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Cultivating a quiet life, simply and deliberately, to the glory of God.

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy…

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Aren’t we all?

 

I dislike being so busy.  You know, I haven’t worn a watch in at least 15 years, so maybe it’s time to chuck the calendar as well because I can’t seem to just have a week with nothing on it.  Oh, it’s not full of bad things at all, and much of it at least seems necessary.  It’s just that it is…well…FULL.  One recent day I was ill enough to stay home from church service and I spent the entire day doing pretty much nothing but (a) lying in the grass in the glorious sunshine and (b) reading a book from cover to cover while watching honeybees in the clover.  Thank God for sick days.  I need to plan more “NOTHING” days, maybe mark some up in roaring red across a date or two at least.  Otherwise, I’ll just have a need (or want) pop up, take a looksee on the calendar with pen in hand and mumble something like, “Ok, there’s nothing on that day…”

 

Is there really anything wrong with Nothing being the course of a day?

 

This evening could have been full of nothing but I sat down at the computer to work on my Journal project (coming along, thank you for wondering), and instead decided to sigh about being too busy.  I bring it on myself, I know.  I do hope you’re finding time for the doing-nothing parts of your day and week, and that illness won’t be the only entry into it.

 

Oh, and by the way…a friend of mine did up this little video of my place.  I haven’t used a video camera for a long time and am developing an allergy to learning anything techie-new these days (is that part of aging?), so it was really sweet of her to do this for me.  Enjoy the look around!

 

 

Blessings,

 

 

Eclectic Decorating

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When we moved to our large home from our tiny condo, I felt a bit overwhelmed.  “Ok, Lord,” I said dubiously, “You built this house.  Guess You’ll have to furnish it.”

Well, amazingly enough, He has.  Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of things for free: a dining set, a pair of sofas, a loveseat, a coffee table, a bedroom set, end tables, kitchen ware,  and a multitude of odds and ends.  And I’ve found lots of great buys at garage sales and at the Goodwill, too.  It’s amazing what some slipcovers and a little paint will do!

Here are some goodies my mother-in-law brought me when she came up to visit, just from her cleaning out the stuff in her garage and attic.  It seemed like every time she called, “Would you happen to like….?” I answered, “Yes!!  I would!”

This is a portable camera from I believe the late 1800’s.  It can fold into its own case, and now resides happily alongside old family photos on the mantel.

 

Oh boy, did my girls flip over this!  This is an old jewelry case that came full of costume jewelry, mostly from their great grandmother.  Pins were sure the thing back then.

 

 

And look at this!  This is a quilt that someone made from, it looks like, old cut up clothing.  Gorgeous.  I wish I knew more of the history of it.  I feel convicted about not putting labels onto the quilts I’ve been making (laziness, I guess, although making a quilt itself is really hard work!).

 

 

Old jars are always fun and useful all over the house!

 

 

This cream colored leather luggage is amazing.  I keep it stacked in my bedroom because it’s just so pretty.

 

 

Oh…and INSIDE….were tons of linens!  I thought my 14yo was going to faint.  She loves hosting tea parties and dreams of doing it as a business.

 

 

 

This quilt belonged to my mother in law when she was a girl.   It’s so sweet, but in need of repair.  I was counseled to cut it up and frame parts of it, but I can’t bring myself to scissors yet.

 

 

I am always astounded that these quilts were HAND STITCHED.  And I think I’m busy with my automatic dishwashers and so forth.  Hand stitched!  Every little hexagon!

 

 

Here is another quilt, a beautiful red and white.  Also in the photo you can see a birdcage I picked up that a friend of mine spray painted (thank you!); it’s sitting on a $5 small coffee table I got at the same garage sale I found these chairs at.  The tea set was given to us by a sweet woman who left them at her death, and my husband built the frame around the slate chalkboard that was given to me by our architect’s teacher-wife.  The table underneath was found at a consignment shop with a bench, and I painted it.  Curtains from IKEA and antique spinning wheel given to me by a friend’s parents.  See how eclectic my house is in its decor?  I’m just (almost) sorry I don’t have a better camera.

 

 

I was so sad to sell my room sized loom but look what my father in law found for me!  It’s the perfect size to make dish towels with, which is all I really wanted to do anyway.

 

 

And this is the piece that started it all.  I was looking around the web for an old typewriter and just couldn’t justify buying one.  So I asked my mother in law, “Say….in that full garage of yours, would you happen to have anything like an old typewriter?”  And thus opened the floodgates!

 

 

All that to say, you never know what you’ll find if you ask!  And, of course, if the Lord builds the house, He will furnish it, too.

 

 

Have a lovely week!

Goal Setting: Why?

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My Handstitched bedcover, wool on linen, County Fair 2012

I’ve been perusing some books regarding setting goals (and perhaps, more importantly, meeting them), and I’ve thus far had some persistent thoughts regarding my “someday I wanna” goals:

  1. Everything I wish to do, I am in some small form already doing, even if it is just doodling on scraps of paper  for my “art”. I need to be very, very grateful for what today is, what it offers, and who I am in it.  Gratitude is always God’s best for my heart.
  2.  Setting goals is good.  Discontent in not already meeting them is not. And better to “pick at it” a wee bit at a time than try to gulp a big chunk at once.
  3.  My goals need to work around or enhance my primary responsibilities, not substitute for them. There is a difference between finding time for the extras and robbing it from the primaries.  Which means I need to be clear on what those “primaries” are.
  4. Every “what” (that I still wish to do) absolutely must have connected to it a meaningful “why” (the reason to see it through).

You know, there is plenty of fodder for discontent both in the real world and especially so in the internet (what a right word, that, enter(the)net...but I digress).  So I look myself square in the soul and say something akin to “Right.  Listen, Woman.  Why aren’t you completely satisfied? What do you really want to do, anyway?”

 

Well, what I really want to do is just walk with God, says I.

He walks with you.

 

Well, I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good homemaker, a good friend….

Define good.

Well…one that walks with God in it all.

Oh.  Has He left you?

 

Oy.  Someone just turn off my left brain already.

 

Discontent is often tickled by the moving finish line, the line that will never be crossed on this side because even if I manage to complete one goal it just leaves open room for four others that are blaringly undone. Furthermore, someone is always going to do it faster, better, and more effectively than me and I don’t need to go further than Pinterest to prove it.   But even if I could have the most pinterest-est sort of life (which requires, it seems, at bare minimum a $1000 camera), at some point I’m going to still feel like I’m just not enough for me.  And isn’t that a lie against my Maker?

Thus tumbles into it all the “why” of it all. Why pursue anything at all?  I think….if the reason isn’t ultimately for God’s glory then I fear it is doomed.

 

Why?

 

Well, I want to walk with God, says I.  And I can’t walk with God (or make other goals) without seeking His glory in that walk.

 

If my pursuits have anything to do with my fear of missing out (pleasing passions) or my fear of not being missed (pleasing people), or if I am weary and burdened by the goals I have set (Jesus said His burden was light, remember?) then I must conclude that my words and my walk are miles one from the other.

 

Gratitude for what is here, now, present today in real life and in real time….and purpose pushed by the principles of the Kingdom of God.  Those are the meaningful “why”s that will drive the “what”s, the goals I make (and I believe yours) to fruition.

 

What drives your goals?  And are you thankful for the bits you are able and allowed to partake in already?

 

Blessings,

Captivated: Finding Freedom in a Media Captive Culture

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“We’re so busy….busy doing what?”
Corey


“What captures your attention controls your life”.  That quote still resonates with me along with my blog post, Narrowing.  How do I live a life, if not outside of, alongside of, a virtual world?  It’s ironic that we now can store our information, our documented lives and our work, in places called “clouds”.  To me, that is how it feels to work with the online world…like working within vapor-filled wisps of almost-nothing that will spread and change even without wind and in a moment’s notice can and sometimes does disappear.  The sad consequences I have seen with my own eyes are the ramifications within real life relationships.  An email is easily misread without the touches of body language and voice, and Facebook becomes a place to fan the fires of gossip and envy.  Despite being more “connected” it really is  a shallow tie.  And yet, media has been a great blessing as well, a place for the voiceless to have a say, entrepreneurs to try their wings, and news and information to be readily available outside of mainstream news sources that sometimes seem like indoctrination services.

 

The question to me is not IF we should use media, but HOW shall we use it?  It is an important question to haggle with and try to come to terms with, especially for Christians who are not to be of this world, but in it to primarily proclaim the gospel and make disciples.

 

Join me as I interview Phillip Telfer of Captivated, whose documentary raises these issues and highlights various people who have struggled with these issues.  It is an engaging documentary that seeks not to apply legalism but to ask the question of how to live wisely in a media saturated culture.

 

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Blessings,

UnDocumented

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I’m sitting here with the laptop on my (where else?) lap, and thinking about all I’ve been doing lately.  What I haven’t been doing is documenting everything.  There’s just something freeing about being able to, say,  take a hike with the kids and not take a camera to share it with others.  I’m finding a difference between being in the moment…and stepping outside of it to see it happening through the lens of a camera.  Furthermore, it’s also freeing not to have to deal with downloading, uploading, editing, blah blah blah blah.  Sure I’m still documenting our lives on film (you know, “film” in the current sense) to some extent, but I have a feeling my annual family photo book is going to be a little thinner this year unless someone else wants to take the photos.  So the photos I’m sharing here are not just the best of the batch, they ARE “the batch”.

 

Interestingly, though, I am drawing a lot more.  So the artist in me wants to create something to remember my life by.  Am I just substituting pencils for pixels?

 

In the same sense, I’m still struggling with keeping up this blog.  I keep wanting to say something like, “it’s not you, it’s me….”  Do you ever have something you love doing at one point just slowly lose steam?  Blogging has been a wonderful outlet and I have made some lovely bloggy friends that I would visit in an instant if I were in their neighborhood, but there have been unintended consequences to keeping a blog too.

 

But…I still love to write.  If you’re one of my pen pals, oy….you’re getting pages from me now of news and rambling (sorry haha).  Am I just substituting ink pens for keyboards? What is it about leaving some sort of documentation of my life?  Is it vanity?  Is it to leave a legacy?  Is it important at all?

 

Welcome to my online documented midlife crisis (smile).

 

What about you?  Are you Facebooking, texting, tweeting, blogging and otherwise sharing your life online?  Or are you living mostly an UnDocumented life?  I don’t know which is the better, but I know my life is always under the loving watching eye of El Roi, the God who Sees Me.  With Him as an audience, it ought to be more than enough in terms of validation.  If no one but Him sees the beautiful flowers you cut for the kitchen, does it count?  Does it matter?

 

If no one but Him sees the victory of cleaning your whole house or of your new smaller size or of just keeping your mouth shut when you didn’t want to, is He alone enough to rejoice with?

 

If no one but Him sees the angry outburst or the falling tear or the frustrations of the day that you are repentant of, is He alone enough to draw comfort and grace from?

 

What would happen if we stopped racing to our computers and smartphones for those needs (for validation? for decompressing? for an outlet? for what?) and began lifting our chins up first to give Him thanks in all things?  I don’t know the answer.  But it might be worth pondering between scrolling through blogs and whatnot.

 

Anyway, would you like to see some photos to catch up?

 

I’ve been harvesting some of my herbs for the year.  This was a mix I made to steep in grapeseed oil for a wintertime facial moisturizer. I decided to use calendula, lavender, borage, rose and lemon balm.  Don’t they look beautiful?  I love all of the color and texture and scent and sight of God’s creation.

I took my baby and 6 and 8 year olds to a small island to meet up with a longtime friend.  We had a lovely time living off grid for the weekend (except for my daughter’s small bout with illness during it), and I had the opportunity to interview another wife and mommy about living without electricity for an upcoming podcast.

  I loved the peace and quiet.  I could almost hear the clouds moving across the sky in rhythm to the salt water lapping the beaches.  

On the home front, we’ve been eating some out of the garden, and as the goat babies have been sold, we’ve been enjoying lots of good, fresh, daily milk.  This was the biggest batch of babies we’ve dealt with and sold, and of course there have been some challenges.  We’re still learning through the process, and that goat husbandry is more an art than a science in a lot of ways, too.  God sure has been giving me a lot of grace in those lessons.

 

Trying to find time and space to practice drawing or painting has been a challenge.   I find it is the same for handwork or anything else in like manner…it is a matter of just finding little bits of time here and there, and knowing that over time, a whole picture (or quilt or whatnot) will get finished.  Eventually.  Like I keep saying, if there’s something you want to do or to learn during the busy time of wiving and mothering, just pick at it in bits.  And little by little, the whole will come.

My husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary with an overnight in an old ranger’s (non-electrical) cabin.  It was enjoyable just spending time alone and in quietness.  Of course baby was with us, but she was a good girl.

Here we are playing in the cabin.  You gotta love the bald spot in the back of her wee head!  We joke that there is the part that looks like Daddy.

My older daughters put together a tea party for one of their doll’s birthdays.  It was so lovely!  Can you see the dollies had their own tea party to the right?  And yes, that is my herb and vegetable garden in full swing in the background.

 

And here is our new bed!  This quilt is the biggest one I’ve made!  I call it my “summer, strawberry quilt”.  I finished it right before having baby, and it was quilted on a professional machine. I was able to bind it in time for our anniversary.  The bed frame was picked up at Goodwill for $40 and after painting and distressing it, I decided not to use the footboard after all.  But it still looks so nice!  Then I found a bed frame for $2 (yes, two dollars) at the local Rotary garage sale.  I bought a new box spring for $119 at a place going out of business, and suddenly we now have a bed at normal height.  It only took us twenty years to get there.  But I’m not giving up my all cotton with wool wrapped futon for nuthin’.

   

And here are some photos of Ruby just because you know how much I love to share her with you.  She is still non-verbal but finds her own way of communicating (some of which is inappropriate, like hitting).  She is one busy girl!  Children with Down Syndrome are typically either “observers” or “movers”.  Ruby is a MOVER.  We have to have someone watching her at all times, and she now wears an identification bracelet too.  She has lots of playmates and teachers and therapists right in her own home.  She is happy and healthy and a delight, and we are all still learning together.

 

Anyhow, that’s all for now.  Someone took this photo of me working in the garden without my knowledge.  It just reminds me that I don’t have to plan or live a documented life.  I am always under the loving watching eye of my Father, and it is a joy to fellowship with Him in the midst of everyday life.  Actually, I think abiding with Him is the most precious way to live a life, even if no one else is around to see or read or hear of it at all.  Don’t you?

Blessings,

Babies, Quilts, Paint and More

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I’m still here.  Sort of.  But I still don’t think I have much to say anymore.

One thing I’ve done is remove my computer to my craft room, and because of that it’s been real easy not to even check my emails.  I’m finding I like not checking emails.  I’ve also turned off my cell phone.  I’m finding I like not hearing it ding or demand my attention in any way.  The funny thing has not been my cutting back, because truthfully I’ve come not-so-willingly into the computer age; I find I can take or leave it.  And I’d rather leave it.

Rather, it’s been interesting how much others demand to have my attention when they want my attention.  Sometimes even my kids will call me within the 20 minutes it takes to run to town for snail mail just to ask something so minor I think, “How are they going to figure life out if they have to call me just to ask if it’s ok if Ruby’s socks don’t match for the day?”  The question that begs is, do I want to be immediately accessible to everyone?  I guess my answer is no. Guess I’m a hermit in training.

Despite our differences in theology (for starters), one thing I admired about Tasha Tudor is that she chose to live her life as she wished.  She picked her own lifestyle  and didn’t seemed to be swayed whatsoever by the world around her.  I want that kind of strength.

I’ve been enjoying spending play time with Ruby, just entering her own little world on her own little terms.  I’m glad one of my kids ran for the camera to snap this shot of us having “tea”.  Ruby is still non-verbal, but she speaks in other ways.  We still communicate.

 

 

My friends hosted a baby shower for myself and another mama, which was just lovely.  It’s so nice that with even being baby number seven, my daughter is welcomed and loved with open arms and hearts.

 

 

I’m working on binding a very large quilt for our queen sized bed.  It’s a yummy collection of colors with a strawberry pattern quilted over the top.  I had enough scraps to throw this little table runner together, so you can get a teeny flavor of it.  I’ll share the quilt with you when I’m finished.  It will be on a brand new bed I’m putting together with finds from the Goodwill and a large yard sale (aren’t you curious yet?).

 

 

This was one of my most favorite recent days.  I made a lemon rhubarb bundt cake and shared it with my book club friends over a tablecloth with china and real silver forks.  Oh and real plastic cups (haha) for the lemonade.  I also brought my art journal in which I am trying this and that (pencil, watercolors, pen, collage….) to see what mediums I like best working with.  Anyhow, it made me very happy to love on my friends that day by the beach while our children played.

 

 

I bought some Annie Sloan chalk paint and nothing in my house has been safe from my paintbrush!  I’m painting bed rails, tables, chairs, shelves, a desk, even a large birdcage.  I love this paint!  It adheres to everything (no priming or prepping) and the best part is that it is easily distressed.  I am terrible at painting, but this was easy even for me to manage (and that is saying a LOT).  Whenever I came upon a gloppy bit of paint (unintended of course), I just took my little scrap of sandpaper and LaLa Dis-Tressed away!  I love that the vintage-distressed who-in-the-world-painted-that look is IN!  Instead of brushing on a wax finish (that would entail me using, well…a brush), I just sprayed a thin polyurethane coat on top to seal.  So far, so good.  And yes, I’ll share those projects too.

 

 

Oh, and it’s our 20th anniversary! On the left is a photo of us about a year before we were married, and on the right is how we are now.  I don’t even recognize the kids on the left!  I sure do miss that hair, though!

 

 

That’s all the update for now.  I’m very much enjoying my time at home with my babies, and am thankful for all of the cutting out and back regarding my technological toys.  I’m going back to school (online) again soon, too, because I love to keep on learning.  I’ll be working on a Clinical Master Herbalist degree.  The blessing is that I got reimbursed for some tuition from my Holistic Nutrition degrees (two of those), and the rest of the tuition I need will be paid for by scholarship.  I’m pretty amazed I get to do that and I’m happy about it too.  There’s no shortage of things I want to learn and do.

 

 

Blessings to you and yours!

Cursive First? And Is Teaching Latin a Fad?

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I had the opportunity to ask Sarah Gunning Moser two questions that have been on my mind:

1.  What’s the deal with teaching cursive first?  That is, why not teach ball and stick letters to my preschooler?

and

2.  Is the current fascination with teaching Latin in homeschool circles a profitable endeavor?  Or is it just a fad?

Listen in.  And be sure to listen to our initial conversation, too!

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Because You Want Your Children to Read

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I’m very pleased to bring you this podcast regarding the state of literacy in our nation today and what we, as mothers and fathers can do about changing that tide beginning with our very own families.  This is not content just for homeschoolers!  Sarah Gunning Moser is a wealth of information and insight; I’m sure you will gain much from her.

Besides writing, Sarah Gunning Moser has been married over twenty-five years.  She is an Endorsed Spell to Write and Read Trainer and experienced classroom teacher, tutor, homeschooler, adult instructor, speaker, and business owner.  Sarah moonlights in Seattle as a professional theatrical dresser and is a former manufacturing engineer in aircraft production.

Her passion and dream: to see America’s historical literacy restored and to introduce people to the richness of our language. Sarah dedicates her work to Jesus in this hurting world, and hopes by encouraging others she will improve their lives and knowledge of Christ through a deep love of reading.

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Here is the list of resources mentioned on the podcast:

SWR program (you can get this through Sarah or from the link below)
The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, by John Corcoran (you can get this through Sarah), ISBN-10: 1427798303, ISBN-13: 978-1427798305
America: to Pray? Or Not to Pray?, by David Barton (you can get this through Sarah)
McCall Crabbs: Standard Test Lessons in Reading, Books A-E [Hardcover],ISBN-10: 1880045257, ISBN-13: 978-1880045251 [published by Back Home Industries – must be this one to be accurate], (you can get this through Sarah)
The Bridge to Literacy, by John Corcoran, ISBN-13 # 978-1-4277-9830-5
The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, by Bruce N. Shortt, ISBN # 978-1-891375-23-1
The Ayres’ List: A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling, ISBN-10: 0880620390, ISBN-13: 978-0880620390
The Writing Road to Reading, by Romalda Spalding (blue book), ISBN # 0-688-10007-4
IndoctriNation DVD, ASIN: B006074Q3O
The Latin Road to English Grammar (this company also sells an excellent phonics program but it is video based.  That being said, if video is what would work best for your family, this the one to get! It is based on the very same research as SWR)

Sarah also has wonderful information on her blog!
  • “Book Reviews for Bibliophiles” are professional book reviews she does for the following publishers:

1. Thomas Nelson Publishers
2. WaterbrookMultnomah
3. Bethany House (includes Baker Publishing and Chosen Publishing)
4. Several other smaller publishers

  • “Homeschool Tips (and You)” includes tips on making your homeschooling years better, teaching tips, curriculum reviews, links to useful homeschool product sites or web sites
  • “SWR and You” includes how-tos for anyone using SWR in classrooms or homeschools, tutoring tips, teaching tips, often-overlooked parts of the program, teaching tips for junior high or high school students, alerts on new products
  • “The Word Geek” includes information on interesting words in the English language, their etymology, history, and usage, as well as occasional information on useful web sites and other resources
  • Blog tours for writers Gilbert Morris and New YorkTimes best-selling author Davis Bunn as well as up and coming writer Janalyn Voigt and others
  • Occasional contests for free copies of books reviewed (as made available by publishers)
  • Questions I will pose in blog articles asking you to chime in via the “Contact” Form and join — or begin — an online discussion. Join us!

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Narrowing

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Genesis 5:22   And Enoch walked with God…

I’ve had a difficult time with blogging lately, sort of feeling a bit dried up if you will.  I think of pictures I want to share, but I don’t want to take the time to download, edit, upload, and publish.  I think of some good insights I want to work through with you, but sometimes it is hard to do that, this sharing with the anonymous reader (or two).  Because really, what I want to know is, how are you?  But this is a blog…so here are some photos I prepared and here is some pondering (smile).

I recently read a very good article entitled, “What Captures Your Attention Controls Your Life.”  And I’m wondering a lot, what is it that captures my attention, and is that thing or idea or person or place or dream worthy of the attention it is getting?  I really feel like my time is a gift from the Lord, and it is finite.  Am I spending it wisely?  Most of the time I lament miserably over not being better disciplined about (fill in the blank), but remembering that my strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) I do find cause and reason to rejoice even in the things that point out my failure or difficulty or disappointment. But I want to strive for the better things, the more excellent way.  I also wonder, how are you doing? Are you controlled in the things that clamor for your attention?  Are you intentional about where you spend your time? Are you too easily distracted from what you claim is more important?  If you’re at peace with your time, you’re the one I want to spend tea time with (if you have time, ha).

One pastor remarked, regarding the article, that he remembered as a child what captured his grandmother’s attention was the “black book” she was always so engrossed with.  Some days I am shamefully more concerned about checking my e-mail (there might be something new or a response I’m waiting upon) rather than God’s Word (which always has something new and every response I need).  No wonder I am feeling dull in the head.  What about you? How are you doing? Are you staying in the Word?  Are you striving, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)?

Our day of distractions is a challenge, isn’t it?  But I can’t blame my circumstances nor my environment.  Truly, if even the Bible gave me a little musical *ding!* on a regular basis, would I want to open it more?

Also. Sometimes I have blog-pinterest-envy (this is my blog and I can dump, right?).  You know, poking around and seeing all of the amazing things other women are doing; discounting of course anything of value that I myself may be doing.  My little vase of flowers picked from the weeds in the front yard by sticky little hands and plucked into a mason jar just doesn’t seem to match the sweet buttery blurry romantic Photoshopped bouquet on an old farmhouse table artful arranged (only to look wildly thrown about) in a French enamel container that cost $75 to purchase.  And the poetry; some bloggers are amazing writers!  Oh to have the luxury of crafting such words; talent yes, but most writers will admit readily to sweat and sheets of crumpled paper bore through with eraser holes.  Oh, and the nature journaling and drawing and handwork and magnificent baked cakes that would charm Queen Elizabeth herself.

But I did come across this statement which revealed to me how some other mothers have the time and talent to surf the waves of Blogsville or Etsywood with their hair not mussed, and it was this: “I then get the children ready and take (child) to school and (other child) to his child minder.”

Oh. There’s the rub.  I really can’t do it all.  And if you have your children at home with you, you can’t either (unless you want to damage the relationship you have with your babies, to which I say, what’s the point of keeping them home then?).   So decide.  Crafts or cradle-rocking.  Blogs or bubble baths.  I-pod or We-read (a book).  Black book or black phone.  Choose this day whom you want to serve, and how you want to walk.  Keeping children home is a sacrifice.  So is sending them away.  Which sacrifice are you willing to make? And can you (can I?) make it without the pitiful sigh going along with it?

Enoch’s name means “narrowing”.  To walk with God means to choose the narrow way.  If what captures your attention really controls your life, it might be worthwhile to consider your ways and to examine your walk.  You may find your choices have been too broad, and pruning needs doing.  Like for me, this blog:  how do I prune it back?  Does it need pruning? A chop?  Six years later, do I still need it?

And now is when I stop rambling and share some garden photos I’ve been saving.  Enjoy them.  If you were here, I’d offer you a cup of tea (and maybe some baked biscotti unless I was reading Curious George during baking time) and conversation and I might send you home with bunches of herbs from my garden if you wanted them.  And maybe we could really talk about what it means to walk with God, and why we are not as enthralled with HIM as we ought and what we might change or do about it.  If what captures our attention really controls our lives, then don’t we really want that to be….God?

Ponder with me as we walk.

 

 

 

Grow, and prune as necessary,

Home is Where the View is Best

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It’s been a crazy month.  Between baby coming and goat kids coming and then nursing one that ended up dying (you can read that story here), it was high time for a road trip and time away.  My days at home were literally like this:  feed the fam, feed the baby, put the baby down, go help a goat give birth, come back in and take care of whatever child needs help…repeat…repeat…repeat.  I’m exhausted.

But we’re home now and we can get back to doing chores like raking up whatever needs raking…

 

…and having some playtime afterwards.  Work and play, work and play.  Some days it feels more like work, but we’re finding some joy in it all.

 

 

I’ve been enjoying drawing some in my art journal.  Please don’t think “what? where did she get time to do that?!”  I will tell you.  It was midnight.  And I drew from a photograph I took.  I know what I’m doing at home is very (very) important, but that night I knew I needed to do something creative for my sanity before I went to bed.  I could live here:

 

 

Eh.  The artwork’s not so bad.  Ten years from now I’ll laugh at it but right now I’m satisfied with what little I can do.

 

 

On our road trip, we drove through the mountains to spend some time with friends at the river.  Oh, I wish I could stay there for a week.  The river is just so amazing, so beautiful, so loud, so demanding in respect.  And the white noise helped to clear out the other noise out of my head.  All of that snow feeds the rivers.

 

 

Afterwards, we drove to the other side of the state.  It was gorgeous; just miles and miles and miles of farmland and the most amazing clouds I’ve ever seen.  I think I just kept repeating myself, “Look at those clouds!”

 

 

Of course, along the way we had to stop in various locations for photo op’s and to record for my husband’s podcast.  He bribed us with ice cream.  We gratefully took him up on it!

 

 

Here is my daughter (and baby…see the wee head?) at the Farm Chicks show.  There were thousands of people there.  Thousands.  I couldn’t keep up.  I was completely overwhelmed, honestly, what with the 250-something vendors.  I gave up trying to find stuff on my list and just hoped to see everything.  Which I did.  But I hardly spent any money at all to take anything home.  Which is a little disappointing after driving six-plus hours just to get there.

 

 

Why didn’t I buy much?  Because everything was outrageously overpriced!  But with the feeding frenzy there was (with those thousands of people), I can see why they priced their goods as they did:  people bought them.  Even though the show was amazing (gorgeous displays, in fact), I can’t ever see going back.  But I’m glad I did it, once.  From now on, I’m sticking to individual stores and shops instead of shows.  This little picture was $45 (and no, I didn’t buy it!).

 

 

We were able to stop by and visit with a chiropractor friend who lives (his own words), in the middle of nowhere.  He has an office in his van and goes around to the different communities to help people with chiropractic care.  It was a really cool set up inside!  And his family was very gracious and fed us some delicious lunch.

 

 

 

 

And of course my husband got a much needed adjustment!

 

 

The way home was just as beautiful, what with these amazing cliffs along the way (Noah’s flood, anyone?).  I sort of shuddered to imagine the chaos of water and judgement that formed these great big landscapes.

 

 

It was kind of a bummer to see all of that amazing wheat growing, knowing it was genetically modified and dwarfed and probably covered in pesticides.  Of course we saw lots of areas where topsoil had eroded too.  But the cliffs were amazing! I took this shot out of the window, racing by.

 

 

We played a license frame game along the way, marking different states we saw on various cars.  If anyone saw a European plate, they were declared the winner supreme.  Well….meet Mr. Winner Supreme.  It was very cool that a free airshow was on right across the street from the antique show.

 

 

And yes, we did have to stop to adjust the dinosaur.  The man was apparently hopeless, but the dinosaur….there was hope for him apparently.

 

 

Eating in restaurants was a challenge with seven children.  We ate mostly in parks with food takeouts but we did get to eat in this very, very family friendly place.  Check out all of the dollar bills all over the walls and ceilings!

 

 

We had plenty of time to play.  This was our favorite park!

 

 

And Ruby loved the carousal!  As long as it was moving, that is.  Once it stopped, tears and gnashing of teeth!  Glad I got one good picture though!

 

 

And yes, I had to find the best bakeries in the city.  And eat cupcakes.  (And yes, that’s me growing my gray hair out again…do you really want me to continue to share that saga with you all?)

 

 

Home we are now and home is best, best, best!  SO glad to be HOME.  SO glad that the goat animals are settled and we’re unpacked and getting some rest.  Despite all of the wonderful landscapes and whatnot *out there*…I think the view from the inside of my house is still pretty good.

 

 

Hope you’re well!

From Six to Fourteen

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Goats that is.

Four days after having my own baby, the first doe had her own.  And in the last three days we added seven more kids (that’s what goat babies are:  kids).  As my husband says, it’s not our own baby keeping us up at night.  It’s the goats!  But I will say how grateful I am that every one of these mamas had their babies during daylight hours.

Dancer gave us a buckling and a doeling.

 

…and then while we waited for her placenta to come out, she surprised us all and pushed out a wee little doeling.  And I do mean “wee”; she was only 1lb 12oz.  She is still getting tubed for feed because she isn’t strong enough to suck on a bottle.  My daughter has become her mama, even waking during the wee hours to keep the little one nourished.  I admit I gave up on this one within the first five minutes of her birth, but a friend of mine diligently worked on her and prayed for her and she is still alive; and now my 14 year old is becoming quite the goatherdess!  I’ve just been teaching her what I know in addition to having her learn from that friend of mine (thank you!), and she is all of the sudden interested in reading books and materials on goats.  I am glad for it.

 

The very next day, Maisey gave us two bucklings.  My daughter here is encouraging one buckling to find the right place to get that good colostrum.

 

 

And then on the third day (today), Smores gave us a buckling and a doeling.

 

 

As an aside (speaking of new births) we’ve been finding bird nests with their own babies tucked in.  These are chickadees on our porch.  The robins have a nest on our playground swing set of all places.  And I don’t have a picture to prove it but we’ve got two dozen chicks and turkeys that showed up during this time as well.

 

 

At the end of it all, this is all I wanted to do.  And I did enjoy it, even if it did take me almost two hours to finally get into it because I was at that point taking care of my own little baby.

 

 

And of course now I am t.i.r.e.d. after three straight days of goat craziness.  And did I mention I have a new three week baby, too?  If it gets a little quiet around here on this site, you’ll know why.

 

Gratefully,

 

One Baby Lost, One Baby Held: A Wee Lesson for Me

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The sunshine has been glorious.  Any tourist passing through our area lately would surely remark how dishonest those Pacific Northwesterners have been regarding the gray, the gloom, the rain.  The secret is out, it’s all a ruse, we have wonderful sunshine come spring.

Well…some years, anyway.

Because I’m not weeding anything this year the entire yard has been rejoicing in the warm sunshine as well, gleefully sending out shoots, roots and seedheads that sway and puff into the breezes. I wince a bit seeing the grass encroaching where it ought not, but console myself that this fall it will, Lord willing, get all cleaned up.  Which means that yes, for now I can just sit on the porch with baby sleeping on my chest, my feet up and enjoying the wafts of lilac fragrance mingling with said seeds blowing.  Beauty and the beast, methinks, glory and garbage co-mingled.

I did notice today my rose bush putting forth its own shoots, the very same that the wee babe I held in the palm of my hand was buried.  The thorny thought poked at me, “I wonder what she would have looked like….”

I suppose it is rather easy to arrive at the conclusion that because I now hold my newest daughter in arms, it is payment enough for the sorrow of a baby lost.  And yet, it is not.  The weeping from the evening of sorrow does not dissipate when morning joy arrives, but rather gives way much as the stars lose their luster in the dawn.  Just because they are not seen as night retreats does not mean they are not still there.

What have I learned?  Not nearly enough I’m afraid as I still ponder and wonder and continually need to taste and see that the Lord is good.  But one small thing…I have come to understand that there is a vast difference between disappointment, which comes naturally through trials and the allowance of God in order to refine me…and discouragement, which seems to dangle before me, taunting me to forsake faithfulness and positioning itself to accuse God of injustice or indifference.  I have learned that discouragement is never God’s will, even in trial.  Faithfulness is.  Trust is.  It is the difference between pining for the wee babe I have lost…or letting her go in gratitude for whatever God’s perfect purpose in it all was and is.

I do not take lightly the gift of this baby in arms, and yet I am still missing the one I have yet to see life expressed.  Morning still blends into night which again fades into new light; it is how it will be until the Lord returns.  So sorrow must mingle with joy and in every trial my choices are still the same:  to trust or to doubt, to have peace or to be anxious, to be as a child or as a fool.

Tonight I snuggled with this unhappy and tired baby under my chin, her fingers wrapped around mine as she hiccuped her laments.  I whispered to her, “patience, darling, shhhh…someday the darkness will be gone forever.”  I reminded myself of this, too, and gave thanks for the rest I have upon Him, this peace surpassing understanding even to my own self.

Yes, the thorns poke, but I am learning to give thanks for the roses and for the sunshine when it does come.  And I am learning to trust even in the dark that Light is inevitable.

 

 

For more thoughts on learning through trials, visit the other High Five Moms in the next few days.  Tell them I sent you; I know their little spaces in Blogland are awaiting to bless and encourage you, too.

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Settling Into Spring

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I’m sitting outside on the kitchen porch on a parisian yellow chair watching the breezes ripple their way through the firs and alders. The lavender lilacs are in bloom and their scent wafts by often enough to make me close my eyes and dream of summer. How can I transport to you the sound of the branches and leaves clapping and embracing in the wind? It sounds like waves upon a sandy shore. Birds are twittering by, chattering about the empty feeder (sorry) but finding plenty of flies and bugs to push them to acrobatics. I can also hear the low bleating of my dairy goat, calling to her baby continuously (“Where are you…are you here…stay close…”). I long to wrap these things up and gift them to you. Instead I invite you to walk undistracted to sit outside your own home. Look! Listen! God’s creation is beautiful.

My days have been spent settling in with baby. My children are anxious to introduce her to the world, but I insist on staying in my little part of the world, and bless them to go to church, to potlucks, to wherever. I and baby, we are fine. We are sitting in the garden, rocking in the bedroom, figuring out nursing (oooch), and giving the mama (moi) intoxicated fits of inhaling her sweet baby head. It’s not a bad way to spend a spring.

 

I will share with you Ruby’s response to her baby sister.  This was one of those moments that, yes!, I had a camera within reach!  Here Ruby is signing “baby”.

 

All at once, Ruby reached forward and grabbed up the sleeping baby!

 

 

After she gave her a wholehearted hug, she leapt off the bed, gave a wave and ran off!

 

 

And here she is with her very own baby.

 

 

In the meantime, I’ve started putzing around, doing small chores here and there.  My friends have been feeding us suppers (thank you!), so this has been the extent of my kitchen food prep:

 

 

Four days after baby was born, I watched the first of my milk goats this spring give birth to her own daughter.  I have three more goats this month giving birth, so it is a wonderful time for us (even though I *am* a little nervous until all of them are finished).

 

 

I hope your spring is filled with a beautiful life around your home, too.  There is much to be grateful for.

Blessings,

A Baby Fresh From God

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Thank you for your emails, tweets, calls, love and prayers.  Our fifth girl arrived yesterday afternoon (nine days “late”) to greet her sisters and two brothers after a record (for me) labor of only 5 or 6 hours.  She was born sunny side-up which made for the hardest labor I’ve ever had as well, and she weighed in at 9lb 10oz.  We praise the Lord for our first successful home birth!  Other than Ruby, we keep our children’s names private over the net.  You can call her “most blessed sweetheart” (smile).

Post-Due Date Waiting

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Well, here I still am, now six days after my “due date” for baby number seven.  It’s nothing new to me, this waiting for a “late” baby to show up; in fact, baby number five decided to wait a whopping 18 days (and he packed on the pounds to prove it, at 10lb 15oz).  The other part that is not new is the discouragement; it is hard to know the baby is all well and good and is just bidding his (her?) time.  And of course, the phone calls, the surprised looks (“what? you’re still pregnant?!”)….I’m sure many of you have been there!

So this is what I’ve been doing in the meantime, in this period of just waiting.  First of all, I’ve been staying mostly home.  I’m just so swollen and am sooooo terribly waddle-ly and slow; folks think I’m going to drop a baby right there on the floor in front of them.

