Valerie Comer is a gardener, beekeeper, farmer, and active member of her local food action coalition. She believes shopping local is the best possible antidote to many of today's environmental concerns. On her own blog and website, she shares her philosophy on why Christians should care about the environment and the local food movement. Valerie is an avid supporter of anything that will make her precious granddaughters' lives healthy, happy, and hopeful.
She is the author of "Topaz Treasure," the opening novella in the contemporary romance collection Rainbow's End, in which the main character, Lyssa, has no problem telling anyone who will listen why soda is bad for them but is too shy to share her love of Jesus with the same people.
See? Even Valerie's fiction is tinged with green. . .and we're not talking the color of jealousy..jpg)
Your sister is moving into a 4,000-square-foot house. With a housekeeper and nanny. Maybe a cook, too. Jealous much?
Your neighbor buys a new laptop, tablet, and smart phone every time a new one comes out. Your computer is old, slow, and tethered to the wall. Your phone? Kind of dumb.
That guy from the corner office takes his family on vacation to a new destination every year. He’s too good for Caribbean cruises or Hawaii. He’s all about the chateau in the south of France. Thinking of stowing away in his luggage?
The gal at the gym is renovating her kitchen and putting in cherry cabinets, granite counters, and those refrigerator drawers. We could get serious envy here.
Man, those Joneses are hard to keep up with! A family could work from dawn to dusk and still be way behind in the wealth display department.… continue reading
Your brother bought an Audi S8. Do you want one?
Your sister is moving into a 4,000-square-foot house. With a housekeeper and nanny. Maybe a cook, too. Jealous much?
Your neighbor buys a new laptop, tablet, and smart phone every time a new one comes out. Your computer is old, slow, and tethered to the wall. Your phone? Kind of dumb.
That guy from the corner office takes his family on vacation to a new destination every year. He’s too good for Caribbean cruises or Hawaii. He’s all about the chateau in the south of France. Thinking of stowing away in his luggage?
The gal at the gym is renovating her kitchen and putting in cherry cabinets, granite counters, and those refrigerator drawers. We could get serious envy here.
Man, those Joneses are hard to keep up with! A family could work from dawn to dusk and still be way behind in the wealth display department.
“Ah,” you say. “I don’t get jealous over stuff like that.”
Well, that’s great. I don’t either. Usually. Much. But sometimes the green-eyed monster of JEALOUSY creeps in and grabs a hold. When it does, it helps to remember how extremely wealthy I am compared to most folks in the world.… continue reading
Caring for our planet is everyone’s responsibility, and you’re never too young or too old to take part. Here’s a brief sampling of green reads to help everyone in your family understand what we can do to show God how thankful we are for the beautiful world he created for us.
For ages 3 and up: Let’s Explore God’s World by Debby Anderson
Debby Anderson is both author and illustrator of this delightful hardcover book for young children. She invokes the use of all five senses as she guides children through an exploration of nature and age-appropriate environmental responsibility. Who wouldn’t want to care for an Earth that is not only beautiful but full of bird calls, the scent of flowers, the softness of bunny fur, and the taste of fresh-picked strawberries?
For ages 8 and up: I Love God’s Green Earth: Devotions for Kids Who Want to Take Care of God’s Creation by Michael and Caroline Carroll
Kids are often eager to care for the earth and have propelled more than one family into greater awareness of recycling and energy consumption. Expect this book to ramp up their enthusiasm. Each of the 180 devotionals covers two facing pages in the book and start off with a Scripture.… continue reading
On Being Green, by Valerie Comer
The sense of smell is one of the five sensory experiences we have available to us as humans, right up there with seeing, hearing, touching, and tasting. Smelling holds the honor of being the biggest trigger for memories, good and bad.
Of course we don’t want a world with no scents, but we do have a society that’s gone crazy for smell. Fragrance sells.
Many people are irritated by or allergic to smells. Some have reactions to cigarette smoke, to common cleaners, to perfumes and colognes, or to incense and scented candles. Just getting through the day can often be a challenge, as we have little control with whom we come in contact and what scents they carry around with them, eager to share.
Symptoms can range from nasal irritation to typical allergic reactions (runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, clogged head/headaches) to more severe ones like wheezing or asthma attacks, to hives and other itchy rashes.
How do we know our house is clean if it doesn’t smell like lemon or pine? If we don’t have a plug-in air freshener that wafts the essence of summer meadows through the space? How can our house smell welcoming without apple-pie-scented candles?… continue reading
As much of North America lies under frigid temperatures and a blanket of snow, many of us dream of summer days and with them, gardening. In our imaginations we snap a pea off the vine and salivate at the sweet crispness. We reach for a sun-warmed tomato and dream of the flavorful juice, the seeds running down our chins. We snip herbs and kazam! every entrée on our plate is kicked up a notch. In our dreams.
It doesn’t seem to matter if you’ve never tilled ground before or if the weeds ate your previous attempts. The garden romance lives on.
