Spring 2010

For the 2 people who may see this, the Whitney Adventure is still in progress.  I know.  I am the worst blogger out there.  I'm a crummy writer that is inconsistent and can't even find a decent picture to post every now and then.

Oooo, the truth feels good!  Very freeing indeed.

So, this Spring is quickly coming to an end and I have done miserably at keeping up-to-date with any of my blogs but... I'm making time for a quick rundown of our adventure tales.  Enjoy.

~ Planted our garden.  We're growing (or killing, depending on how you look at it) spinach, tomatoes, cantaloupe, butternut squash, pumpkin, basil, potatoes, green beans, and broccoli.  Will be planting radish and peas in the next month or so.  And for the record, this garden is kicking our behinds!

~ Massive ant problem in garden.  Dilemma.  Don't want to use chemicals.  Decide to use an orange cocktail of sorts.  Looks crazy (but what doesn't around here?) but it works.

~ Pile kids up and drive 45 minutes west to pick up 1/2 a cow (1/4 beef for us and a 1/4 beef for a friend).  THAT was a crazy day.

~ Take over the food co-op as a friend moved out of state.  Unloaded over $600 worth of grain, oil, dried fruit, beans and the like when the truck dropped off the goods from our 1st order.  (And no, this was not $600 worth of food for us alone - it was ~7 people!)

~ Freezer breaks.

~ Get new-used freezer off Craiglist for $50.  But, just big enough to hold our beef and a bit more.  Need another one.

~ Weekly trips to a friend's farm for our weekly supply of milk and eggs.  Pops won't drink anything else and the eggs are AMAZING!

~ Find new freezer.  Gigantic freezer.  So large I can lay down in it!  Papa-son had to saw a bit of the wood shelf off in the garage to get it to fit.  Story has it that the previous owner had 3 ice cream trucks and used this to hold his goods.

~ Autumn slept through the night... once.  But, hey.  THAT is progress.  That was my first time sleeping through the night in 8 months.

~ This weekend our whole crew is taking the drive to experience an Amish farm in IN.  No, we're not looking for a black and white Amish community.  We're buying 36 free-range Amish chicken.

So.... that's it for us.

Let Us Pray

Romans 16:17-18 says,

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions

and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught:

avoid them.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,

and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

AVOID THEM.  Oooo, that's good for me to hear this morning on our National Day of Prayer.

My take-away is simply, beware of focusing on things that are not THE MAIN THING: the Gospel.  As we pray today, let us all pray according to THE MAIN THING.  May we all be reminded throughout the day what THE MAIN THING is.

Sorry to be so focused on Romans (can you tell I'm hanging out in this book lately?!?) but this is a good summary of what THE MAIN THING is for me:

Romans 5:6, 8 (emphasis mine) which says:

For while we were still weak, at the right time

Christ died for the ungodly...

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners

CHRIST DIED FOR US.

So, let us pray today as we remember that CHRIST DIED FOR US.  Yes, Christ died for MY sins.  That certainly is motivation enough for me to pray fervently for the Gospel of Christ to go forth for His glory alone!

Peace... in Believing

Chewing on this verse today:

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and

peace in believing,

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit

you may abound in hope.

~ Romans 15:13

That verse was helpful to me when I was pregnant with Paloma.  As a result, we gave her the middle name Joy.  But, today the Lord has me holding on to "peace in believing."

Oooo... I love that verse.  I love that TRUTH.  I can have PEACE... this day... as I believe.

What am I believing?

I'm believing God to work a miracle by drawing hearts to Him.  Not too hard for the God who created them, eh?  I'm praying for the salvation of some near and dear people to my heart.  And my faith is growing.  By His Spirit I am abounding in hope right now.

Lord, You know the exact situation I'm thinking of and You desire for those persons to be saved as well.  In fact, You care more about their souls than I. Thank You for the joy I have because I know You!  Grant that to ones on my heart and mind...

Food, Inc.

Have you seen the documentary Food Inc.?  Well, we did.  Back in January... and it (along with other things) had us change quite a bit about how we eat around here.

Anyway, in case you're wanting to watch it FREE, PBS has it streaming til Wednesday, April 28th at midnight.  And if you do see it, please tell me what you thought!

A Post for the Mothers Out There

I read this post earlier and found myself crying at the end.  So kind of God to use other believers to enourage us in our roles...

... for He cares about our little ones, eh?

Yes, He cares about their souls... and our souls... and we should too!

Chow.  Off to focus on some souls!

Coveting... and Laundry

Back at our old church in MD I remember hearing at message by one of our pastors where he shared a helpful parenting strategy when at the mall with his kids.  He would prepare his kids for the many unhelpful things they would see by telling them to turn off their "I wanters."  Love, love that!  And I've used it since then... mostly for myself!

We recently had some work done on our basement and the whole process has reminded me of how prone my heart is to wander as I battle with discontentment.  I find my "I wanter" is often ON even when I am surrounded by abundant blessings.

Can you relate?

This was our basement laundry area BEFORE anything was done:

Yep.  And that is where I went to do my laundry for 3 years.  (Do notice the new washer, though, my Pops got me around Christmas!)  But, truly, at least I HAD a place to do laundry in my own home that I had at my disposal ANYTIME I needed it.  While I didn't like that the walls were covered in mold, the concrete floor was often damp and the kids couldn't come down making me make multiple trips to deal with what happens when Mommy was not upstairs, it was still a functional laundry room.  More than I deserved.

Enter my man - again!  Yep.  He made up his mind to get some work done in our basement to make it a bit easier for me.  His grand plan: add a full bathroom and make a real laundry room with walls and hook up our 2nd washer (the old one the new washer replaced) so I could do more in less time.  Well, if you're anything like me, you couldn't see any of THAT happening in THAT space.

Well, though we went over our anticipated budget, this is what happened.  We had our laundry area moved to the space you come to just as you enter the basement.  Lots of plumbing work.  Lots of de-molding work.  Lots of waterproofing work.

After that, Pops called in some other guys to turn it into "a room."

Did you see the light from the new windows?!?!  What a difference!  And we decided to go with walls that don't go all the way up so as to make it still very "open" and not cut off all the light to the rest of the basement.  Plus, once the play/lounge area is created I can still keep an eye on things while doing laundry!

Next came the floor and ceiling!!!!

And some paint...

And to finish it off...

Oh- and so what that our 2nd washer decided to "die" upon completion of this project!  I suppose we'll find another $50 one from Craigslist one of these days!  Hey, it lasted us 3 years!  Not bad for $50!

Thank You, Lord, for helping me see that I often sin in discontentment and allow the desires of this world overpower what You are calling me to and what You have graciously given me.  I trust Your grace will help me fight this area of sin and truly be joyful as I recall Your kindness to me.  May I not shake my fist at You when I have laundry to do... especially when I do it in such luxury!

When Did We Change So Much?

In this moment, this is how I feel my life is summed up:

~got saved
~got married
~got a van load of kiddos
~gave up couponing
~gave up fast food
~gave up processed foods
~buying grain by 25 and 50 lb loads
~buying coconut oil, sucanat, tea tree oil
~buying farm fresh eggs and milk weekly
~making my own bread
~making my own buttermilk
~making my own deodorant

What is going on and how did I/we change so quickly????

I remember my Papa-son came home one day and said, "Yeah, I decided to stop drinking soda."  WHAT???  How does THAT happen?

Well, who cares.  That's our reality right now... and we love it!