I make myself go outside at least, and take a walk around the place, noticing what is waning (the daffodils) and what is blooming (the clematis).  Spring is definitely here.  I love having all windows open to the fresh air cleaning out the house, too.

 

 

I did notice that we lost one of our cherry trees, but the rest of the fruit trees are beginning to bloom in beautiful colors.  I do miss my honeybees, though, the ones I used to find all over my orchard and garden.  I think of doing that again, next year.

 

 

My men built a “buck hut” for my male goats, which I appreciated.  I sat on the lawn chair keeping them company while they put it together.  They have designs of putting up signs that say things like “no does allowed”.

 

 

Speaking of goats, there was some excitement yesterday as the goat barn was getting cleaned out.  My husband sunk into some soft mud and almost lost his tractor down a ravine.  The whole left side of the tractor is in mid-air in the picture, being held up by the backhoe and a small alder tree.  Yours truly got to burn rubber on the old 4×4 pickup trying to pull the thing out of the ravine with a chain while husband balanced on the tractor trying to help back it out.  You would have thought *that* sort of fun would have put me into labor!  And yes, I got the tractor out, and yes, it was fun in a crazy sort of way.

 

 

When I have to go inside to put this baby down (oy), I find myself doing this and that.  This morning I was listening to a sermon and following along in my Bible while working on some embroidery.  Magazines and books keep me occupied, too.  Oh, and blogging (smile).

 

 

I was bummed to miss the homeschool conference this weekend, really.  But I spent some time rethinking and reorganizing what I want to do next year anyway.  Next year I’ll be teaching a 1st grader all the way through 9th, plus Ruby (who is almost four) and loving on a new baby too (…who needs to come out, hear me, Baby?)

 

 

And truly, why not start another quilt?  I think this little thing would be so sweet for a baby girl.  If this one is a boy, that will just give me an excuse to create a whole other quilt, so that’s a win-win in my mind.

 

 

Back outside, I’m watching my family do chores around the place.  It’s hard not to feel guilty for being unable to help; they are all keeping the home and land going without me.  They are so excited about this baby; every morning I’ve been having to give them a sheepish grin, “no, no contractions, no baby yet…sorry.”  But they are very lighthearted about it all.  We keep saying, “Well, we’re one day closer!”

 

 

Here is the wonderful work my family finished today; getting the muck cleaned up outside of the barn and replacing it with gravel and rock.  Oh I cannot tell you what a GIFT this was to me (AND my goats).  All four of my “girls” are due to have their own babies next month.

 

 

Sometimes I spend time just sitting in the wooded pasture watching my goats forage.  It’s so incredibly quiet; all I can hear are my children whooping and playing outside, along with the chorus of birds and the munching of my goats moving through the brush.  I have some very sweet goats who will come and snuggle their heads on my lap to say “hello” too.  It’s all very relaxing.  I love the slow life and want more of it.

 

 

This is my herd queen, Splat.  She demands (and gets) respect from the rest of the group.  She was always stand-offish to me until I kept her company last year while she was kidding for the first time.  Now we sort of *understand* one another and she’ll give me some attention, butting others out of the way to get it if need be.  Poor thing is missing fur from her nose because of our feeder rubbing it wrong.  Isn’t she beautiful, though?  I think she’s carrying at least three babies.  I planned to have mine first, but at this point, I guess we’ll see…

 

 

Here’s another trusty chair of mine to use outside.  I was harvesting nettle, and used some to dehydrate, and some to make tea with, mixed with peppermint.  I found a recipe for nettle pasta but lately just the thought of that much kitchen time hasn’t been appealing.  Right now I’ve got quite a bit of frozen pizza in the freezer.

 

 

I did manage to make some sourdough raisin bread for breakfasts, though. They are in the freezer, also.  I’m looking forward to having some toasted, with butter, with scrambled eggs and orange juice, the morning after the birth-day or thereabouts.

 

 

I’ll tell you some things I haven’t done.  I haven’t changed a diaper in a while, or cleaned a dish, or cleaned a bathroom, or swept a floor, or pulled a weed.  My family is taking care of all of that, except the weeding.  In fact, the whole place is overrun with weeds (and of course, what are weeds but pretty flowers growing where you don’t want them?).  I decided to let the whole plot go fallow this spring and summer, and will get it all tackled hopefully this fall.  In the meantime, I’m looking up and finding recipes for dandelion jam and so forth.

 

 

So there it is.  Supper’s coming out of the crockpot right now and tonight I’ll take yet another bath and go to bed again hoping for a wake-up in the wee hours.  If the sun greets me for another day of waiting, you’ll know what I’ll probably be up to.  And yes, it will at least be another day closer…

Birthing Projects

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Well, here I am late in the evening on my due date without more than a baby hiccup and once again I am reminded how much I hate “due dates”.  What evil wrought about that dumb little circle thingy that puts THE date as when baby should arrive?  Once again, I’m on the side of “you’re still here?” and once again, I tell folks that it’s all right, I’m “always late”.  And I tell my children, when they greet me disappointed in the morning (“not yet, huh, Mom?”), is “Well…we’re one day closer!”  So I continue, albeit slowly, baking, doing laundry, homeschooling.  I’m grateful for children who rush to perform other household chores when I am wilting. I’m grateful to be home.  I’m grateful for friends who stop by unannounced with chocolate and flowers too (thank you!).

I’ve been working and waiting on another birth as well, a large project that I wrote about here.  I have the vision, the tools, the people and the plan.  What I also have is some good, Godly advice to slow down.  I appreciate it when a friend takes the time to humbly ask me hard questions.  What I’ve been working through is this:  how do I know the difference between God’s will and what God allows?  

Now, I know God doesn’t allow what is not His will to allow to occur (follow me?).  But if He blesses me with all of the scaffolding of this project, how do I know it’s in my best interest to build it?  Maybe it’s just a test?  When the Israelites got their wish for a king and God told them who it would be (in essence, the one HE picked), was it really His will that they have that king?  If my project is a roaring success, what cost will it have extracted to get there?

I need to stay congruent with my true self.  For example, this wonderful project I am working on will put me behind a computer more, and my dear friends, as some of you already know, there is much I dislike about that.  I’d rather be behind a real papered book, or braiding my girls’ hair, or digging in the dirt, or talking to my goats.  Slowing down sounds like the right thing to do on many levels.

One thing that has blessed me in this process has been getting small peeks into other women’s lives.  Sometimes I see how much they accomplish (seemingly) and I struggle with how come I can’t do all that?  But usually the answer comes softly:  they just plain have different priorities, or they send children off to school or to daycare, or they spend hours (hours!) on Skype meetings, or they don’t have a farm-ette to maintain, or (shamefully) they are simply not honest.  In other words, their lives are lived differently than mine and all I’m looking at are the parts I want.  Would I want to change my life, my living?  I can honestly say mostly “no” even when it means the other things I desire to do may have to wait.

So both birthing projects continue, in their own timing.  The baby will come when the Lord’s voice calls.  And this wonderful Journal will publish when His timing is right, too. If you’d like to be a part of the Journal, and you desire the sweet slowness of patience, please know you are invited to contribute.  As for me, I am going to continue to wait upon the Lord, trusting Him to lead me in all things.  It is a good place to sit, patiently waiting to see what hatches.

 

Art Journaling for Beginners

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I’ve kept a handwritten journal for many, many years.  In it are thoughts from my days, trials I’ve worked (and am working) through, ideas and lists, Bible studies and prayers, poetry, hopes and plans and just bunches of stuff that I wish I had from a great-grandma or two regarding their lives, good, bad and ugly.  I know some people say that journals should be kept clean, that is, nothing that would cause the reader to see the ugly side of the writer….but I don’t see the point of that.  I *do* have ugly sides to me and I praise God for picking on those areas to refine.

Lately I’ve been intrigued with keeping an art journal, one that would allow me to incorporate more of the artistic side of me.  But, as some people see a blank page and have “nothing” to write, I have the same issue regarding art.  I *know* I have an “artistic side” because God, in whose image I am made, is the creative Creator of everything.  So I think I need to dig it out a little, this bit of creativeness, cultivating mustard seeds that may lie latent.

There are a lot of online drawing, art, journaling (you name it) classes.  I took one last winter in person, which was a stretch but I enjoyed it.  Since then I’ve collected a number of mixed media art books and find myself loving them, the mix of drawing, paint, and words.  My goal is to combine my writing and my art, each one reflecting and supporting the other.  I think, perhaps, these will be treasured by some young lady a hundred years from now, and if not…well, the process grew me.

Here is a peek into my (first!) art journal, and the things I have done to conquer the blank page in front of me.  I’m not going to pretend to be humble because truthfully I am pleased that I took the time to try something new, and I know if I keep at it, it will just get better in time.

I am very interested in God’s creation, love learning about botany, and use herbs a lot in my home.  Learning to draw plants has given me a more observant eye to a whole lot more than just flora and fauna.  No matter the season, there is always something that can be drawn.

 

I read years ago about the idea of illustrating sermons from The Hidden Art of Homemaking, but it wasn’t until I was going through that book with my small book group that I actually tried it.  I find it incredibly useful for explaining the sermon to my toddlers as they listen in the pews with us. Furthermore, it is quite the brain-stretcher for ME, too, trying to translate spoken words into illustrations.   I get lots of my own thoughts and questions during the sermon and can add those too.

 

 

I’m finding that art journaling doesn’t have to depend on my own talents (YAY).  Like many of you, I love visual representations of handwork, gardening, homemaking, and so forth.  Pinterest isn’t popular for nothing! I decided that the collection of pictures I’ve been saving from magazines and so forth would be great to put into my art journal.  It moves them from the realm of clutter (or even filed away) to a place I can enjoy and look at often.  Here I was still learning how to glue down pictures without causing bubbling.  Like I said, “journaling for beginners.”

 

 

I finally decided to try the whole enchilada, mixed media bit.  I used an old torn up Curious George book to cut into, and combined paper, paint, pastels and stamps (and I don’t even remember all else) for these pages.  I feel this is the first set of pages that come close to combining my writing (which I haven’t added yet) and art.  Because, like George, I have much to frighten me (another birth–what, am I crazy?, the political world, mean folks, the grotesque evil in the world, our nation’s moral and economic decline…..you know, the same ol’ things since the fall of man…). And yes, like George, I am holding on very tight (but to God!!).  Through it all, I am “learning to fly”, learning to trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness in all things.

 

 

So, here are the last two pages I’ve prepared, ahead of time, for any writing to follow.  I have a “blue” page, and a “pink” page, ready for this baby to come.  My plan is to get this baby’s foot print on whichever page is most appropriate, and then write there about the birth.  Who knew that nesting would include getting art journal pages ready, too?!

 

 

 

That is all for today.  Tomorrow is my “official due date”.  Now I am heading outside to sit in a chair in the glorious sunshine to keep my family company while they complete the first of two more pastures for our dairy goats.  And I think……I think I shall take along my art journal, too.

Mocha Without the Machine

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I have no regrets selling my espresso machine.  It was expensive, it took up counter space, it took care, it demanded to be used, and it was just one more thing I needed to plug in and maintain.  I’ve been ruthless in decluttering my house and I know I’m not finished yet!  But I do enjoy an occasional mocha, and this is how I do it without the machine.  This mocha is better than anything you’ll ever get from a coffee shop (and I’m not opposed to the occasional coffee shop, either!).

Ingredients I use:

This is the sugar I use for almost all of my baking and sugar needs at home, other than brewing kombucha (which demands sick regular ol’ toxic white sugar).

 

 

The cocoa I use has to be *just* cocoa.  I look at labels and if it’s not *just* cocoa, then I’m wasting my money on extra sugar or whatever else they are putting into the can.  I make my own vanilla with vanilla beans and vodka (steeped forever), and I use a bit of powdered sugar in my cream to whip for cream.

 

 

Those ingredients are good for a hot chocolate, but if you want an easy mocha, you’ll need some instant espresso.  I don’t drink straight coffee and don’t know enough about *good* coffee, but I like the flavor of this kind.

 

 

  1. Mix 3TB sugar with 2TB cocoa into 1/4 cup of water. If you want a mocha, add about 1TB of instant espresso.  Heat and stir until it’s all melted.

 

 

2.  Of course, use the very best raw whole milk you can get!  Add 2 cups of it to the cocoa mix, and gently heat up to the temperature you like. I make mine to 170 degrees.

 

 

3.  While you’re waiting for the mocha to heat up, make the whipped cream, using of course the awesome fresh stuff off of the raw whole milk.  I put in about 1/4 cup, and about 1tsp of powdered sugar.  Whip it up!  Lick the beaters if your kids aren’t around unless you want to call them in to share.

 

 

4.  Skim off any skin that formed, and pour the mix into the biggest mug you have.  I use a little battery held blender to froth up my mocha.  This is where I would add a touch of vanilla, or peppermint if I wanted that instead.  I don’t like to cook my extracts.

 

 

5.  Top with your fresh cream, grab some printed reading material or a chair in the sunshine and enjoy. YUM!

10 Ways To Be Hospitable Without Going Nuts

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1.  Remember that people are more important than things.  Having plastic on the furniture or carpets that cannot be walked on without first dubbing fresh socks speaks loudly that the house is not to be used to relax in, but to admire.   If your family members can put their bare feet up on the coffee table or just grab a glass (any glass) to get some drinking water with, it won’t be a big effort for your guests to do the same. Does your home welcome people or make them unsure of where they can and cannot sit?

2.  Keep the house tidy as usual (whatever your state of “usual” is) but don’t wait for everything to be bleach-clean before opening your home to guests.  Furthermore, if someone  stops by when there’s still a pile of laundry to fold, welcome them anyway and either fold while you talk or put it off for a while.  There’s no need to apologize; this is your home and yes, there is work to be done in it.  You don’t necessarily need to stop your work when people come over; they can visit while you tend the everyday needs or toss the salad.

Pizza is an easy meal to prepare and serve. This is sourdough crust topped with sausage, spinach, mushrooms and cheese.

3.  Do have food and drink on hand, especially for those surprise, last minute guests.  There is always *something* you could offer.  For ideas, be sure to listen to my podcast, Fast Food: How to Feed People on the Quick.  I have a designated tea drawer that my friends know they can just come dig into when they come in.  You could have something similar for kid-friendly snacks, or at the very least, a lemon or some mint in the fridge to add to a fresh pitcher of water.  Also have on hand a decent first aid kit for those inevitable boo-boos.  You don’t want to offer a toilet paper wrap when a bandaid would be better.

4.  Have a bin of toys for toddlers in various places so that when you have a mommy over, she can keep a close eye on her babe easily.  For example, I have a shelf of toys in the kitchen, and a couple in the living room.  It’s also easy for me to pull out a small bin of magnets or whatnot for an older child to play with at the kitchen table.  For more ideas on toy organization, listen to Toys and Their Organization.  This really helps with (a) mommies who are new to your house and don’t want to lose their child into unfamiliar places, and (b) helping you to quietly encourage and keep children close to their moms when you feel they are a little too wily to be beyond mom’s reach.

Have a place where people can easily hang coats (and hats!).

5.  Just because you have folks over doesn’t mean you can’t “help” them leave when the time is right.  Sometimes my kids will be getting really tired and *done* with visitors, and I’ll politely excuse myself or our family by saying something like, “….well…I’m so glad you took time to come over!”  Or, if the visitor isn’t getting the hint, something like, “Well, I’d love to visit with you longer, but I really need to let you go so I can (bathe the kids….get to bed at a reasonable time….prepare for supper…).”

6.  Do consider giving your guest your attention.  That doesn’t mean your work has to necessarily stop (see #2), but it does mean leaving the phone to the answering machine and especially NOT checking your Facebook updates, tweets and emails!  If you must take a call that you’re expecting, be sure to let your caller know that you are currently with a guest and will call them back.  Give the person who is in front of your face priority.

You could always use paper goods, but real dishware is a real nice touch.

7.  It’s all right to say “no”.  Being “hospitable” does not mean you need to have an open door policy to anyone who wants to drop in at any time they want to or need to drop in.  That being said, being hospitable does mean being available for emergencies and having some flexibility.  Some folks are just plain needy and will take up all of your time if you let them; others would never drop by unannounced unless it was urgent.  Use some wisdom to know when to bend, and when to stand firm and graciously say, “I’m sorry, I cannot give time to that today.”

8.  If you’re having someone over for the first time and there’s a meal involved, it is all right (and appropriate) to inquire regarding allergies and so forth.  But that does not mean you need to overhaul your own cooking to meet the needs of picky people (who always need their non-fat, only organic, homemade salad dressing on the side…or won’t eat anything made with salt….or must have a cocktail with their meal…or who have children who will only eat hot dogs, etc.).  It is one thing to bend your meals to accommodate, it is quite another to receive the menu you “must” create.   Personally, I never make separate meals for picky children (note:  picky, not allergic)…but if their parent wants to bring or provide them a peanut butter sandwich instead of having my lasagna, I’m not offended.  It’s their deal and they’ll figure that mess out at some point (we hope!). In that same vein, don’t stress if your overnight guests demand amenities you can’t or don’t want to provide.  You are not a hotel, and they can (a) appreciate what you do offer, or (b) graciously stay someplace else.  It’s amazing what people will sometimes expect (or demand) from you to meet or gain their approval!  Just do the best you can in meeting their needs in love, and let them simmer in their own sauce over areas that are over the line for you or your family.

What can you do to make your guests feel right at home?

9.  Try to keep at least one bathroom tidy at all times with a clean sink, fresh hand towel and plenty of toilet paper.  Get the hair up off the floor every day and the toothpaste gunk off the sink.  That way when your unexpected (or expected!) guest needs to freshen up, it will be a pleasant experience.  And on the days no guest is using the loo, you will be blessed in at least one bathroom!  It’s nice to have the plunger nearby too, to save face if a child clogs the toilet; the parent can just quietly deal with it.  And speaking of such, remember that children sometimes have accidents; don’t make an issue of it!  Just sweetly provide clean-up materials and don’t stress over your carpet, hardwood floor, etc.  Remember….people are more important than stuff, and that includes kids!

10.  Bless your guests.  If they are sad, give them some understanding and some cheer.  If they are down, offer some encouragement.  If they are happy about something, try to join them in their joy.  You can pray with them, or at least for them, while they are there.  If there are children involved, I try to never send them away hungry.  Think about how YOU would be blessed in their shoes, and do likewise.  Let them leave your home refreshed and blessed!

Hospitality isn’t about having the perfectly set up home ahead of time.  Hospitality is about serving people with love, and being open (and home!) to welcome them in their needs.  May your guests be blessed by your hospitality, and may you have peace in receiving them. Certainly you can’t please everyone, but you can have quietness and satisfaction in the Lord knowing you followed His lead in how you dealt with folks.

For more ideas on hospitality (without going nuts!), visit the other High Five Moms in the next few days.  Tell them I sent you; I know their little spaces in Blogland are awaiting to bless and encourage you, too.

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Labor Pains

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I was a military brat hopping across the Atlantic Ocean every three years until I was seventeen, and between then and now I’ve moved an additional twelve times.  So why is moving my blog and website for the measly fourth time such a trial?  Maybe because I intently dislike spending so much time on the computer!  I also do not like having to lie down so much as we wait for labor to begin with our seventh child, so other than reading, the time I had gave me a good excuse to work on the website with the laptop tilted onto pillows so I could read and type sideways.  Good thing my husband’s a chiropractor and can keep my neck unkinked.

But the braxton hicks contractions are here and there and the unmistakable rush to fluff and feather (and bleach clean) the nest have turned this website move into almost a panic.  I *have* to get this done!  NOW.  You mamas will understand.  The end of pregnancy usually means (fill in the blank) MUST be done “now”.  So all of the work to be done, all of the labor as it were, is intense and busy.  Funny thing is, though, and I remember this….once babyhood labor begins it won’t matter a spit if there are cobwebs on the ceilings or mustard stains on the highchair.  I won’t even care that I’ve lost 183 comments in this blog move (waaaahhhhh!).

So here we are, hopefully for good, or at least until I shut the whole thing down and begin once again to discover more of my handwriting onto smooth paper.  If you’re new here, welcome!   If you’ve followed me around for up to six or so years of blogs, thank you!  Please forgive the glitches that are sure to come as we continue to fine tune things around here.  My husband and I along with Karen from Simply Amusing Designs have been working to bring you a website that I hope you will like and find user-friendly.  Their patience with my pickiness is extraordinary.

Baby is due anytime this month and I will be pleased to let you know when (he? she?) gets here.  In the meantime, consider yourself hugged for your support of this “blog baby”.  You’re all so great, and I thank you.

 

 

Preparing For Baby With Herbs

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Ok, I think it’s fair to say I’m “officially” nesting now, trying to get the house in order and cleaned up before baby shows up.  And, of course, if Mama is nesting, there’s no rest for the others, is there?  With the dark and dumping rain we had going on outside, I figured it was the “perfect” time to finally get my reproduction schoolhouse lights up in the kitchen.  So the boys graciously went to work.
And about six hours and much troubleshooting later, I had more light in my kitchen!  It’s nice to see a project finished.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, we need all the light we can get.
I’ve been waddling around getting ready for labor and birth and baby.  I made up a gallon of what I call “Mama’s Brew.”  I’ve been making this mix for half a dozen years at least.  It is fabulous for helping me along with uterine toning and has lots of great minerals in it.  At this point, I’m trying to drink about a quart a day.  I’m still taking my prenatal vitamins and extra B vitamins, C and D3 (I got my D blood levels tested before embarking on that).
The recipe is two parts nettle, two parts red raspberry, one part alfalfa and one part oatstraw.  To make, I put about a cup of the mix into a half gallon jar, fill with boiling water, cap and let it steep for a couple of hours.  Then I strain and sweeten to taste (but I like the taste unsweetened, mostly).  The finished tea keeps about 24 hours in the fridge.
In the background are other teas I’ve mixed, for immune system support, calming, tummy woes, etc.  Herbal teas are a mainstay in our home.
Here’s my brew ready to drink.   Do you like my makeshift container for it?  My friend’s husband came up with the brilliant idea of drilling a straw hole in the lid.

I also prepared some herbal tinctures.  The black cohosh is an excellent help for late pregnancy in stimulating contractions, and the crampbark will be useful after the birth is over to help relieve any uterine cramping and pains.   Two different herbs with two very different and helpful uses.  (Note:  I am not licensed to give medical advice and you should never use anything your practitioner would not recommend).

I like to make and use an herbal bath tea after the baby is born and I am able to get into the tub.  Basically I make a very strong tea with this and then strain it all into the tub; it is NOT for drinking.  My mix includes:  comfrey, uva ursi, shepherd’s purse, myrrh, and arnica.  Ruby was so hard to nurse that she left me incredibly sore after breastfeeding; I used this tea just to dip my chest into on hands and knees for relief.

For the bath, I add to this tea mix two cups of bath salts with three to four drops each lavender and cypress.  It is wonderful.

I have specific essential oils ready for birth also.  I’m now a member of Young Living Oils because I am so impressed with their “seed to seal” process AND how incredibly potent their oils are.  It’s like the difference between store bought garlic powder (from who knows where) and making your own from your own garden.  Oils I keep on hand specifically for childbirth are lavender (relaxing), cypress (healing), cistus (internal healing, especially for hemorrhage) and clary sage (to strengthen and regulate contractions).  You remember reading I’m not a *doctor*, right?  These are my own helps.

I also have on hand plenty of homeopathic remedies for whatever shows up.  That’s our medicine cabinet in a nutshell:  herbs, oils, and remedies.  We stay healthy.

I spent the day getting ready for baby, too.  I used the casserole basket I made  to store the cloth diapers and wraps, and folded up the swaddling linens.  Baby’s gowns and onesies are in a drawer.  There is a jar of homemade baby powder I made with arrowroot powder and herbs (powdered calendula, lavender, chamomile).  Once baby starts moving around more, he or she will be changed on a bigger bed and ultimately the floor.  I’m not about to buy a “changing table” now, at baby number seven!  Can you tell we’re in my closet?

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I told my family all I wanted was some flowers.  Aren’t these orchids beautiful?  They’ll be lovely to look at if I spend any time laboring in the tub.

I got the bedding ready also.  What you see here is a bentwood cradle that once had my husband in it; isn’t it gorgeous?  I love it!  On the floor is where baby will sleep though, in the little Moses basket I’ve put all of my babies into with a sweet cotton blanket my sister in law gave me for baby number one.  The basket has a lovely cotton and wool filled mattress a dear woman made for me, no plastics whatsoever.  The pumpkin colored knitted wool blanket I finished awaits in it, too.

That’s it, I think.  Now we just need the baby to arrive!  I think I am mentally ready for the hard road of labor ahead, but of course it is never a “fun trip”.  I am praying for a boring, uncomplicated labor and birth with a beautiful baby.  If the Lord brings it to your heart, might you join me in that prayer?

Blessings,

Re-Purposing Vintage Suitcases

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My husband brought these two small personal travel cases into our household twenty years ago, not because of the cases themselves, but because they kept all of the old telephone wire and other odds and ends he might need *someday*.  Suffice it to say, after two decades they were still just hanging out in the basement.  I eyed them earlier last week….sayyyyyy……

So he dumped all of the contents and gave me the cases.  One belonged to his mother, and the other to his grandmother.  Each had their own initials on them.  I loved them already!

The first thing I did was clean up the outside with some everyday spray cleaner.

One of the cases had a liner in the lid that I didn’t think was worth salvaging.  The fabric was torn and furthermore, the foam behind it looked like old mildew had gotten to it.  I gently tore it completely out and threw it away.

To put in its place I cut and measured a thick piece of cardboard, and then had a grand time finding the right background paper to adhere to it.  I used rick-rack to cross over it, bulletin board style, and then trimmed the edge with some lace I pulled off an old skirt I had been saving for *something*.  Across the bottom I laid some batting and then attached some fresh fabric, leaving the side pockets still in use.  It sure cleaned up nice.

I decided to use the case for all of the odds and ends that I like to use when creating and decorating my own stationery for snail mailing with my friends and pen pals.  A sweet friend of mine made me, for my birthday, a collection of embellishments I could use for that very purpose, so I put those in there too.  I used a small tin to hold tiny buttons and other decorative pieces too.

This is what the case inside ended up looking like.  I put in stickers, ribbons, twine, fabric scraps, the little tin, magazine cut-outs, other handmade embellishments and a small pair of scissors and glue.  I love it! Everything’s in one place, and even with it closed, I find it to just be delightful.

The other case was in much better shape.  Isn’t it lovely?  I cannot believe I just let it lie fallow all these years.

Even the inside looked good.  I used a hot glue gun to tack down some of the liner but that was all it really needed.  I laid in some colorful pieces of fabric into the plastic tray and it really brightened it up a lot.

And here’s the finished case.  I am using it to store all of my sewing and felting notions and it just sits happily next to my Singer featherweight.  Best of all, everything’s within reach but nothing’s out in the open tempting little fingers or gathering dust.

I wish I still had my grandparents around.  I think I would have loved to snoop around their houses and taken home things to repurpose.

Blessings,

Healing a Duck After An Attack

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*UPDATE*  This morning, the 30th, our last duck, our “one tough duck” Handsome, died.  We are all sick about it.  But we’re reminded how awful death really is, and how Jesus conquered death.  Someday, someday soon, death will die.

 

It’s never a good sign when my kids come pounding on the kitchen door with frantic looks on their faces during morning chores.

Raccoons visited during the night and managed to reach into the sleeping ducks, pulled their heads through the fence and began feasting.  The dogs ran them off but not fast enough.  Two of the girls were dead this morning, our third (and last) girl died later.

What we still have (at this moment) is our boy, our one-winged Handsome.  Handsome is one tough duck.  He must have nine lives because he’s been through plenty of trauma in his short life already.

He’s pretty stunned of course, and weak.  He has wounds in the same places, along his neck and back.  The first thing we did this morning is put plenty of fresh, clean straw down in the pen.  And, of course, remove his friends.

The best thing you can give an animal that is wounded or sick is your love.  The next best thing is medicine.  We wrapped him up slowly and snuggly in a clean towel, and spoke soothingly to him.  We still don’t know if he’ll make it, but added stress from the voices and mannerisms from his keepers would not help him one spit.

We gently wiped his wounds, soaking in the good herbal tea I made.  And we coaxed and encouraged him to drink some water that I had dissolved homeopathic arnica into.

I think the dogs felt badly, too.

 

The worst part is always telling the little kids and watching their faces fall and tears overflow.  I hate death.  I can’t wait for death to die.  Come, Lord, quickly.

The herbal tea I made was based on a mix I have prepared for a postpartum bath, with comfrey, uva ursi, shepherd’s purse, myrrh and arnica.  I added to it a pinch of cayenne and some calendula, and lamented I was out of yarrow and goldenseal; I would have added those if I had them.  To the warm tea, I added a drop of Ocotea essential oil.  This tea is what we used to clean and bath our wounded duck with, and we’ll do it again two or three more times today if he lives.

Making arnica water was easy.  I dissolved about five 30x tablets into some water.

It was a sober morning.  I already miss the pleasant soft quacking my little flock made as they wandered around during the day, freely.  The couple dozen duck eggs in the fridge feel out of place.  The silence of death hangs low, and we are sad.

Nesting 2.0

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That’s what my husband calls it, anyway, this full throttle attempt at designing and uploading a brand new website before the end of the month (no pressure, just one more week to go aaahhhhh!).  I haven’t done this since I started blogging in 2006, when I taught myself a lot of html coding from dissecting other people’s blogsites and their coding into the wee hours of the night.  Now it is a whole lot easier of course, with blogging platforms very user friendly. It’s mostly just a matter of pointing and clicking and dragging elements most of the time, unless of course you want extra crazy picky things like me and have to figure out not only more html, but css and how to maneuver in (for the fourth time) a whole new platform.  And yeah, all that takes place late into the night when the other babies are sleeping (yawn).

All that to say, I think you’ll love the new site when it is up; it will be much more user friendly (well, for me at least ha). If there’s anything else you wish I had on this site, now’s the time to speak up!

Meanwhile, I’m just getting slower and swollen-er, with four more weeks(ish) to go.  I miss my 5K running body.  And why oh why do I need the extra weight in my thighs, my arms, my face?!  All of the kiddos are excited and I’m wrapping up getting things like diapers and onesies organized.  Most times I feel like a bum, just directing things that need to be done rather than getting involved with the work.  And my standards have taken a dive so if you come visit, please plan on stepping over and looking around stuff!  The crazy “clean the house with bleach” nesting bit hasn’t hit yet.


I did manage to finish my queen sized quilt top and love it!  I can’t wait to share it with you, but I think I’ll wait until I get it back from the professional machine quilter to do that.  I made the quilt with Fig Tree’s Strawberry Fields fabric.  It’s going to look lovely on our new (to us) bed.  I bought a set of iron bed frames from Goodwill (doncha love that place?) for about $40 and after some paint it’s going to look great (she says hopefully).

Today we managed to get the barn cleaned up and put up fencing around the front garden to contain the hens in for a month, before they start tractoring around in their moveable coop again.  They’ll stay contained all spring and summer to keep out of my kitchen garden and allow us to mulch and care for the other beds around the house.  It’s going to be nice not having hens laying eggs in the garage, or pooping on the porch, or digging up my seedlings.

The sun was just so nice today.  Spring has sprung!

Blessings,

Teaching the True Meaning of Easter

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Easter is just a few weeks away and amongst the new dresses and chocolates there seems to remains hidden even among professing Christians the wisdom and truth of the Gospel itself.  If all we know is “Jesus died for my sins” and then all we have a little prayer that we parroted in response, then I’m afraid we are in grave danger of missing Jesus Himself.  The teaching in Luke ought to be sobering and worthy of our time and reflection.

Luke 13:23-27 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are.

Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

The “strait gate” seems so, well, straight. Narrow. Intolerant, if you will. But as you can see, it matters not when you, after death, meet Him whether you knew about Him, professed Him, did works in His name, went to church twice or even 114 times a year, were “a good person” or even at that point beg for His forgiveness.  He will send you out from His presence, and because God’s Word is true, there is no shame in warning and trying to save people from the judgment that He promises will come.

Pass the chocolate eggs then, and let’s talk then about how to teach our kids, our precious children, the true meaning of Easter.

Hear the Gospel

You cannot teach your children what Easter is truly about if you, yourself, have never heard the true Gospel preached. I’m afraid many, many churches and pastors spend lots of time teaching about godly living, about loving your neighbor, about how to become more prosperous…but never share about repentance and faith. The word “sin” has dropped from the vocabulary and has been replaced with a self-righteousness that demands God’s acknowledgment that “well, we aren’t perfect, I try, He knows we’re only human…”

Examine yourself. Watch the video at the end of this blog post for a worthy time to set aside to do so. Otherwise, you may be sending your children into the same ditch of good works and pride, which will never open that narrow gate into heaven no matter how fervently or sincerely you believe otherwise.

Acknowledge the Gospel

If you have ever been or are in despair over your own sins, then congratulations. God has revealed to you in His mercy how wretched, how blasphemous, how unkind and unloving you really are. You cry out like the psalmist,

Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy…

because you acknowledge that not only are you a sinner, but it’s even worse than you believe. You know you are a liar, a thief. You are like the young tax collector in Luke 18:10-14, contrasted with the Pharisee who stood upon his own works and his own “truth”.

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.   I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Gospel does offend us (because we are so pride filled!) To acknowledge the Gospel is to REPENT. And the Christian life is a life of REPENTANCE. And it is putting your trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who, dying on that cross at Easter time paid the fine for your sins so you may be free, indeed.  It is loving your enemy and tithing and all else in gratitude for so great a salvation, not to try to bribe the Judge to overlook all the “minor” sins you’ve committed that “aren’t as bad as some people.”  As I heard a pastor once say, you can’t have a real mercy, a real “Amazing Grace”, without a real wrath before it. Have you ever humbled yourself in light of your own sins, ever really repented?

If you cannot acknowledge the Gospel, your children will grow up under you in their own pride as well. And Easter will only be about pastel colors and spring and the cliches we see all over our world.

Profess the Gospel

Do you want to teach your children the true meaning of Easter?  Well, then you must tell them! You must show them from God’s Word why Christmas and Easter were necessary, why the Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ in every book, why even Creation and their very own consciences cry out that there is a good and holy and righteous God who is not only angry with the wicked every day (the unrepentant), but is rich in mercy towards the humble who repent and put their trust in Him.

Telling this to your children is not the job of the church, the Sunday school, the cute little cartoony kid’s story Bible, or even the pastor. It is YOUR job.  Their response will be their response; they are individuals and will either come under their own convictions or not as God wills.  But God forbid we “keep our religion to ourselves” as if we really didn’t believe the Truth at all.

Live the Gospel

Lastly, you must live the Gospel. You must apologize to your children when you’re wrong. You must quietly go about your own business and seek to honor God even under your own roof. Let them see you wrangle with Scripture, pray often, and in making decisions know you are at least trying to operate out of Biblical principles.  Remind them of grace, and live that out or you will only create little moralists whose food is the pride of life.  Speak of your love of God, how grateful you are that He saved a wretch like you, how you were blind but now you see.  Let them see you humble yourself to treat your enemies with goodness and service, and let them know the law of kindness from your tongue.  Let them know that yes, we war against the flesh and our sins still, but we are saved by God’s grace and can live in peace and quietness in the shadow of His wings.

Are you ready for Easter? Examine and prepare your own heart first with the true Gospel of salvation, and then you will be empowered to tell your children its true meaning. You’ll be better able to understand the deep love and wide mercy of God’s Redemption, and truly worship Him that sunrise morning His victory over the grave.

You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs in the next few days with their ideas on teaching the true meaning of Easter.

Blessings,

Natural Childbirth: Yes, You Can

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I’m a mother with two c-sections and four unmedicated VBACs in between them, and I want to share with you my experiences and some very compelling reasons why I believe that yes, YOU *can* also have a natural childbirth.  We are currently awaiting the arrival of our seventh baby, and this podcast is as much for me (I need reminders and encouragement, too!) as it is for you.

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Real Reasons for the Rising C-Section Rates

The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth

La Leche League

Diet for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

Midwives Alliance of North America

Choosing the Right OB for Natural Childbirth

The Most Scientific Birth is the Least Technological Birth

May your births be blessed!

Project Pre-Pre-Preview

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The frogs are busy tonight in the wet ravines through the woods.  It sounds like a lullaby coming through the window, fresh cool air weaving into the room.  I am so blessed to have a comfortable bed, a roof, children softly breathing in rhythmic sleep. Tomorrow morning I plan to make sour cream sourdough waffles so the starter is full in a bowl awaiting me in the kitchen.

My body is slowing down with the weight of this pregnancy pressing upon me, but my mind has been full of ideas and plans for a new project I’m embarking on.  As it turns out, the Lord is taking my ponderings and turning them into a project that is bigger than I am.  Lesson:  be careful what you ponder before God!  And every time I want to bug out of it (because I’m chicken), He supplies me with an instructor, or an illustrator, or software.  I feel like I’m not only preparing to birth a baby, but a splash.  I’m still not completely convinced, you know.  Ok, Lord, but will you provide x, y and z, too?  Oy, my unbelief is such a bane to me!  Let me just share this much:

If you long for a slower, more intentional life
If you want to savor the Lord more in your life
If you long for more peace and quiet
If you want to learn to love real life more than the virtual one
If you want to be encouraged to be more creative or resourceful
If you want to serve your family wholeheartedly
If you want to wake and cultivate your own slumbering talents
If you want to foster deeper relationships
If you want to learn to cook from scratch or grow a garden
If you want to find time for tea, walks, and books
If you just want to stop the world and take a breath

…then you may be interested in joining me in this project!
If any of that sounds at all intriguing to you, please feel free to drop me an email and I will be happy to fill you in on the details.  Otherwise, you can just get this information drip-irrigation style via my blog (smile) and watch the craziness unfold.
In the meantime, I am working on a new website and learning new software.  I finished my baby’s knitted blanket and just need to sew on the borders for my big summery strawberry quilt.  Of course I’m still homeschooling and homemaking, too, albeit much more slowly.
Midnight now.  I’m going to snuggle under the covers with a bouncy hiccuping baby within, and if the Lord wills, wake to a new day full of His mercies.  Jesus loves me, this I know.
Blessings,

Waiting on Baby Though Winds Buffet

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I’m sitting in my papasan with the computer on my lap looking out into a gusty world.  All night long the firs and alders towering to the sky have been bending, windblown and creaking against each other, making room for the whistling wind sweeping through from the Puget Sound.  Rain is not exactly falling, but rather being forcefully thrown out from the sky in every which way.  It’s a wonder we still have our power on.