As with any love story, there’s a lot of awkwardness and misunderstanding, especially at first. And after the first blush of love wears thin, there’s the push-pull between complacency and hard work in every garden romance.
I know this. Not only have I tended a vegetable garden for over thirty years, I’ve spent that long married. Plus, I write contemporary romance novels. I see the connection.
If the lure of gardening has caught your attention for the first time, here are a few things to consider:
1. Time.
Tending a vegetable garden is an investment.… continue reading
I tend to prefer the word “goals” instead, partly because it forces me to break things down into measurable bites. However, resolutions are great containers from which to pick specific goals.
If you’re still mulling over resolutions or goals for 2013, may I challenge you to consider these three categories? I’m not suggesting you resolve to do each and every thing I’ve listed. Perhaps you’re willing to choose one new item from each, though. Or, I’d love to hear what your additions might be!
I HEREBY RESOLVE TO:
1. Value people around me
* by saying “I Love You” to someone every single day
* by seeking out opportunities for random acts of kindness
* by having regular dates with important people (spouse, kids, grandkids)
* by giving the gift of time more often than the gift of money
* by focusing on creating positive memories
* by volunteering where I can make a difference in people’s lives
* by taking time to refresh myself
2. Value creation and the environment
* by boycotting bottled water
* by driving less through aggregating errands
* by growing a garden
* by shopping locally
* by thinking twice before purchasing items
* by picking up trash wherever I see it
* by hanging laundry to dry on the line when possible
* by spending more time outside appreciating nature and wildlife
3.… continue reading
Where I live in British Columbia, Canada, Christmas is always white. Except for 2011 when, for the first time ever, we had a brown one. Even without snow, we couldn’t call it green. Any color was long gone before late December!
But that’s not the green I mean, of course. I’m talking about the season that generates the most spending, the highest power bills, and the fullest garbage bags of any, year round. The season that seems to be all about glitz and lights, bigger and shinier than anyone else’s. The season where we throw our diets aside and are thrilled to only gain a couple of pounds that week.
We’ve come so far from celebrating the Babe in the manger and His gift of salvation. We can set up a nativity scene and say the lit tree represents the cross and the wreath reminds us of Jesus’ everlasting love. We can sing Christmas carols like “O Holy Night” and avoid “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” We can say we offer gifts to each other in memory of the wise men’s gifts to Jesus. We can assure each other the strings of lights along the verandah railings are there to show how God’s Word lights our path.… continue reading
Is Thanksgiving dinner all about the turkey? It is at our house! Mmm. A golden brown bird stuffed with aromatic wild rice, mushrooms, and spices. Savory gravy drizzled over mounds of mashed potatoes. Brussel sprouts (not a fan of them, myself) and cranberries. Some other vegetables, probably–maybe a salad. And don’t forget the pumpkin pie! Now my mouth is watering.
Historically, Thanksgiving has represented gratitude for safety and victory as well as for harvest. As Christians we generally would say it’s for being grateful to God for all His blessings–jobs, homes, family, and yes, the feast on the table. These days, it seems to be mostly about the food.
So many of us are now city dwellers that the concept of harvest has been all but lost. Many have never seen food in its natural habitat. Food has seasons? It’s hard to tell in the supermarket where the selection changes little from autumn to winter to spring to summer.
We don’t see the rich soil that surrounded the carrots and potatoes. Do our kids even know these are root vegetables? Do they know Brussel sprouts cling to a vertical plant and wear a mop of leaves as a hat?… continue reading
Love a great deal? Me too! There’s nothing like seeing a sale price on an item we’ve been hankering for. It doesn’t take much sometimes for us to plunk down the plastic and justify the purchase. Do we need the item? Shh, who cares! We want it, and that’s enough.
I’m not sure about your experience, but around here it seems a lot of things have gotten cheaper, especially electronics (not housing or utilities, sadly). Grandma will say they don’t make them the way they used to. Once items were made to last and, if they quit working, you fixed them or called in someone who could. Who calls a repairman now to fix a TV or a printer? It’s cheaper to toss it in the trash and buy a new one.
One of the reasons we need cheaper stuff is the economy is so lousy. A lot of people are out of a job, or working for a lower wage than they used to. Yet we’re not willing to give up our way of life. (I’m speaking of myself here, too. Point a finger, and three are pointing back at me!)
Dare I say we’ve created the problem?… continue reading
Labor Day has come and gone. For most of us, it’s a holiday from work and we don’t think much about the history of the day. And I’m not going to make you do so today, either. If you’re interested, though, check it out at Wikipedia.
Enough to know it is a day to celebrate work–or the fact that we have employment. Important, to be sure, and never more poignant than when a household is running on empty between jobs.
But seriously. Just the fact that we celebrate labor in fourteen or more countries around the world tells us a lot about the kind of world we live in.
Run a little faster! Add some more important stuff to your schedule, and don’t forget to sign your kids up for something every single day after school. Wouldn’t want them bored, would we?
In fact, let’s breed another generation of wheel-runners. Society needs more hamsters, mindlessly going nowhere in a big fat hurry.
