Inspirational Articles
by
Bonnie Wheat

Bonnie Wheat is a pastor's wife, author, and Christian counselor. A former teacher, Bonnie has a Ph.D. in psychology and Christian counseling. She is the author of "God Gives a Song: Walking with God through a Crisis." She has also written for several publications including "Mature Living," "Texas Baptist," "The Upper Room," and a Guidepost devotional series. Bonnie writes a weekly article for the church page of her local newspaper, "The Big Spring Herald." She and her husband, Dwayne, live in Big Spring, Texas where they minister at Berea Baptist Church.

You may contact her at:
101 Washington Blvd., Big Spring, TX 79720
Tel. 915-714-4306 • E-mail her at brwheat@suddenlink.net

Born Green
By Bonnie Wheat

Green is in! I don’t mean the color green but green living. “Recycle” and “repurpose” are the buzz words these days. “Minimize waste” and “maximize energy” are the new mottos. Saving the economy and preserving the ecology are the goals of the green generation.

Being green is nothing new. It is an old concept that has been renamed. I was born green. At least I was born into a green family. I toddled into the flour-sack age when a twenty-five pound bag of flour came in a colorful cloth bag that could be “repurposed” into anything from dish rags to shirts, and the scraps from most of my wardrobe got “recycled” into quilts for some family member’s bed.

Although my parents and grandparents knew nothing about solar energy, they were experts in the water-preservation department. They had a simple, but efficient, system of gutters that caught rain water and channeled it into a cistern to be used later. Sometimes they even caught water in a bucket or a rain barrel.

As a mother whose children wore cloth diapers, I think I have done my share to save the environment. Those stinky, smelly, cloth diapers weren’t green, but they were washable, foldable, and reusable. They got “recycled” every day. And although the smell was offensive, cloth diapers didn’t harm the environment. It’s all those Pampers and Huggies that are filling up our landfills.

I admit that I’m not totally green. I haven’t bought any cloth shopping bags to carry my groceries home, but I do “recycle” my plastic Wal-Mart and HEB bags. They’re great for lining trash cans. They don’t look quite as nice as those sturdy, two-ply plastic trash bags, but I keep my trash can under the cabinet anyway.

Although green may be a new idea for some, it’s not new to God. It was his idea in the first place: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:27-28 NASB) All along God intended for humans to take care of His creation.

Green is good. Green living is responsible living. But I surely do dread the day that some green genius figures out that hanging wet clothes on the line to dry is greener than tossing them into the dryer.

Return To Articles of Encouragement

Return To PALS Home Page

Return To BSCLN Home Page