Thirty-four weeks along am I and slowly we are getting ready for our baby.  The onesies are washed and the wee white socks folded and waiting (do tell me why they have grippers…will they slip walking already???).   A gifted new carseat awaits, and my prenatal appointments are showing up more often.  I’ve excused myself from dishes and other chores, too, recognizing my standards are going to have to make some room for real little people and what they can and can’t do.  Everyone’s got their hands on my belly, especially my 11yo son.  It’s sweet.

I have an interesting history regarding childbirth.  Most of my babies have been late, and weighed between 8lb0oz and 10lb15oz (yes, you read that right).

Baby one:  pre-eclampsia, skyrocketing blood pressure followed by an induced labor that after two days culminated in a c-section.  Not exactly the home birth we had planned and hoped for.  And that experience fueled my desire to learn more about nutrition (I went on to earn both a BS and an MS in Holistic Nutrition).

Baby two:  unmedicated vbac with midwives in a birth center/hospital, shoulder dystocia.  We thought he was a goner; his APGAR was only a 2 when he arrived, purple and unmoving.  He revived quickly, and I quietly thanked God I was completely unmedicated because who knows how he would have reacted with drugs in his system.

Baby three:  unmedicated vbac in the local hospital with an excellent Ob-Gyn.  I think he is a midwife in disguise.  Unfortunately my helpers jumped the gun and took me in too early so in my nervousness labor was lonnnnnnng.  Like at least sixteen hours or more (I thankfully forgot).

Baby four:  unmedicated vbac again in the local hospital.  This time, however, we labored at home until I was in transition and by the time we got there I pushed her out in 15 minutes for the nurse to catch.  I don’t think my OB believed me that birth was imminent; even one of my helpers missed the birth because she thought she had time to gas up her car.  I count this birth as my best one.

Baby five:  unmedicated vbac in the local hospital with the same Ob.  This baby didn’t want to come out.  I “invited” him to come with many “techniques”, including a dose of caster oil, to which he thumbed his nose at me and simply rewarded me a day of false labor.  Then I labored from a Tuesday night allllllllllll the way to Thursday morning (9:30 to be exact).  He was the almost 11lb baby.  AND he was 18 days “late”.  EIGHTEEN.

Baby six:  a planned vbac that was tossed out at the last minute (in labor) by a midwife who decided she had changed her mind about the possibility of a breech birth.  I ended up at the hospital because I had nowhere else to go, where my Ob wasn’t available and all they would do was a c-section.  This birth gave us our baby with Down Syndrome.  You can read more about Ruby’s birth here.

Baby seven:  this is the one we are waiting on.  It’s been almost comical, the hoops and loops of finding either a midwife or an Ob that will let me try to labor and birth this baby on my own.  Despite their own upcoming “guidelines” of allowing a multiple c-section mother have a trial of labor, they just are either constrained by politics or the desire to take the easy (easy for THEM) surgical road.

So that is where we are.  We have two midwives and an Ob ready.  We had a question of a breech presentation already, which another chiropractor was able to assess and get this baby head down using the Webster Technique.  Sure wish we had tried that with baby number six, but of course I didn’t know we’d be left high and dry.  There has been some spotting already and so I’m heading out for another ultrasound to check on the placenta and whatnot.  What all that means, truly, is that my births are “never boring”.

Mentally and emotionally I feel content and at peace.  The wind is howling outside like crazy, but I am snug as a bug within my high Shelter, the Rock in which I hide myself.  I’ve removed myself from critical people and that has helped a lot as well to foster quietness.

While waiting, I am working on projects; one of which I think YOU all will LOVE (can’t wait to share that one!) and others that are just for me, like finishing up a knitted blanket, starting seedlings, and finishing up a quilt.  I have no idea how or when this baby will show up, but in the meanwhile, I am enjoying the baby feet pressing up through my belly to my open hands, and I am thankful for it all.

Blessings,

Christmas is About the Cross

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Lent is upon us and Easter is upcoming.  I wanted to share with you a wonderful song by a group of brothers; it’s truly a lovely reminder that the point of Christmas is Easter.  Enjoy and be blessed!

The Pitfall and Practice of Lent

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Psalms 116:7-9  Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.   For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 
  
I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 


I’ve been slowly and quietly working through the book of Galations.  It is here where Paul sternly rebukes those who are adding works to the gospel, as though the cross and resurrection were not enough in themselves to justify the sinner and remove the wrath of God as far as the east is from the west.  This book needs to be preached even today, as the “to do” list seems to be ever growing if you want to be a “serious” Christian, those whom are concerned about holiness and walking closely with the Lord.  Seems rather silly to me, really, this idea of degrees of proper following.  Also seems to me if a person is truly saved, they ARE serious about serving the Lord, and they already do so to the best of their ability out of gratitude.  Why do we need to impose an expectation or checklist of works?  I touched on this earlier in this post. 


I’m afraid that is one of the pitfalls of Lent or of any other season of self-examination.  We gauge our walk by how far we need to go, how much we’ve left undone, how we fall short of expectations (from, you know, that amalgam of “everybody”).  We make plans for what we’re going to give up, try harder at, conquer.  What we need to do, methinks if you want to *do* anything, is consider the gospel first and foremost:  remembering, refreshing, and returning to the rest that the Lord has already given.   


It doesn’t mean He won’t discipline, stretch, or challenge you to cultivate a more meaningful walk (according to His standards).  It doesn’t mean He won’t press it upon you to learn to pray, or to share the gospel, or to seek restitution with the brother that has something against you.  But these things, these habits, will naturally come forth as you believe on Him.  And believing on Him IS the “work”.  So, again, preach the gospel to yourself first.  And listen.


I thought I’d share with you how I am spending my time before Easter.  I decided to really pull back and unplug a bit.  I’m not tweeting, and I’m keeping my cell phone turned off while at home.  I’m not keeping up on any blogs or websites either.  It’s been…..rather quiet.  All I can do on the computer now is pop it open, delete 7-8 emails, answer a couple, work on a blog post….and then get off of the internet.  It’s almost…boring.  But I am needing boring.  I am needing that a lot right now.


Instead I am using my computer time to write more.  And I am playing with and learning Photoshop (now that takes brain power!).  So, enjoy some newbie Photoshop photos in this post as I share some of my late winter activities.


I continue to putz around the house, rearranging things, decluttering, moving furniture, painting.  I’m sure this will only get worse as I get closer to having the baby (watch out, “nesting instinct”!).  I’m enjoying breaking some “rules”, like the silver we got as a gift that’s supposed to be hand-washed (been throwing them in the dishwasher), polished (haven’t for years) and never, ever used unless the queen of England is having tea.  Forget that.  I even took them out of the drawer and put them on top of my counter, nestled in a handwoven tea towel.  Does this qualify for “shabby chic”?



This is the stack of books and magazines and art supplies that are pulling me into my art journal more.  I am learning how to journal my life with pictures, not just words.  It’s a rather enjoyable practice, one that cannot really be rushed.  And I so don’t want my life to be rushed.

But the reason I am not drawing more than I would like is because I am racing to finish a new quilt before the baby arrives.  It’s not a baby quilt; it’s more like something to accomplish before he or she comes.  Or before I get too big and uncomfortable to sew any longer.  Currently I can manage an hour at a time.  I’ve been listening to sermons or music or to Wretched Radio while in my craft room.

When I can’t manage being upright anymore, I lay down and read books.  I have plenty of free downloads on my Kindle, but even so, I find I enjoy real paper more.  I am reading novels, biographies, books on home organization, Christian books, and plenty of how-to’s.  One book that I am enjoying right now, and rereading a lot, is A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love.  It’s a wonderful short little book that really helps in cultivating the habit of preaching the gospel every day.  Did I mention how important that was?

If I’m resting and not reading or homeschooling, I am catching up on correspondence.  I love getting and writing real mail.  It’s hard to be snarky or angry or defensive when writing a letter by hand…unlike composing an email (or a tweet!) that gets sent way too fast before the spirit has a chance to subdue the heart.  No, give me a pile of stationery and a fountain pen and some pretty stamps instead.
Outside, we’ve been planning to finish the barn this summer, and to expand the boundaries for our dairy goats.  Buds are already starting to open all over the place.  And I’ve been consulting with a landscaper to see if we can afford to get some professional help around here.  Here’s hoping.

Seeds have been started for the upcoming garden, too.  If all goes well, they will be planted out in the kitchen garden middle of May.

Recently we had a beautiful sunshiny day and I announced to the children that we had to go buy some pansies and violets.  Our wet and green (with moss) back porch was crying out for some color.  So we piled into the van and brought home enough flowers to pretty up the view.

We still collect eggs every morning, and they are a work of wonder, one of the most perfect foods, and so gorgeous to look at, besides.  This, this, makes me feel like a wealthy woman!

I’m not the only one expecting a baby.  Our kinder does are expecting also, and are due to kid in May.  I’ve been thinking about supplies I need to purchase, and how to create a plan for management that will suit our family.

And, yes, I’m still growing!  Seven more weeks (or likely, more!) to go.  That means I also need to get prepared:  checking on what cloth diapers I have, buying some fresh onesies, and sewing up some simple swaddling blankies.  I’m also tincturing herbs and preparing for teas and other things I like to have on hand.  I don’t think I’ll need much more than those things; keeping it all simple.  It’s one of the joys of being an older, experienced mother.

So that is what I am up to these days.  I hope you are enjoying the last of winter as well in your own beautiful life.  Do you see the beauty of your own home and family?  Or do you need to pause as well, and take the time to look?
If you really want a couple of things to *do* for Lent (knowing of course that there is no law to do anything at all), I would encourage you to do two things. 
One, examine yourself and your faith, especially if you consider yourself a Christian.  Too many people call themselves such, but are not.  Examining yourself is, traditionally, the point of Lent.  I know this audio is an hour long.  I know if you’re anything like me, you’d rather just skim everything on the computer, multi-task, and even if you hit “play”,  go check your email while “listening”.  But truly…..this is an eternal matter.  Take the one hour out of your vapor life and pay close attention to examining yourself.  It will be either convicting or reassuring.  And what you do with that matters.

Two, consider unplugging a bit.  Set a limit on computer time, or leave off Facebook until Easter, or turn the phone off during homeschooling, or take a TV fast.  Whatever “unplugging” looks like for you, you might find it a time of refreshment, refocusing, and renewal.  You might find more time to meet with a friend for coffee, one on one. You might even find you have time for a daily walk.  And when you do, maybe you too, will notice that the seed pods have just begun to fall.  And you might, in some way, find a way to return to rest, and to ponder what it means to walk in the land of the living.  The Lord has dealt bountifully with you and me both; that’s reason enough to pause to think on Him a little bit more. Amen?

Blessings,

Families, Food, and Faith

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Most moms want their families to eat well, because they recognize wholesome food creates the building blocks for good immune function, amongst other things.  Too many times I think we ascribe the “common cold” (for example) as a matter of germs, when in fact, it could just be an overloaded little (or big) body trying to detoxify all of the crud created from poor food choices.  Furthermore, eating is a cultural and social act as well, and we eat for the pleasure of fellowshipping with others, too.  So “eating well” also means enjoying what someone else has lovingly served.

So how does a mom successfully teach their children to eat well?  Or how does she encourage her husband to do so?

Mom, it starts with you!

  • Educate yourself about what real, healthy eating entails, especially if you grew up as a picky eater, or grew up on canned, processed foods.  I would especially examine what you believe qualifies as “healthy” if you have had, or have, any dental problems at all.  A good place to start would be to poke around the Weston A Price Foundation site. 
  • Demonstrate your own willingness to try new foods and new methods of cooking.  Make it an adventure! Come home with something new from the grocery store.  Demonstrate humility in examining your beliefs and your habits.  Ask questions.  Learn.
  • Implement regular mealtimes.  No matter how “organized” you are (or aren’t), you and your family do need to eat.  Give yourself enough time to create a wholesome meal, and create an environment of reconnecting with one another without the distractions of TV screens or texts or telephones (etc).  Again, eating isn’t just about food; it’s about relationships.
But, Mom, it’s not all about you!
  • Understand that every person is different, and beware the “just do x and y will occur.”  What works for one mom in feeding her family healthy food might not work for you, and some folks are just more into maintaining control over everything than making any changes at all (think about your wee ones and teaching potty, or regular napping….).  Better to work to win their hearts than to fight over broccoli.  Better a supper of herbs and peace than a roast and irritations, right?
  • Train your children that what you’ve taken the time to cook and serve…is what is served.  This is not about being a martyr (who is willing to cook four different meals to please four different kids).  It’s not about your comfort level, of taking the easy road to just avoid confrontation.  It’s not about YOU. It’s about having the courage to teach your child that eating or at least tasting what is served, regardless of what it is, is a matter of respect and gratitude for the cook. Teach this well and hopefully you won’t have grandchildren that demand chicken nuggets three meals a day.
What to do:

There are a lot of things you can do to try to win your family over to better eating, from changing your own habits, to changing things one at a time, to sneaking healthier foods into fare you already eat, to having them help prepare it, or decorating it in some interesting and pleasant way.  But, honestly, if you don’t want to fall into the “I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked” trap, there is the one thing to do that should be first:

pray.
Your Father in heaven knows the best route to creating healthy eating habits in your family. He knows you and your children best and will give you the wisdom if you just ask it of Him.  Don’t you think He wants your children to grow up healthy and strong?  And for you and your husband to be healthier? And for you to be knowledgable and equipped to feed them those good, wholesome foods?  What Bible verse refutes these things?
James 1:5   If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

And don’t we all want pure, peaceable, and gentle answers (see James 3:17) to all of our challenges, answers that have real, lasting results?  Answers that will draw our children’s hearts towards us, and more importantly, towards their God?  I’m afraid if all we’ve gotten are irritations and food battles, then we’ve probably brought it upon ourselves in some way.  If you’ve repented and put your faith in Jesus, then this is just one more area to live by faith: pray and ask for help!


May your homes (and mealtimes!) be full of goodness and peace.

You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs in the next few days with their ideas on feeding their families healthy foods.

Happy (and healthy!) eating,

Conflicts Clarify

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I’m in countdown mode to meet the newest member of our family, only ten weeks to go (more or less….probably more..).  I’m feeling pretty good still, even managed to clean out the barn and tromp through the brambly woods today to measure for upcoming fencing projects.  Emotionally I feel truly amazed and blessed; this baby will come after my 42nd birthday. When I am an old woman, I believe I will have zero regrets how I spent my young (and middle) womanhood.

The hardest part has not been the varicose veins, the heartburn, the putting up of my running shoes or of my size six jeans.  It’s been learning how to graciously deal with views that contrast with mine.  I realize if I were a 42 year old having my first child after a good twenty years putting in a career, this baby would be celebrated more.  Instead I get comments about my age or sanity, or worse, chided for making the choice to have another baby.  These are the same folks who if I were to gain, say, a million dollars, would be whooping it up and throwing me a party (or at least sending me a card).  So I remind myself that my values are not the same as theirs.

And of course there are other issues that have been expressed: of Ruby (should have had the genetic testing done and avoided that “problem”) and of my miscarriage (should have learned my lesson there and quit).  And gee, how will I ever send all of my children to Harvard or buy their first automobiles?  And oh, I’m *stealing* their childhood because they have more fun catching hens and climbing trees than (fill in your own blank regarding what a “real childhood” looks like).

Then there’s the seemingly “we care” tact some folks take:  face it, these babies are making my body trashed, my retirement years in the tropics an impossibility, and my college degree a waste (never mind I’ve earned two more since having all of those children, but I digress).  And if that doesn’t fly, how about how I’m ruining my husband’s economic prosperity, because we know having these children are all about MY choosing to do so (what man would want so many children, right?).

There is the catty crowd, too, the cowards who will never say anything to my face but will fly to others  and make assertions that are not only untrue, but unkind.  As if I never hear about it.  And God forbid I would ever admit to the hardships, the trials, the broken dishes or even the snotty days because all I would ever get is something that sounds like I deserved it because I was too stupid to either only have (choose your proper number) children or that I dared to live differently.

But you know what?  I am beginning to be thankful for it all. 

According to BJ Palmer, “Conflicts clarify.” I am learning to be thankful for the opportunities to ponder and clarify my own faith and values, to question and evaluate my own choices, to revisit why I am not only a mother, but a mother of many.  I am thankful for the insults, the insinuations, the finger counting in public, the whispered remarks and the scornful looks.  It has all been a testing ground to whether or not I will stand on my beliefs, or bend to the pressure of wanting to be liked/accepted/agreed with.  I am thankful for those who hate what I stand for, because they give me opportunity to have pity for and to love them anyway….while I still stand, ever strengthened by the trials.  I am thankful for hurtful words and actions because they remind me that my being offended, my pride, is my greatest enemy, and that meekness is my road to resting in the Lord.  After all, He is the one who allows the darts.  Do I trust Him to deal with them in His own time?  Or will I keep a froward heart, a sad regret for the words and deeds of others?  Sometimes, trials separate pragmatists and hypocrites from the faithful.

I used to lament that separation.  But now I think that separation is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it may be needful and good.  And, this is not *my* war regarding the blessing of motherhood and family, for I know the blessing of each and every child in our family.  I see them for the future they are, and I wonder how anyone can claim to love if even the most innocent among us are despised and unwanted or seen as a hindrance (truly, to what?).  I know I am living an amazing life, and I rejoice.  If my rejoicing causes others to deepen their disgust, then I will praise God even more.  It is His battle, not mine.

I am thankful for the support and love we do have, and we have plenty.  And I still have hope….that maybe my mommy-joy and our children’s happy lives will someday bring about repentance, or an apology, or true love.  Then I will rejoice all the more for the work of God!

In the meantime, hear me clearly now.  Yes, I am, by God’s grace, carrying my seventh child.  And, if the Lord wills, I will keep welcoming these precious ones until menopause comes or my ovaries fall out (that statement ought to give some fodder!).  When I am an old woman looking back on my life, any of the darts thrown by other people will look like rotted chicken bones and dust compared to the incalculable worth of the everlasting gems shown in the eyes and lives of my children, and their children, and their children….and I will rest in peace.

Pressing On,

Fear Not, Part 2: An Interview With Heather Bryant

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My friend Heather Bryant made the time to come share her story with you all.  Here is a woman who lives out FEAR NOT in real, relevant, everyday ways.  May you be encouraged!

2 Chronicles 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

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If you missed Fear Not (part one), you can listen to it here.

Blessings,

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A Day in My Life, Part 3

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If you missed it, you can catch part one here, and part two here.

Late Afternoon to Evening

I manage to put my feet up and knit two rows for my baby’s blanket, while the children are cleaning up after lunch and finishing their music lessons and artwork.  This is how this blanket is progressing:  two rows at a time.  I am not an accomplished knitter.  I don’t even consider myself a “good” knitter.  I have to completely pay attention to every stitch, and after two rows my mind starts to wander and I’m too inexperienced to zone out and just let my hands work.  But, even with two rows at a time…progress is made.  It is a good reminder to me, how forward motion or any change is accomplished:  by degrees, by steps, by plodding.  Sometimes it just takes two rows at a time.

I give a writing lesson to my friend’s daughter, listening to her read her excellent writing, and then do a dictation.  I help her with her new composition’s outline, and instruct her in some areas.  We use Classical Writing and love the program.  It combines very, very well with Spell to Write and Read and to the foundation we have from Institute for Excellence in Writing.   I count my blessings to have such rich curriculum helps, and I am slowly (“two rows at a time”) finding and repairing the gaps I have in my own education.  
Our friends leave, and we go through the comical routine of what did they leave behind this time? (books, jackets, and even her toddler’s peepee pants!).  We set them all by the mudroom door.  And yes, I plan to launder the pants!
I sit for a bit, catching up on some email and Twitter.  I peruse the book loaned by a friend, Goat Song, and besides sighing over such lovely writing, begin taking notes for what I’ll need when my own goats kid in May and mark items in the Hoegger’s catalog.  Plus the book has given me new words to look up.  Words like flehman response, and kulning.  I catch up on paperwork for the Kinder Goats Breeders Association, and make sure my files are in order, too.
I’m tired at this point, but hunger wins over and I begin to prepare for supper. I cut up the last of my winter squash, an interesting variety of pumpkin, and put it to bake for mash.  I find leftover steaks we cooked up and turn them into steak bites, coating them with flour and seasoning to fry up for our supper.  I ponder making gravy.  Salad is prepared, and I glance at the clock.  It is close to 6:00 already, and I invite the music teacher to stay for supper, not knowing how the meal will stretch but trusting God to multiply it all.  I leave everything ready to quickly assemble while music lessons finish up, lie down to read a book to my 7 year old, and finally give in to a twenty minute cat nap.
My day ends with supper, and I begin to reset my mind for the ‘morrow.  I eye the starter on the counter and plan to make pizza dough for tomorrow.  I plan my bath (epson salts with lavender) and think about 
projects waiting for me.  Maybe tonight I will get some more cutting for my quilt done.  Or maybe I will read through the Shabby Chic library book to help me prepare for my big flea market trip in June. Or maybe I’ll just look through my new Mollie Makes magazine, or begin putting words to my day for a blogpost.  I’ll check in and tweet with my friends a bit, and finally, Lord willing (and kids don’t start throwing up or an earthquake doesn’t occur or….) I’ll begin my fresh new day with a good night’s sleep.

It’s a blessed life I have, and I’m thankful.

A Day in My Life, Part 2

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If you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.
Midday

I join my 5 and 7 year olds to help them with folding the small mountain of kitchen linens threatening to overtake our sofa.  We use mostly cloth napkins and dish towels rather than paper products, in reds, yellows, greens, and oranges.  Bright colors for all of the wee people here I suppose.

Once the drawers are full of linens, I begin doing some teaching with my 7 year old, and we are still working on proper pencil holding.  I regret not starting her with cursive first, and am thankful she wasn’t further along in ball-n-stick than she was.  Her handwriting is becoming more and more fluid, and the death grip on her pencil is beginning to, finally, relax.  I think those loopy-loo’s that always come so easily to my toddlers should have been an obvious hint to which style of handwriting they are better able to utilize, but I was too smitten with “how the schools do it” rather than really watching and listening to my own children.

I send the boys outside to go pump their legs with cross-country bike riding (it’s all gravel and meadow and plenty of dirt), and to bring in any more eggs they can find in their coat pockets.  I also ask for the starter trays from the greenhouse because I’m moving much slower and figured I could plant seeds a bit at a time on my back porch instead.  But, really, I just needed them to go burn off some energy.
After unloading a few blue and brown eggs, my 5 year old boy clambers red-faced to the kitchen table.  And while he and my daughter are working and chittering with each other, I sit catching up on some reading, picking at curriculum, a magazine, a recipe.  The older kids are either picking at schoolwork or preparing for art lessons, and Ruby is banging away at the play kitchen.  When my little students finish up their math and spelling, I read to them from the Jesus Storybook Bible and the Christian Nature Reader and send them on their way to play.  Ruby runs after them in glee.
Our “maybe we can come” friends show up, and my 14 year old starts an art lesson with the youngest of the children, a collage of a butterfly’s life from egg to flutter.  We’ve been using Atelier for years, and the results are always pleasant.  My smiling friend helps herself to a mug and picks a bag out of the tea drawer, mi case es her casa.  We chat, and unapologetically eat seriously delicious cinnamon rolls with our hot drinks.  And yes, we share those with the children, all twelve of them.  But the bowl of leftover frosting we keep for our own spoons.
The other children in time do art lessons as well, and it is interspersed with either outside play in the sunshine, or music lessons from the teacher that arrives during this time.  The whole house and yard is full of happy eating, painting, music making, outdoor mud splashing, and toddlers vrooming their cars and dolly strollers all over the wide planked wood floors.  Of course there are cries of hurts, bumps to kiss and peepee accidents to deal with, too.  Here is my 9 year old’s painting, one of her most “happy days”:  when she and I flew to California together for a quick family visit.

The sunshine is still beckoning me outside, so my friend and I go for a walk down the long woodsy dirt road.  A half hour later, we return to visit my dairy goats, and I peer into my garden.  The shallots are starting to come up already.  I’ve never grown shallots before.

My goat girls are so sweet, they love to snuggle.  Here are Smores and Dancer.  I had to keep them at arm’s length to get this photo during our snow.  While my friend and I are in the musty barn, we talk about livestock of all kinds, fencing, dreams.  It is comfortable and warm in the stall, and the boys next door bleat for lovings too.  I glove up to pat my buck and also stroke my wether’s growing beard, telling them both yes, they are *so* handsome.

Inside, the large stockpot of chicken soup is hot and as my friend and I correct the seasonings and cut bread slices, the children clean up art supplies and make room for eating.  The clanking of spoons and white porcelain bowls upon the table add to the scuffling of chairs, and all at once, silence.  We all give thanks, and eat.  The broth is completely satisfying, bits of chicken and rice deliciously warm and good for the soul, too.  It is 2:00 in the afternoon.
Blessings,

A Day in My Life, Part 1

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Evening to Morning



T’wasn’t so long ago I was looking at someone’s blogsite and sighing over the fact that it looked like this writer was miles ahead further than me, headed where I wanted to go. But then I came across what her day was like and decided that not only was she living far differently than I, but that our visions differed in how to get to where we, seemingly, were similarly headed. It was a wonderful blessing to see her day! Not only did it give me some inspiration, it gave me added contentment in my own life and manners. My life is my own, my days are unique. So are yours, in their own beautiful way. Here’s a peek into one of mine.


As a note, I consider the start of my day the evening before. That is, my “day” begins at sundown and ends at sundown the next calendar date. It does a lot of good for me to consider it this way, so we start our journey at suppertime.


6pm.  My husband takes me out for a burger downtown in the renovated building that used to serve as a gasoline station. The locals here easily pay thrice as much as the nationwide dollar-a-burger across the street, but in return have choices such as garlic fries and gluten-free buns.  And taste.  The motto is “good grub is messy”, and it is, the greasy napkins piling up on the formica.  So instead of supper with the family, my kids enjoy a pineapple pizza while my husband and I go on a date to eat, pick up our food from a coop order and choose a video for ourselves as well. Which, 48 hours later, we still have not watched.  But I digress.


Back home, while the children are already jammied up and engrossed in a video playing on the projector screen, I decide to sneak away to finish up the sweet little blackbird pincushion I had been working on, while half-listening to the audio of Family Writing.  That other half of me is not listening to anything at all; just quietly stitching deftly through layers of black wool.  I feel the baby inside roll and rumble, keeping me company.


I help my husband get the kids into their beds with kisses,  read three-quarters of a chapter about Photoshop, and head slowly back down the stairs.

There is almost always a kitchen chore or two (or three) to do before bed, and this evening I feed my Italian sourdough starter for upcoming pizza making (for two days later), and knead up the dough for cinnamon rolls with my French sourdough starter (for the next day).  I smell the sourdoughs up close and am satisfied with their scent of far away places, of century-old bakeries working in tandem with nature to create food.  I get two pounds of hulled walnuts to soaking, and eat the last of a brownie.  

I run a hot bath with Frankincense essential oil, mainly because it sounds exotic.  I soak, and read a bit of Living into Focus.  I love the subtitle, “Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions.”  I would have bought that book just to have the title cover reminding me of what I really want to be about: intentionality.  And what I want to forgo: distractability.

I go to bed alone, fight with where pillows are going to support my growing baby-middle, and read a bit of Among English Hedgerows.  It’s a little book published in 1899 I found in a musty used book store last summer in Eugene, Oregon.  As I’m reading, I’m remembering my childhood and thatched roofs, pulled market baskets, pubs.  I pull the lamp cord and turn the light out at 11pm.


That night, I wake at 3:30am.  My hips feel out of place, and what am I going to do, wake up my chiropractor husband for an adjustment? I lay there, waiting to go back to sleep, but I feel like an owl.  Finally I just talk with the Lord, and pray until I am all prayed out, and then I feel a bit guilty for that.  I mean, who ever runs out of things to pray on or pray for?  I just give thanks that He knows all things, and I figured that whatever reason He had me up to pray, His Holy Spirit accomplished, and besides, isn’t just talking with Him prayer too?  I read a chapter from my kindle, and my last look at the clock is 5:30 on that morning.

I awake again at 7:45, almost two hours later than usual.  At this point, I’m thinking that blogging my day is going to be a big flop because none of it has been “typical”.  I missed my quiet Bible reading.  I hear little feet stomping around upstairs so I dress, make the bed, get my adjustment, check emails and tweet as the rooster is crowing and the goats are hollering for fresh hay.  The mudroom door slams as the kids run outside and I shut the laptop cover.


I get the tea pot going and feed my Italian starter again.  While eggs are getting collected and watering pails filled, I shuffle in the kitchen making everyone Russian black rye sourdough toast with a fresh egg over easy that morning.  It is satisfying, listening to the children chatter like chickadees at breakfast, yolk dripping from chins.

Afterwards, I check the slow of sourdough. On the right is the promise of baking to come.  On the left I have rolled out sourdough cinnamon rolls ready to rise and bake, hopefully in time to share with a friend who may, or may not, depending, be coming over.  I think, “If she comes, she’ll need a roll today with her tea.”  I drain the soaked walnuts, put them into the dehydrator, and steep my pomegranate green tea while overseeing the rest of the morning chores for the children.

In the midst of this, my seven year old gingerly admits to opening up my Japanese crayons–the ones I had brought out to share with her to begin with–and to drawing directly on my art book with them.  I find myself peeved.  I quietly send her to her room to have five minutes to drink my tea and ask the Lord what He would have me do.  Is this really something to be peeved about?  Is being peeved a sin?  Isn’t being offended impossible for those that love His law?  Doesn’t “peeved” lead to “peevishness”?  Doesn’t that sound like an entrance to becoming–or confirming–an odious woman?  I’m peeved with myself now, for being peeved.


While I’m pondering and peeving, I look my nine year old standing above me in the eye and say squarely, “Do not even ask me one.more.time. when our friends are coming.   I said I would tell you when I knew.  If I’m told.”  


I have just enough time to note the sunshine streaming through the firs outside onto the kitchen garden.  I leave half my tea untouched while I go to speak with my seven year old.  It is 10am.

Cornwall in My Winter

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the photo I took when I was 10 years old

Rocky ravines enveloped with greens
swaying clutched in the midst of
wee wildflowers tawny and light
and slippery with the damp left over
from the morning’s wash
blown from the raw Atlantic
I giggle stumbling in delight
my hands outstretched
ready for any tumble
to press me one with the earth

traversing the trails of the
noble men of Arthur
this time capsule of nature
the brisk air sweeping my hair
and whispering I am not the first
nor the last
to find footing in the valleys
button eyes following my journey
hidden in brush, nodding that
there goes another, again
powder sky beckoning me to climb
even as chalky wisps sweep overhead
grip my way up to the precipice
where puffins and horizons await

I remember dirt under my nails
and lamenting my lost umbrella
how sad I thought my mother would be
I wasn’t able to climb clean
but panting I gained the crown
and stood in wonder at the scene
opened up as a scroll
a table before me
the flat foundations running right
over the cliffs into the water yet
I stood above the crashing fray

and I swallowed the salt air
and let it soak into my cells and 
closed my eyes for the liars they were
and imprinted in my ten year old mind
the artistry of God’s hands
and then knew I was one of His
handiwork too, winsome and
as fair a flower’s bloom
encased in the seed of a moment
and embraced the wait of
His timely renewal in spring.

Potholes

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Woodsy dirt road wet rocks jutting
‘neath my wobly feet slick with slush
heart murmers to keep my chin up
look up
look ahead
trust my journey my bearings my road

but potholes crack from underneath
uncertain footsteps
threatening to sink foundations
swallowing up horizons promised when
the road was laid
seems pointless really to fill them
when I know the ice will come again
been done before
and no one will know I
traveled this path


shove my hands into my thin pockets
fingering dog treats, a lost button
a woodpecker raps and the hollowed tree
feels like me
wind caresses fir branches swooped low
muddied greens sweep a brisk breeze
past my cheeks

what’s the point I wonder
of potholes of sunrises of nothing new
under the sun–when it shows–
the crisp ribbon of air bites my nose
for what’s a dream but a whisper of
cedar the scent a tease and gone

I stand still, motion seems daunting
do I press forward ’round pits in my path
or do I splash triumphantly in them
or do I turn back, forsaking the road
altogether
or am I dispairingly missing something

chipping chickadees greet me with cheer
I distrust
their acrobatics amusing
yet reminders of what I cannot

My eyes grant gavity’s pull
to the hole in my path my soul
the ice crystals cracking the edges
and I notice mirrored clouds moving
forward, graceful, trusting.
Forward. Graceful. Trusting.

Raising my chin I hear buds
in the greens around me,
birthing from the dead,
pressing onward, pink and swelling
the promise of spring.
My fingers loosen and forsake
warmth and
hiding and
I raise my arms
as the firs instruct
close my eyes and bathe in
whatever sliver of sunshine
granted me through the
tangle of salal and alder.

And I give thanks for the potholes
lying in my path
those ugly stumbling things
reminding me that the walk
is always mine to take
and that a slow journey
over and around them
is better than none
and I know the embrace
of rushing waters filling
my spirit
for the road ahead.


Hot Cereal For Breakfast

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Seeing as boxed cereals from the market (even the “natural” ones) are about the worst thing we can eat ever eat, much less serve our children, I thought I’d share an easy hot cereal recipe.  I generally use whatever I have on hand, and some of the ingredients are probably not the “best”, much less soaked, but it’s still a vast improvement over whatever they’re calling “food” in those grocery aisles.  You could make the same cereal with just *one* grain, too.  For example, we really like millet alone at times, topped with peach jam and chopped walnuts.

Hot Cereal Recipe
1 cup hulled barley
2 cups millet
1 1/3 cups amaranth
1 cup sweet brown rice
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeks
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

Combine all ingredients, rinse and strain.  Yes, I know it looks like bird seed.  What do you think those boxed cereals look like before they’re heat processed, turned into slurry, mixed with food coloring and chemicals and then extruded into fake little balls and stars?  Somewhere, they start out as real food (in a time long, long ago…)
Put the mix onto baking sheets and toast in a 350 degree or warmer oven, stirring on occasion.  It will be dry and smell nutty.

At this point, you can just jar up the whole mix and take out as much as you want to cook up at a time.

How to cook it up:
Grind up however much you desire to make.  I use my food processor, but you might try your blender.  Grinding it up will make it more creamy, and cook up faster too.
Combine 1 cup of your ground cereal mix with 3 cups of water, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon or other flavoring of your choice (we also like cardamom, or nutmeg, or vanilla…)  Bring up to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered for about 15-25 minutes, until the water is absorbed.  It is very similar to making rice; all the grains will soak up the water.  Be sure to stir on occasion while it is cooking or it will get very clumpy.
That’s it!  To serve, put some of the hot cooked cereal in a bowl, top with milk and whatever sweetener your family enjoys.  You could even mix in some dried or fresh fruit, chopped nuts, or yogurt, or applesauce…  
This is a very satisfying meal to have on a cold winter morning, it is inexpensive to make, and it is delicious!

Enjoy,

Red and Yellow, Black and White…

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Not ignorance, but the ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge. 
Alfred Whitehead

I just finished reading The Help, which I am sure by the sheer amount of reviews and whatnot many if not most of you have already read or seen on screen.  Amazon, so far, lists more than 5100 reviews for this first time novelist, most of them positive.  I was curious who would plug in a rating of “one” and what they would say, but was afraid my worst fears would manifest itself with a plethora of “Hilly”s taking to the reviews while they were setting their hair and waiting for the good ol’ days to return.

Mostly, I just sort of sat sober when I was finished.  One, that this history was incredibly recent.  Two, that I was so clueless about it.  And three, that I was so naive to be really stinkin’ annoyed by people who assumed that because I was white, I was racist.   Well, I’m not.  Racist, that is.  But fool enough to be that clueless, I suppose so.

I spent half my growing up years in England growing up not only among Brits, but among other “Yanks” from all over the states (and thus cultural areas).  I guess that afforded me the blinders.  Even when I putzed in the states every so many years, I lived in places like California, where my first “very best friend in the world” was Jocelyn, who was black, and that didn’t turn a single head. 

I remember only two events that nicked my blindspots while growing up.  One, was an argument with a relative about how yes I would certainly marry a black man if that’s how it worked out.  I don’t even remember why that conversation came up but I do remember being so angry!  The second event was meeting one of my husband’s relatives, and how she narrowed her eyes asking all about the Greek in me (my mom is Greek) and how her neighbors were Greek and what *those Greek folks* were like.  All I can say is that I still loved those women during those conversations.  But sheesh.

The other book I recently read was this one:


…and I tweeted how that book was about the best book I have ever read.  I feel like the Lord just grew me up as not only a Christian woman, but as a white woman who needed to know about the kind of history I am hoping to be living at the tail end of.  And yet, I am not naive about even that anymore.

