Cumin Mouse

On friday we took time to clean up the kitchen, specifically our spice and silverware drawers.  The spice drawer had recently been looking a little dirty but when we opened it friday it looked like a spice bomb had blown.  We realized a few of our spice containers had been gnawed through and the spice was then distributed throughout the drawer by some creature.  The strange thing was the main focus of our drawer destroyer was cumin.  Why this animal wanted cumin and not say, basil or paprika is still a mystery.  Fortunately, the identity of our "visitor" was soon revealed when we cleared out the rag drawer.  A mouse was waiting for us and had to be shown the door via Matt's fast-action with a push broom.  Hopefully that will be our last encounter with the "cumin mouse."

Najile Goodwill Center

As much as we work to live up to the Mennonite standard of "living simply", our lifestyle produces a measure of inevitable garbage.  Some of it is easily disposed and unusable, wrappers, used tissues and paper towels etc.. Yet we also produce some garbage that is less easily gotten rid of (read: burned).  Things like old shoes, plastic bags, broken toasters,  empty bottles, rags, clothes of the wrong size, and various "gifts" from visitors like 5 calenders, boxes of matches, mesh laundry bags, random baby stuff, arithmetic flash cards, extra hats, and tons of toiletries.  Sure we could try and keep these things and use them, but we've realized they're more likely to take up space, collect dust, and eventually become homes for mice (see upcoming blog: cumin mouse). 
So, we decided to consolidate all this junk and create the Najile Goodwill Center.  On our porch we have a table where everything is free to take.  You never know what will be a "hot" item and what will sit on the table for months.  Electronics stay put, but used plastic bags go like hot cakes.  The water purification tablets went pretty quickly (though I don't think the people who took them understood what they were), but mosquito coils (like citronella candles) were never taken.  Having so much stuff has brought great joy to the various children who now visit our house daily to see the babies and get any new stuff that's been put out.  It has also brought great joy to us, like when an 8-year-old wore one of Steph's old dresses to church.
In the pursuit to live simply and de-clutter our lives, God has reaffirmed the truism that, "one man's trash is another man's treasure"