That’s scriptural, right? It’s honoring to God. Name me the chapter and verse! Sure, the Bible talks about the laborer being worth his or her hire, but nowhere are we admonished to work harder and faster in an unending cycle.… continue reading
Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink?
How can this be? One of the most amazing current crazes is bottled water. In this day and age of environmental awareness, it’s wild how this product has exploded onto the scene with the power it has.
People are aware of the need to hydrate their bodies. This is great! They also know water is better for them than too much soda pop, juice, or caffeinated beverages. What could be a happier solution than to grab a bottle of water?
Do you think bottled water is better than tap water? In most cases, it is not. Most tap water is very palatable. It’s regulated by city laws and tested regularly.
Bottled water, on the other hand, doesn’t have to meet your local standards. It may be simply tap water from another city (and therefore regulated) or it may come from a well, a spring, or a plant that is not tested at all. Just because it comes in a bottle does not mean it is better water.
May I repeat that?
Just because it comes in a bottle does not mean it is better water.
Should we drink more water?… continue reading
Friday at 10am EST on Parent Talk: Valerie Comer, Joanne Ellison
Friday at 11am EST on Teen Talk: Shawn Johnson, Larry the Cucumber
If you missed the show, grab the podcast HERE!
Next up is Joanne Ellison – a ministry leader, women’s Bible study teacher, speaker
We’ll be sharing her new devotional, Drawing Near to God.
… continue reading
If we feel any guilt (heaven forbid) regarding our purchasing habits, we comfort ourselves with the thought that we try to recycle what we can, most of the time. Or, you know. . .at least when it’s convenient.
But let’s face it. Do we really truly recycle as though our lives (or the life of our home planet) depended upon it?
Let’s talk choices, focusing on plastic, because the vast majority of recycled material is plastic. Let’s say we have a container we’re done using. We can choose to:
Choice 1: Put it in a recycling bin
Yay! The blue recycling bin wins as the environmentally correct choice. But what happens to plastic once the recycling service picks it up? Here’s an article with seven misconceptions about plastic and plastic recycling. Recycling plastic drink bottles doesn’t mean they’ll make new drink bottles out of the returns. Plastic (unlike aluminum cans or glass bottles) tends to be downcycled, meaning it can be made into polyester fibers for clothing and carpets, or into plastic lawn chairs or decking boards. These items then cannot be recycled further. When their life cycle is over, they are garbage. You could say that recycling plastic only prolongs its use.… continue reading
When you think of reusing as a means of caring for creation, what comes to mind?
Reuse has two main parts. Rerouting something that appears to be trash into a second life, and diverting something you’re done with from your home to someone else’s. In either case, you’re simply delaying the inevitable, so reusing isn’t as effective as reducing, which we talked about last month.
Many of us think first of crafts made from items detoured from the trash bin. I mean, how cute is this caterpillar decorated by my not-quite-four-year-old great-nephew? However, no matter how many uses you can find for toilet paper rolls and empty soup cans, siphoning items into crafts isn’t going to make a significant difference to the planet. Don’t take that as a reason not to repurpose junk into (temporary) treasure. It’s definitely a step up from buying craft kits that don’t offer any reusable or reused products at all. Just be realistic about the long-term impact, or lack thereof.
Now some people have made true art from discards, a practice that is often called upcycling. Nikinut and Clone Hardware are two Etsy shops that feature jewelry made from electronic gadgetry. How cool are those?… continue reading
No, I haven’t lost my mind. Yes, I’m just as ‘green’ as I was last month. Recycling is great, sure, but it isn’t the end-all and be-all.
What could possibly be more important?
The Three Rs start with REDUCE.
Oh, man, we’d way rather toss items in a recycling bin than decrease what we buy and own! But recycling isn’t all its talked up to be (more on that in July) so the best defense, as the saying goes, is a good offense. Let’s decrease the amount we recycle by having less to recycle.
Here are some things to reduce:
How much junk you buy.Are you tempted to buy gag gifts and party favors at the Dollar Store? How long will those items be interesting and useful before they land in the trashcan? Are they actually worth purchasing? Only buy things that are beautiful or useful (both, if possible!) and that will last.
How much good stuff you buy. Even with items of higher quality, do you really need a TV in every room? Do you need thirty pairs of shoes? Do you need to buy new furniture for your whole house just because styles have changed?
How much packaging you buy.… continue reading
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of the “if only” trap? I have. It started when I was in the sixth grade and sometimes I still get in this trap as a 37 year old wife and mother. Here are some of the “if only’s” that have gone through my mind over the … [read more]
The Purity Movement By Sherri Wilson Johnson Talking about abstinence and purity is something I love. I have personally benefited from remaining pure until I married and, therefore, can share about the benefits of doing so with others. Because I have friends who did not… [read more]
Vision Board and Wild Horses, by Lyn Parker How many of us when we were in high school actually knew what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives? I know I didn’t! I thought of writing and going to college to get a degree in that field, but I also thought it wo… [read more]
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