Where I live, people are white (and I’m not just saying that because the sun doesn’t shine here enough to tan).  The fact is, once you cross over the mountains to the east and head into valleys where all of our major farmlands are, most of the farmhands you see are…Hispanic.  They pick the fruit, they clean the houses, the raise the children…of white people.  I see it more now.

I guess I just pray.  Because only God can change hearts and I think it somehow begins with hearts that already love the Lord.  I pray for courage, for the devil’s grip on our nation to loosen, to see somehow in my lifetime on earth a taste of that grand banquet to come, where God is glorified not only by our marvelous differences but for our love and fellowship for one another and for the similarity of being in Christ.  I guess if that makes me a foolish white woman, then that’s where I am right now.

May God grant me the courage to keep my eyes and heart open.

Blessings,

One Way to Do a Bible Word Study

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I’m not unaware that my “free time” is going to be very limited later this spring once baby arrives and I will then have, by God’s grace, seven (SEVEN!) children to love and train up.  Right now I am like a ravenous Bible woman, reading as much as I can and trying to store up the manna for the leaner non-sleep fog I’m heading for.

I thought I’d share one way to dig deeper into the Word if you have a good 20 or 30 minutes in the evening to chip away at it.

For many reasons, the word coming to me in the last years has been “Fear not.”  I decided to podcast on that topic, and you can hear it here if you haven’t already.  To help me prepare, I did a word study on that phrase, “Fear not”.  The first thing I did was plug in those words and then print out every single passage that it was commanded.  I used (and use) the very simple KJV Bible search; it’s nothing fancy.  That’s why I like it (no bunny trails, no man’s interpretation of “Greek”,  and no opinions!).

Then I cut apart all of the strips of verses.  I know I could have inquired on other phrases, such as, say, “do not fear”, but I decided to simply focus on the phrase I had been meditating on.  I always use the King James Bible; I have confidence none of the verses will be missing.

Then, I read and pondered them all.  This usually takes a while, especially if I’m really paying attention (which I ought to be!).  It has never failed me:  common threads became clear and I started to really see God’s consistent Holy character.  Different themes offered themselves, and I began to put together verses that said basically the same things but in different ways. I noticed that the command “Fear not” was usually followed by a reason….and I was able to pile those reasons together in similtude.

Of course, just depending on verses taken out of context is no good.  So, once they were in their various groups, I read them in the Word, taking into account the purpose, the people, the time and events.  Doing that made those groupings even more clear.

I started writing down what each grouping of verses was basically teaching me.  It was pretty hard not to feel like a little kid whose Father was delighting in!  He was revealing His Word to me in ways that made me SO excited; it was like putting puzzle pieces together, or having ponderings answered, or talking with Him back and forth and Him hearing me laughing say, “You are AWESOME, God!” or finding me contrite and asking for forgiveness at times.  Always, He was (and is) teaching me.  But doing this was one way for me to actually pay Him some greater attention, and for Him to tune my ears.

Once I started writing the main points out, it was easy to confirm it all with the Scripture I’d been reading.  I thought about posting all of the verses along with my podcast blog post, but, seriously, it was about three pages long!  I figured that if anyone listening did not like the sound of what I said, they would seek out the Truth as they ought on their own, anyway.

I am but a frail woman still longing to see God and to know Him face to face (someday!).  But when opportunity affords, I delight in taking the time to dig in His Word.  I pray that through the trials, I will somehow remember what He taught me, that His Word won’t return void, that I will have good cause in all things to “Fear Not”.

Because of Jesus,

Our Little Snowstorm

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Psalms 147:16   He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. 
Well, I call it “little” because compared to other parts of the country, our two days of snowfall are about as serious as a drizzle in Arizona.  Not that we don’t love the interruption in normalcy; but folks here shut down businesses if we get a few inches of snow because either no one is taking to the roads, or if they are, they aren’t…well…how shall we say….experienced snow drivers.  So, schoolwork took a dive and Daddy got to stay home.  It’s not so bad.  Here are some pics to enjoy.

If you were coming to visit yesterday, this is what our long dirt road looked like.  Today it was completely covered in white, with the only tracks from bunnies and deer marring the surface until folks like me took to walking it.

The first is a picture of our little Ruby in the backyard.  It gives you a good idea how tall the trees are around our home, and the photo is only about halfway the tallest of them.  I love how gorgeous they are with every branch hand painted by God Himself.  See how small our swing set is in the next photo, compared?

Meanwhile, I’m taking the opportunity to sneak into my craft room to do little projects, answer letters, and to catch up on reading and drawing too.  They are short little visits as I’m needing to put my legs up more often as the pregnancy progresses.  I started to plan out my garden and then decided I would just plant what I had seeds for, other than buying maybe half a dozen flower seeds.  We can’t (usually) eat flowers, but they do feed the soul.  Right now I am thankful everything is covered in white and winter cold.

I hope you’re finding time to enjoy whatever’s going on in your outside world, too.

Blessings,

Quest: Letting God Lead

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Not too long ago I set words to my ponderings and since then it seems I’ve done nothing else other than add more.  The problem with contemplating so many possibilities for so much is that it builds on a foundation that presupposes a right answer or direction is possible–if only there was enough time to think, read, research, argue, plan and purpose.  And I’m not sure that this is the way to go about deciding which horizon is the one I ought to set foot towards. Oy.  Pondering about my ponderings….Pooh bear would be so proud.

And, naturally, how my life is lived affects others for better or worse (or, perhaps more pathetically, with no effect at all).  Choosing a direction, whether it is a lifestyle or haircut or even an opinion, leaves me open to either praise (causing me to battle my pride) or flat out character assassination from either frenemy fire or the devil himself (causing me to battle my co-dependent tendencies).

So I suppose I could just do, say, create, be nothing (is that even possible?).  Or I could pursue everything, being all things to all people or swimming in so many projects that none of them bare a righteous harvest.  What is the balance?  How to choose the good, and to know peace through them regardless of the success…or fallout?

I am learning.  And I believe the question I (we all?) need to ask more is this:

Acts 9:6 …Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

I really feel for Ananias.  There he was, just minding his own business, walking with the Lord the best he knew how, and God impressed upon him to do something that made him tremble.  And the man didn’t sit and ponder in his thoughtful place for days (decades?).  He simply obeyed. That, methinks, took a lot of faith and courage.  AND an ear that was tuned to begin with.

Will the Lord not lead our homes, our families, our projects, our dreams (and ourselves)?  Is His arm too short to direct, His Words too few to hear, His Holy Spirit unable to give us direction?  No.  But we either run ahead making our plans and setting our opinions and crafting new projects and buying new books, OR sit in a puddle of self-defeat not trying anything at all, and then either lament our failures or find security in our successes before we ever think of inquiring, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”  Just because something *prospers* doesn’t mean it’s blessed of God (read those proverbs).  And just because something *fails* doesn’t mean it wasn’t something the Lord foresaw and planned to use for something better.

Maybe, like Ananias, His answer would make us tremble.  Maybe He would take away something we love to do or are comfortable with.  Maybe He would ask us to detach from someone or something or somedream we dearly loved.  Maybe….maybe He would ask us to be His hands and feet, to go and make disciples…and to do that in a way we would never choose for ourselves or in a way we do not see the point of (or the results of).  Maybe whatever it is would tick folks off and you’d have to get cozy with their eyeball rolling or false flattery or secret/open disdain.  I dunno.  But if God Himself is leading….does it really matter?  Who do you want to serve, really?

To let God lead, we must allow Him to shape our appetites and what we want to pursue (see Hebrews 2:8), and not pass it through the lens of our flesh or our emotions that, hello, are so deceitful (“hmm….I think that sounds right…feels good…seems like a good idea…..is validated by those so-n-so’s….would grant me favor….give me peace from my enemies…aligns with what I already believe…”)

Are you pondering the tasks you’re about?  The projects you’re pursuing?  The books/websites/blogs you’re writing/reading/visiting/planning? The housework/marriagework/parentwork? The time you spend on what you’re spending it on?   The people you love/hate/lovetohate/hatetolove and how to respond and relate to them?

Whatever you are pondering, let me encourage you to STOP and be quiet a moment (or three).  And truly, ask the Lord (if He is your shepherd), “what wilt thou have me to do?” Make reading, studying, and meditating upon His Word a priority so that you can do what you were created to do: hear His voice, and follow.

John 10:27   My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…


 

You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs in the next few days with their ideas on letting the Lord lead, too. Tell them I sent you!

Blessings,

Natural Face and Skin Cream, Part Two

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Well, I was so excited about the fabulous cream I made last night that I wanted to share it with you pronto!  And then….something was nagging at me….like….didn’t I blog about that before?

YEP.  You can read how I did it here.  So I guess that makes this post “Part Two”.

But…seeing as how I took pictures (again), and the recipe is different, here is another way to save a load of money.  Honestly, have you seen how much those (chemical and preservative and who knows what else) creams cost at the department store?!  Making your own facial/skin cream at home gives you control over the ingredients, and you can play with different recipes to make something that suits your own personal skin.

The first thing I did was pick herbs from my garden last summer.  I chose calendula, lavender, and chamomile, all very good flowers for skin care.  I let them wilt a bit to lessen the water content.  Aren’t they beautiful?

Then I infused them in a jar of oil for (umm….) a month or so.  I used what I had on hand at the time:  almond oil (that I typically use in the morning on my face straight), grapeseed oil, and azulene.  Azulene is the oil made from chamomile flowers; it’s a real pretty blue.  It comes in my waxing supplies (ouch!) and I always have extra oil left so I save it for making beauty products with.

When I was ready, I strained the flowers out and had a lovely blue-green oil that I kept in a dark cupboard until I was ready to use it.  It smelled very nice.

To start, keep in mind some simple formulas:

To make a salve:  1 cup oil (volume) to 1oz beeswax (weight).
To make a cream: same but blend with 6TB liquid.
To make a lotion: same but blend with even more liquid.

So, logically, I *could* have made a salve first, then blended a bit of liquid into the rest.  Make sense?

I wanted an easy formula, so I added more oils until I got to 3 cups.  You can see here I added shea butter and coconut straight to the measuring cup.  I had these already on hand, which was a *yay* moment for me because shea is so expensive I about never have that on hand.  There are all kinds of oils you could use, like olive oil, too.

I melted all of the oils, and 3oz beeswax (remember, 1 cup oil to 1oz beeswax) into a pan on the lowest possible setting. I didn’t want to cook my oils!  Just gently warmed until everything melted.

At this point, I had a salve mix, but I was going for the cream.  So while that pot was melting away, I prepped my liquid.  I used 1 cup plus a couple of tablespoons worth.  In here I put some orange water, aloe vera gel, and distilled water. I popped open 1500IU worth of vitamin E and 30,000IU of vitamin A (I’m sure I could have put more!).  I also added 48 drops of rose essential oil.  I usually figure 
16 drops of essential oil per cup of oil.  More or less.  Are you getting that this is not a “perfect” formulaic recipe?

Once the oils/beeswax was melted, I put it all into my blender.  I decided to throw in a half tablespoon of lanolin; that is the *glob* you see there.  I waited until the mix came to room temperature(ish), and of course by then my lanolin was melted too.

Now was the time to get busy, otherwise I was going to end up with a blender full of cooled and hardened SALVE and how would I dig that out?  So, while the blender was going at full speed, I slowly added in my liquid mixture.  It whipped up just like making mayonnaise.

But the work wasn’t done until the cream was poured!  If you don’t work quickly, it will solidify in your blender (but at least you’ll have a really great story to tell).   You can see in the photo that the jar on the left was one of the last ones poured; see how it’s cooling quickly?

Let me tell you what.  This stuff is amazing.  It initially felt a little greasy going on but within the half hour it had soaked into my skin.  As I type this my hands are baby-soft.  I plan to use this on my face at night, but I might just have to use it on my hands and feet too!  I loved that I had so many odds and ends from other projects and could just recycle them into one product, too.

If you make this, be sure to clean out your blender quickly.  I added hot-hot water, a drop of dishwashing liquid, and a splash of vinegar and blended.  It came clean.

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Blessings (and beauty!),

One Thing to Do With Quilt Scraps

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Over the Christmas break I managed to quickly put together a little quilt for my craft room wall (I’ll share soon!).  As I was about to throw out the little pile of triangles, I thought perhaps I could do something shabby-cute with them. 

So I did.  I made a few thank you notes and used some of the pieces to make a patchwork kite on the cards.  I have plenty of leftover pieces, so maybe I’ll make some mini-quilts for more notecards.  I just glue the scraps down with a paintbrush and Golden Gel Medium as the adhesive.  Totally easy and a relaxing way to spend part of an evening.

I hope you’re finding nooks of time for creative little patches here and there, too.  Have you and your children sent out thank you notes yet?

Blessings,

Fear Not: Set, Stand, and See

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2 Chronicles 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

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Why you ought to “FEAR NOT”:

1. Because of God’s character
2. God keeps His promises
3. God has a purpose in all things.

What to do:

1. Set…your heart, soul, affection…on HIM
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

2. Stand…steadfast in the faith. And quiet your heart and mind, and listen.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

3. See…open your eyes to see God working.
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Psalms 64:10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.


Be blessed,

Bible Reading Plans: Are You Sure You Want One?

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The last couple of days I’ve been seeing a lot of Bible reading plans touted, mostly to get a reader through the whole Book in a year.  Although I appreciate the importance of reading the Word in an orderly fashion, I do pause at the idea of galloping through His Word in any way just to check off the reading as “done”.  At this time in my life, with a busy household of a husband and six homeschooling children and one baby on the way, to read the Word in one year would be rushed.  But maybe you have way more oodles of time than I do.  I do wonder, though, what happens if you get 8 days, or even 8 months, into a perfect reading mode and then you’re slammed for a week with the flu? Do you try to catch up?  Feel like you’ve failed?  Or worse, failed God?  Is He grading us on our Bible reading habits?

Make sure if you’re going to follow a plan of some sort, that you check yourself on your motives.  If you’re certain you want to follow a reading plan (because you need the structure or accountability or whatnot), here are some thoughts adopted from the late N.A. Woychuk’s pamphlet, “Hints for Reading the Bible”, which unfortunately I cannot find anywhere online to share with you.  It is profitable.

  1. Will you be approaching your Bible with an earnest desire to understand it, or will it be merely a formality, something to check off your “to do” list?
  2. Will you be reading it with reverence, or will you be distracted by the things awaiting you when you’re finished?
  3. Will you be reading it with an earnest prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, or will you be skimming the passages and paying more attention to the study notes on the side? “Humble prayer will throw more light on your Bible reading than all the commentaries written,” said Mr. Woychuk.
  4. Will you read your Bible with a child-like faith and humility, knowing that ALL Scripture is profitable (yes, even the book of Numbers), or will you pass by the genealogies and lists just to get ahead (or catch up) on your schedule?
  5. Will you read the Bible in a spirit of self-application, or do you simply want to be able to say you’ve read the whole Bible?

There is nothing inherently wrong with a Bible reading plan; in fact, in can be very helpful in getting into parts of the Book that are regularly skipped and missed.  The main thing, however, ought to be the main thing:  reading it honestly.

I’ve gone through many seasons in Bible reading.  I’ve had times where I’ve had hours to read and to do in-depth word studies using the Bible alone (with a concordance), finding much fruit in applications.  Then I’ve had seasons of postpartum slow-mo-fog where all I ever seemed to snatch was a verse or two a day at best, taping it onto my counter by the sink to ponder.  I believe the Lord honors our hearts in our hunger for Him through His Word, and will bless us however much we can do when we can do it.

Currently, I have a husband that goes into work late, and children that all sleep in.  I am able to wake early in the morning and have a nice quiet time of reading.  In case you are curious, my current Bible reading plan is:

  1. Reading through the entire Bible, 1-3 chapters at a time, from the OT straight through to the NT.  I don’t put a deadline on getting to the end of the Book; whenever I get there, I just start at the beginning again.  And yes, I’m in the book of Numbers.
  2. I read the psalm of the day.  If it is the 2nd of the month, I will read Psalm 2.  Then I add 30 until I get to the end.  So I would read Psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, and 122 that day.  In this way I get through the Psalms every month.  I don’t stress if I miss a day!  I just pick up on whatever day is next.
  3. I read the proverb of the day, too.  If it is the 2nd of the month, I read Proverbs 2.

To do all of that reading, plus writing in my journal, takes me anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour in the morning.  But I know that once baby comes, I may have to go back to grabbing a verse or a chapter when I can.  It’s not a failure if I can’t keep up on a schedule of some sort, even if it is *my* schedule.  Again, reading it honestly is important.  The Bible is not a check-off task!

When I want to go through a Bible study or other devotional (topical or a sermon series, etc.), I do that either in the morning if I still have time after reading, and/or in the evening before bed.  Audio Bibles are wonderful, too, to listen to while crafting or driving or even while falling asleep.  Reading aloud to the children out of the Bible “counts” as reading, too, of course!

Whatever your plans are for this year in your Bible reading, try to do it daily.  Keep it simple, allow yourself some grace, and come hungry to hear Him.  I am certain He will fill you, and bring you joy as you seek Him in whatever schedule or manner of reading you are led.

Jeremiah 15:16   Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 

Blessings,

Two Ponderings For the New Year

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Our home in the woods in last winter’s snow

I was struck by the title of a chapter I was reading in Parenting by the Spirit (an excellent little book, by the way).  It was “Does your schedule match your priorities?”  This probably gained my attention because I ponder this sort of thing quite a bit, and what I dislike probably more than anything else is the act or the idea of living life in the shallows.  Does my life match my priorities?  I don’t know. I think so, most of the time, for the areas that are truly in my control.  But my confidence wanes enough to cause me to question it, all the same.

Here are my latest ponderings.  Feel free to leave me a comment and help me unwrap them more.  Or please share your own new year ponderings!

1.  To keep blogging, or not to keep blogging…

I kept a far more active blog years ago that I quit, and now it’s been a couple more years on this one.  And I feel like I’m floundering these days on it, like either I have nothing else to say, or hunger more for real relationships with people that I can actually call by name.  Even now, I wonder, who am I writing to?  Are they even reading this? Or are they (dread) just *skimming* though, ready to click-click-click onto other blog posts, other websites, other places?  How does this fit with my own “priority” of real, deep and honest relationships?

And then I think, well, I blog because I love to write (which I do), and I want to encourage other moms in building their own happy homes.  But, really?  If I write a post on, say, “does your schedule match your priorities?”…. is it really making a difference in anyone’s life?  Does my reader actually think “hmm?” and ponder and come to peace with those ponderings?  Or is the noise of simultaneous media texts and  status updates distracting?  I so want to be a blessing, and not one more voice that is potentially fodder for distraction and the neglect of the better things.  Is that even possible?

What I really long to do is reach over, close up the laptops (yours and mine), and talk over coffee cake and a cup of tea.  What’s the Lord been teaching you lately?  How are your children doing?  Is your life joy-filled?  Do you need to forgive anyone?  How can I pray for you?  What are you making for supper tonight?  How is your marriage?  What are you reading?  What do you dream about? Tell me your testimony of God’s grace, because I love to hear the story again and again from my brethren…

I’m not sure how to cultivate *that* kind of relationship over a computer, no matter how many followers, friends, or fans the site or statistics says I have.  Then again, maybe the point of it all is not to cultivate relationships at all, but just a place to showcase *me*.  Which seems sort of like a limp wet rag in my mind; I am more than my avatar.

2.  To go to school, or not…

It took me 13 years to get my BS and MS in Holistic Nutrition.  I just picked at it while baring and raising six children, and eventually received two more degrees than the one I earned in college.  Now what?  I think I want to learn more about becoming a community herbalist, and do more schooling towards that end.  I love learning!  And of course, because I’m pregnant (again), doesn’t that mean more schooling (again)?  I guess I am just wondering how and when (and if) all of that schooling is going to combine into something I can use to either bless other people with or to help provide more income for my family (or both).  Or is it just enough to use all of that information for my own small circle of family and friends?

So what I’m really pondering is:   how I’m going to get to really know and help women slow down their crazy lives enough to smell the roses while cultivating my writing habits while offering my love of good food and herbs for vibrant health while sharing my love of drawing and stitching while always pointing those women to the Prince of Peace where they can find what the whole purpose of our short, vapor lives is really about to begin with.

Ok, there are the threads.  Let’s see how they weave.

Blessings for a spirit-led, fruit-filled, new year to you all,

Elderberry Syrup

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Elderberry syrup is really easy to make, and a great support to the immune system. 

Start out with as much fresh or dried berries as you would like.  I used two cups dried.

Cover with water, and simmer for about 40 minutes or so, until the berries are soft and the water looks dark with juice.

Strain, mushing the berries to get as much juice out as you can.  You can save the berries for other uses, or just make the chickens outside very, very happy.

Add enough raw honey (which has its own medicinal properties, too) to taste, and that’s it!  Elderberry syrup is really tart, so be prepared to use quite a bit of honey if you want to give it to your kids straight.  Keep in the fridge.  A spoonful a day helps keep the bugs away 🙂

Gifts for Friends

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I couldn’t add these to my post on handmade gifts for obvious reasons 🙂  But I thought now that these have been happily given, I could share what I made.

For some of my friends, I made little journal covers for their notebooks, to write lists in, or draw, or…well…journal.  I love the little bird I stitched onto the linen; isn’t he cute?

Other friends got either tea mixes (chai) or mocha mixes, depending on what they like in their mugs, in a homemade embroidered gift bag.

Almond-lemon biscotti was included for all, and there you have it!  I had so much fun thinking of my friends while stitching, smiling at how good the Lord is for gifting me these friendships.  I wish I could remember where I got these patterns from; they were given for free on other blogs.  If you are a blogger that shares these sorts of tutorials, MwAH!

Our Enjoyable Christmas

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We had (and are still having!) a very relaxing and enjoyable Christmas.  We spent much time decorating our home, including a crazy big 10 foot tree that wasn’t big enough for my husband so he added more blocks underneath to get it higher.  And yes, that’s me with my ever growing middle trying to balance while I lit the tree up with about 1400 lights.  The sleigh bells are the real deal, passed down to us from my husband’s grandmother.

We did plenty of crafts and card making, which was just a lovely quiet time to spend together.

Of course, there was so shortage of goodies to bake, prepare and eat! And potlucks, and meals with friends, too.

The gift-giving is always such fun, even more than gift-receiving, I think.  On that end, my favorite thing was receiving this collection of tea cups and saucers from a dear man whose wife passed away; she had wanted the girls of our home to have them.

I spent some down time working in my craft room and feeling very spoiled to have the opportunity to do so.  I tried to collect some memories of our season together, and put it into a single drawing.

I hope you also had a blessed time celebrating the Savior!

Merry Christmas (there are 12 days of that, right?),

Time for Beauty

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My children made the rounds this late afternoon into 14 different businesses in our community to wish the surprised owners and their clients a very Merry Christmas with their violins.  It was delightfully fun, running around and greeting them all with a lovely ending to their day.

Many folks were smiling and enjoying it very much, but there were people who passed on by, not pausing a couple of minutes to even acknowledge either the children seeking to bless them nor the beautiful music that was circling the atmosphere.  It frankly reminded me of Joshua Bell, who played on his $3.5 million dollar, 300 year old violin, for 43 minutes in a metro stop to see what would happen.  Out of 1097 people who walked by, only 7 stopped to listen.  He made $32.17.

Our family thoroughly enjoyed ourselves tonight, but I was sad for the people who couldn’t stop for a song or two.  Our lives are so rushed, we miss so much beauty.  I would encourage you, my readers, to take a moment, to stop, to really breathe and lift your chin and tune your ears.  There is so much beauty in your life that is precious.  Don’t miss it.

Blessings,

Crafting Out Time: Every Day Matters

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Christmas is almost here, and I find myself relaxed these days, enjoying the Advent season.  Are you harried and frenzied?  If so, please check out my friend’s new ebook (it’s free!): Ready in Seven (as in hours!).  You also might want to listen to our podcast (while you’re running around town), on Keeping Peace in the Home During the Holiday Frenzy.

I’ve been spending my extra free time (light on the schoolwork these weeks) not only crafting and baking with the kids, but carving out more time for me to do the things I enjoy most:  Bible study, reading, crafting, sewing, writing.  I realize these things are mostly solitary things; I am introverted in that way.

I’ve reclaimed my early mornings for journaling and Bible reading with the help of earlier bedtimes, alarms, and taking my baths the night before.  It’s so lovely to have a goodly amount of real quiet time, before anyone else is up.  I find hot tea a comfortable way to greet the day.

After the children are in bed for the night, if my husband is busy with other things, I gift myself an hour in my craft room.  I’ve enjoyed this time.  It’s quiet except for any music or teaching or podcast I’m listening to, and the sound of scissors snipping or the iron breathing.  The bare window frames swaying fir trees, adding to the peace.

Whenever I’m tempted to go back to Facebook or the like, I ask myself which of these activities I want to give up in order to be online more.   Or, do I really want to send my children off to school? They are home all day, homeschooling and wanting three meals and making messes, so I do not really have time in the day to pursue other interests right now.  I find it’s a matter of reality (only 24 hours in the day), and of actually trying to live out what I say my priorities are.  And I know our home will have a scheduling shake-up when our new baby arrives next spring, so I am especially enjoying my quiet times.

Recently I added lighting to my little craft room nest.  I think I will leave the Christmas lights up all year; I love them.

Last night I created a cover for my art journal.  I’ve been wanting an art journal for a long time; I love the idea of choosing something at the end of the day to draw or collage or paint that brings about some sort of memory of the day.

My cover was made with a paper backing, stickers, collage, rickrack, stamping, pastels, paint, and tied ribbons.  I titled it “Every day matters.”  Because it does.  There is a book about art journaling with that very title, too, but I’ve never looked at it (it’s on my wish list along with dozens of others!).  I got the inspiration and directions for my cover from The Artistic Mother, which is a lovely book if you want to dive into a little more creativity in your life (and you need directions).

This is a quote I ripped from a magazine:  To be perpetually thrilled with life need not detract from the solidarity of your goals or the soberness of your purpose. (anonymous)

I’ve enjoyed playing with different media for my “drawing of the day”: pens, paints, pencils.  I doubt I’ll be able to do this every day, but hopefully with a habit every evening of 15 minutes or so, it will become very satisfying to think on and give thanks for something of my day.  My children love to see what the picture of the day was!

The way I see it, why wait for the new year to create a new habit or to encourage a new craft?  I find winter is the perfect time to consider my ways and to think on how my time is spent.

Are you spending yours the way you’d like?

Blessings,

Ideas for Handmade Gifts

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When we were children, we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmastime.  Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?
GK Chesterton

Tis the season for gift buying and wrapping and sending, which despite the crazy madness of overblown consumerism and materialism,  still has a sweetness to it, because wanting to give a gift to someone is something lovely I think.  God was the original gift-giver thinker-up!  Full of mercy and grace and generosity and love with His good and perfect gifts, aren’t you glad He never changes?

Handmade gifts are my favorites, because I know the giver has put not only their money, but their time and effort into them as well.  I treasure the heart they put into them, knowing that while they were planning and working and packaging, they were thinking of me and of all of the other loved ones they were seeking to bless.

Here is a list of handmade gifts that I have made in the past, and have found as possibilities to do one year or another.  Many, many things can be made with the scraps you have already (extra fabric, extra craft supplies, scrap wood, etc.) I often find (more often than not) that it’s not a matter of *time and/or money*; it’s a matter of *desire*. Tutorials abound all over the web; google and find a treasure trove of tutorials! Yes, you CAN follow directions.  It’s ok; we (the recipients) will love it!

And no, you can’t find out what I’m making this year (hee hee); it’s not even on the list (big smile).

  • wreaths made of fruit, greens, berries, flowers, whatever’s in your yard
  • flatware holders
  • mini-pies, creme brulee, tarts, muffins, bagels
  • bottle wraps (with a bottle of wine of course!)
  • embroidered monogrammed napkins or washclothes
  • spice blends, mustards, vinegars, anything for the kitchen cook
  • fresh doughnuts, pretzels, granola, cookies…
  • simple table runner, napkins
  • a scarf from a length of wool, trimmed in ribbon or blanket-stitched
  • bouquets with jars filled with seeds (for dry bouquets) or cranberries (for wet bouquets)
  • vanilla gift-wrapped in vintage bottles
  • roasted chestnuts
  • napkin rings, placecard holders
  • decorative candle blocks or other holders
  • the candles themselves!
  • soap, lotions, salves, creams, facial scrubs, salt scrub, etc.
  • mason jar sewing kits
  • pillowcases, herbal sachets
  • party drink tags (for wine stems)
  • roll-ups for colored pencils or art supplies
  • coffee, cocoa or tea blends
  • homemade marshmallows to go with that hot cocoa mix!
  • chocolate dipped and sprinkled oreos, pretzels, etc.
  • notebooks with pretty linen covers, quilted Bible covers
  • seeds saved from the garden, handpressed flowers onto bookmarks
  • tinctures, tonics, syrups
  • ornaments, holiday decor
  • aprons, oven mitts, dish towels
  • fresh bread and butter, jam
  • beaded bookmarks or jam spoons
  • pin cushions, needle cases
  • fridge magnets (I hot glued magnets onto buttons.  Cute!)
  • a supply of handstamped notecards or homemade stationery
  • crocheted shawl or wrist warmers
  • things for the pantry: pears, applesauce, soup mixes, etc.
  • mini quilts for hanging or a table topper or a child’s doll blankie
  • ragdolls, handkerchief dolls
  • knitted washclothes, mittens, scarves, stuffed animals, hats
  • harvest baskets or a garden tool belt
  • handwoven baskets, even mini ones for holding small candies
  • pottery with glazing for growing kitchen window herbs
  • an small window herb garden transplanted into vintage pots (drill holes!)
  • candy: truffles, fudge, popcorn balls, baklava (my mom’s specialty!)
  • homemade cleaning supplies: laundry soap, cleansing powder, fabric softener, etc.
  • cutting boards, toy blocks, dolly beds
  • bean bags, library carry-all bags, hand-drawn coloring books
  • salad dressing with croutons (all homemade of course!)
  • rice socks to heat up, fleece blankets to cuddle under
  • hair ribbons, barrettes
  • baby mobiles, crib bumpers, receiving blankets
  • earrings, bracelets, coat pins
  • and of course, certificates!  For a meal delivery, babysitting, fresh cookies, housecleaning, etc!

I want to be sure to share one of my most favorite hand-making idea links too!  From SewMamaSew; be sure to check out the previous year tutorial links for ideas, too.

    Don’t forget that the packaging and delivery is just as much an opportunity to show your love!  Homemade wrapping, or extra ribbon, or even brown paper bags spruced up (now there’s something to google!) all add a delightful touch.

    And a note for those for whom “homemade” gifts aren’t your thing:  just graciously say “thank you” anyway.  Because nothing made in China can ever be given to you with the same amount of heart and soul.  And people’s hearts and souls…well, they’re the real gifts in any season.

    You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs with their homemade gift ideas, too. Tell them I sent you!

    Blessings,

    Gifts of the Heart

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    A handwritten note,
    A sliver of pause,
    An encouraging word,
    A hearty applause.

    Gentle rebukes
    With much fear and trembling,
    Faithful attendance
    With the assembly.

    Prayers for the enemy,
    Forebearance, forgiven,
    Assuming the best,
    A friend to envision.

    Nourishing attention,
    The web put on mute,
    Fully engaged,
    Cultivating fruit.

    Wiper of tears,
    Present in sorrow,
    Comforter in grief,
    Faith in tomorrow.

    Unabridged stories
    At bedtime to read,
    Kissed boo-boo’s and bandaids,
    Nourishing needs.

    Dream helper, goal shaper,
    Cheers for small steps,
    Loyalty to another

    In life’s tidal ebbs.

    A cup of clean water,
    A meal taken in,
    A loving touch of the hand,
    A lift of the chin.

    Doing the work
    Of saying you’re sorry,
    Rebuilding trust,

    The other before “me”.

    Small token gifts,
    A generous hand,
    Prayers of thanksgiving,
    Witness to God’s promised land.

    These are some gifts
    Of the heart that cost none,
    But your time and your love
    First received from the Son.

    As you do them for others
    From Him do you see,
    A high holy presence
    No gift boughten can be.

    May your Christmas be heart-felt,
    Your motives be true,
    And the gifts that you share
    Come back to bless you.

    note: see the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain for more thoughts on the theme of “Gifts of the Heart”
    Blessings to you and yours,

    My Crafting Room

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    Would you like to see the craft room I hung around in today instead of shopping?  One of the reasons it looks so neat is that my sewing area just got finished today (no mess to clean up yet!).  So, come on in!

    I don’t take lightly the blessing of having my own room to create and leave a mess in, knowing that I can leave stuff out for as long as I need to.  I remember making due when all I had was our kitchen table; and if that’s all you’ve got, you can still create!  In fact, just having a small shared table forces the “get organized” goal to come into fruition, so it’s not altogether a bad thing.

    Having my own room is not a bad thing, either.  When we moved bedrooms around, the “guest room” (that we only partially used every year) went away, and suddenly I got to have my own room (that I use every day!).  Here is a short tour of my little room:

    My husband found this old table in our attic.  I have no idea where it came from, but it ends up being the perfect size for sewing.  This will be the first time I can lay out fabric and cut it off of the floor!  My chair was hand-caned by my husband’s grandmother.

    Around my craft room, I have objects that I love and inspire me.  All of these jars hold wooden spools of thread (from the same grandmother).  Wooden spools are so sweet; I like them so much better than our current obsession with everything plastic.

    Speaking of vintage (were we?), here’s my latest addition: a featherweight Singer that a friend of mine sold to me, in near perfect condition.  I find even the sound of it so satisfying, and it sews like a dream.  As another friend once said, “there’s nothing like metal parts.”  I agree!

    On a second wall, I have a farm house table I recently found in an antique store, along with a cool metal red cart.  This is where I like to draw, paint, stamp, or otherwise work with paper crafts.  Currently I am working on repairing and updating our Advent calendar.  On my corkboard are mostly clips I’ve cut from magazines that I love to look at:  quotes, artwork, flowers, etc.   And a picture of Tasha Tudor, too, just one of many artists that inspire me.

    I like to keep my colored pencils out, again just because they’re pretty.  I like to keep the eye candy nearby.

    On the third wall is my girlhood desk.  I wrote many, many letters and poems and did tons of homework on it growing up.  I have another corkboard with photos of loved ones and also business cards and websites of artists, writers, and online shops I appreciate.  In my bookcase are craft books and patterns and such, and on the top are (once again) things I love to look at:  paintings and artwork I love, and even a Paddington Bear I made when I was nine.  He reminds me to be nice to the little girl I still have inside of me (despite the wrinkles).  The bit of rug you see was hand-done by that very same grandmother.  I really appreciate the love and time women put into things like this (and still do!); it is like they are giving of themselves, which is a precious gift no one could ever buy.

    I like to work on the computer here, and our copier is here too, on a little bench I picked up from somewhere.  This desk is my “Pooh corner”, my “thinking spot”.  And if you’re a snail mail pen pal of mine, that bottom lefthand drawer is full of notecards and stationery I use for you!

    In keeping with things I love, here is a basket (love baskets) of seashells (love the ocean….rivers and lakes too!) against my window showing our woods (love love love the cedar/pine smells too!).

    So where is all my other stuff?  In the closet!  Here you’ll find all of my stamping supplies, papers, calligraphy inks, fabric, wool felts, ribbons, acrylics, etc, etc, and etc.  I can take out what I want to use, and when it’s all finished, put it back and close the door.  I just work better having a more open space, but I love and appreciate craft rooms that have beautiful wire shelves of supplies out in the open, too.

    Things I still want to do in my room:  put up some felt on the wall so my quilt squares can get off the floor while I’m working, add a light table (and more lighting for that matter), and I’m definitely going to buy a strand or two of mini-Christmas lights to drape around and keep up all year, because it’s just one of those things I love.  Lastly, I have artwork my children have done, and plan to pin them up on a clothesline along a wall in a rotating manner.  In all honesty, they inspire me, too.

    I was going to put in a chair for handsewing or knitting in, but I find that when I am doing that I’d much rather be in the living room with everyone else, or watching a movie with my husband at the same time.  One of my friends has a TV in her room to watch movies while she works!  I think the point of creating a space is to really make it *yours*, whether you get a whole room or just a small corner.

    That’s it!  On your way out, you can move over the old iron doorstop and let the door close.  I’m going to play either some music or hear a sermon and get to work on my homemade gifts.  Thanks for visiting!

    Blessings,

    Keeping Peace in the Home During the Holiday Frenzy: An Interview with the High Five Moms

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    I had the opportunity to interview the other four mothers from our little High Five Moms group and it was SO fun to hear their voices.  I asked them about how they maintained peace in their homes during the holiday frenzy, and I took lots of notes!  It sure was nice to hear the same threads I usually adhere to also, such as staying home, focusing on relationships/togetherness, simplicity, less is more, etc.

    I hope you will be blessed with our attempt to put five women (myself included!) on the same line.  Grab something hot to drink and be challenged and encouraged.

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    You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs, too. Tell them I sent you!

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    Fostering Good Sibling Relationships

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    High Five Moms are talking about fostering good sibling relationships today.  Here are two blog posts I wrote about that very topic, with some sweet photos too!  Enjoy!

    Where I disagree that children “need friends their own age” 

    and

    How taking sides in disputes can be shallow and short-lived

    You can read more thoughts on sibling relationships this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

    I’m so thankful that my children have so many siblings!

    Nine Reasons for Unthankfulness

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    Luke 17:17   And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

    Part of my pontificating on gratitude examined how healing often needs to occur before honest gratitude shows its worth. But apparent and obvious healing does not necessarily bring up a groundswell of thanksgiving.  Why?

