Discipleship Camps

by Robin

Part of the reason why I gave my blog the title of "Raising Fishermen" was because we live near the ocean and we love to fish.  But, the main reason was because I recongize that my kids are not just my own.  They belong to God.  God has given them to me for a time to raise them and steer them towards what He is calling them to do with their life. 



In the spring, my eldest was able to attend the discipleship camp called DNow.  It was an extended weekend where they could pray about God's direction for their lives.  Many teens surrendered their life to Jesus, as Savior.  Some found which path they were praying about for college.  Some learned to discipline themselves in their personal time with God.  Here is my eldest, Simon Peter, in his devotion time.



My youngest, Andrew, is at the Centri-Kids discipleship camp this week.  This is his 2nd year attending the same camp.  I love this and so does he.    He is left of center, top row, in the green shirt.  They're having their devotion time.

Now, it's not all prayer & Bible study.  They have plenty of good  physical activities that develop character & courage.

 

Below, Andrew is in yellow and doing a water sport called Wet 'n Wild.



It is my hope that eventually, we will be able to send them on missionary trips - domestic or foreign.  But for now, they're having a great time learning more about being men of God.

Blessings,
Robin

GARDEN UPDATE - POST-TS DEBBY

by Robin

I thought I'd keep the blogs going as long as the computer was working well and my days are quieter with my son gone. 



Debby dumped a lot of rain on us and the ground softened.  Add a bit of rain and these okra plants were doing their best to topple.  (Actually, one did but it is out of frame!)



Simon Peter and I ran out there between rain bands and we moved the bean fence from the middle of the garden to the front side to hold up the okra. Great decision.  I'm sure TS Debby won't be the last tropical storm to roll by this summer.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking I may need to buy a couple more cages for the peppers.  I cleaned out some weeds and dead kale, as well.



My tomato garden (above) is dying.  I may as well pull up the drip irrigation lines in the mid-section and till that too. I'll try to keep the romas & cherry tomatoes for as long as possible.



Here is another good place to till (above).  Remember how full this was about 6 wks ago?  (below)



I had a great spring crop.  Nothing to cry about even with it gone now.  I was blessed with 75 cucumbers, 17 squash and countless meals of beans & kale.  Time to let it rest and start again in 2 months.  I will be looking at all sorts of broccoli & cauliflower seed for winter.


Oh and this little guy is still around.


Happy Gardening,
Robin

MY LITTLE MAN

by Robin

He's gone to discipleship camp this week.  Twenty-two kids and a few brave adults left out Monday morning in tropical storm weather to take the kids for a week of learning about the Bible and discovering what God is calling them to be or work on.  Andrew went last year and came back so much better than when he left.  He felt that he was suppose to work on his attitude and ... he did for a few months. 

As hard as it is to let him go again,  I look forward to the young Christian man that will come back to this house and be on fire for Jesus. 



Love you!!

GARDEN REPORT - RAINY SEASON IS HERE!

Oh my.... where do I even begin on the garden?  God has taken us from our drought into the rainy season in a matter of days. As I type this, TS Debby is giving us a soaker sure enough to ruin what's left growing out there.

Ok, well, let me go through with what's going on in the pictures.  This pic was taken late May and as you can see, I had a GREAT crop of Big Mama Roma tomatoes about to turn color.  One by one, they were disappearing on the fence.  I've always known the squirrels to take a couple through the year, but once we got to something like 20, I had had it!  Let's just say, some of my little tree rats are with Jesus in their mansion of a nut-filled tree.  As of late June, I have yet to eat one stinkin' decent Roma tomato from my bushes.  They're still hanging in there, too, inspite of the heat. 


Here is garden #1.  The zucchini produced one nice zuke before they died out.  It wasn't so much a leaf death as it was a rotting of all the blooms from all the rain.    The cherry tomatoes, filling mostly the back, are still alive but not as full as they once were.  I am picking a ton of red cherry toms off them, but I'm afraid the full sun & heat are pushing them to their limits.  We shall see if they survive all this rain too.  I have been spraying them for spider mites but only 1x/wk.  We still eat off the herbs & onions every day.




Well, this garden is a disaster... doing okay.  The entire backside is DONE.  Once the nights went over 70 degrees, everything died out.  I harvested what I could, keeping some seeds and freezing the rest. The peppers are producing but very slowly.  I put on that Epsom Salt spray 4x now  (approx every 10 days) and I'm thinking I will quit that.  My last bell pepper looked funny.  I seem to have 2 chocolate pepper plants.  My first jalapeno is on its way.  The kale is alive, most of it, anyhow.  I give some away because I cannot eat it all. The okra is small here but as of the 24th, it is a serious 4 ft high and producing best of everything out there.  Again, I'm harvesting & freezing back for my winter soups.  Jack calls them my Okra Trees. I'm thinking I may go out there later today and tie them to a fence.  These winds from TS Debby is making them lean over. 




While I don't have a picture of it, my new herb garden is finally taking off with all the rain.  I'm going to like it closer to the house and surrounded by a walkway.  Even my asparagus is doing well.  It is an experimental year, but who knows... they look good.   I'm also desperately trying to get my dill to reseed and take off.  It germinates but not too sure about taking off.

God bless and keep looking for my blogs this week.  I'll have to free time with all this rain & one child gone to camp.

Robin

SUMMER

by Robin

It's summer.  What can I say??  Movies, Beach, Bowling, Beach, Camp, Room makeovers and soon to be tropical storms! 

I promise to get back to my blog soon!! With pictures too!

MANATEES!!!!

by Robin
I have to do some blog catching-up!  Jack had 2 weeks off of vacation and while the seas were blown up the first week, there were 3 opportunities to boat-fish the second week.



We took a river cruise with some neighbors that are from the north and had never seen manatees.  It was great to show them a little piece of our world.




We went through the Haulover Canal area, which is famous for manatee sightings.  Also, we saw plenty of dolphin, water fowl and hawks.




Be sure to also check out the video of the manatee cow nursing her baby.




Blessings, Robin