride hot cycles,bikes, or whatever kind of vehicle in the driveway. Chalk was popular today also.

I've wrapped up planting in the garden. The cucumbers and squash that I planted about a week ago broke ground today. The last planted veggies were green, yellow, banana, and salsa peppers; okra, and eggplant. Since the okra like "warm feet," I planted two of them in black gallon pots. Maybe that will encourage them to grow and set fruit earlier than normal. I'm anticipating that the last of the frosty mornings are past and that from here on, there will be no more damaging weather.

Before I leave on Tuesday for St. Louis, I'd like to get some good shots of the garden so you can get a picture of what I've got up and coming. So keep tuned in.

A SUNNY MORNING IN ROSHOLT

That's right! It's beautiful weather for mourning doves too. The warm sun and gentle breeze make you want to just sit around and "chill." Now isn't that an unusual way to use that word.

This was taken about 10 days ago. It's greener now, but the lure of the pond is still tugging. We thought earlier on that we had a pair of mallards that were going to next, but not to nest, but not to be.

If these guys could talk, they'd probably be saying, "Please pass the bread." Karol and I get down to the pond several times each week with a loaf of older bread so that we can sit in our big white wooden chairs to feed fish. Last year, we had bass that came to the bread, but this yuear, only bluegills come. It's time for me to get out my pole to catch a few to eat.

Yesterday continued our harvest of garden produce. "So early in the season," you say? We've already been eating asparagas for three weeks now. And there's been young garlic, radishes, multiplier onions, chives, and parsley (from last year's planting) that we've also enjoyed.

Now comes the rhubarb. Last night I cut up enough to fill three gallon bags for the freezer, 12 cups for Karol so that today she can bake four pans of rhubarb cream cheese bars, and some left over that I used to make rhubarb sauce. Yum!

I believe that last night was the FINAL frost of the season. It was 30 on our thermometer last night. So today will be planting day. I have tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant that I'm going to settle in, and then, other than okra and salsa peppers, my garden should be complete.

During the last part of the semester at Peace, four students worked on a project for a "food" class  - and chose "English Cafe" because it was a unique way to use homemade food for a special community purpose. You can see their video at English Caffe.

MY "NO SMOKING" ANNIVERSARY DAY

With a view like this, why would I ever want my office in a different place other than the "sun porch?" Not only can I "watch" the flowers bloom, I can also see birds outside of my windows. Check out the next picture for interest...

Mr. Wren spent lots of time traveling to and from the birdhouse carrying medium size sticks. But this time, he bit off more than he could chew. He could not figure out how to get one end of the stick to go inside of the hole. He finally gave up.

Each year, we see more and more trillium in our little woods. It is such a bright and showy flower - I love to see it.

I've been able to download a video once again to YouTube. For some reason, I couldn't do it at home, so I decided to try it at Peace. The upload speed is similar to home, so I don't know what the problem might have been. You can view it at:  http://youtu.be/_cvo6T0rg9I  It is found there along with other videos on the DrCarlSelle channel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy putting it online.

Ferns have now begun to spring up in our woods. I believe that about three years ago, I planted a few there and now they are spreading. This shot is taken in the little woods right to the east of the garage.

Virginia bluebells, started at the Iola property by Rob and Penny, are now flourishing at our home. It is amazing how they spread. They just don't stay in a little area. they spread far and wide. Beautiful in the spring.

And, finally, to close out this session of the blog, let me show you the "Treehuggers" natural sign for "Keep out of this woods." The birch do it all, don't they.

This shot was taken along Hwy. 66, halfway between Rosholt and Stevens Point.

BIRDS IN OUR YARD

The phoebe has a nest in the eaves on the south side of my office. Fun to watch them sit and latter feed the young.

I took this sitting in my office - down toward the rock garden.

These are the birds that I saw/heard yesterday when our electricity was out for 8 plus hours. A tree fell over wires just to the west of Rosholt. Karol and I were sitting in the garage overhang.

red-winged blackbird
rose-breasted grosbeak
brown thrasher
white crowned sparrow
chipping sparrow
English sparrow
flicker
red-bellied woodpecker
phoebe
white-throated sparrow
cardinal
mourning dove
house sparrow
robin
cowbird
downy woodpecker
sandhill crane
red-breasted nuthatch
goldfinch
yellow-rumped warbler
tree swallow
crow
black-capped chickadee
song sparrow
pine siskin

There may be others around, but at that moment we did not see or hear them (ie baltimore oriole, hairy woodpecker, etc.)

This morning as I work in my office, the rabbit is running back and forth - don't know where. Maybe they're migrating like the lemmings. The black squirrel and the gray squirrel are hopping from tree to tree. I'm hoping that there are no red squirrels left because they had entered the sacred space or our log home attic. Just spotted the rose-breasted grosbeak in the dead catalpa to the south of my office. We leave the dead tree because the birds love to sit in it. I've planted a new tree, but it doesn't look very alive at the moment.

It's so beautiful outside that I need to get in that sun and warm - and out of my office. I can always be here.

Our ferns are looking like this right now!

FLOWERS "OUT OF THIS WORLD"

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE (NEVER MIND THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES AT NIGHT)

I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the spring pictures from our yard. It is really beautiful here right now with all the blooms showing off their colors.

Like soldiers, the grape hyacinth stand tall in their royal blue colors. Funny thing is, I don't remember even planting them.

These pansies were purchased at Lowes when we visited Pittsburgh recently. They were really a deal: six plants for $.25. I  bought four sixpacks. Thanks, Matthew, for helping me find the sale. 

This is what I like to call my "rock garden," created about six years ago when I had a bit of spare time. The path comes from a lower level door in our home running left to the washline. The creeping phlox are gorgeous. 

This is the flowerbed/garden/landscape area to the south of the new room in our home. There are flowers that come up each season. Right now, the showpieces are the tulips.

Around our lawn, we have planted a variety of flowering crab apples. Most of them do set apples, so in the fall, we get to watch both robins and cedar waxwings enjoying the fruit. the crabs are just coming into their time of flowering.

These daffodils are part of a "stream of daffodils" that flows north to south between our house and the pond. Each year we add more bulbs, randomly placed, and each year the daffodils multiply. It has gotten to be rather beautiful.

Brother Robert and his wife, Penny, hold plant sales in the spring - a sure sign that it's time to get things into the ground. Today, I stopped by their home and took a video while Rob shared some commentary. They enjoy flowers and also like to help other make beautiful yards. Check out the video at http://youtu.be/1IcpWXnHbes You'll be glad you did.
Come back in a week and I'll try to show you more.