    Here are NINE reasons why you (and me!) may be lacking in thankfulness after a healing:

    1. You feel you didn’t deserve the trial or wound in the first place.  You were meant to live on this earth happy, healthy, wealthy and wise, not to mention well fed and loved.  You deserve these things because you live and breathe.
    2. You suffer from blindness–you can’t even see that you’ve been healed.  You may have spent a decade living hand-to-mouth but somehow you don’t even see that your bank account has been flush for a number of years now.  You didn’t even realize that you genuinely laughed out loud last night after months of oppressive grieving.
    3. You treat your healing as a checklist item that is marked “done” and immediately push to the next problem to solve.  
    4. You never really wanted healing in the first place.  Your self-worth was built around either your self-pity or the pity and attention you garnered from others.  Now that you’re healed, the spotlight might go away.
    5. You don’t want to acknowledge the Healer.  He bugs you.  You don’t even want to admit He exists, much less has anything to do with your own personal life.  If you did, He might want something from you.  Like gratitude.
    6. You’re cynical about the timeframe of the healing.  Sure it’s great you’re healed, but why couldn’t it have happened a decade ago or even last week?  You’ve missed opportunities or have lost much in the trial that you might never get back.  Healing at this point seems pointless.
    7. You were never taught to express gratitude, and maybe no one ever bothered to express any to you.  You look like a grown-up, but your heart never grew past toddlerhood.
    8. You’re too self-absorbed and have too much pride to admit that Someone outside of yourself had anything to do with your healing.  You take pride on doing things “your way” and this healing just messes with that system.
    9. You remain disobedient to God’s command to be thankful (Col 3:15) because that is the most comfortable place to remain: in disobedience.  Unthankfulness is just one more way to snub Him. 

    I don’t think Jesus was confused at all about what happened to the other nine that did not express gratitude when He asked the question.  Instead, it was an indictment against humanity who too often rails against the One to whom they would show everlasting love and devotion “if only He would…”

    The truth is that in Christ you have been healed, you are being healed, and in eternity you will be forever healed.  May we confidently expose our wounds to Him, and trust Him for the work He is doing through them and because of them.  And in all things (God help us), give thanks.

    1 Corinthians 15:57   But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

    note: see the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain for more thoughts on the theme of “Nine”


    Gratefully His,

    Pursuing Your Talents in the Season of Motherhood: An Interview With Elizabeth Younts

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    Are you wondering how an author gets a book not only written, but published and marketed while raising small children at home? Join me to hear Elizabeth Byler Younts as she shares her heart and tips on how to make room for your own talents and interests while in the midst of motherhood.

    Elizabeth wanted to reassure her listeners that she hasn’t arrived (I say, “who has?”), so here is a note she wanted to attach to her interview.

    “Please know that I am humbled by this opportunity to share these tips with you. I am no expert in making it all work. I often make mistakes and have to figure something new out. I have not arrived in the least…but I do hope that you are blessed by the interview and can find something that will helpful to you. God Bless.”

     My husband left an *extra* at the end of the podcast, so be sure to stay tuned for the treat after “the credits”!

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    You can hear about Elizabeth’s wonderful book on a previous podcast,  and also find her blog here.  If this topic of finding time and space resonates with you, be sure to also listen to Room For You.

    Blessings,

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    On Gratefulness

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    One thing I’ve heard often is that Christians ought to be very grateful people.  Of course, we should, but the problem is that sometimes our fake smile “gratefulness” is just a cover for being too scared or too holy to admit wretched pain.  In fact, if anything in our lives go awry, there are usually two responses put forth as helps, usually from people who have not suffered the same bruises, but sometimes to ourselves as well:

    1. Give thanks for it all (from 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
    and
    2. God will use it all for good (from Romans 8:28).

    And there is it:  case closed.  But really?  These things are not untrue, but sometimes those responses feel more like a pat on the head or fuel for the fire instead of a healing balm.

    Did you have a child die?  Well, give thanks for the time you had.  Did you discover your husband visiting a strip club?  Well, be thankful it wasn’t with a real woman.  Did you go bankrupt and lose your home?  Don’t worry; God will turn it around for good.  Did you lose a leg?  Chin up, you still have one more!

    The message I’m afraid is much more than earnest Biblical support.  It is akin to “buck up, smile, and get over it”.  Why?  Because any other response:  compassion, listening, weeping….those seem unspiritual and therefore cowardly, not to mention time consuming and inconvenient.  And if we have a healthy fear of the Lord, there is a part of us that preaches the same to ourselves as well.

    But is it never proper to feel fear?  Anger?  Sadness?  Do times of seeming “ungrateful” indeed make you unfaithful, fallen, a failure?  If so, then lay my tombstone next to David, because I am as much a wretch, but not nearly as poetic.  His emotions were never stuffed or patronized; he had enough FAITH to trust God to know his heart and hear his pain, even as he couldn’t gratefully say at the time “thank you” for all of the running around, death threats and betrayals. Can you image one of his friends slapping him on the back in the midst of his fearful trial and saying (if they had this then), “Buddy…dude…Romans 8:28…(slap slap)”.

    Spending time talking it out, moving through fear, dealing with anger, and weeping in grief, does NOT mean you are “ungrateful”.  It means there are wounds to be tended to, and just because they aren’t worse or may not be as deep as someone else’s in more dire circumstances doesn’t mean that the pain isn’t still there and just as real. 

    Are you in trial?  Walk through it as tenderly as you can, knowing that the Lord does not forsake you even when you are throwing an inner tantrum or can’t stop from crying.  Do you know someone in trial?  Give them empathy, compassion, give them an ear, give them your time, prayers and attention.  

    The man outside the gate Beautiful had to be healed before he was able to get up in gratitude and walk and leap and praise God.  And sometimes, that is true of us, too.  Fear not, little sparrow, but rest in the Savior and trust Him to make you whole in His time.

    You can read more thoughts on gratefulness this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

    Grateful for His mercy,

    Drawing Class Progress

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    I’m really enjoying my drawing class. It’s part of the “what did I like to do when I was a girl” kick that I’ve been on.

    This first drawing is an artichoke (I hope you can tell!).  It’s just a line drawing.  What I discovered later is that I need smoother paper to draw on!

    This was another line drawing, a bouquet of autumn leaves.  I really tried to show the curling and curves.

    This was a cosmos flower I plucked from the back garden, and my first attempt at trying to do some shading.

    And this is my silly yellow onion that finally taught me that I need better paper! 

    All that to say, it’s been fun.  Nice to concentrate on drawing something for an hour (or two!), focusing all of my attention onto something God created and noticing all of the beauty it in all.  Drawing is training my eyes to see.

    Blessings on your endeavors,

    The Un-Virtue of Multi-Tasking

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    I’m just curious.  Since when is multi-tasking a virtue?

    Somewhere down the line, we homemakers got help with laundry machines, electric mixers, and even telephones.  And I’m not sure that all that time freed up really freed us up to do much of anything except *more*.  I’ve looked at the photo of my husband’s great-grandmother, surrounded by her then eleven children, and truly the woman looks tired.  But I figure with how hard it was just to keep diapers, grow and preserve food (because there weren’t fourteen grocery stores within a half mile), and just keep the dirt out of the house, the woman deserves the lament of lack of sleep. 

    So what’s the excuse now for falling into bed at the end of the day?  Having to walk three miles to get anywhere?  No, I believe it’s because most women these days have a “more is better” view of their day, and the only real lament there can be now is “the day is gone and I did NOTHING!” 

    Come now.  Nothing?  Truly?  Unless you were sick in bed all day I am sure something was accomplished, and we might even argue the point that resting all day was accomplishing something:  healing. 

    Multi-tasking is praised these days in all sorts of places.  If you can text while sending off an email while updating your status or sending a tweet while the dishwasher hums and the children work on their schoolwork with the fragrance of supper escaping from the crockpot, well….we pat ourselves and each other on the back and celebrate with a few “free” hours to catch up on whatever haunts us as undone on those “lists” we make. 

    But what if presence, or intentionality, was more of a virtue?  Actually being in one place, in the moment, with full and complete attention to the human being in front of you….instead of your mind wandering to the things left on your checklist or your eye to the clock or your ear perked to the dinging of your smartphone.  What if you spent an entire hour outside on the porch watching the sunrise and heard nothing but autumn leaves slipping from the gnarled limbs?  What if you had a day of unplugging everything (are you having heart palpitations)?  What if the alarm clock didn’t go off in the morning and you closed your eyes at the crest of dark?  What if a friend actually called you, on a tied-to-the-wall telephone, and took up a precious half hour?

    I’m just curious.  Multi-tasking is considered a virtue.  But I wonder about the life we’ve lost in “accomplishing” so much, and I don’t even know if I have the time or the will to ponder that anymore.

    Keeping It Clean

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    One of the best quotes I ever read regarding housework was on a magnet at some highway trinket and gas station on some vacation from some yesteryear.  It said, “My house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.”  I should’ve bought it and put it in my kitchen, but in any case, I’ve always remembered it.


    I find I go through phases of keeping everything really clean, working in zones, decluttering daily, and so forth.  And then….and then there are times that weeks go by before I find the countertops or clean out the fridge.  Both situations drive me crazy; one because it seems there is no free time at all and if I’m not just barking chores, I’m just shooing everyone away to get it done myself…and the other because that much clutter makes my brain hurt and my kids get lazy about just picking up their  pajamas off the floor.  But most of the time, there is balance, and we’re able to welcome friends who just step over stuff during the day; and we can still have supper guests later who find not only clean spaces to put down their purses, but a clean sink and hand towel to use in the bathroom.

    Here is my own balancing act:

    • I make my bed every day, because every time I walk into my bedroom it just feels nice to see it made, even if (“if” LOL) there is a disaster load of books and notebooks on my nightstand.
    • I keep up on the laundry.  Mondays for clothing, Thursdays for bedding and towels, and diapers and kitchen linens are done as needed.  I confess to being spoiled with TWO sets of washer/dryers, and I’ve trained my children how to use them to do their own clothes, bedding and towels (on their own schedules).  In my opinion, life’s too short for mountains of laundry to do, but I realize for someone else, their life might be “too short to make the bed”.
    • I try to vacuum the floor every.single.night.  Food crumbs, hay from boots, hair, and all that other *stuff* just multiplies during the wee hours of the night.  Plus it feels gross to step on.
    • I try to clean up the dishes after every meal, and just about never leave a dirty sink until morning.  I just find it depressing to welcome a beautiful brand new day and then have to face stucco from meals the day before.  
    • Once a week, we run around with dusters, vacuum the carpets and clean the bathrooms.  I might hand a small child a window cleaning cloth or send an older kid out to wash the garbage cans, depending on what’s needed.

    That’s about it. When I have more of my act together, we do stuff like deeper cleaning, planning menus, mopping floors, and brushing the dogs.  But my minimums listed are the ones that keep me *happy*, and sometimes a little dirt is the price I’m willing to pay for it. 

    Photobucket

    You can read more thoughts on keeping it clean this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!






    Health, and Happiness,

    The Hassle of Reading

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    I find a vast difference between the distraction-laden computer screen/magazine/newspaper scanning we’ve become accustomed to versus the slow, contemplative reading that gives a person a chance to really hear what an author is attempting to present and engage the reader with. And it saddens me that literacy rates are in a sorry state, and just a quick (yes, skim) of the internet reveals the average adult in the U.S. is reading somewhere between the 5th and 9th grade reading levels. Maybe it isn’t so sad at all.  Maybe it’s become one big shrug, and then it’s back to the short, choppy texts, updates and tweets we return to between doorbell announcements of another email in the inbox.

    Maybe reading an entire book (or hey, even an entire blog post!), is just too much of a hassle. Maybe we’ve just trained our brains to take in so many pieces of minutia that even the idea of a comprehensive complete pontificating of a whole idea is not worth the effort anymore. Thinking has become passe’; we don’t even need to learn how to read maps anymore because GPS systems do the *thinking* for us.

    I don’t know.  It seems more and more obvious that we’re missing out on building real live relationships when we’re each tethered to our personal digital products to (ironically) “connect” with others, but what, if anything, goes missing if we stop reading? Does it really matter if we read from paper or from a screen?  Does it really matter if newspapers have “dumbed down” over the centuries (have you seen or tried to read one of those from the 1800’s)?

    Do the children in our homes see us tapping our fingers on keyboards and smartphones more than turning the pages of books?  I’m just wondering.  Does it really matter?  Do we really care if our children learn to read and think deeply, or is it just cool that they grow up to be savvy enough send thousands of texts a month, preferring that to talking?  After all, talking takes work.  Like reading.

    If you’ve read this far (not likely, given the odds!), chances are that these things do matter to you.  If so, do whatever it takes to ponder these things (lock yourself in your bathroom for 15 minutes if you have to…without your cell phone….).  And if distractions are the rule in your life, consider what it may be costing.

    And maybe…maybe then pack up the family and go to the library for thick books to read.  And turn off the gadgets for a couple of hours.  And pop some popcorn.  And read and then bond together by talking (not texting) about it all.  And maybe…maybe even forgo the temptation to blog, update or tweet about the experience.  Maybe….maybe reading will not be quite the hassle anymore, but the blessing we’ve been missing out on.

    If you need or want a strong hand to help you in this, you could (shudder) try Freedom.  It’s an application that locks you away from the internet on Mac or Windows computers for up to eight hours at a time.  If you think that’s scary…..try another generational slide into deeper illiteracy.


    You can read more thoughts on reading this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!




    Pondering with you,

    Small Things

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    Small crops, small handwork projects, little things I find beautiful…

    We did not get a lot of squash and pumpkins from the garden this year but what we did get looks beautifully autumnal.

    In my first drawing class, the instructor said I’d be surprised at how well I’d be drawing in seven weeks.  I wryly responded while trying to draw a twisty twig with a pirate-squint-eye, “Well then, I can’t wait to be surprised!”  Today I played with colored pencils.

    I did like my little fountain pen drawing of my childhood Paddington Bear.  I keep him on my artist/crafting old farmhouse table.  He reminds me to be nice to the 9 year old self that’s still in the 41 year old body.

    I have no idea what to do with this little thing I handstitched.  It just hangs on my corkboard waiting for inspiration to do or be something other than corkboard decoration.  Sometimes my creations have no “point” other than to be something I’m creating. 

    Here’s a little sneak peek at what I’m making for a couple of baby showers coming up.  It’s so stinkin’ adorable I think I’m going to have to make one for our baby coming in April.

    May you find beauty in the little things in your life, too.

    What Do You Value?

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    In the last year I’ve been asking some hard questions regarding many aspects of my life, and it’s been a good (and continuing) journey through many different books.  I’ve read some books on unfolding my creative bents (some of which were so latent I had forgotten they were there), on the simplicity of walking with Christ (reminding me again that it’s not that complicated), and on the history and methods of education (making me regret once again the wimpy one I got in schools).  The last book I just finished was From the Garden to the City, which was a riveting book on the theology of technology, and how technology (everything from light bulbs to Facebook) not only comes with its own inherent value system, but how these tools transform our own hearts and minds and actually shape us and our own value systems and culture.   All of these books have been fascinating reads which have led me to question:

    1. what do I really value?
    2. what informs the values that I have? (in other words, why do I have those certain values)
    3. what in my life outflows from them?
    4. are any of those things in conflict with the kingdom of God?

    Through this time, I’ve been keeping a little ongoing list of what I really value.  It is interesting for me to note that folks that rub me wrong probably do so because our values conflict, in action and/or in truth.  So far what I have listed is:

    1. a deep spiritual life
    2. contemplation
    3. reading to learn
    4. simplicity
    5. personal, real-time, face-to-face relationships (handwritten notes/letters are second, calls third…)
    6. order
    7. slowness/intentionality
    8. quietness and peace

    So now my questions from above can be applied to these, and of course, this takes #2 (contemplation), #3 (reading to learn), and #8 (a little peace and quiet). 
    So what are your values?  Creating a list of values seems like a good marker to judge how a life is lived, what activities are done, which tools we use (and how), and so forth.  Your values might be different (you might love a fast-paced action-packed day!), but at least thinking through these things means not being the victim of whichever way the wind blows, and marking what areas in your life might be in conflict with what you say you value.

    I suppose the real question these days is, “Is there so much distraction in our lives that we cannot even take the time to ponder these things?”  That, in my value system, would be a great sadness, indeed.

    Peace,

    Bringing the Green Inside

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    I’ve taken advantage of the last few gorgeous sunny days here in the Pacific Northwest to put the garden to bed, pulling out the old and mulching heavily.  Garlic and shallots are planted and that’s about all I’m going to do for overwintering crops this year.

    I used to have many, many plants inside of my house, but truthfully there is enough work already for me to do inside and I’d rather be outside with God’s creation.  Still, it is nice to have a bit of green here and there, and I’ll show you the extent of what I have.  There isn’t a whole lot (by design!):

    In my laundry/mud room I have a bonsai tree, and the same violets that I brought up from California with me 15 years ago.  I don’t take very good care of either, letting them get bone dry regularly and then just sinking them both in pails of water to allow dry spots to bubble up for five minutes or so.  Some folks may think I’m doing it all wrong, but hey…I still have purple flowers after 15 years.

    Another plant I brought up with me all those years ago was a ficus tree a friend gave me when she moved to another state.  We thought we had killed it in the hot transport but it came back.  I thought I had killed it when I kept it outside for the winter but it came back.  I’ve hacked it back, ignored watering it, had a cat pee in it, kept it in sunshine and in shade…and still it lives.  It’s not my green thumb; it’s God’s little resurrection reminder.

    In my kitchen I like to have fresh flowers all year long.  It’s just one of those things that makes me happy.  If nothing’s in my garden, I buy a few stems from the market.   Next to my pretty flowers is the wall I tape up things I like, like poems, Bible verses, reminders, etc.  I don’t stress about tape on my walls.

    I mostly dislike dried plants in my house.  They get dusty and fade and I don’t care to care for them.  Lavender I like, however, and I can keep them for about two years.  I cut them from my garden, and have little bundles in the bathroom and by my bedside.

    And who says greenery needs to be green?  I made this little candle holder from outside twigs, hotgluing them together and using some homemade (store-boughten) paper for the shade.  It looks really pretty at night, a soft glow.

    There are lots of ways to bring the outside in, but make sure you aren’t adding more work than you are willing to spend on the inside greeneries.

    You can read more thoughts on bringing the green inside this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

    Harvest Through Sacrifice

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    Psalms 126:6   He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 


    Ever since our podcast on the movie Courageous I’ve been pondering the idea that harvest does not come without going through sacrifice.  Certainly in the farming community harvest does not occur without the process of planning and labor, a sacrifice of time and money and sweat.  But what about when those sacrifices, followed by fire or drought or war, don’t end up with silos full of grain?

    What about when missionaries spend decades evangelizing and the fruit looks rotten?  What about Jesus’ own disciples, having sacrificed all, ending up not with health and wealth but with painful deaths and imprisonment?  And John Piper recently tweeted, “Between 1920 and 1990 some 20 million died in the Russian Gulag (prison camps). Some 200,000 Christian leaders were martyred.”  What was the fruit of those martyrs? I don’t personally (and perhaps shamefully so) know the name of even one.

    I suppose it is how “harvest” is defined.  Throughout the scriptures there are many laws regarding agricultural harvests and the endtimes are defined by a similar theme of harvesting the righteous out from the tares.  But the harvest is always God’s fruit and God’s working; it is He who withholds, and it is He who sends, rain in its proper season.  And the “proper season” is always His timing, His methods, His perfect plan.  I’m afraid that when Christians put in the *work* of Bible study, prayer, earnest employment, good health habits, faithful child raising and so forth, we expect, nay demand the harvest that we have sowed for in hope.   Sometimes the harvest is rich.  But sometimes the end is grief, loss, destruction, death, even if the labor was faithful.

    So whose harvest is it all, really?  Does the work of martyrs have no fruit?  Do faithful mothers who end up burying children have nothing to rejoice in?  Perhaps there is a difference in expecting a rich end to our labors, to just being faithful in the time and day of bearing precious seed and planting, and then humbly trusting God for the results.

    The harvest is always in the Lord’s hands.  Let us stay faithful to our God and our calling, even if our labors end in weeping, even if it looks to us as going backwards, as pointless in our own finite minds and calloused hands, knowing that He has promised joy in the morning to come (Ps 30:5).  He is worthy of our trust.

    note: see the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain for more thoughts on the theme of Harvest

    Courageous the Movie

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    If you haven’t taken the time to go see the movie Courageous, I hope you will rectify that soon.  This movie is one that meets *real life*, and has the potential to call out and equip men to be the fathers that God has called them to be, regardless of past failures or fatherlessness.  My husband took me to see this movie twice, and afterwards we had a chat about what we thought.  This particular podcast was unscripted, so forgive us any rambling and we hope it will be useful to you.

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    You can find more information about it (and buy tickets!) here: Courageous the Movie.

    Hands-On Learning for Boys

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    I took a look at this topic for High Five Moms and lamented pondered how I was going to share much of anything. My first son has always been a mellow little guy, easy with paper-and-pencil. My second son is more of a cowboy, but he is only five. And he also can handle a pencil just fine. What I’m trying to say is that I’m no expert here! So today I’m offering to you a guest post from my friend Amy of Buffaloes and Butterfly Wings. Her blog is always filled with the fun and interesting things she does with her boys (and currently….cutie pie pics of her new baby girl!). I know you will get great encouragement from her here, and I encourage you to check out her blog, too.

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    I began my homeschool career roughly five years ago when the oldest of my three boys reached preschool age. Almost immediately I found myself on a rollercoaster as I not only learned to homeschool, but to homeschool a B.O.Y.; I found out very quickly that hands-on activities were not only helpful, but essential for him. My lessons continue daily as I discover the challenges and joys involved in teaching boys.

    The best lesson I have learned as far as hands-on learning and my boys has been teaching myself to be ok with less. Less sit down time. Less writing. Less pencil and paper work all together. When it comes to many boys and academics, less is truly more. When you spend less time frustrating your boy and yourself with traditional bookwork, you open up your time and his interests to a number of other learning possibilities.

    This holds true for even the youngest of learners. As tempting as it can be to start ‘real school’ with a preschooler or kindergartner, it is often unnecessary or even counter-productive to do too much too soon with boys. Read books. Play with play dough. Do those fun art and craft activities you see on blogs. Play games. Little boys will sail into school work willingly and easier when you wait for them to be ready. (A few of the things we have done for preschool.)

    For an older boy, it has helped me tremendously to greatly limit the amount of pencil and paper work we do each day. Choosing carefully and wisely only the minimum that is necessary allows me to require his very best without wearing him out on busy work that only serves to frustrate us both. His efforts are generally more productive and the finished product more consistently shows his best when I require less volume. Quality is truly better than quantity when it comes to boys and handwritten school work.

    However, just because we are doing fewer worksheets and workbooks, doesn’t mean we are doing less learning. The possibilities for hands-on learning are endless, and I am a firm believer it doesn’t matter so much what you do, but that you do. That said, here are some of the things that we do:

    Handwriting can be frustrating for many boys. We have found notebooking to be useful to help increase interest and give purpose to handwriting. Boys often are not interested in things they don’t see having a purpose. With notebooking, each page is part of a larger whole. My oldest has long enjoyed looking back over the pictures he has drawn and reading his narration (that he dictates to me and then copies onto his page) that goes with it. Many days, this narration / copy-work / notebooking combo is the only handwriting my young 3rd grader does in a day. Less is more. (How we do notebooking.)

    I am blessed in that my very active and workbook, pencil and paper resistant oldest son is a voracious reader. I have learned to resist the urge to ‘supplement’ his reading with book reports and worksheets and the like. I let the reading stand alone. He enjoys it, he is learning from it, and that is good enough.Again, less is more.

    For times when more writing is needed, it is good to consider a pen-pal, teaching your boy typing, and using a chalkboard or marker board.

    Sometimes leaving formal academics behind and diving into real life is beneficial. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, helping with siblings, and helping Dad are all engaging activities that teach. Count these things as learning, because truly, your boy is learning when he practices these things!

    Finally, don’t wait for hands on projects to be elaborate or craft-blog perfect. Just do it. The Internet is teeming with ideas for hands on activities for all subjects and disciplines. Adapt them to work for your family, and don’t worry about them turning out just right. The experience and variety alone will captivate your boy. Some of our favorites that may not earn a place in a homeschool magazine, but have made a lasting impression are:
    Solar System Model
    Native American Dwellings
    Homemade balance scale
    Wind-vane
    Ocean Unit
    Shopping Game (Money)
    Preschool Alphabet Book

    And, just for good measure, some hands on math ideas.

    Again, what you do doesn’t have to be spectacular and elaborate. It is the doing itself that makes memories and expands your boy’s love of learning!

    Amy, from Buffaloes and Butterfly Wings

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    You can read more thoughts on hands-on learning for boys this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

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    Treat Yourself Nicely

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    A couple of friends and I went clothes shopping yesterday and we had twelve full hours of having a good time with one another (do our husbands rock, or what?!).  I have very rarely gone clothes shopping because I always had something (or someone) else on which to spend what little money I had, and truthfully I figured that between the barn animals and the baby spit-up, whatever I wore was going to get ruined anyway.  And I hated shopping because I never really knew what looked good on me; it was a drag.

    And then, one of my friends became a fashionista.  And after watching her journey, I decided that, “Hey! I want to look that great too!”  Maybe it’s because I turned 40 last year.  Maybe it’s because we threw our house on the market, and then took it off.  Maybe it’s because we had a miscarriage.  Maybe it’s because I started running, completed a 5K, lost a bunch of inches and gained muscle.  I dunno.  But when I painted my closet I decided that nothing was going back that didn’t fit or look good on me.  Having only half a dozen things left hanging in the closet was pretty sobering…was I just not thinking of ME at all?!

    So I got my hair cut short and kissed the grey see-ya-later.  And I bought a few shirts.  Real shirts.  With buttons, not t-shirts.  And my mom bought me the most amazing jeans I’ve ever had.   It was a lean-closet spring and summer but I sure enjoyed having a few new things.

    Now that I’m popping out (that happens about immediately after having a few babies, y’know?), I’m needing maternity things.  I almost have confidence that this baby will come around:  my husband is rubbing my belly and the children are betting on blue versus pink and picking out names.  I decided that no, I wasn’t going to use my old bin of maternity-ware, and I would just slowly pick up a few pieces as I could. 

    So, yesterday, my friends and I did just that and we had a blast!  I bought some denim and shirts and a dress to wear for business functions with my husband.  I couldn’t believe the big bag I took home was stuff for ME!  I’m learning how to take better care of myself, and I’m thankful for friends who love me and encourage me to do just that.  And can I just say….I’m thankful that I went back before the store closed and bought those cherry red Mary Jane pumps, too! (My mom would be so proud of me! She’s been wanting me to do this for years).

    Is it difficult for you to treat yourself nicely, too?  It’s amazing how just one new thing feels so nice.  Your smile is what makes you beautiful, but a new pair of socks or a new sweater or a pair of earrings….that can feel just lovely too.  If I could, I would buy you a mocha and make you try on stuff for hours on end, too. 

    Be blessed,

    A Season of Quiet

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    The cusp of autumn finds me in the same manner: on the cusp of autumn.  Gone the spring of girlhood, I feel the waning of summer, too.  I am finding myself more in the quiet places, and choosing to stay there more, allowing the river of worldly madness and energies to flow right on by.  I stay home more, satisfied and contented with snuggling into my nest, forsaking even the radio blather that never seems to edify or encourage, but threatens and frightens.  I blog less than I used to, noting other mothers are sharing similar stories and helps that I would offer anyway.  And although the dozens of books by my bedside say otherwise, I’ve kept my nose in only a few books at a time, my Bible some days being the only one I savor.  A daily journal entry, a few letters to write, a pie or two to bake, some evening artwork or stitching.  Quiet.

    I’ve found a quiet place in my relationships, too.  I used to worry myself over what I did or said wrong, or how come I was treated “thusly”, or why I was misunderstood, or who I may have offended, or how to tiptoe around situations in which I felt very wronged (are you seeing the “I…I….I..”? Ugh. So self-focused.)  It’s not that I didn’t/don’t care anymore;  a loving relationship with everyone would be delightful.  But only God can change hearts, and as long as mine was humble toward God and at peace, theirs were His business.  Learning to guard my heart more brought, and brings, me quiet, too, as my desires for better relationships stopped becoming something my heart needed.

    Cleaning out and redecorating my home has helped me to prioritize how I want to spend my time and money, also.  For example, here I am on a five acre farm-ette…and yet sometimes I think of living with no animals to take care of or a bunch of land to manage.  Homesteading can lend itself to quiet, but it is not always the wistful wonderful live-on-the-land life, either.  Sometimes the water lines in the greenhouse break, the goats get out, the dogs eat the crops and the hens start killing off each other…  usually when the man isn’t home and the baby is crying and supper is boiling over.  Sometimes the farm runs you.

    What about you?  Does your life ever feel like you’re on the other end of a leash with a crazy dog the size of a bus yanking you along?  It doesn’t have to be that way.  For starters, turn off the technology and seek God during that time instead.  I think His small, still voice is louder when our hearts and lives are quiet.   I’m sorry it took me to autumn to begin to learn these things, but I am thankful for the beauty He gives to me through this season in my life.  I am blessed.  I hope you know that you are, too.

    You can read more thoughts on “seasons” this week at other High Five Mom posts. Leave them a comment and tell them I sent you.

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    Blessings,

    Studying God’s Word

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    Isaiah 34:16   Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read…

    WHO:
    John 1:14   And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

    WHAT:
    2 Timothy 2:15   Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

    WHERE:
    Mark 12:30   And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

    WHY:
    Psalms 19:7-11  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD isThe statutes of the LORD sure, making wise the simple. are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

    WHEN:
    Psalms 1:2   But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 

    You can read more thoughts on studying God’s Word this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

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    Shalom,

    Crazy

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    CRAZY, a.

    1. Broken; decrepit; weak; feeble; applied to the body, or constitution, or any structure; as a crazy body; a crazy constitution; a crazy ship.
    2. Broken, weakened, or disordered in intellect; deranged, weakened, or shattered in mind. We say, the man is crazy.

    from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

    “Crazy” is the word I hear most often, sometimes in earnest and sometimes in jest, both from believers and not, regarding the choices we’ve made for our family.  Move out of state with no job in sight? Crazy.  Give up my education and career to stay home with children? Crazy.  Let my teaching license lapse and forgo a secondary income potential?  Crazy.  Butcher my own meat poultry?  Honor my husband’s decisions I disagree with? Have a multitude of children? Keep the one with special needs? (Did you know most babies with Down Syndrome are aborted?) Is it crazy even to consider having another after an awful miscarriage?

    Well, I guess “crazy” is in the eyes of the beholder, according to the basic foundational understanding of who God is (if He even exists in those eyes), and how the world runs. It took me a long time to stop lamenting that I was misunderstood (or even hated), regardless of my sincerity or explanations or faith.  After all, I have been just as guilty of making assumptions about other people’s motives, so that alone should have been my first humbling clue.

    “If you’re going to embrace something different from society’s idea of normal, you should plan on others misunderstanding you, even if they are doing so with the very best of intentions.”
    Jim Hohnberger

    I have come to a quiet place of strength where “crazy” is all right.  Jesus made everything “normal” upside down and sure annoyed a lot of people in the process (to say the least), so who am I to be above my Master? In my Savior’s eyes I am forgiven and beautiful, and it gives me great peace to walk with Him through this vapor-short life, trusting Him.

    If you’ve read this long, you can be on the *secret* that we are expecting a child again.  I am hopeful….(1 Corinthians 1:25)  because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 

    Crazy or not, here we go again.

    Running the race,

    On Waking

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    I just finished a linen bed cover topped with handstitched woolen flowers and vines.  I love the look of it and the weight of it too.  It’s backed with smooth cotton.  I decided not to quilt it because I liked the motion already there on the piece and didn’t want to detract from it.   It feels good to finish this project; I’ve been needing the encouragement of the “here-a-little, there-a-little” adding up to, yes, a completed vision.  It makes me feel like other things will also come to pass.  I like also that it’s not so obvious in color; you have to really look to see its beauty.  Some folks never look for the beauty beyond what seems plain to them. 

    I really enjoyed handstitching this.  I love growing and using herbs and flowers, so this project fit in perfectly with the other parts of me.  I signed up for an art drawing class coming up, on botanical subjects of course.  I dream of drawing my own pictures and translating them into stitchery, or mixed media art of somesort.  I also joined a county writer’s group.  I want to cultivate the things I like to do more.

    The year on this is important.  I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and reintroducing myself to me while shaking up everything in my house and redoing and decluttering it all.  As it turns out, I’ve discovered I can suffer loss and survive, feel betrayal and still hope, and continue to love mercy and walk with my God through it all.  My life is ridiculously short.  To have peace with God is to have life, and to have life….well…then I can offer that to others around me, too!  I’m coming full circle:  it’s all about the Lord, and He is worthy of it all.

    If you like this pattern and/or similar projects, I got this one from here:

    Outside this year, much of the garden lay undone and unseeded.  What was seeded went ignored and unweeded and then, as it does, seeded itself before I could pull it out.  The poultry got into everything, including my front “fenced” garden, and the blackberries and scotchbroom took advantage of the whole thing and crept over rock walls and raised beds.  I sighed a lot looking out at it all.  But I did get some grace here and there, too.  Like blackberry pie.  And hollyhocks.  God’s little kisses when the weeds threatened my eyesight.

    Inside, I let my Russian sourdough starter lapse and die.  I almost lost my kombucha starter.  My household ran out of soap, and I had to buy some from the store.  I realize these aren’t tragic things, but they were out of the norm for me.  Slowly, however, a few friends coaxed me back into the land of the living.  They let me just weird out on them for a while.  A couple of days ago, I made an oat-coconut-pecan pie.  It was like a warm welcome from the oven, its scent reminding me that sweet things still matter.

    God is faithful, and He is still good, all the time.  He walks us through the times that seem (or are) dry and provides plenty of His little angels to minister along the way.  I am thankful for it all.  Joy is real.

    Blessings on your road, wherever you are,

    Harvest

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    Where there is no sowing, there is no harvest worth the labor.  Without sowing, void spaces welcome weed seeds and trouble, and opportunity for evil abounds.  In a happy home, what ought to be sown are fruits of the spirit, in the spirit.  Sometimes it is difficult to do, to find even one more ounce of patience, or one more tender word, or to give one more act of forbearance.  This is when faith is most real, when hope is truly all the motivation in the world. Whatever the trial today, do try to plant something good so that in the later years, your harvest will be precious.

    Psalms 126:6   He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 

    You can read more thoughts on the harvest this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!





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    Blessings,

    …And Ye Would Not

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    Isaiah 30:15   For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

    Whatever you are facing today, whatever fears, discouragements, trials and pains, the answer to them all is the gospel.  Jesus saves sinners, and it is not simply an exercise of intellectual assent over the matter of theology, it is an ongoing, daily, walking through it all reality of His present to cheer and to guide.  The biggest enemy we have in living out these truths in application is not the world nor even the devil who has been laid low and already defeated.  It is ourselves.  We won’t return. We won’t rest.

    Somehow there is comfort in staying in our little mud puddle, picking at the floating bits of crud and decrying how we shall ever become clean again.  If the Lord says something even close to “get up and shower”, we either doubt it was His impression upon us to do so (what, is He setting us up for failure again?), or we just feel compelled to excuse our lot in life (so-n-so pushed me down into it, or I’m just sulking thankyouverymuch). 

    Luke 9:35   And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

    But do we really?  Hear?

    How about when we’re about to yell at our child?
    Proverbs 31:26   She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 
    or
    Psalms 6:1   O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

    How about when we’re weary of yet another bathroom to clean (again)?
    Galatians 6:9   And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

    How about when we feel that God is afar off, oblivious to our trials?
    John 14:16   And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever

    Hearing and listening and then walking in obedience.  This is the victory in Christian living, and it begins with reading His Word as a priority so that we know Him more.  Let us not be the people who “would not”.  Will you hear Him today?

    Peace,

    Coming Home

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     Isaiah 30:15   For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…

    Saving faith upon my knees
    Chipped childhood desk a setting for peace
    Rising I am born anew
    Grace covered, blood boughten, freedom too.


    Granted trust in the Holy Book
    I see, I see, wherever I look!
    Scales off, the sinner set free
    Awestruck, childlike, the Physician’s marquee.


    Questioning, seeking a mentor for me
    Head patted, left to seek generally
    Denomination, predestination, pondering
    Theology, end times, wandering.


    Finding no fit I find myself scarce
    So dig into the Word to find the Truth bare
    A follower of no personality I find
    But Jesus alone in walk and in mind.


    Humble He finds me when I look to Him
    Alone without ‘cumbrance of pride or whim
    Just my Savior, my Bible, my self to His throne
    As in the beginning, heart wooed back to home.

    note:  see the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain for more thoughts on coming home

    Healthy, Quick, Easy Schoolday Lunches

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    Update:  Today (Wednesday), we had leftover cabbage slaw (made w/cilantro and homemade mayo), tossed with leftover chicken (our own!) and mozzarella cheese, topped with crunched saltine crackers and onion bits.  It was delish!

    It is really difficult for me to craft a new lunch every day because, face it, lunch is in the middle of homeschooling, chores, telephone calls and toddler hijinks.   But, we do need to eat!  Here are some ideas of what we like to have for our midweek lunches:

    1. “Snacky lunch”…finger foods such as rolled sandwich meat and cheese sticks, vegetable and fruit slices, glasses of milk.  Basically, what’s in the fridge that we can just pull out and serve?
    2. Leftovers…from the last night! I freshen it up a bit with fresh fruit.
    3. Soups…this is an easy thing to start in the morning and let it simmer all that time until it’s ready for lunch.  And on a cool day, it sure smells up the house nicely!
    4. Chicken or tuna or egg salads with a single slice of bread or with crackers.  This is something easy to double so that it’s ready for at least a couple of days.  We like it topped with cheese and put under the broiler for a few minutes.
    5. Quesadillas with tortillas, cheese, and chopped vegetables (such as celery, carrots, onions, and something green on hand–like kale or broccoli pieces).

