While we served as missionaries in Haiti our family was exposed to the tremendous advantage of growing plants and vegetable in a greenhouse environment.  For the small farmer in Haiti it was simply capitalism at work.  There are 100’s of farmers that grow essentially the same vegetables (and in most cases the same variety of vegetables), plant them at the same time, water them similarly (rain water) and thus harvest them at the same time, resulting in the market being flooded with any given vegetable and thus driving the price down significantly.  Enter the small greenhouse – allowing a farmer to plant their vegetables earlier, by a period of 2-4 weeks, and thus allowing them to get to market earlier than all of their “competitors” and creating a significant raise in profit for that particular farmer.  This was a windfall experience for the farmer and as it turned out a rather successful project for USAID and others who were hard at work in Haiti.

You may be wondering, why is this relevant for the Bidwells?  The last 6 months have brought about the circumstance where we made the decision to home-school our daughter, Kilee Anne who is 11 years old and entering the sixth grade.  Through this process, Monica and I both felt that instilling in Kilee a sense of ownership and entrepreneurship was something that would be very valuable for her schooling now and in her development for the future.  So we began thinking through how we might create a micro-business for her to manage and we landed on ornamental flowers and vegetable starts in the spring.  This was an easy decision because last spring we accidentally over-planted significantly our vegetable starts (Mostly because kids love to plant seeds and it’s pretty easy to get carried away!) and we easily sold all of our extra seedlings.  We realized quickly that some of our items sold lightning fast while others eventually were given away.

After deciding that we for sure wanted to have a greenhouse, last year we created a small one over one of our raised garden beds.  Fortunately plant growth isn’t tied to the beauty of the construction.

This small greenhouse worked well throughout the winter with a small electric space heater and some consistent hand watering after it became cold enough that we were afraid that our drip irrigation would freeze and burst all of its components.  As the weather warmed last year we couldn’t wait to take this one down simply because it was an eye sore in our yard and that got us thinking about what our next step might look like…

This blog is part of a series that will share about why and how we chose to construct a greenhouse on our mini-farm in middle Georgia.

Sometimes I feel more motivation to read than others, which is normal given the ebb and flow of everyday life with a family of five and a thriving ministry.  Over the last several years I have had the opportunity to read on a range of subjects and after talking with Monica we put together a list of some of our favorites to share with you.

Enjoy!

Missions:

• Bruchko, By Bruce Olsen
• Through Gates of Splendor, By Elizabeth Elliot
• On Being a Missionary, By Thomas Hale
• The Missionary Call, By M. David Sills
• Let the Nations Be Glad!, By John Piper
• When Helping Hurts, By Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
• The Autobiography of Hudson Taylor
• Adoniram Judson: America’s First Foreign Missionary, By Faith Coxe Bailey
• The Dayuma Story: Life Under Auca Spears, By Ethel Emily Wallis

Biblical Womanhood/Motherhood:

• Adopted For Life, By Russell Moore
• Created to Connect, By Dr. Karyn Purvis
• The Strength of Mercy, By Jan Beazley
• Fields of the Fatherless, By Tom Davis
• Adoption As a Ministry, Adoption As a Blessing, By Michelle Gardner
• Considering Adoption: A Biblical Perspective, By Doug Martin
• Biblical Womanhood In The Home, By Nancy Leigh Demoss
• Feminine Appeal, By Carolyn Mahaney
• Loving the Little Years, By Rachel Jankovic
• Shepherding A Child’s Heart, By Tedd Tripp
• Raising Kids for True Greatness, By Tim Kimmel
• Give Them Grace, By Elyse M . Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson
• Your Girl, By Vicki Courtney
• Shopping For Time, By Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Mahaney Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore and Janelle Bradshaw

Biblical Theology

• Follow Me. A Call to Die. A Call to Live. By David Platt
• Erasing Hell: What God said about eternity, and the things we made up, By Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle

Leadership

• The Servant, By James C. Hunter
• Good to Great for the Social Sectors, By Jim Collins
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws, By John Maxwell
• The Power of Moments, By Chip and Dan Heath
• Extreme Ownership, By Jocko Williams and Leif Babin

Adoption:

• Adopted For Life, By Russell Moore
• Created to Connect, By Dr. Karyn Purvis
• The Strength of Mercy, By Jan Beazley
• Fields of the Fatherless, By Tom Davis
• Adoption As a Ministry, Adoption As a Blessing, By Michelle Gardner
• Considering Adoption: A Biblical Perspective, By Doug Martin

Over the last several years I have found myself feeling more compelled to begin to write.  I have to admit that I am the last person I would have ever imagined as a blogger.  Frankly I wonder, “does anyone even read this stuff??”

I find myself being interested in a wide variety of subjects.  Adoption, software development, homesteading, micro-farming, prepping for the proverbial end of the world,  high and low ropes course construction, how to lead my family effectively, how to study God’s word,  and how to provide excellent customer service, to name a few.  And the list goes on and on.  Given all of these interests, this blog could come across random at times.   In the midst of all the randomness however, there is one thing that tends to stay consistent — I love to learn new things.  I’m one of those people that has had 18 new hobbies in the last 10 years.  I have all of the gear for each of these 18 hobbies (my wife loves this part). Yet once I understand them and participate in them for a while, I find myself getting bored and looking for the next thing to learn.

During my time at seminary, a professor made 2 statements (among many others) that have stuck with me :

1. Leaders must be learners.
2. Leaders must be readers and writers.

The first statement I was excited about because I love to learn and I think as a husband and father I have a Biblical call to be a leader.  Furthermore, I believe God has put in me a desire to lead in such a way that brings honor and glory to Him.

The second statement I was less excited about.  I had barely read a book cover- to-cover until I was in college.  On a side note, my 8 year-old daughter Kilee has likely read more books cover to cover in the last 2.5 years  than I did in my first 25!  The Lord has given her a gift to understand languages and a deep love of reading.

When I began seminary I was astounded at the mountain of reading that was required.  As I began to learn to break down the reading into manageable bites it became a little less overwhelming, and I managed to begin to develop a love for it.

The second part of this statement is still growing on me (and that is how I ended up here.)  This professor expounded on the second point by saying that as a leader it would be impossible to have the full impact that God intends for your life if you do not write, because it will be impossible for you to spend time speaking with or building relationships with everyone God may want you to have influence with.  I had seen this firsthand during our time in Haiti, as many of the books that I had read through seminary are now being translated into Haitian Creole and are being used by God to bring about discipleship in a language that the authors cannot speak and in a people that they will never know.   (Not to mention the fact that many of the authors of the books that I have loved reading the most have now gone on to be with the Lord.)    I had never thought about the task of writing in that light before and for nearly five years a nagging/conviction/desire has been brewing.  I am excited to begin this journey.  I am sure there will be bumps and bruises, false starts and even some hiccups but it’s good to finally be getting started.