    What you won’t find too often here is full sandwiches with two slices of bread.   Sometimes we’ll have almond butter and honey sandwiches but it’s considered a “treat”.  Mostly I try to sneak in as many vegetables as I can into everything I make, and serve up plenty of protein and good brain-growing fats.  Lunch is usually when I serve up the cod liver oil, too.  For drink, we usually have either water, raw goat or cow milk, or kombucha.  Juice is hardly ever served around here because it is so concentrated in sugar.

    You can read more ideas on healthy, quick and easy schoolday lunches this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

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    Blessings,

    The Art of Saying “Yes”

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    When I was a young mother I learned to say “yes” as often as possible to my children, because too often my immediate response to any inquiry that had the potential to throw me from either my task or my time was “no”.  No, we couldn’t take the paints out “right now”.  No, I didn’t think it was a good idea to buy a goldfish.  No, we couldn’t go to the park for the second day in a row.  No, that sounds like an idea that just wouldn’t work.  No, you can’t have or start a bark collection.  Just because.

    And why?  Just because…it sounds messy, I’m tired, I’ve tried that before, it sounds unreasonable (or dumb), I just don’t want to, and besides, there’s always tomorrow or later hidden even in the “hmm…let’s ponder that a while….”

    One of the beauties of homeschooling is in allowing the born-within natural bents to blossom and grow.  But too many times I still find myself saying “no” because, well, it is just easier.  But what if my son grows up to be an accountant when what he really liked to do as a kid was play with aquatics?  What if my daughter becomes a very good librarian when all she really liked to do was play and craft with things from the outdoors?  Or conversely, what if I always made her go outdoors when all she really wanted to do was to become a writer?  In other words, do I celebrate and encourage their interests or do I let my *adult sensibilities* knock them into “reality” and tell them to just get back to their chores, their schoolwork, to the societal expectations of what is success, and to their proper play with “real” toys?

    So this week I am practicing saying “yes” even more.  Yes, you can buy a fish tank and rig up a light and do the whole deal.  Yes, you can sleep outside in the tent.  Yes, you can learn to make pies.  Yes, you can have a garden plot all to yourself.  Yes, you can.  And furthermore, I’ll help you and I won’t laugh or say I told you so if and when it fails.

    Sometimes, the art of saying “yes” begins with ourselves, speaking it into the little girl or boy within.  Sometimes it’s all right to shush up the adult and let the kid play.  I’m learning.

    Joy to you,

    Six Ways to NOT be Overwhelmed

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    End of summer.  End of mountains of sandy/dirty laundry, long road trips, relatives a’visiting.  Time to relax, right?  Righhhhhht….

    Does this look anything like your autumn list?

    • Begin in earnest a new homeschooling year with new books, new curriculum, new pencils and new hopes for a fresh and fulfilling knock-it-out year of academic wowzaminess.
    • Preserve and can a garden full of harvest or at least those few 20 pound boxes of various fruit that was too good to pass up via the local organic food drop
    • Plan and prepare homemade Christmas gifts and supplies for a list of people that hasn’t even been created yet and oh yea don’t forget to plan the holiday photo in time for all of the card addressing and sending off
    • Speaking of gardens (were we?), weed and put the gardens to bed for the winter and make sure any livestock is set for feed and breeding needs
    • And oh yeah, livestock.  It’s butchering time and time to fill the freezer.
    • Begin preparations for fall cleaning for the upcoming holiday season and, once again, the relatives to come a’visiting.

    Allow me to offer you (and the above-list owner)

    Six Ways to NOT be Overwhelmed:

     
    1.  Study to be quiet
    Protect (or carve out) that solitude time in the morning or whenever it is best for you.  Study the Word, take a 20 minute walk, take a daily tea…and let the world pass on by with its (inter)net.  Make time to just sit on the porch and make pictures out of stars.  In other words, chill out, woman.  The world won’t end if you don’t have your 54 pints of applesauce in the pantry by Thanksgiving.

    2.  Work with your hands
    Just do the next thing.  If the next “thing” is completely unclear, break down the larger goals into parts.  For example, if you’re going to make homemade gifts, break it down into step like you’re talking to your five-year-old self.  #1  Pick an idea.  #2  Make a list of recipients.  #3 Make a list of supplies….etc.  Then schedule out when each step can be done onto a calendar.  Focus on the next step, not on the whole finished product.  Pat yourself on the back for accomplishing the step!  You’d do the same for your own child, wouldn’t you?

    3. Build houses
    Seek ye first the kingdom of God.  If the foundation is rotting, the house will fall.  Keep first things first:  God, Bible reading and study, character building.  Don’t ignore discipline issues for lack of time or the warning signals that maybe that group of “friends”or that outside activity for your child isn’t really wise.  Don’t presume upon tomorrow.  Better to let the weeds outside grow than to allow sin to take root on the inside. Remember to keep the main thing, the main thing.

    4. Dwell in them
    Be present.  If your to-do lists are too large to include your children’s “helps” or a quiet evening with your husband doing nothing but watching a movie, then your lists are too large.  Remember that you are also a member of the family.  Use your sofa and knit.  Swing on the kiddy swing.  Dring tea out of one of those hanging tea cups.  Use your tub for a good soak.  Don’t be the blur rushing always by the child waiting for laptime with a book hanging from his hands.

    5. Plant gardens
    There is a time and season for all that truly needs to be done, but sometimes what is needful is dwarfed by what is desired.  Use a schedule, plan your time wisely.  Don’t over commit–and learn to say “no” without guilt!  Making a schedule or even a loose routine will be a good check for a realistic 24 hour day.  No, you can’t be in three places at once.  And yes, you do need to sleep!

    6. Eat the fruit of them
    Eat what you have today; don’t worry about the ‘morrow.  Find gratefulness and blessing in each day, even more than the lacks or failures that seem burdensome. His mercies are new every morning; exhale thanks before your feet hit the floor and remember that although Jesus really had a short time to do the work of the Father, He was never in a hurry. Trust God to give you the time to do what He has called you to do, today.

    You can read more thoughts on not being overwhelmed this week at other High Five Mom posts. Tell them I sent you!

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    Blessings for a peaceful autumn in your home,

    A Book Review for You

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    I’m having a bit of trouble with the widget but wanted to announce that Sara won the book!  Congrats, Sara!

    Photobucket I was pleased to agree to review the book Seasons, by Elizabeth Byler Younts, mainly because this was a young (and married) mother who somehow managed to run her household (moving 5 times in 7 years), birth another baby, and write an entire book!  All of those reasons for reading fizzled though because the true story of her Amish grandmother’s childhood through the Great Depression was enough to keep me totally engrossed.  I am really pleased to offer you this interview with Elizabeth about her lovely book.

    Play

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    You can win a signed copy of this book!


    IMPORTANT: Please leave your entries above using the Rafflecopter form. 

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    Please know that I did not receive any financial compensation for doing this review other than a free copy of the book.

    With blessings, and much gratitude for all in my life,

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    On Walking on Sidewalks With Friends

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    I walked along the sidewalk with my best friend Kelli, her short wavy strawberry hair and short plump stature contrasting with my straight dark brown hair and skinny tall nine year old self. 

    “Stoppit….stoppit….”
    “What?” I answered.
    “When you walk, you walk crooked and you’re pushing me off the sidewalk!”

    And that’s how it’s always been for me:  finding one or two close friends at a time amongst the pleasantries of dozens of acquaintances, and walking close enough to them to lean into them when I’m talking and walking through life. 

    Interesting, this:
    Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. 
     
    I wonder about the sharp countenance, and do I really need a friend to salt the look of the lines on my face?  Besides, if iron strikes iron, doesn’t that make things hot and fiery? Maybe those fiery ones aren’t friends at all; they cause sparks, they leave bitter fruit, dry as gravel.  They’re the ones that doubt your intentions, phshaw your efforts, and smile with their lips but not with their eyes.  You never feel quite encouraged in their presence.  Maybe you even feel defensive.

    A good friend, though, is one that sharpens your resolve, your dreams, your faith.  They use their sparks to push you to a greater more lively you.  They whisper like the grass angels, cheering you on, “grow, grow” *, and they know when to apply the fertilizer of truth and rebuke with compassion and care.   They hear your dreams and will find at least one good thing to say and leave you with.   Much like the motorcyclists that greet one another while zipping by in opposite directions, they’re the ones that will still give you a high five as you travel your own highways, even if your bumper stickers differ.  Even if you sometimes knock them off the sidewalk.  It’s the kind of friend I long to be.

    With that in mind, let me introduce you to four other ladies who desire to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ and want to encourage you, too.  Consider them new friends of this blog.  As you visit them you’ll notice we have similarities and differences….but we all endeavor to cheer our sisters on in the race worth running.  I am humbled to be part of this group.  Every week we’re going to share our take on a topic, and we hope it will be a welcome cheer for the race you’re running. 

    I for one am already blessed, for my walk on the sidewalks of life continue to alternate between focused determination and daydreamy side-stepping off the curbs.  My friends know it.  And they still walk with me by my side knowing the risks.  I am blessed.

    * “Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.” The Talmud 

     You can read more thoughts on Proverbs 27:17 this week at other High Five Mom posts.  Tell them I sent you!

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     Blessings,

    The Do’s of “Biblical Womanhood”

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    A lot of you know I’ve been in a floundering state lately.  Not only have I shaken my house up like a snowglobe to see how I can simplify more or redecorate with what I have, but I’ve been zeroing in on a lot of my thought processes like a pinpoint too, asking myself, “hmm…why is that?  Why do I think that?”  One thing I’m figuring out is that I’m definitely a workaholic.  I can’t even sit down to watch a video with the kids without having to do something “productive” like mending or organizing or clipping little nails.  In fact, whenever I get into the daydreaming la-la mode, I am quick to nip it in the bud, set the timer for 15 minutes and off I fly!  I also care a whole lot about what people think, and I burden myself too much with trying to at least be acceptable to folks who have already made up their minds that I shall never be such.

    In addition, there is sometimes a disconnect between my slow-life-spirit and my fast-life-flesh. “Hmm…why is that?”

    It seems to me a lot of Christian women have their own “gotta do’s” or “must be’s” in order to live the abundant life.  Do any of these sound familiar?  A Christian woman:

    • reads her Bible every day, without fail, during her “quiet time”
    • prays constantly
    • serves cheerfully, gratefully, sacrificially, constantly
    • respects her husband completely
    • is always ready to train up her children at the moment they need training
    • builds upon her family’s economics by preserving the harvest, baking from scratch, buying used
    • receives every baby faithfully, unwavering
    • forgives, loves, and does good all the days of her life

    None of these things sound bad, do they?  In fact, they might be qualified in some circles as “fruit”, obvious manifestations to the testimony this woman claims to have.  But I do wonder about this verse:

     John 6:29   Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

    That, dear readers, is the real “work” of the Christian woman:  to believe on Jesus Christ, trusting Him for your repentance towards God.  May I add “period”?

    I wonder how many of us are running ragged, struggling with finding joy, swimming in doubt because we are just plain tired of all the to-do’s and must-be’s?  May I remind you that it’s been DONE?  Every work you needed (and need) to do to please the Father, He did (and does, through you!). All you and I did before getting saved was heap wrath upon ourselves, even in our moralistic good works.  And all we do now by trying so hard to be that “Biblical Woman” is make ever growing checklists of what exactly defines that.  How disappointed are you when you don’t measure up?  Most importantly, does Jesus think you aren’t measuring up?  Whose standards or expectations have you adopted?  And how is that different from what Jesus said the work of God is?

    Maybe we need to stop trying so hard to work for that sense of accomplishment and acceptance.

    If you’ve repented and put your trust in Jesus, you can rest in peace, truly.  And all of those really nice sounding “to do’s” that we’ve added to ourselves will stop being things to DO but things that will just outflow from our lives, naturally, as the Lord leads.  He is moving us towards sanctification, and He isn’t whipping us to get there, but asking us to follow.  And we’re not responsible for the sins of others, either, especially if our consciences are clear.

    Philippians 1:6   Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…

    I hope you’ll remember His finished work on your behalf, that you are loved by the Creator of the entire universe and entirely accepted and loved through Jesus Christ.  May grace abound to you more every day as you seek a happy home.  I for one am going to allow myself a little more daydreaming.

    Blessings,

    A Walk Around a Pacific Northwest Garden

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    Want to take a walk with me around our gardens?  We’ve got the goat milked and the hens let out and all of the animals are happily watered and fed.  Let’s grab the point-n-shoot and head out….

    Yes, what you see here is a real miracle:  tomatoes growing in the Pacific Northwest:

    And a squash of some sort.  I’m glad I took records because I can’t recall what this is off the top of my head.  Looks like a pumpkin.  Maybe.

    Another miracle:  corn growing.  They’re all very short though, so we’ll see.
    A sweet young lady made this sign.  We bought it from her at the farmer’s market.
    Hummingbirds love these flowers.  And we love hummingbirds.
    I love poppies.  I pretty much let them bloom wherever they want to.
    These are my favorite roses I think of all time.  They are called “The Generous Gardener”.
    Did I mention I love poppies?  Even their seed heads are gorgeous.  Sprinkle seeds away!
    Figs are a’growin’.
    This is an interesting pink butterfly style hydrangea bush.
    And this is the welcoming committee if you come to my back door.  Don’t worry; he’s friendly.
    Yes, I even let poppies come up through my lavender plants.
    I love this sweet little birdhouse even though no bird has ever used it.
    My hens free range.  Which means they freely eat my growing vegetables.  Ah well.  They pay me back in eggs.
    Not many sweet peas this year.  Seems like every year I get some flowers that do fantastic, and some that are just ho-hum.  Sweet peas I love.
    The apples are coming!  I know I should “thin them out” but I like the smaller sizes.  These are the ones that the dogs cannot reach.  We just might get to eat these!
    Nasturtiums are so lovely!  They go nuts in my garden sprawling everywhere.  In the background are onions growing and then black bean plants climbing up.
    Successfully grew celery this year!  Fresh cut celery tastes amazing!
    I love growing lavender.  I don’t even know how many plants of it I have anymore.  I didn’t cut much of it this year though; it’s been a floundering sort of season for me.  But I still enjoy them.
    Calendula always comes back here.  It’s one of my favorite healing herbs.  I keep meaning to harvest them, but I haven’t.  It’s ok, I guess.
    Love love love big blue hydrangeas!
    Someone’s feeling ignored while I take pictures.
    Here is this year’s garlic harvest.  The bulbs are sort of small, but I wanted an intense flavor and this is the size I got with the variety I wanted.  I plan to powder these.  We love garlic in just about *everything*!
    Sometimes the harvest is comical.  Like our potatoes?  Those are KID gloves for size comparison!  You win some, you lose some in gardening.

    I didn’t do a whole lot this year, and frankly, I’m thankful for all of my perennials that gave me grace and color this year without my working at it.  How does your garden grow?

    Blessings,

    Writer’s Block (Well…Sorta…)

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    I’m sitting here on a shady deck on a halfway sunny day drinking a hot mocha with whip out of a paper cup.  I’ve already removed and licked the cream off the lid and am only just slightly bemused by the fact that I still prefer my drinks hot even in the summer.

    The coffee shop in town roasts their own beans on the premises and the rumbling of it mingles with the scent of sea salt off the Puget Sound while bits of coffee chaff pepper my paper.  You’d think this would be the quintessential opportunity for a blog post or an article or two to come scratching forth from my mechanical pencil but instead I sit here thinking, “Hmmm….” and “Well….” and “Ok then….” 

    I think of the woman who on Twitter thanks the Lord for dozens of books published and hundreds of ideas she has no time to write.  I think of unfollowing her, and I’m thankful for the interruption of a blushing preteen boy trying to turn off his mother’s car alarm with fumbling fingers.

    It’s been a float/flounder/follow sort of season this year.  It’s sort of like having a very full mind but nothing to say, a little cagey.  Is this what happens when babies stop arriving?  I wonder about that.  My children are growing–it is delightful.  I try to suck in and soak up and absorb as a sponge the days of chubby cheeks and cheeky behaviors but it is much like holding water in my hands.

    Maybe it’s time to nurture myself more, let me grow, remember the kid in me that likes Cadbury’s Flake bars and the smell of real wooden number two pencils.  The grown-up part of me can say no to the discontents, the discouragers, the negativity, the crazy expectations, the rolling eyes and those mean girls that used to call me names in middle school but somehow have just turned up wearing other people’s faces.  I can say “ta-ta!” to all of that and still laugh at the days to come.

    I watch a man from the restaurant next door take out the garbage in a big black bag to be taken to parts unknown, never to touch his hands again.  I trust Jesus to take out my garbage, too, to bury them at sea, that awful sign of judgment that came once before.  I never want to see Him as irrelevant, unknowable, mythical.  Faith like a child suits me, I’m finding.

    I watch the tree swallows swoop around zipping dragonflies as I finish off my mocha and prepare for the bike ride home.  I sure wish I could have thought of something to write…

    The 2011-12 Plan

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    Here are our curriculum choices for the upcoming year.  We have children 13, 11, 9, 7, 5 and 3 (see a pattern? ha).   Ruby is the 3yo, our daughter with Down Syndrome, who is still toddler-ish.  So I am teaching from that stage on through 8th grade (“ish” you understand, as homeschooling is not graded like public schools).

    I haven’t shared our schooling for a while but because I feel like I’m just coming out of a slumber, I’m going to share it to help me cement what we’re doing for the upcoming year.

    Some of the “mommy-teacher” preparation I’ve been doing:

    reading The Philosophy of Christian Curriculum
    a visit to a Classical Conversations meeting to check it out
    two days in a Spell to Write and Read seminar (and three more to come next month!)
    just living life and observing my children

    Bible:
    Proverbs 1:7   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.   Knowledge isn’t knowledge if wisdom cannot be applied (no matter how many letters are after your name), and without the Lord there is no wisdom that can be applied rightly.  So the Bible is the foundation of our homeschool.  I believe it was the foundation of our educational methods for at least a hundred years or more, and as we fell away (or ran, as it were) from it, our standards and our academics suffered.  It is also why you will see mostly Christian resources that we use.  And grace is why it doesn’t suffer me to see another parent use non-Christian resources.  Homeschooling is a blessing for all children!

    We are reading through the psalms and discussing them, and Daddy is reading through proverbs.  Knowing those two books well will certainly give a firm foundation for everything else. 

    We use Scripture Memory Fellowship for memorization tools, and Studying God’s Word for individual study time.  This year I am assigning passages to read.

    Literature:
    We are going to use FACE’s literature recommendations to work through for character study and notebooking.  As an example, my 14yo will be reading/studying Ben Hur, the Odyssey, the Story of King Arthur, Idylls of the King and Hamlet.  My 5yo will hear Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Aesops Fables, Bambi, Little House in the Big Woods, and poems by Stevenson.  All of the big kids will read their McGuffey’s, too. This means I am going to have to in my daily scheduling allow for chunks of plain old READING time.  I am really looking forward to a couple of hours of quiet with popcorn and hot cocoa mugs at the ready.

    Language Arts:
    For grammar, spelling, and etymology we are going to work through creating our own English language textbooks via Spell to Write and Read and English From the Roots Up.  I have always loved learning about the history of the English language and this combines with real, brain research about how connections are made in language learning.  It is stretching me and I love it!  My young ones will be learning cursive first!

    Composition:
    We’ve been doing IEW for a few years now and it has been very good.  This year we are trying out some new assignments using the same methodology through Classical Writing.  I’m not sure how it will go but it sure looks interesting.  Plus there will be plenty of notebook work and science and geography reports.  They have pen pals to write to, also.

    Math:
    We are satisfied with using Teaching Textbooks and are going to continue with that.  My younger ones are using workbooks and I am committing to lots of flash cards for math facts this year.

    Science/Geography:

    My kids are working through textbooks from Abeka, reading Nature Readers, and going through a Nutrition course.  Plus a friend of mine is going to come do experiments with them in exchange for my teaching her children art methods.

    I’m going to use Around the World in 180 Days as a weekly scavenger hunt/encyclopedia work.

    History:

    We are using Mighty Works of God for the youngers and are studying the reformation this year with the olders via Christendom lectures.  We’ll be working through a church history textbook too.  I think all of this will dovetail beautifully with learning more about the English language.

    The Fine Arts:
    We like to use Atlier for methods and practice and Cornerstone Curriculum for study of famous paintings and worldviews expressed through art.  My oldest is taking a video pencil drawing course.  All of my children take violin lessons and some are taking piano (we alternate weeks to help with costs).  My son is teaching himself guitar.  We have a *wonderful* Suzuki music teacher who sees her work as a ministry; we could not afford to pay regular going rates for music lessons!

    Other:
    We’re going to attempt doing the memory work ala Classical Conversations (not joining a group, just on our own with another family).  I’m not entirely sold on teaching via a “classical” method; I have to remind myself that our homeschool is primarily (1) God and Bible and (2) discipleship/relationship. Everything else is bonus.

    I consider lifeskill projects (Keepers of the Faith is helpful here…as are CHORES), board games, audio books, oral presentations, field trips, and family bicycling trips just as important as everything else.

    So there is the “list” of our work to do.  I wish I could say it is all planned and scheduled and that we’ll get it all done in a year but truly we work best at picking and plodding through because other stuff happens, too:  cooking meals, milking goats, illness, running off to the beach at a whim…  I have learned not to stress about what does and doesn’t get “done” because my ideas about what is “accomplished” doesn’t always mesh up with what Jesus would say I really did do for His Kingdom. 

    I am thankful for grace, and for homeschooling too!

    If you would love to spend some time taking a peek at other people’s curriculum choices, there is plenty and then some here:

    Blessings to you,

    What to Do When Floundering

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    “Floundering” seems to describe my movements these days.  I get some direction and purpose and then it fizzes out as the days go by (or even the hours!).  My schedule has been hit-n-miss, my menu planning has been more miss than hit, and sometimes I find myself just unable to do the next thing.  Especially when my mind is blank about what that “next thing” is supposed to be!  Do you ever feel that way?

    This morning I was lamenting how even my blog seems like it’s floundering.  I generally don’t write unless I have something to say, and…well…I haven’t had much to say lately.  But it dawned on me that I had three things that are getting me through this time, and I thought I’d share it with you in case you ever need it.

    1.  FLOAT  Some days, some years, it is all right to let things lie fallow.  No one starved at my house without a menu planned and somehow my children all made great gains in academic achievement even without finishing our schoolwork for the year.  There were a lot of things I didn’t do this year, like “spring cleaning”.  I just let them go.  We survived.  

    2.  FOLLOW  Follow Jesus, that is.  I read the Bible more.  I took reading fasts, meaning I didn’t read anything else at all.  I found that my reading other stuff (blogs, magazines, books, etc) a lot of the time took the place of my doing stuff.  I’d say “follow your heart” but I know it is deceitful and not exactly a true measure of things.  That being said, I do think it’s useful to step back, look at what’s going on, and ask yourself the big questions, like what your dreams are, who your friends are, why you’re insisting others behave a certain way, etc etc.  And when you’re unsure of answers, go back to principle #2:  Follow Jesus.

    3.  FISH  This is sort of like just “doing the next thing.”  It works if you’re focused enough but sometimes I just needed to set my timer for 15 or 30 minutes to do a task and make me focus.  Sometimes what’s needed is B.I.C. time (Bottom In Chair) to do that read aloud, and sometimes it’s just “cut up the onion for supper….that’s all for now…”  When I say “fish” what I mean is just cast your line, do one thing towards an overwhelming goal.  Some days you’ll feel good about your full accomplishments, some days you’ll feel like it was a loss.  Either way, at least cast your line.  Sometimes Jesus will fill the net to overflowing even when you doubt the cast.

    At times it’s not only hard to run the race, it’s hard to want to run the race.  Some days (some years) are just like that.  It’s just part of life, and when you crest to the other side, it’s good to remind others of that as well.

    Blessings,

    Thirteen Years Later…

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    …I remembered I liked riding my bike.  But I sold it to a young lady when I was home with my first born trying to recover from surgery and figure out how to nurse, and I was pacing the floors either waiting for the wee thing to wake up from her naps so we could go do something together or trying to get her to sleep so I could be rested and human again.  And taking a bicycle out was not in my life frame. 

    This last Saturday, my husband and I went to the large chain store and came home with a bicycle just for me, a lovely beach cruiser.  With a wicker basket.

    My children were delighted!  The next day we came home from worship, took a few hours to rest, and then all took off to the nearby bicycle trails that had us going up hills and down hills and round corners and through the summery woods dotted with sunshine.  We ended up at the local country store and filled my basket with ice cream sandwiches and chocolate bars, and then parked our bodies on the old, old used-ta-be ferry pier to partake.  I’m on the far right in the picture; my husband pulled along little Ruby in a trailer.  She loved it, all 7 1/2 miles of it!

    The first bicycle I remember owning was a pink one with a banana seat.  I remember cruising all over the neighborhoods, up and down the curbs, racing my friends to the park every afternoon after school.  I find the current empty afternoon neighborhoods creepy.  Where are all the kids?

    I was nervous riding a bicycle again, but like the cliche, it came back to me.  Funny how those little things from girlhood can do that; and if I allow them to, they bring along some pretty happy moments.

    Blessings,

    On Remembering, Not Re-Inventing

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    I feel almost sheepish about posting a blog due to the time between visits, but I’ve been trying to focus on some things.  For one, I’ve been writing again in my journal on a daily basis and that has been good for me.  Part of that was in establishing a habit, and like all habits, it was gritty and mean for a while.  I’ve been re-discovering my love of writing, stoked when I was but a child.  And then I did something risky and dumb:  joined my county’s writing group.  Ack!  I haven’t been part of a writer’s group for (um….uh…) 19 years.  Furthermore, although I love blogging for my readers (you are all so fabulous!), it isn’t the same as writing, rewriting, editing, rewriting some more, ripping my hair out when I’m stuck on a plot and then finally after 28 pages discovering what the whole story is really about (and then of course starting over again).  This isn’t re-inventing myself.  It’s remembering myself.

    And oh yeah, when I was a kid, I liked to paint.  And use scissors.  And as an adult I have been flush with tools but not with time (supposedly).  Besides, nothing I could ever create would come even close to what was in my brain of how I wanted it (whatever “it” was) to look like anyway.  So my children got the colored pencils, the art lessons, the art quality paper.  Me?  I got all of the books to read about doing art, to supposedly inspire me but it mostly ended up as eye candy that got my heart sick with the fat of envy.  My current goal is to create something every week, start to finish, no matter how small.  And I bought my very own paints and now I make my very own mess.   And I am learning to be kind to myself, to combat negative self-talk with the encouragement I would give to anybody else except for me.

    One of the things I did was attack my closet.  O-u-t went everything that didn’t fit me nicely or had baby spit up on it from who knows how many babies ago.  It was a bit of a downer when it was all said and done; my closet was bare!  But slowly I am building up a wardrobe again, a shirt here, new socks there.  I can fit my whole wardrobe into a large suitcase, there really isn’t much, but at least it all looks nice on me.  I cut my hair, too, short.   My natural hair is wavy and I was wearing it long all the time.  I love it now, with it’s spunky look (and no hair bands!).  My husband likes it too.  He’s growing out a beard, which I like.

    I ran my first 5K, bought a bicycle, put up my loom for sale and ripped apart my kitchen cabinets to paint them.  A rainy-day garage sale netted me almost $400 with nothing priced (“just whatever you think is fair…”), my Dad surprised me with a Kindle, I let magazine subscriptions lapse and sold my entire beekeeping operation.   Things are in a disarray and yet I truly believe order is coming.

    The Lord is still good and He is still faithful.  And I will have more to share soon.

    Blessings,

    Expressing the Creative Side

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    Rearranging the house, painting furniture, zealous decluttering happening around these parts.  And a massive garage sale coming on Saturday morning.  It is slow, room by room, drawer by drawer, but the house is getting a huge fresh breath of air.  For too long I haven’t wanted to really invest in my home this way because (1) I didn’t *deserve* a big beautiful house and (2) we had (have) no money to do anything major.  Ahhh but grace abounds and re-decorating with what I have is free.  Besides, selling stuff makes money, and as it turns out my kids love to paint (praise the Lord because I don’t!).

    My closet got a makeover as well.  First I removed absolutely everything out of it.  And then I painted the wall and my husband’s childhood dresser, and then I refused to put anything back in that didn’t fit or made me feel frumpy or was just plain old.  Yes, that emptied my closet!!  I am slowly filling it with a purchase here and there, and it is amazing how much better it feels to have a small wardrobe and to know everything there will be something nice that fits well.  I have the perfect little new dress to wear for my 19th wedding anniversary coming up on Monday.

    I love my letter friends and pen pals! It is so nice to get a letter (thank you!) and to carefully pry it loose it during a quiet moment (OR to rip it open in the car outside the post office!).  I love just listening to the handwriting and contemplating the words of these other faithful women just making their way like I am. I think every woman needs a letter-writing friend. It fosters slowness.  Observation.  Exhaling.

    I’ve also been journaling, re-creating my habit of writing every day.  It’s been like meeting myself, all over again!

    Slowly stitching my way across my linen and wool bed cover.  I’m working on the border now.  A couple of days ago I was threading through the pieces thinking how I need to make more time for this, not just for me but for my children as well.  There’s far too much time in academics and chores and I think we need more balance in the visual arts, at least to allow them to express their creative sides more.  I tend to worry more about finishing grammar work than if they got anything even remotely related to art begun or finished. I bet we could listen to audio books and whatnot while we worked on projects.  I’ll be praying on this while we make out our new autumn schedule.

    I did finish my basket!  I made it the perfect size for carrying a casserole dish in, and deep enough also for two dishes.  My husband said he would make me a little tabletop to separate the two layers.  A friend of mine sewed up the liner for me in exchange for herbal tinctures, and we are both very happy with that trade!

    The garden is blooming, and it is wonderful to look out the kitchen windows to see the crazy purples and oranges and blues and of course green everywhere.  The nice thing is that most of it is just perennials coming back, and I let the surprises just be where they wanted for the most part: poppies in the path, borage throughout, calendula seeding elsewheres.  I haven’t even minded the hens coming in.  If I have salad greens (and I do!) it is a plus; if I don’t, I figure it’s an excuse to go to the farmer’s market.  I have corn, squash, beans, and tomatoes out front this year, too, but I’m not too stressed about keeping the weeds down.  Maybe I should be.  But I’m not.

    Between my road trip with my friend, and the vacation at the beach with my family we just had, I’ve got a little stash of artist playthings going.  Wool felt, ribbon, fat quarter fabric, scrapbooking paper, stickers, a rubber stamp, paint.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all.  But right now I am enjoying them all on my desktop, just looking pretty.  Maybe inspiration will come.

    I’m learning that I don’t need to necessarily have my act together (according to me, my biggest critic) before embarking on creative pursuits.  I just need to start them, and to cultivate habit and routine to see them through.  The arts can become just another aspect of homelife, weaving in through homeschooling, homemaking, playing and dishes. 

    What did you like to do when you were young?  What arts do you most enjoy?  Try a little nibble if you’re feeling a little dry, and maybe that seedbed will stir into something beautiful.

    Blessings,

    Road Trip!

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    My husband blessed me with a short road trip vacation with a friend of mine.  We hopped into my little car with our bags and her spinning wheel, and I promised to drive the six hours one way and back as long as she pointed the way with the help of her spiffy iPhone maps application.

    Our destination was the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon, where the fairgrounds hosted buildings-full of roving, yarns, dyes, spindles and everything else you could think of to do with animal fiber.  It took a very long time just to walk through the amount of vendors and to just see everything.  While there, we both took some classes, and also watched some of the fleece judging.  This man, from New Zealand I think, was so impressively educated on everything fleece.  He was able to just look and feel and then start expounding on the type of animal, the breed (he could even guess the cross!), the manner of shearing and the overall quality.  He was also very funny!  It was a jolly good show.

    One of the things I did ahead of time was research the “best” places to eat while there as I prefer to avoid chain restaurants as much as possible.  Oh boy, did we eat well…such as Thai food, burgers, pizza, wraps, and of course some lamb sausage at the Gathering itself.  This was probably the funniest food we came across, though, all knitted:

    Speaking of food, we meandered around the Saturday farmer’s market and I think there were three full blocks of vendors (no joke!).  Wow, do I ever wish we had a market like that in our own neighborhood!  Naturally, most of the offerings were organic.  I picked up a basket of cherries that I enjoyed later that afternoon.

    What I should have picked up in addition to cherries was some of this woman’s amazing rose petal jams and treats.  The sample was yummy! 

    I mean, just check out how gorgeous her chocolate rose petal truffles look. 

    We were really amused by a small group of people that were walking around shaking canastas and singing “Saturday….marrrrrr-ket!….”  This little girl added to the ambiance with her smirk and ears and fox tail and violin playing.  And yes, there was quite a bit of tie-dye everywhere.

    I was aware of the presence of at least three vendors who were either evangelizing or trying to raise money for Christian work.  This particular one was selling jewelry and donating to the pregnancy care center where women could get support for choosing not to abort their babies.  Ironic, how the current fight is for the abortion industry to maintain federal funding while the real support and care comes from women scrapping to sell hand goods to truly care about “women’s health”.

    The funny thing is, while we were driving around trying to not go down a one-way street, in the middle of a conversation I lamented aloud, “Where are all of the street preachers, calling people to repentance and giving them the hope of the gospel like Paul?”  And whaddayaknow, at that very moment my friend pointed to my left and there he was!  I called out to him, “thank you!” and he nodded.  Who knows if he was feeling discouraged just when I thanked him?  *sigh* Jesus is amazing.  And I was so encouraged that He was still active and at work in the world, not willing that anyone should perish.  I really did miss going to worship that Sunday morning.

    We did find a used bookstore during our stay; it was two stories and filled top to bottom.  I was thinking, “great farmer’s market….great used bookstore…I could move…”

    Oh yeah, and this bakery cinched it for me (the willingness to move thing).  Seriously, this has got to be the best bakery I’ve ever been to.  For some better photos, check out their website.  Prepare to drool.

    In between classes and touring and just messing around at the sheep gathering (and yes, there were hundreds of actual sheep there too), I spent a goodly amount of time just lying in the grass under the bright warm sunshine reading and writing.  I almost forgot how great it feels to just lie in the grass with bare feet and a good book!  It was an amazing gift my family gave me, this time just to rest and to do nothing (other than drive, eat, and shop).

    One of the last places my friend and I visited was a huge rose garden.  It was beautiful, but because the grounds had been fumigated just days earlier, it was rather much for our senses.  But gorgeous blooms besides, and an enjoyable end to our trip.

    I’m sorry to say I didn’t get even one picture of my friend and I together!  It was really a very lovely time, and I’m looking forward to going again some year with my daughters and perhaps taking a friend or two again and their daughters.  I am thankful for the time, and appreciate my family for letting me take it.

    Ruby at Three

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    Ruby, my daughter with Down Syndrome, just turned three. I wanted to share her with you but the girl is just too fast and won’t let me take a decent photograph! So you’ll just have to catch her in motion.

    My husband and I spent some time talking about her birth and how that played out in different ways for both of us. I even closed up and deleted my last blog through it all (so I wouldn’t be tempted to blog more; I needed space and my husband needed me).  The journey through it all was fruitful for both of us, and we have no regrets for traveling on that road (even though, of course, we never would have planned it!  Who plans for detours?!).

    Sometimes I forget that she has Down Syndrome. But then I’m reminded when she does something like just walking out the door and heading down the road and I know she might still do that when she’s 14. Or 42. She will always need someone to look out for her.

    She has health risks and challenges that I need to stay on top of, and I’m still trying to read everything and teach myself how to best help her. I think every mother with a special needs child totally understands how mommy is the first line of defense, or offense, as needed in the care of their child.

    Her five siblings love her very much. Even though Ruby sees a neurodevelopmentalist several times a year, her siblings are her “therapists”. They play with her, talk with her, read to her, and encourage her in things like kicking or riding a tricycle or forming words.

    At three, she is the size of where my other children were at two. She is just different. I am so thankful she is well and growing. I’ve read enough blogs of other mommies with Down Syndrome children who have tragic problems and even early deaths to know that every day is truly a gift. I rejoice every day I have her with us.  And I rejoice when I meet other moms who choose to give their pre-born babies with Down Syndrome (or “fill in the blank with whatever scary diagnosis you can think of”) life outside the womb.  Life is such a gift, a miracle, even in different packages.

    Ruby has Down Syndrome but she also has our hearts. Happy birthday, Ruby Mae!

    Pastured Poultry From Your Backyard

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    In this podcast my husband and I share about how we raised and butchered our own meat hens. We didn’t grow up farming, we’re not experts, but with help from the internet and a “just do it” attitude, we did it and are so happy with the results. Believe me, if we can do this, you can too.

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    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

    This was the best help we found on the internet: How to Butcher a Chicken. We also watched numerous youtube videos.

    Here are the next batch of chicks ready to grow! We left two Cornish Cross to grow up some more.

    And this, my friends, is real, wholesome, nutrient rich food. Awesome.

    You also might like to hear Milk From (Your!) Front Yard.

    This podcast was featured at:

    Blessings,

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    Lessons From Zephaniah

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    …or, Help in a Stressed Marriage…

    As mentioned in a previous post, there are times that sin and/or disagreement puts stress on a marriage.  As daughters of Eve, we women are tempted to “fix” things in ways that sound and look reasonable, but as Christians (adopted as daughters of God, through Jesus Christ), our call is to trust God, overcoming those temptations to nag or fight or even leave with the power of the Word.  Some might call that being a doormat.  I call it living in victory and fighting the devil for the sake of our marriage.  I am, after all, planning our 50th wedding anniversary party that’s coming in 31 years.

    The best place to be when things get hard is in the Word of God.  Because All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16)…well, you could be anywhere in the Bible and if you’re saved, God will use it to teach you.  Anywhere, like even in the tiny book of Zephaniah.


    Zephaniah 1:7   Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD…
    The Lord’s given you peace.  Hold onto it.  Watch that tongue, that wagging thing with the power of life or death within it.  Don’t trade that peace like a river for volcanic lava on a low simmer.

    Zephaniah 2:3   Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger. 
    Seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility.  If your husband is in sin, the Lord will deal with it.  If you try to “fix” him, you may make a hash of everything.  Remember Rebecca?  How she tried to obtain the blessing for Jacob while Isaac was going to sin in blessing Esau?  Was she blessed?  Remember Sarah?  How she tried to “help” God by obtaining a son for Abraham outside of her own womb?  Listen, God knows what’s going on, God will deal with it, and He doesn’t need your “help”.

    Zephaniah 3:2   She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
    Is the sin your husband in any greater than the sin of going your own way, of demanding that God explain Himself in these matters, that He fix things *right now*?

    Zephaniah 3:8   Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD…
    If all things are in God’s hands, if He can turn even the hearts of kings and control the wind and the waves, if all things are light and momentary and this life is but a vapor…then waiting upon the Lord in trust is the very least of what we owe our King of Kings.

    Zephaniah 3:14   Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 
    Gratitude is the heart’s praise, it is said.  Instead of stewing, find things to think on that are edifying. Sing a hymn, read a psalm, start a blessings list.  We are not owed anything at all, but we are to be thankful in all things.  
    Philippians 4:8   Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

    Zephaniah 3:15   The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy…
    Think on the cross.  You were once an enemy of God, rejecting His commandments and rebelling against Him.  You can forgive your husband because God forgave you.  Because of this, divorce amongst Christians ought to be very, very (very) rare.  
    Romans 5:8   But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

    Zephaniah 3:16 ….Let not thine hands be slack. 
    Stay busy about the business God has given you.  Love your children, keep your home, fix the meals.  If the TV causes you to brood, turn it off.  If time on the internet causes you to neglect your family, cut it out.  Just do the next thing, and try to find some joy in the fact that you are able to even participate in God’s world and work.

    Zephaniah 3:17   The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. 
    In the midst of trials, there is nothing better than to be present in them with the Lord.  If we know all things work together for the good of them that love Him, if we know He cares about every hair on our head, then we can rest in that boat even on the days it looks like He is asleep in the back of it.


    Going through trials?  Stay in His Word, and trust Him.


    Blessings,

    Late Spring This-n-That

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    Here is some catch-up on what’s going around my home and farm-ette. 

    Flowers are coming into bloom, including the unusual pink lilic tree; what an intoxicating introduction to spring.  I love wandering to and fro through the garden and smelling nature’s perfume wafting from the newest blooms.  The apple blossoms are finished, and sweet rocket is in full bloom.  The irises out front are in full purple array, and they–believe it or not–really do smell just like root beer!

    I added three new kinder goat baby gals to my herd. They’re very sweet and adorable but I’ve had to work hard towards getting them healthy. I don’t know if it was the stress of the move or what, but I am learning as I go how to treat my own goats and keep them in the best shape. It’s not like I went to “goat school” or whatnot. I am very pleased with their progress so far. The little black goat on the left has the silkiest fur coming in and it does feel good to see outward healing.  Isn’t she cute chewing her cud?!

    I like this outside wall art and wanted to share it; it’s made from from an old bicycle chain link.  I love this sort of clever repurposing; some folks are just so artistically talented!  I would never think of this!

    My girls anxiously awaited the first warm day of the season, and when it arrived, they grabbed all of their doll clothes and washed every one of them by hand on the washboard and hung them up to dry in the garden.  I love the idea of having a clothesline, with sunshine and fresh air infusing themselves into our clothes.  Maybe someday.  And then I’ll know just who (times three!) will get to pin them all up!

    Speaking of art in the garden, I love these painted pottery chimes as well.  They sound very mellow.

    My husband and I had the “great idea” of raising our own pastured chicken for our family’s food. We felt pretty confident that we could get someone to come take us through the butchering process, but as it worked out, everyone was busy. Let’s just say, “thank God (truly!) for internet and youtube instruction!” Here is my friend who showed up with her six children to help me figure it out. There are friends you can call at three in the morning, and then there are friends you can call on to help you kill and gut your food. This one is both.

    Overall, we’re having a good start to the summer season.  Our community has a new boat to the city, and though I’m glad my morning commute is just from my bedroom to the rest of the house, I’m real excited for the difference this boat will make in the lives of our commuters; shorter travel times mean more time for family and that I think is a real blessing.

    Enjoy the season!

    Truthful in Trials

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    “God brings us into straits that He may bring us to our knees.” (Matthew Henry)

    It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting:
    for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.  Ecc 7:2

    A few of my friends are going through some really trying times in their marriages, and I haven’t been immune to them either.  Between just the five of us, we are dealing with marital infidelity, unemployment, pornography, financial difficulties, death of children, and upheaving a life in order to sell a house and in essence, start over.  In other words, just because God is the Lord in our homes, it isn’t always “happy” in the sense of perfection.
    As Christian wives, it’s sometimes hard to know what to do.  We know we’re supposed to follow our husband’s lead, but what if where he’s leading is where you don’t want to go?  Our options (and actions) vary from quietly having rational discussions to all-out fighting, sometimes both on the same day and we are not immune from bristling and falling down in our fleshly ways.  Furthermore, it seems that because at least culturally we “understand” that Christians don’t ever, ever complain about anything (because that somehow means we are not trusting the Lord), we may be tempted to portray that our marriages are perfect, our homes are perfect, our children are perfect, and weeds never ever show up in our gardens.  
    I for one am praising the Lord that these friends and I don’t have to pretend that everything is perfect all of the time, answering falsely to inquires on how the day is going, how life is going.  It’s one thing to maintain privacy to unbelievers (because, really, how are they going to encourage us?) but it’s another thing altogether to always answer with a cheery “fine!” in the midst of Christian fellowship.  If you’ve never answered, “well…..actually….” or something akin to “hmm…today is not so bad” to even a passing “how are you” then I’m sorry but the stench of pride is wafting.  No one has a perfect life.  Even Jesus was spat upon, disrespected, mocked, physically beat upon and tempted.  But, despite the fact we grow more and more like him, we still carry the thorn of sin in our flesh and we still fall.  
    Happy is that home whose God is the Lord.  But it’s not some fake “happyhappyjoyjoy”.  It’s the blessing that comes from knowing that in all things, God is present, and He is our Helper.  And I for one praise Him for “makin’ it real” friends who humble themselves in their real troubles, and for being there to pray for me and pick me up when I fail.  Which is humbling.  Because I have to first say, “yoo hoo!  Sitting in the pig pit here!  Help!”
    The Lord sustains us in our trials, but if you’re never truthful about the trials you’re in, then not only is opportunity missed for a brother or sister to minister to you, no one will seek your hand for help either because apparently you don’t understand the hard things in life and haven’t “been there”.  Speak up.  And let us all work towards showing that the Christian church not only knows hurt, but has the answer in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

    Spring Food

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    I can tell you that my second go at this post is going to be a whole lot shorter, what with Blogger losing the first time I wrote this up.  It was a good reminder that everything I do here is as the air that blows by, nothing will keep.

    What I wanted to share with you is my desire to eat seasonally and locally but that my military brat upbringing doesn’t give me a real locale to draw from.  As they say, “I’m from everywhere!”  So by default, where I am today, that is where I think I need to focus.  Too bad, because the thought of geoduck really grosses me out.

    Furthermore, in our culture, anything that is accessible from the 24 hour open grocery store is always “in season”.  And more, what am I supposed to provide for my husband and children when they are hungry *now* and I think all I’m looking at are lush amounts of dandelion greens growing outside?  It is a hard thing, this eating locally, and in its proper season.

    Why do it at all?  I dunno.  Other than the obvious thousand-plus mile transport of unripened food stuffs that can’t be all good, eating in season sure makes food a lot more tastier and fun.  Tomatoes picked from the backyard at the height of summer actually have flavor.  Grocery store tomatoes here in January just plain *lack*.  Eating in season means looking forward to peaches or corn on the cob or even apples.

    Here’s a breakfast I enjoyed not too long ago, trying to keep local and in season.  There were sauteed onions and garlic and shiitake mushrooms (from the store) and duck eggs from my yard and about the last of the dried parsley from my garden last year.  I was looking at my plate (with the mayo-miso sauce side, mmm…) and thinking how, really, if I had the know-how, I could grow and store my own onions and garlic for the year, and learn how to do more mushroom hunting. My mushroom-friend recently told me she had spent time in Idaho hunting for morels (you know, those mushrooms that are $50 a POUND at the store!)….although, come to think of it, they look about as appealing as geoduck.  But check out how yellow this dish was!  Thank you, my free-ranging organic growing ducks!

    Here’s another meal that we liked so much I made it twice.  I made homemade noodles (flour, olive oil, water and fresh eggs), and while they sat waiting for the water to boil, I sauteed onions, garlic, shiitake mushrooms (craving those I guess), fava beans, asparagus tips, pea shoots, and some spinach from my garden.  I finished them off with apple cider vinegar and white wine, and after topping the cooked pasta, we laid on some queso blanco (“white cheese”). Not only was it all pretty, it was very spring-y!

    I got the recipe idea from Chefs on the Farm, which is a neat book highlighting different seasons on a dairy goat farm:

    Another book I just finished reading was The Dirty Life.  Other than a couple of unfortunate word choices, it was a fabulous read about a young lady from New York who leaves to start working a farm with her boyfriend.  Now, she was a total new-bie at planting anything, much less trying to cook with whatever they had on hand and were growing.  I laughed out loud at some of her experiences!



    There were a couple of things I took away from this book: (1) I thought I respected farmers before but now I really, really respect them and (2) I never want to do more than “garden” and just keep dairy goats and hens. I love the fact I can shop the farmer’s markets more these days and I still have the crazy thought in my head that someday my trips to the grocery store will be far and few between, but I am thankful I don’t have to grow it all myself. And I am very, very happy that we are currently getting most of our meat from either our own animals (chicken and we hope someday, pork), or from friends (trout and beef).

    Local, seasonal, eating. Does that appeal to you, too?

    Tresses Trouble Part 2

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    One thing I am quite passionate about is natural health, that is, strengthening the body via means outside of chemical methods and drugs.  The same thought applies to what I put on my skin, whether it is lotions, makeup, cleansers and shampoo.  Generally speaking, I want the assurance that for the most part (“generally speaking…for the most part”…wow, am I wishy-washy today) what I am using is nutritious and won’t upset my body’s self-healing and self-regulating ways that God in His wisdom formed to me in the womb.

    My hair has taken up wayyyyy too much of my attention lately (see the last post!) and as a good friend once told me while I was struggling with hair *issues*, “it’s just hair.  Whatever.”  My trouble was that I knew what I wanted: soft, healthy, strong and shiny hair.  What I had was coarse, dry-ended hair that came out too much in my hairbrush, and it felt that way even before I let the gray grow out.  I knew that what I ate and drank made a difference and honestly could not come up with a change I thought was needful.  I actually stopped to talk with people in grocery stores about their beautiful hair (one day I’m gonna have to write about the “stopping to talk with strangers” thing).

    And then I read about “no poo.”  I learned that shampoo hasn’t even been around more than half a century or so (how did people keep their hair clean before that?!), that it (along with other hair products) can put your hair on a cycle of drying it out (followed by conditioning) all of which upsets the natural balance and causes hair to be *yuk* sometimes within the very same day.   And I had a friend that began her own journal to natural hair.  And between Twitter messages we conspired to do the culturally-unacceptable with regards to our hair.  Because when it comes to bucking the norm, we are peas in that friendly pod! (xo!)

    I had already given up on conventional shampoo; I didn’t know what all of those 18-long words were and what they would do to my hair and scalp so I began making and using my own shampoo bars.  Well, I will tell you that they worked just as well if not better than store-boughten shampoo and each bar was cheap to make, not to mention now I had no more plastic to deal with (look at me!  I’m going green!  Now that is “culturally acceptable”!)

    But my hair still wasn’t soft, even though I was using an apple cider rinse, which did help.

    So April 4th I used my shampoo bar for the very last time.  And I let my hair go truly “au natural”.  I kept my hair up most of the time and I remember that yes, it did go through a *yuk* stage of feeling greasy.  I just kept reading experiences via blogs and trusted that my scalp would figure it out and stop producing so much oil.  And, it DID.

    After a couple of weeks, I did decide to try cleansing my hair of the extra oil with a small bowl of baking soda and water (to make a paste), and it felt pretty gritty as I tried to rub it into my scalp and hair.  But wow when I washed it out and then rinsed with apple cider vinegar, everything was soft.  I was incredulous.  I also felt ripped off by the whole hair product industry.

    After about 5 days or so, of “no poo” I went out in public for the first time.  I was so self-conscious!  I thought people would notice, but nothing was unusual.  I actually had a friend once just lovingly (and unknowingly) comb her fingers through my hair like it was no big deal.  The real test came at my hair cutting appointment several weeks later because this lady of decades of experience was going to rake her fingers through my hair.  She said nothing amiss and when I shyly asked how my hair was feeling she said (and I kid you not), “Oh, it feels SO much better, less dry.” She said to just keep using what I was using; I was floored!  And no, I did not tell her!

    Other than my bloggy friend, I told no one, not even my husband (who wants to gross out their husband?!).  Finally, well into 6 weeks later, I told him.  He stared at me (like, *EW!*).  I laughed because he admitted he had no clue all this time.  Then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and buried his nose into it.  I asked how it smelled.  He said, “I dunno.  Like hair.”

    “Not dirty?” I asked.
    “No.  That’s so weird!” he said.

    Since my little experiment, I’ve discovered that my wavy hair doesn’t really need more than a gentle cleanse more than once a week and I try to time it with a good sunny day to dry it naturally.  I decided to buy a shampoo that smells delicious (and yes, it still has 18-letter long words in it but sometimes I am a sucker for a good natural scent) and it has lots of good oils in it. There are actually quite a lot of “no poo” hair products on the market that won’t strip your hair and scalp of needed oil balance.  Right now I’m alternating this cleanser with my baking soda cleanse.  At the rate I use it, it should last me at least a year!

    So, I’m coming out of the hair closet.  What I continue to learn is that what is “normal” for the time and society we are living isn’t necessarily necessary or prudent, and that truly, it is all right to pick and choose the parts of which you are going to participate in for reasons of your own.  If that’s not intentional living, I don’t know what is.

    Life is short.  Live it to the glory of God!

    Tresses Trouble

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    I think I began going gray when I was in my early twenties.  It didn’t bug me; I just plucked them out.  Which is why, some would argue, the rest of my head quickly followed suit.  I ended up spending time and money coloring my hair but in my thirties I was done with it all and let my hair be.  Not too long ago I succumbed under maternal and friend-ernal pressure and began coloring again.  And I still hated the process, the time, the money, the mohawk look as it grew out.  Bleah!

    So I decided to let it go back to gray.  My husband did not care either way.  And because my creative coaching class asked me to do some self-portraits, you can see what my hair looked like growing out.  I’m including the milking goat photo because it’s fun to mess with certain people in my circle (heh heh).

    And naturally there is one of me in the kitchen because that is where I spend a lot (a.lot.) of time.

    And I’m including this one because with the flag and hammock in the background I thought it was a cool shot.  And who else in their right mind would post pics of themselves with graying grow-out and no makeup whatsoever?  You know you’ve got “authenticity” here! ha

    I really struggled with what to do with my hair.  I felt like I had to decide between (1) how I felt (hating the color process) and (2) how I looked.  And how I looked, I gathered from all of my family and friends.  What finally made me decide to recolor (and I suppose keep coloring for a while anyway) is that my ability to make small talk with complete strangers (hoping always to share the gospel) really took a dive.

    I’m not sure why.  Maybe I was exuding some sort of “I’m not sure about this” but instead of getting friendly banter I got mostly reservation.  I began to feel like how I looked affected my ability to be taken seriously, like maybe I was some down and out gal who just let herself go and therefore shouldn’t be talked with.  It was just really odd and two days ago the lady at the shoe store was the last straw.  No chit chat, no talking about the weather, just “here’s your shoes lady and buh-bye”.

    For better or worse, right or wrong, what I realized is that how I look makes a big difference in how people respond to me.  Maybe someday I will earn the right by age or experience to wear beautiful shades of gray, but right now I am giving up my right to be my own in this and sitting under the experienced hands of a (natural, organic, you-could-eat-this-stuff) colorist so that I can be a part of Rome.

    Now that I look like a normal person again, can we have a chat?

    Sense-Full

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    I was thinking today of some beautiful things I am lately filling my senses with.

    For one, I’m writing in a journal I bought from this company, Legacy.   The paper feels so nice to the hand, the cover is lovely to the eye, but I must admit the pen was replaced!  I miss writing in my journal.  I don’t mind blogging to y’all but my journal is between me and the Lord.  I write a few pages every morning; it clears my head. Plus I imagine my grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters might take pleasure in my journal books, reading my words.  Or not.  All I know is that I wish I had something such from the women gone on ahead of me.  I hope they will be an encouragement to them.

    The little book I’ve been reading is this one:

    I have so many books I’m picking at, every one of them nonfiction and meant for learning.  This little one however, with the cover I loved and bought because of it (yes, I can be that sort of book buyer), is such a gem.  A few pages goes well with a cup of tea; it can’t be rushed.  It’s a good mommy heart-to-heart sort of book.  And yes, it’s nonfiction, too.

    The vintage little loom I brought home has been warped and I am ready to start weaving!  The warp was a bit of a learning curve, but I didn’t mind it.  It was methodical, threading each bit of warp through the reed and then through the heddle (also known as, “those do-hickies on a loom that hold the thread in tension and in place”).  It’s nice to just sit for a spell and make something that looks and feels nice.  I’m spinning up the rest of the white merino, alpaca, mohair as well.  I plan to dye it with natural plant materials, and then….who knows?!  Maybe I’ll weave a scarf!

    The farmer’s markets are back in business and my taste buds are so excited!  It would be a dream to forgo the grocery store completely and just have real, simple food from real farmers eaten in their real seasons grown in my own region.  To that end, I’m planting a garden again.  I don’t know if I’ll ever get the garden of my dreams, but I do know that lettuce picked from my home garden has a monumental advantage in nutrition and taste over salad greens that have been picked who knows when, packed in plastic, and shipped for who knows how long over how many miles.  I dream of a root cellar, a cheese closet, multitude of preserves from my front and back yards.  Maybe someday. 

    My ears have been listening to Victoria Botkin’s She Shall Be Called Woman.  I heard her speak recently and I just loved how light and down-to-earth she was.  I wasn’t sure if I would hear anything I didn’t already know (not that I’ve learned it, just that I’ve heard it…sometimes it’s “in one ear, whoops, out the other” y’know?), but she is definitely coming at issues from different directions and it is good thinking fodder.  I did read some real snarky comments regarding her words, and my thought was, “Hmmm…..guess those just prove her point!”  Feminism can be so ugly.  I hate the threads of it that still cling to me.

    And smell?  Every morning I am outside wrapped in the smell of a newly mercied fresh morning and I milk the one kinder doe I have in milk and it is something I love.  It reminds me of my Greek grandma, milking her goats to give her grandchildren a little hot cocoa with their breakfast.  I love the sound of the milk hitting the pail, the sight of the thin frothy milk increasing in volume, and sometimes I just rest my forehead up against her side, breathing in all her warm goat-ness while she munches on her grain. 

    My God has loved me sense-full, and I am thankful for it all.

    Watching for Prey and Finding Focus

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    We had bald eagles nesting in our neck o’ the woods lately.  These birds are huge; their wing spans are close to six feet!  Can you see them up in the tree?

    No?  Let us zoom in a bit.

    Don’t they look like the lovely couple out on a date?  They were eyeing our hens down below.  Our lab, however, was eyeing them, too.  I wish I were as watchful regarding the Lord’s work and ways in my life.  I know I miss SO much!

    I have yet to lose a hen this year and it’s because I have two good dogs keeping an eye on things.  I love this photo of our maremma; he’s just relaxed as can be while the hens are, too, wandering around him.  What bird of prey is gonna swoop down within reach of his teeth?

    I have been a bit more cognizant of the birds of prey in my own head, every little project or numbered list each clambering for my constant attention, distracting me from the “main thing”.  And instead of doing one thing really well and finishing, I have easily two pages of *stuff* going on around here in parts.  Oy.  Could I just have a month of not starting something new?  Case in point:  working on a new blog look.  Just needed to rearrange the furniture I guess.

    One thing I started was a new basket, and at least practicality took the reign in the design.  I decided I wanted a basket that I could carry not one, but two casserole dishes as needed to potlucks.  I used two heavy duty handles to be able to carry the weight.  I hope to finish it before the end of the month.  But I suppose I could make the same *hopes* regarding half a dozen or more other things going on around here as well.  I am, though, a good picker at projects, a little here and there does finish them (eventually).

    One thing I’m doing lately is Creativity Boot Camp.  I feel like my artistic bents are just that these days:  bent.  I’m lacking focus in lots of areas.   So far camp has been interesting; I’ve always liked “assignments” to try new things.  It’s been stretching, and I’m liking it.  Plus half the funds goes to Show Hope.  Plus all I gotta do is see her bicep in the pic and I am marching off newly inspired to workout! 

    CBC: Spring Training

    One day I was just supposed to play with paint.  So that is all my 4yo and 7yo did for schoolwork that day, too:  paint.  We mixed our own colors and made a mess.  I don’t give my kids green or orange or purple; they get blue, red and yellow and if I’m feeling generous, white.  Whatever colors they want, they have to make.  I think I might use my painted papers to cut apart and make cards with.  I think my pen pals would understand.
     

    One thing fun I did with the little guys was this.  They drew their own happy faces with pencil, and then traced over the marks with white glue.  We let the glue dry, and then used rollers to ink them up (with real ink, not paint).  Then we took white paper, laid it on top, and rubbed.  This is what they got after peeling the paper off.  We all thought it was nifty.

    This was my most challenging assignment so far.  To draw a trunk and put on it what I thought I was, to the core.  Mother? Wife?  I put Christ follower.  I’m a lame little lamb most days but I do love my Shepherd.  The roots are what led to the trunk, and the branches are what flows from the trunk.  What surprised me most were things alongside fruits of the spirit like “humility, sacrifice, obedience, pain, chastening, loving (having) enemies, contritely confessing sin….”  Too many people think following Jesus is the means to the better (read: healthier and wealthier) life.  That has not been my experience.  Following Jesus for me means continuous praise, continuous repentance, continuous opportunities to know Him better through trust and obedience….and His continuous care to provide me circumstances and people that will test me and my faith.  It is not easy.  There is a peace inside that flows like a river, but there is also an outer constant vigilance for the birds of prey nesting in the trees, too.

    Maybe what I really need to do is learn how to focus on Christ more.  Then, perhaps, all these things too shall be added unto me.  I’m still learning.

    A Decision, Not a Diet

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    Meet my friend Cindy who is in the process of finding who she really is as she battles (and triumphs over!) obesity. She is an inspiration and I know you will be very blessed to hear her words. I’m so thankful to the Lord that I know this woman.

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    Cindy talked about the Body Bugg. You can find it here.

    I (Keri Mae) am currently working out (thanks to Cindy’s inspiration) using these resources:

    Body for Life
    Six Weeks to Sleeveless

    This helped me previously to get ready to run a 5K: Couch to 5K

    What’s your decision? Will you continue to define yourself by the things you think you can’t do?

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    Creativity LaLa Land

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    Somehow, on my last blog, I wrote and wrote and got a ridiculous amount of pages written. Like 868 pages to be exact. It all sits on pdf file waiting for me to do something with it all, which is fairly low on the priority or even the second-string wanna-do list. I do love to write though and am finding myself enjoying sending and receiving handwritten letters more and more. There’s just something about the slowness of it, having a cup of tea and concentrating on that one person’s words completely, and swirling my own handwriting in return, thoughtfully crafting my emotions and news into words. I wonder, if more ladies wrote letters, what might happen. Perhaps more thoughtfulness in words, more grace to others, patience.

    And it does seem journaling is passe as well, the sort of journaling that involves a notebook of some sort and a pencil or pen that flows from it thoughts of the day, lessons from the Lord, prayers and funny little happenstances. Blogs are faster and built with an immediate audience, but I do wonder what my great grand-daughter will end up reading if I don’t return to paper. Or maybe she’ll just read the pdf version. Maybe she won’t know the difference.

    In any case, I’ve been tinkering around with other creative pursuits. I began another basket, one that I could use to carry a casserole dish in (practicality meets artistry). I’m nearing the end of handstitching an appliqued woolen bed cover, and almost have one (one!) knitted sock finished. Some focus would be a good thing about now, but instead it’s been pick a little here, pick a little there, tooling around in Creativity LaLa Land. I’m looking forward to Creativity Boot Camp; I think I need some coaching in figuring out where I can best funnel my artistic bents.

    I did finish my Masters in Holistic Nutrition, which was both a great blessing (yay! I did it!) but also a bit of a bummer because that race is run and done. I love learning! I’m already looking into classes regarding more training in herbs and also seminars in American history where I can actually read and try to understand primary source documents. Next year I plan to learn more about church history with my children (I think we need a field trip to Europe, don’t you?). Homeschooling rocks. I hope all of my children catch the *loving to learn* bug and will chase after topics they are fascinated with.

    A friend of mine offered me this gorgeous 1949 Singer featherweight for a “real, good price” and I snatched it up. It sews like a dream. I love just the sound of it! My daughters can sew on the fancier machines we have (and they do), but this little beauty is Mama’s. I hear another quilt calling me…

    I also picked up a vintage loom (“vintage” does sound better than “old”, doesn’t it?), and am learning how to warp it. I’m looking forward to using it and making my own handwoven dishcloths so I can stop buying them from Etsy stores. No worries though, I can always find more to buy there!

    This year in my garden I’m trying to grow beans to dry, such as garbanzo and black, and we’ve got a rather intimidating large new plot tilled out front. I’m hopeful to have the problem of an abundance harvest to deal with putting by! I don’t know about where you are, but food prices are getting crazy. Gardening is looking more like a necessity and less like a hobby.

    I hope you have a good evening. If my blog seems quiet, it’s because I’m trying out new things and keeping Amazon well supplied with whatever money I can dig up (after getting pained at the gas pump and grocery store) to spend time reading and learning about various things.

    Time is precious, and it’s growing shorter every day. May your own creative endeavors reflect our Creator God more and more, and may you be blessed through them.

    Warmly,

    Pick at It

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    It’s only slightly funny when other women assume things about me that are untrue. Such as:

    “You’ve got to be exhausted, honey. You NEED rest!”

    Actually, I get plenty of rest, about seven or eight hours of sleep a night plus a sweet quiet time for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I don’t usually run around my house ragged without a plan; most of the time it’s very easy going around here.

    “You need to find things YOU want to do. For YOU.”

    Well, first of all, unlike a humanist, I don’t think life is about ME. As a Christian, I believe life is about glorifying and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. In any case, I think I have an incredible amount of freedom to do what I want. At home, I choose the menus we eat, the clothes we wear, the products we use, and how we spend our time. I don’t find this at all constricting. Furthermore, I have the freedom to shop with or without children as needed, and can stop by at a coffee shop to meet friends as I like. I have time for hobbies and other interests as well. (It’s that “s” word lots of women don’t like, “schedule”). And can I also say that in this blessed country I also have the freedom to show my arms, drive a car and wear a ponytail out in the open?

    “You must be worried.”

    Really? About what? Yes, daily life has challenges and we do have to deal with unjust issues and people who are sinners (yeah, that’s everybody), but I have a Father who hears and answers my prayers and is working everything out for my own good at all times. When I do fall into worry, that I think is a sin on my part.

    “You’re the perfect mother.”

    Hahahahahahahaha!

    Only people that don’t know me at all say that! I have my failings every day and I take the required “mommy-guilt-trip” all too often. I give myself way more grace than anyone else. I try not to complain or gossip or mope or speak with my eyeballs. If I have a bad day or I’m just mad, I usually retreat and don’t advertise it. It’s bad enough that my Lord knows every thought! Sometimes it’s hard to keep my mouth shut, but mostly I just don’t see how airing the rot would edify anyone. But it doesn’t mean I don’t fall down and that I’m not making mistakes and learning every single day. Glad God’s grace is deeper than my own.

    I would encourage you not to be too discouraged or even too ENcouraged by what others say. Whatever you’re learning, whether it is discipling your children or making healthy meals or finding time to develop artistic pursuits or learning to respect your husband more, there is no quick fix.

    Just pick at it. Little by little and line by line. Trust God to grow you, and keep your face turned up towards the Son.

    P.S. To prove my un-perfect point, check out my little bird with no legs! I forgot!
    Photobucket

    Warmly,

    Self-Care

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    It’s the end of day two of alternating bedrest with shuffling feet around the house taking care of whatever I can do in hour-long spurts. Oy, my head. I don’t even care what the propane guy thought of the lady that spoke to him with hair in disarray, pajama bottoms, tied cardigan and obvious children whooping it up in the background. Just go away, Sir, and I promise not to make my big doggie think you’re a walking pork chop.

    I was just saying I couldn’t even remember the last time I was sick. And then came Easter and the cinnamon rolls. And who can eat just one? Not me! Add late nights, too much running around and my body was basically begging to be invaded by whatever bug was looking for a home base. You hoo! Over here! Immune system down! C’mon in!!

    It’s always harder to take care of myself if I’m ill (one of the reasons I avoid it at all costs!). No problemo making chicken soup, mixing herbs for tea, preparing tinctures or giving a homeopathic remedy to anyone else in the family who’s sick….but me? No thank you, I think I’ll just lie in bed and wait for the world to stop spinning.

    But I did manage to take a bath both days (and I even took a photo for the blog, so I’m not dead yet!) . And let me tell you, training your children to get themselves ready for the day and prepare their own breakfasts will pay in spades if you are ever in a position of illness (or, hey, just wanting a good morning soak!). In case you’re wondering, the photo shows a dry brush, baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse for my hair, sea salt and mud-clay for the bath (great detoxing), an almond facial scrub, almond oil and essential oils of peppermint, grapefruit and eucalyptus. It was wonderful…and it didn’t cost me a hundred bucks or more (does anyone think this spa bath thing is the guy’s idea?)

    Oh, and tea. I did make lots of tea. Because I’m still breathing after all.

    I’ve also been resting in bed plowing through The Philosophy of Christian Education. Wow…Za. Now there’s a book if you’re a Christian (and by that I mean that you’ve repented and put your trust in Jesus Christ, and your testimony along with the fruit you bare witnesses to His grace in your life) you need to read even if you’re not a homeschooler, because you will come away with a greater understanding of what the current culture’s religion of Humanism really is and how it shows itself. Definitely worth reading. And wow, do I still carry around that humanistic dust on my feet at times. Lord, have mercy.

    Wooziness is re-setting in so off to bed I go. Again. Hoping tomorrow brings relief.

    Blessings,

    Waiting Upon the Lord’s Provision

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    Are you waiting upon the Lord for provision or relief of some kind or another? Join me as we look back at some of the ways God has met my own family’s needs, and let me encourage you to remember the times past He has met yours as well. Also, did you know that He IS always providing for you, always working things out for your good? Ponder some different ways of thinking about the time you may be in, and let us keep our eyes on Jesus.

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    Health care for people of faith: Samaritan Ministries

    Morning at a Happy Home and Farm-ette

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    Morning these days is glorious. The air just smells so spring with salty sea air filtering through the woods and daffodils perfuming the air. If I could put a scratch and sniff on all of your computer screens, I would. Want to come join me for a bit this morning?

    We’re outside first thing because we have animals to tend to and feed. It’s an efficient dance of filling dog bowls, checking water levels, tending to poultry, and hushing up the mewing kitty. Rabbits and goats need hay and ducks need letting out once we collect their eggs. It’s all a good excuse to get that intoxicating morning sunshine, but sometimes in the winter it’s blustery and 19 degrees outside.

    I love the look of the morning sun filtering through the trees and cloud cover. These are shoots of lilies promising to come this summer. You don’t see all the weeding that needs to be done, do you?

    I can only imagine how beautiful this tree will be when it is more than three straggly large branches coming out of the ground. Maybe we’ll get one peach this year. If the dogs don’t get it first.

    Well, good morning, Splat! She wants her grain and she wants a relieved udder! She’s all business this morning, knowing exactly where to go and what to do. Her nose hair is rubbed off from the feeder grates. It annoys me. I plan to smooth them out this summer so hopefully it won’t rub the hair off anymore.

    Portabello is our wether. He’s not yet two, and he still acts like a baby. He is so very friendly, and loves having his back rubbed. In the next month (Lord willing!), they’ll have three new friends joining them!

    The dogs are fed and happy and it is always fun to watch them play around with each other. They are working dogs, guarding our children and animals, and are especially busy in the night hours, chasing off whatever varmits want to come tour our property for supper pickings. Our lab is very mellow, but definitely the alpha/master teacher, and our maremma is still a puppy in training.

    Back to the house and lookie what we’ve got! Fresh milk right out of the front yard. I still can’t believe how cool that is.

    Oh, here are some more pictures from outside before I go in. This is a small magnolia tree that I thought I killed when I moved it. Last fall I ruthlessly hacked off all of the obviously dead limbs and this spring I am delighted to see blooms!

    These are lenten roses, blooming and bringing color in late winter. I like how they are spreading and would love to add more this fall.

    Daffodils, too, I need to plant more of. I enjoy them very much, especially the fragrant varieties.

    Time to go inside! This sign greets me in the laundry room right from the mud room. It’s a good reminder. Sometimes I need it hourly.

    And while we’re in this room on our way in, don’t these bottles look so pretty on the windowsill? A friend of mine gave me her collection when she moved, and I have several windowsills with them. I think they’re beautiful, and I love the Lord for decorating my house for me, too!

    How are the kiddos doing? Well, the olders are finishing up the animal chores outside, and here is my 7 year old already dressed and making her bed. Don’t be too impressed because I guarantee I’ll have to remind her to pick up her jammies off the floor, brush her teeth, take care of her hair…

    And here I am. No, I’m not dressed and ready for the day yet but I did read my Bible and brush my teeth (does that count?). Dressing’s not going to happen until after I workout, while the kids are eating breakfast. If I dress first, forget it, working out will not happen at all.

    And this angel I get to greet in the morning, too. *sigh* Sometimes mommyhood is just so tender and sweet it hurts, you know?

    That’s all for this morning! It’s sure a blessing to open my front door in the beginning of the day and see such a beautiful sight. I bet your own camera would show you some of yours, too.

    Because His mercies are new every morning,

    Wanted: Mommy Makeover

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    Every now and again doomsville seems to reside in my head and I just want to *poof* start everything all over again.

    “I just don’t feel like I’m doing enough,” I say to dear husband.
    “Oh, you mean the goats, herbs, homeschooling, garden…..” he replies.
    “No, I mean I want to be good at something. What am I good at?”
    “Oh, you mean the goats, herbs….”
    I jab him in the side.

    I’ve been letting my hair grow out. Gray. Like our spring northwest weather. I’m attracted to gray hair; I love the shades and find it beautiful. I even stop women in grocery stores and tell them so (well…that did happen once anyway). Today my son told me I looked better dyed. He’s probably right. But I don’t want to feel like a fake. It’s not me, I think. But am I really the 41 year old with gray hair?

    I’m pondering these sorts of things while sitting with 4 year old little fingers working with needles and thread. I want to live a real life, a productive one, one that glorifies God. And instead of just relaxing and enjoying the time, doomsville speaks, “shouldn’t they be doing their phonics instead? Why does a 4 year old need to sew?” Ahhh, typical early-spring-homeschooling-mama-guilt, a syndrome many of us know quite well, an old nemeses. I smile and tie off another knot.

    Maybe I need an art class. A writer’s group. A new wardrobe. A cookie? Sunshine.

    It’s hard to know. I’m sure I’m doing all right, but I just want to be better, do better, in all things, or at least some things. Is that just mommyhood? Or crazyhood?

    Those little fingers in my household though, they sure inspire me. Hard to be droopy around them!

    I’m thankful for the little glimpses of sunshine like that on the off days, and that even happy homes have down days. Guess I’m not fake after all. Even if I do dye my hair again.

    Blessings,

    Spring in Swing!

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    I’m very glad I had such a relaxing winter because spring has sprung and we are very busy!

    The laying hens were moved outside and that was a terrific blessing because I will tell you that the smell is not so yummy indoors. We still have broiler chicks inside and I am counting the days to get them o-u-t! It was so pleasing to see the laying hens enjoy their new environment and waddle-waddle as they scratched and pecked, and it will be a happy day when we start getting our own eggs again!

    Daffodils are popped up all over the place, and my husband brushed off his tractor for some more outdoor work.

    This is the year we get to plant a very large garden. It looks overwhelming to me but I am envisioning lots of squash, corn and tomatoes this year (I know….but I have to keep dreaming!), and a goodly amount of sunflowers. Sunflowers are a summer staple, aren’t they? Unfortunately my starts were a complete bust in my greenhouse this year so we’ll see what I can get going directly from seed and from starts I’ll need to buy (ouch) from the nurseries.

    The ducks love the turned over ground! Grubs and bugs yummy yum! Handsome (our male one winged duck) is so funny; he watches over his girls but he never ever attacks the dog unless the dog has turned away to leave. Like, “oh ya, buddy?! Yeah, you just head on out, that’s right..!!” All show, no substance! Little does he know that this spring a lot more ducks will be joining his little parade. And maybe a few geese, too.

    The Big Fun Thing today was installing a new hive of honeybees. My first hive was put together for me; this time I had to do the whole deal by myself! It’s a little crazy driving home with a caged box of 10,000 honeybees in the backseat. I just mentally kept talking to the drivers around me (“hey you! I have a bazillion BEES in my car! Whaddaya think about that?!”). I actually stopped by the market on the way home, too. Cuz I was cool, yeah, that’s it.

    So I prepped the hive with a neighbor I invited over to help and watch. He has kept bees in the past so it was nice having him near in case I lost my nerve. And check out the wonderful new space my husband made for me! Weed cloth and gravel topped, and new electric (AKA “stay away, you black bears, you”) fencing. It will be just lovely not having to go in and weedeat around a hive full of several tens of thousands stinging insects that want to come out and check out what *that noise* is.

    I opened the package and pulled out the queen cage. I was really bummed that (1) there was no candy cork so I would have to release her myself (because I suppose I needed the additional challenge) and (2) she wasn’t marked, so it’ll be really hard for me to find her later. But for a moment, anyway, I held her in my hand!

    It was time to let them all out! It wasn’t that easy! I had to keep *shaking* and *tipping* and *smacking* the box to get all of the bees out into the hive. But I did it! And not one sting! This was the first time I’ve worked without using gloves, and I felt like I definitely had more control. It was a weird feeling to watch honeybees crawling all over me, though, checking me out. I was confident and purposeful, but they definitely have my respect!

    I was so proud of me! Here is my souvenir! And I hope (hope hope hope) that this year, I’ll get a good honey harvest.

    Happy spring!

    Fooey on Expectations

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    It’s been oddly relaxing the last few days. Oddly because normally when my husband (and older son) is gone I am hearing every night noise and things are breaking all over the place without his easy-going fix-anything-ness to take care of it. My cell phone stopped receiving texts so it was really quiet even in the kitchen, no “blingbling!” punctuating the atmosphere at various times.

    I think I know why I feel so peaceable though, and it’s not because he’s gone or that my cell quit. I’d much rather have my honey around! But I’m embarrassed to admit it is because he wasn’t around for me to *expect* him to take out garbage, repair a break, deal with the dead chicks (two so far), or (fill in the blank). I just took care of everything as a matter of course. And I remembered a dear friend’s admonition to me when she said, “you are not responsible for other people’s expectations.” Which, of course, means that no one else is responsible for my expectations either.

    Oh.

    Where do these expectations come from anyway? I know first hand how exhausting it is trying to please other people because if I ever gained an inch, the bar was set back two. Somehow I thought taking out the garbage was my husband’s “job”. Isn’t that in the job description? Garbage man? I know, I know. Big “L” on my wifey forehead.

    It goes beyond my husband. Children are “supposed” to be respectful. Friends are “supposed” to be loyal. Relatives are “supposed” to love you (all in the ways I/you expect! Ah, there’s the rub…). I’m finding the fastest way out of that big fat lie of a trap is to just look in the mirror (me? respectful? loyal? loving?). Ha! I’ve got to be one of the biggest proofs there is for God’s incredible mercy.

    This morning I visited with a neighbor (as it is, she is a wife also) who, all by herself, drove in posts and put up cattle gates for her driveway. This was within the last week, and she was just cleaning up from processing (that’s “butchering” in city lingo) 28 hens for her freezer. And yes, I squeezed her arm muscles and gave her a good old “You FARM chick, you!!”

    So I’m outside these days cleaning up the blackberry vines and planning on tackling projects that I’ve long had in the “husband list”. The “honey-do” list can go out the window as far as I’m concerned. I’m guessing that letting go of my expectations will not only continue to free my own mind, but will free my honey’s as well. Which means I’ll probably be a lot more grateful for when he does the work he does. And that can’t be bad.

    I bet my arm muscles will grow along with my heart.

    Blessings,

    Early Spring

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    Early spring around here, weather-wise, means rain showers with peeks of sun, cloud covers and intermittent hail and snowflakes. It also means indoor handwork slows down and outside chores pick up. Here are some pics of other things going on around home and farm-ette.

    I was at the store about to buy a bouquet of daffodils and had a *duh* moment; I could just go pick some of my own outside! I grow a lot of different varieties along the stone rock wall bordering the north side of our property. Some are pleasantly fragrant.

    The weather keeps the children indoors sometimes. Here they are on the floor trying out some Michelangelo-style artwork.

    This is the first year we’re going to try broiler hens. What that means is we’ll be having a butchering day in about eight weeks, and hopefully fill our freezer with lots of fresh, wholesome chicken for our suppers. They’ll be pastured on fresh grass every day and supplemented with organic, soy-free grains and kitchen scraps. Here is a little bit about what is different about pastured poultry.

    Today was the first day I was able to handmilk my Kinder doe without using the handpump. I’m sorry to throw out the milk everyday and am looking forward to getting milk without bits of wound scabs in it (ew). My doe loves getting handmilked more than pump-milked, but it does make me sorry to stress her wound every time (it’s so close to her teat hole). She gets a comfrey-herbal salve massage everyday and loves that though. Yesterday my hand showed the blood stains. Poor thing.

    I spent a morning recently with a shepherdess helping her with sheep shearing. Let me tell you that it was a great deal of fun! I really enjoyed watching the process, skirting the fleeces (that is, picking out veggie matter and gunk), and talking with all sorts of people who are new and old to the whole concept of growing food and caring for animals. I felt right at home! The fleece smelled SOOO good and it was awesome just burying my hands into its softness.

    This is a Shetland sheep; they are smaller than typical sheep. Each fleece weighed about four pounds and would definitely keep a home spinner like me happy for a bit. Lovely wool.

    We grab the sunshiny days as they come, sitting out in the garden to read or to do schoolwork. Or to daydream with a cup of hot tea. It’s pleasant here, quiet, in the woods with the sounds of wind through the trees and cheeping of birds and soft quacking of ducks going by.

    The garden always seems to be a little bit of a disappointment to me this time of year. I never have enough sprouts that I think I ought, and yet by summer it all looks full, somehow. Here is spinach coming up. And garlic. The same garlic I debated on planting last fall because our house was up for sale and my husband told me to bless whoever would be here. Glad it’s me!

    My husband (on the right) is a good sport. He’s not as much into the farm-thing but he loves doing building projects and does appreciate garden fresh food on the table, and he sees the good in raising our children around it all. He’s the one talking about bringing on pigs now! Here he is learning how to wether a buckling. Notice that he’s not squeamish at all. That would be me. We’ll be wethering as needed with a Burdizzo rather than bands as we think it’s far more humane. All the bucklings were up and running within minutes like nothing at all had happened.

    The little guy on the right stayed a buck and was the last baby to leave our farm. I would have kept him longer on the mom if her teat wasn’t so wounded. I’ve got my eye on three doelings I’m hoping to buy next month to add to our herd.

    And of course I can’t end this without the announcement that Ruby Mae is now walking and almost running! She will be three in June. I’m learning that Down Syndrome doesn’t necessarily mean “never”; it can just mean “sometime later”.

    It is definitely “bye bye, Baby…hello Toddler” time at our house. And yes, she is a total delight just like the photo shows!

    Happy spring to you all and blessings besides.

    Grow Anyway

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    Behold, a sower went forth to sow…
    Matt 13:3

    The buttery scone I made was delightful dipped in fresh cinnamon-dusted whipped cream. I pondered for a minute about using whole wheat instead of white, but nothing was soaked, sprouted, or dried (or whatever else I’m supposed to do with grains these days)….and besides, it’s a scone. What’s the point of whole wheat in a scone? I did use coconut sugar instead of white, but only because white sugar sends my teeth (and probably my nerves) on edge. A Sunday scone with a crisp napkin and hot cup of tea at hand, a new magazine and afternoon peace. Blessed.

    I pondered my kitchen garden (isn’t there some French fancy word for that?) while I sipped my raspberry black tea (sweetened with vanilla syrup and milk if you want to know). I could see in my mind’s eye foot-tall and bushy salad greens surrounded by sweet peas and tucked amongst them various herbs that only grew more robust every year. That was what the magazine pages in front of me were promising, anyway. Outside, everything still looked asleep from afar, but I knew there were tiny shoots peeping out from the dead sticks and stones, indeed thriving on their very decomposing heads and tented by floating row covers. Sheltered even.

    I thought about my reading this morning from 2 Timothy 3, how Christians were to simply continue in the things we’ve learned and been assured of, knowing of whom we’ve learned them (see 2 Tim 3:14). In other words, to grow in spite of (or because of?) the surrounding muck of the last days: lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim 3:2-7). In other words, even if we’re just a sproutling in the faith, even if the soil looks heinous, grow anyway.

    Hmm. Sip. Dip.

    Some in the garden have popped their green wings but many have yet to show themselves. Why? Didn’t the sower sow them, too? Maybe they haven’t even germinated but will. Maybe they’ve rotted in the soil, become part of the rot. Maybe they got a brisk start but withered, because the shallow roots were, well, too shallow. Maybe they were too stubborn to turn to the light, preferring the familiarity of the dark. As if seeds could sprout themselves, I mean, without stealing air and water and nutrients from outside themselves.

    I almost avoided scone number two as I headed to the garden with it in hand.

    I peeked under the row covers. It was disappointing. Seems there are far too many obstacles in growing. Birds and stony places and thorns and sun and impossible sounding harvests of thirty or sixty or hundred fold. But methinks even the hundred folds must have begun as babes, surrounded by an environment of rot and decay, of unfruitful seeds that just turned back into the elements, ne’er to bloom. I wondered about reseeding. I wanted a crop, not a handful.

    It became pretty clear though what the point was, to me anyway. Peering close with my camera, I saw in the littlest of beginnings: hands raised to the sun, the Son, God. I figured if I’m blessed enough to even sprout, the Sower deserves the glory. And I shall pray for an honoring harvest from my heart and hands even as death crumbles about my feet, and the Sower continues His Work.

    Grow anyway.

    Pondering Jeremiah

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    I’ve been in the book of Jeremiah and it is sobering. The Lord gave him instruction to warn the people of the wrath to come, to repent from their idolatry, to turn back to their Creator and to forsake the lusts and evils that they had embraced as “normal”, as part of their culture. Over and over Jeremiah is unheeded, and what I’ve been thinking about is how frustrating it might have been for him. After all, God told him to say the words, so why weren’t they “working”?

    Or maybe it wasn’t frustrating at all. Maybe he was so in tune to the Lord’s will that just doing as was asked of him in itself was enough. I’ve read the book of Jeremiah before but this was the first time I realized that Jeremiah had spent decades warning his neighbors, telling them what the blessings of repentance and obedience were and what the wretched consequences of their continued wickedness was going to be. Can’t you just hear the offended responses? The angry spewing of “be loving, moron!” (oh the irony).

    I’ve been wondering if Jeremiah had any friends other than his scribe. I wondered also if he were ever mad at God, a great sin in itself, while he sat in the bottom of a mucky well starving to death and for what? For doing what the Lord asked him to do. Did he discontentedly mull over the apparent injustice in that? The prosperity preachers were alive and well during that time as well, comforting the people with lies that God is a loving God who would never ever punish anyone for anything, so if Jeremiah was in the mud pit without a cent to his name, well, I guess he brought it on himself for not having enough “faith” in their false teachings.

    Did Jeremiah ever want to just forsake the Lord and join the crowd? Was it ever a temptation to ignore the still voice of God and *la la la la* hands-over-ears and just eat, drink and be merry with the neighbors while suppressing the truth that he knew was right and true and holy? Or maybe the temptation was to just “live and let live”, knowing that he was right with the Lord so why rock the boats that were sailing so peacefully to hell (Lot, anyone?).

    There are Christians today: preachers, writers, bloggers, teachers….today that push buttons, that speak loudly of sin and call it thus, and of the need for repentance, that don’t gloss over God’s holy indignation and righteousness just to elevate God’s love. The angels over His throne don’t cry, “Love, love, love” but:

    …they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
    Rev 4:8

    God’s love of course is part of the gospel, so clearly seen here, the other side of the coin as it were:

    John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

    Today all these years after Jeremiah’s days, He is still “to come”. I am afraid we are much like the people of Jeremiah’s days, scoffing such things. And we tend to ignore the parts of the Word that speak such distasteful things as well, looking instead for anything or anyone who will tell us that we are “all” going to heaven, or even that no such place exists….or that a “loving” God would never send anyone to hell (or even that no such place exists…). Who wants to talk about such a downer?

    As Christians it is good and right to question such theology that is wildly popular (such as “God is love and nothing else”), to take it to the Word, to test these ideas. Unfortunately, we often find that nothing has changed in the hearts from the days of the prophets to our present day. People in rebellion to God are still people in rebellion to God. But God isn’t sending any more prophets to speak to wickedness because Jesus was enough.

    Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things…

    Be wary of what sounds good, what feels right, what your “heart knows is true.” Be discerning! So many popular ideas and books and preachers….are they Biblical? Speaking truth? Discernment grows as we spend time reading the Bible, and no book, preacher or devotional will ever come close to the teaching as time spent at the Savior’s feet in prayer and in reading Scripture (which He gave us to read for ourselves in a country where we could own one and LIVE! Praise God for His goodness!!). We’re such a sorrowful, pride-filled, make-it-on-our-own kind of people, though…

    Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

    Jeremiah 7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

    Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

    Well, I do wonder about Jeremiah a lot these days. He knew the truth and spoke it. It hurt him, he suffered for it. But at the end of it all, when he with his own eyes witnessed God’s wrath pour out, he wasn’t feeling self-righteous or proud of being “right”. He wept. And I think that if we Christians had more of a heart for the lost people around us, we not only would be speaking up more, but we would be crying as well, lamenting the fate of the unrepentant sinner.

    2 Peter 3:3-10 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

    Heeded or not, culturally-blessed or not, befriended or not, Jeremiah obeyed and served the Lord. Will we? As it turns out, warning of the wrath to come IS the loving, compassionate thing to do.

    Jude 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire…

    Pondering with you,

    A Birthday Gift of a Challenge

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    aka: How to Give Yourself a Milk Bath in the Barn

    In our endeavors to eat and grow wholesome food, some challenges must arise to grow us (or *me* at least!) both in wisdom and humility. Sometimes vegetable seeds don’t sprout and sometimes foxes quietly swipe freeranging hens. I’m thinking that those wonderful hobby home or farm photos in magazines with the rosy sunlight filtering through trees over the rooster’s bright feathers are really not telling the whole story, because truth be told, if the whole story was told, no one would grow or raise anything. I’m not even sure a toddler would keep trying to walk if she knew she was going to fall on her hiney half a hundred times either.

    Our latest challenge involved our Kinder milk goat. She freshened with her first kidding successfully, giving us three handsome bucklings (and yes, I’m still learning all those fancy words!). Anyhow, turns out one of the bucks would rather chomp than suckle. All breastfeeding mamas are now cringing, yes?

    So we were trying to gently milk our doe without causing her pain in her healing teat. Which meant I could not hand milk her. It was a pretty stressful situation because she was full of milk but not getting milked out by the bucklings anymore because I separated them overnight to give her a break. I didn’t know what to do! One friend recommended I put together a makeshift handpump and another (bless her heart) recommended a breastpump. Which I had in a dresser drawer! Dumb thing never worked for me so I don’t know why I kept it.

    Anyhow, here we were working together. I am holding the cup on the doe’s teat, my daughter is holding her legs because she doesn’t want us near her wound, and my son is working the pump. And, oh yes, my husband had grabbed the camera to join us. The doe could otherwise care less about what we were doing because she had a face full of grain to enjoy.

    Now, don’t you “longing to homestead” mamas dream of waking in the morning to use breastpumps on milk goats? Grin.

    Well, it worked!! Well….sorta! The main trouble was that the bottles were small and the pump itself backed up with milk because goat teats hang and human ones don’t. So my son pumped and pumped until we relieved her udder a good 15 or more ounces of milk…and then the milk bath began. The milk backed up through the line and my son got rained on. Oh my. We laughed SO hard as my son would just ham it up! Is that called “bonding” with my children or what?!

    Everyone’s happy now. Bucklings are sold and will be off to new homes soon. Doe is healing and providing a good amount of milk in the morning (which we are currently giving to the happy dogs until she is completely well). And we are now the proud new owner of a very overpriced but works-well Henry Milker. If any of us are unable to handmilk or if any of my does have sensitive teat issues, milking can still happen with this dandy hand milker. No more milk baths for my son! And no more hair or dirt to strain out either! It’s pretty cool. But again, seriously overpriced, which is a bummer. I never would have bought it if we hadn’t been going through this, but I’m glad we have one now.

    Later that afternoon, I caught my daughter reading a book while baking me a birthday cake. She was making a buttercream frosting in this photo. I couldn’t believe she was reading at the same time! And not even a cookbook!

    It’s hard not to have a nice birthday when challenges in homesteading can be met and overcome together with my children. S’all good.

    Blessings,

    Homemade Green Mix

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    I was inspired to put together my own family’s green mix after watching one of the homesteading videos in which they did the same. Her mix was far larger than mine (and also I assume way more costly) and I didn’t want to end up with more than we would use within the year, so I shot for a gallon’s worth. We’ll see how long it lasts. I also wanted to pick and choose the herbs and whatnot to put in it.

    I had a lot of the herbs I wanted on hand (yay!), and measured them out on a scale. I wasn’t worried about using or even buying “powdered” because I thought it would be fresher “cut and sifted” (less air surface exposed) and my handy-dandy VitaMix would powder them anyway.

    It was fun seeing all of the freshly dried potent herbs mixing up, all with their own smells (chlorella is absolutely the worse smelling stuff ever!) and color and texture variations. God is so good to give us medicine in our backyards under our own noses!

    I did have to clean up a green dust cloud all over the kitchen when it was all said and done.

    Here is my recipe. I am sure someone out there could fuss at me for putting *that* in it or leaving *that* out of it but I am satisfied for my first try at it. I actually narrowed down my choices quite a bit, because I was shooting for that gallon size. I tried for a variety of helps that were appropriate for our family. Also, I listed the very, very short basic reason for including particular herbs…if you research them individually I am sure you will find they are really power houses!

    5oz spearmint: good for tummy (and especially for flavoring!)

    4oz each:
    chlorella: immune support, pulls mercury
    alfalfa: high in minerals, good for detox
    nettle: high in minerals, good for adrenals, blood purifier
    dandelion: good for detoxing liver/kidneys/colon; antacid, pulls aluminum
    kelp: sea minerals, pulls aluminum
    horsetail: pulls lead, good for hair/nails/connective tissue

    2oz each:
    oatstraw: calcium, cell support, nervine
    hawthorn berry: heart support
    astragalus: immune support
    licorice root: support for adrenal and pectoral glands
    ginger root: increases circulation, fights inflammation, anticatarrhal
    tumeric: pulls mercury and aluminum
    marshmallow root: support for kidneys, decreasing stones
    ginkgo biloba: cell and brain support
    red clover blossom: lymph care, blood purifier
    chia seed: omega 3’s, fiber, demulcent
    catnip: analgesic, nervine
    chapparal: natural antibiotic
    goldenseal: antiseptic, natural antibiotic
    burdock root: pulls aluminum
    maca root: adrenal support
    gooseberry: fights free radical damage

    Ones I did not add but very well could have (some must be refrigerated and I didn’t want to deal with that). I can also use these in other kitchen meal preparation areas:

    spirulina: immune support
    bee pollen/royal jelly: immune support
    aloe vera: immune support, destroys/expels worms & parasites, natural antibiotic
    milk thistle: liver support
    bilberry: eyes
    dulse: sea minerals
    wheat/barley grass: greens
    rose hips: antioxidant
    dried fruits/acerola berry/elderberry: antioxidants
    MSM: hair and nails
    lecithin: cell support and skin
    red raspberry: muscle tone
    stevia: flavor

    Bulk Herb Store is a great place to buy herbs (in bulk :), very inexpensive. But if you only want a couple ounces, you could try Jean’s Greens or Rose Mountain.

    Here it is! We use a heaping tablespoon in our big VitaMix smoothies.

    Blessings,

    Rainy Day Homesteading

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    Here in the Pacific Northwest we’ve had deluges of rain. We not only got puddles in our front pasture, we got ponds and rivers! I have to admit it’s been a blessing because I’ve been focused on getting the inside jobs completed before spring. But the peas will be late this year, already, as it’s been too muddy to really plant anything outside. For the first time, my greenhouse is heated and I’ve got tomato and onion seeds started.

    We got our chicks! They are currently living in and smelling up the basement. We got ten each of buff orpingtons and ameraucanas. Our khaki campbell ducks just started laying again, but it will be good to have hen eggs again in three or four months. And speaking of poultry, we ordered ten ancona ducklings as well, hopefully to arrive in May sometime. I’d love to pick up some sebastopol geese!

    Other than planning for our poultry needs and wants, a friend has been helping me paint various walls in my house different colors. We painted over the cream colored hallway wall and stairways with a nice yellow, and used the same color inside of the kitchen cabinets. We used a sagelike green in the dining room and powder room. Next up: kitchen cabinetry from a brown wood to a creamy coat. A new paint job sure makes a big difference! And while the paint dries, the furniture is getting rearranged all over the place.

    Our “kid”ding around days are coming to an end. All three of our bucklings have been sold and will be in new homes by the end of the month. I am hoping to add a couple of doelings to our herd by the end of summer. We have another hive of honeybees to add next month, too. I dream of adding some shetland sheep to our homestead, but I’m not sure this is the year I can swing that.

    Inside, Ruby has been so pleased with herself in walking all over the house! It’s a whole new world of opening door knobs, too.

    My big girls and I went away for the weekend to a Christian ladies retreat and we had a wonderful time singing, learning and spending lots of time with friends. We cooked and served meals for our speaker, and made over 200 bookmarks for the attendees. We had a great time!

    It’s been busy. But we’re still making time for tea, even when the rain pours.

    Blessings,

    On Siblings

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    I could hear the screaming from across the house, it’s piercing vibrating the atmosphere of the house through the walls. The formerly obedient little brother decided to flex his self-determination muscles and his bigger sister was not real pleased with that. I actually found it a big comical. Because I remember being the bigger sister with a little brother who annoyed me, mostly because he didn’t want to play things my way. Or get out of my room.

    Usually I let them figure it out on their own, with “choices”. Like, “you can disagree with each other but the rest of the family doesn’t need to hear it.” Or, “I can see you’re both having a hard time. Why not NOT play together for a while?” I find that if I take sides, whatever side it is, trying to solve the issue, the peace bought is shallow and short-lived. I’m more stealth than that. I find jobs they have to do together (dustpan and broom) or rewards they can share (popcorn if they beat the timer cleaning up an area together). I school them together, allowing for happy banter while we use scissors or markers. I might even whisper, “Pssst….let’s surprise your brother by making a few paper airplanes. He won’t even GUESS who did it!”

    I think our children have good relationships with one another. With six children, there are multiple relationships always going on at the same time (each child having a different dynamic with each of the five other children). It pleases me to see them interact with one another; I’m confident that they will be very close as adults. After all, when you spend all day every day with your brothers and sisters under the watchful eyes and ears of loving parents, it’s hard not to just let go of the dumb thing argued about and just get out a board game.

    Quantity time with one another is the best relationship builder. Are your children spending enough time with each other?

    Blessings,

    Preventing and Healing Dental Cavities

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    It is very possible to heal dental cavities through the use of nutrition. In fact, decay is caused by a lack of vitamins and minerals in the diet. In this podcast, we’ll challenge what *really* causes cavities, and question the current practices of treating them. Get ready to be armed to fight for the health of your family in a whole new way. Long podcast, but lots to ponder!

    Play

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    * Filling a tooth only takes care of the symptom of decay; it doesn’t do anything for the underlying cause of it, nor does it prevent the tooth from further decay.

    * Your teeth were not created to decay but to keep clean and hard and remineralize until the day you die. Naturally occurring pits and fissures do not necessarily mean a cavity “will” form.

    * Isolated people groups had amazing tooth and gum (and bodily!) health until modernized foods showed up. Problems showed up sometimes even within older and younger siblings. Tooth decay is NOT “genetic”.

    * Diet is hugely influential in promoting healthy teeth and avoiding structural problems. The diet should be made up of foods that are: fresh, local, nutrient dense, unprocessed, high in fat and water soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), and full of absorbable minerals. In other words, feel free to ignore the middle of your grocery store and the USDA food pyramid.

    * Add to your kitchen: fermented cod liver oil or grass-fed organic liver, summer pastured butter or butter oil, greens, sea veggies, ferments, whole raw milk, fish and fish stock, bone broths and marrow, organic organ meat, sea salt, grass-fed animal fat, fresh ground and soaked grains, and plenty of cooked vegetables and/or their juices.

    Some helpful resources:

     

     

     

     

    Learning with you,

    Late Winter Head Spinning

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    I think my head’s going to pop off. Somehow when I wasn’t paying too much attention I left behind my winter’s rest and started on a number of projects with gusto. And now I think my gusto’s getting up and leaving me! So this blog entry will be a brain dump; feel free to pass it by if your own head starts to hurt.

    Wiving: still trying to find my way around my husband’s new obsession. I am so thankful to have received the last couple of issues of No Greater Joy magazine because the whole *obsession* thing is addressed. And I’m thinking, “Oh GOOD! This is normal! But now what do I do?…..” And by the way, they’re currently having an Amazon blitz with a book on an issue that is so important to talk to children about.

    Mommying: oh….I don’t need to list anything here because if you’re a mom you know. It’s full.

    Homemaking: I’m still in the midst of turning my house into one big snowglobe and shaking it all up. Furniture is moving all over the place, rooms are being reorganized, and my husband has more than once had to break out his tools to re-do something in a different place. I’m also slowly painting my way through the downstairs, changing colors. There will be some rewiring and carpentry to be done as well. I’ll share some before and after pics when it’s done.

    Outside: Spring is coming! And unless I just want to un-garden for another season, I need to finish the inside of my house so I can work on the outside of it. Chicks are arriving this week, ducklings are on order, seeds are ready to be started (in my newly heated greenhouse woohoo!), and I’m still looking to buy more dairy goats (gals) and sell my own babies (guys). I’m pretty certain my honeybees are not going to make it through this winter, but I’d love to be surprised. I’ll be adding a second hive, and have those bees on order, too. Next month (wait…it is next month yet? Ack! Tomorrow!) I’ll be helping out with shearing and planning a nice little herd of shetland sheep to add to our home sweet home. The new pasture for the goats is planned and we’re just waiting for the ground to thaw to start putting in posts for the fence. And then there’s a barn to finish building…

    Other projects: I have a podcast to prepare for this week (which has been so well received; thank you for your many blessings on it), and a photobook of the last year to put together, hopefully before this year is out. And speaking of last year, I finished my Holistic Nutrition masters program (yay!) and now want to expand my herb education beyond “family herbalist”. So I’m eyeing a new distant learning school but I better not jump until fall (at least). I have a soap making class to teach next week, a preschool bags activity group to keep up with (and a bunch of activities to make for it), a retreat to prepare for (planning/preparing meals for the speaker and making a hundred or so bookmarks), and a homeschool conference coming up which means I need to plan out next year’s curriculum so I know what I need to purchase. Let’s not even discuss the handwork projects I want to finish up.

    I know. When I die there will still be things in my “in” box. And everything I’m doing will someday burn up anyway; it’s that whole vanity thing. But still, it’s a glory to participate in eternally-living-child-raising, help-meet-covenant-keeping, creative endeavors and creature-husbandry. I just pray the Lord keeps my head on straight through it all.

    Blessings,

    On Mentoring

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    Matthew 10:8 …freely ye have received, freely give.

    An enthusiastic young woman recently sat across my table and between sips of water was sharing about her love of the Lord and her testimony of His grace. I sat nodding and smiling and sharing in the wonder of His working in my life, also, and before I knew it our conversation turned to child training questions, to homeschooling considerations, to homemaking challenges and before I knew it (again) she was asking for weekly meetings, for advice, for mentoring. From me.

    Um. Oh. Um.

    I was non-committal and encouraged her as she was leaving that she was free to call me anytime and that I would love to see her again. Just, you know, give me a call. I prayed for her and she left.

    Well. Ever have those times when you just know the Lord isn’t real pleased with you and you just kind of avoid Him and pretend you aren’t even aware that anything could possibly be the matter?

    I remember being a young-ish mom with my first baby and it was such a challenge to me. For starters, after nine months I still wasn’t getting any sleep. I was t.i.r.e.d. And walking around a foghead all day while trying to work part-time was swinging me from depression to self-pity to anger and I’m certain God saved me before that time so that I at least could have HIM when nothing else was going the way all of those stacks of popular parenting books by my bedside told me it would go if only I followed their easy methods that apparently every mother except me could master. Funny now. How having HIM was “at least” instead of “enough”.

    I remember seeking out a mentor. One that didn’t pat me on the head either physically or intellectually, one that understood that children were a blessing and that snickering about how little sleep I was getting was not going to endear me to anything else they had to say. One that didn’t make me feel like, “well, you made your bed…” In other words, what was clear was ‘you had your baby (or two), now good luck with it (or them) because I’m too busy running other ministries’. At times I wanted to stand up in the middle of a church service and say, “Hey! Isn’t there any woman, any woman at all, who wants to mentor a young mom like me? Hello? Hello?” Mentally I could see the pity eyes patting me on the head. So I refrained. And kept smiling on the outside.

    I remember baby number one turning into a toddler who was, let’s say, “a real challenge”, and then baby number two came along during that time. And then baby number three. And we lived in a condo with no yard and all of my baby friends had quit having more babies so they were all out shopping or decorating their houses or starting box businesses or meeting with friends for coffee dates while their children were at preschool. Me? I was still nursing. Changing diapers. Trying now to live on one income. Already homeschooling.

    Lonely.

    It was God’s best for me. Because during that time, HE became enough. Whatever need I had, whatever challenge I faced, whatever frustration I was facing….HE spoke His perfect Word to me through the Bible, giving me exactly what I needed to hear exactly when it was needed. He introduced me to wonderful and godly women through books and magazines who were full of live-giving encouragement and practical helps. He taught me how to sit at His feet, to love the women who felt inadequate to mentor and forgive the ones who mocked, and how to love my children in the process.

    And now I have nothing to give back?

    I called the young lady seeking a mentor after a week, after a week of not having her call me, which I knew she wouldn’t because I never would have either. I feel about as equipped to mentor as I felt about becoming a mother to begin with, about being a mother now. The difference is, though, I now know. God is enough. And I can at least share that.

    “Hello?….Say, about those meetings you mentioned…”

    Trusting Jesus,

    Morning Kitchen Chores

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    I spent about an hour in the kitchen yesterday morning. I think I spend about an hour in the kitchen every morning. There’s always something to prepare, something to wash, something to plan. I’m thankful for my roomy kitchen, for electrical appliances, for white dishes and plenty of silverware. Here’s a small taste of what was going on…

    …beans were soaked the previous night, so they needed to be drained and cooked. The garbanzo beans were for sauteing and snacking, and the kidney beans for a lunch time beef taco salad. Of course both needed to be cooked first!

    …speaking of soaking, here was a mix that was ready to drain and then sprouted to make Ezekiel bread. I’ve never made it before, but I’m intrigued. It’s one of my kitchen chores for today.

    …and yet more soaking (is there a theme here?). Here are almonds I brought from the store. I soak them, then salt and dehydrate them in the dehydrator. It makes them far more digestible than just eating them without going through that process.

    …the sourdough starter was getting fed for our supper’s bread (hey! a rhyme!).

    …here’s something you don’t see in every kitchen. A sugar-syrup mixture with a sage tea base for my honeybees. Other than making kombucha, bee food is the only other place I use white sugar in my kitchen. No…wait..I have sugar cubes for coffee and tea for guests, too 🙂

    …and yes, there was kombucha brewing! Here was a pot of steeping black tea and white sugar mixed into it. I usually make three gallons at a time; they are in the cupboard now brewing for another kitchen chore (and happy drinking) day.

    …and then there was the trusty crockpot to prepare for the evening meal. I put in a seared roast with about two pounds of sauteed mushrooms, garlic and onions, with broth and a little red wine.

    Of course, clean up took time also. But at the end of it all, other than baking my bread and cooking some brown rice, I had plenty of time in the late afternoon to oversee homeschooling and work on my bed cover.

    The Lord bless your kitchen work! It’s a nice place to be.

    Blessings,

    Why We Keep Our Children in Church

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    Parents, regardless of how equipped, ready or trained they feel, are responsible to God for the discipling of their children. And if the means by which children are being discipled are leading to bad fruit (take a good look around), then it is definitely wise and wholly appropriate to humbly go back and reconsider what, if anything, the Word of God has to say about the issue. Listen to a bit of our story of why we began to, and continue to, keep our children with us in church.

    Play

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    Here is a book with the data reflecting when and why children leave the church. I will say that it was odd that the authors felt like age segregated youth groups could just be reorganized better to solve the problem. In that sense, they missed the mark completely even with the “numbers” in front of their noses. Still worth a read, however.

    You can watch a trailer of the DVD we discussed here:

    divided banner

    …and buy it from here.

    Keepers of the Faith is an excellent resource! Clubs can be run as *you* like, and your children can earn all sorts of pins and awards. Check them out if you’re interested in an alternative to splitting up your family for club activities.

    Blessings,

    Save

    The Gift of Winter

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    I really needed a winter like this. Wet. Dark. Somber skies and gray overcasting the evergreens embracing our home. I needed time to thoughtfully wash dishes and see that the garden was mossy and wilted, not calling me out to weed nor to plant. I needed to spend a slow Christmas, and to just savor my snail mail and magazines and tea cups warming my hands without rushing out to milk a goat or check the beehive or mulch or do whatever else that pushes me to rush through my days no matter how intentional I want to live every day.

    Every day I miss my baby. And I feel guilty for not missing her enough. Winter has been good for snuggling into grief, for seeing God through the hurt.

    I miss, too, the feeling of my house and all within it welcoming me *home*. How does a woman release her house to the wind and then bloom within it again, returned to her?

    And I’m weary of failed relationships, of people who are quick to think the worst, forgive the least, and continually set the bar too high for me to achieve any love in return.

    I needed winter.

    My doe greeted me today as I spoke to her softly and patted her babies playfully clamoring all around my boots. Since becoming a mother, she has given her trust to me, and no longer shies away when I approach. It is a balm to my soul, this little thing the Lord has done in my barnyard. And I confirmed that yes, one of her teats has dried up already. She suffered a small wound on that side and wouldn’t allow the bucks to touch her. Her udder is half deflated. Sort of like winter. Sort of like me. I stroked her neck and received her grunts and nudgings.

    I closed and latched the barn dutch door, more for a wind break than for predator control. I patted my maremma, “good dog…” knowing that he would sleep in the barn, alert even while dreaming. The clouds overhead were moving at a good clip, swirling over themselves. I dug my hands into my pockets and headed towards the house with yellow light casting out of the windows.

    On the way I noticed the buds on several tired shrubs, pushing forth life into pregnant pods. Red branches were at least a good four inches anew throughout last year’s maple, reminding me I hadn’t pruned this winter. Irises that won’t bloom until May–my baby was due in May–are already on their way up through the soil. And the garlic. The garlic that I debated about planting last fall…

    “What if we’re not here? What if the new owners don’t even know what it is?” I asked my husband.

    “Plant it anyway. It would be a blessing to the mommy who would live here. Bless her.”

    I laugh. Me. I am the one blessed. With garlic, with goats, with six (six!) lovely children, with a steady husband, with a house halfway through chaotic redecorating and repainting and re-introducing itself to me as my home.

    I needed winter, God. But thank you for the tender buds that promise me the spring to come. Thank You for renewing my heart day by day, and truly most of all, for You.

    Yours,

    Ruby’s a Toddler!

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    Well, Ruby on her own time has left babyhood and embraced toddlerhood. She’s just learning to walk and is still babbling, but everything else from dumping old diapers into the toilet to crashing all the pots and pans to zipping all over the house into all sorts of trouble spells t-o-d-d-l-e-r.

    She was very interested in this new-to-her toy I pulled out.

    And then….whoooaaaa…I showed her that they could magnetically *stick* to the chalkboard. She did wonder why some (backwards) wouldn’t stick, but instead fell to the floor!

    She was one happy girl when she figured that out!

    Simple pleasures.

    Blessings,

    Goats!

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    We are relatively new at raising Kinder milk goats, and are enjoying it and learning a lot about the good, bad, and ugly. Within two days I witnessed both a horrible death and a wonderful birth. I’ve also had my own nose in books studying hard about what to feed, how to feed, etc etc etc. And the one thing I’ve taken is that, truly, there can’t be a *right* way to do this. It’s a matter of trying to fit our own philosophy of husbandry with the experiences of those who have gone before….but sometimes our philosophy isn’t really formed without our own experience, and those “who have gone before” disagree completely with one another. So I am thankful for God’s grace in it all, both successes and failures, and for the pleasure of raising these wonderful creatures.

    This is Lee. He was the second born of triplets on January 28th, and has wonderful markings, with brown and gray in places as well as black and white.

    Here is the mom. She is just two years old and this was her first kidding. I am delighted that she was from the get-go a nurturing mama, even taking on an orphan for a day, and I am patiently waiting my turn at her udder.

    Here are the other two babies nesting in their box. My son told me that with a camera flash, as in this photo, goat eyes are blue, unlike rabbits, which are red. Wild! I had the babies in coats for the first day, and decided against using a heat lamp. Instead I used a heating mat underneath and they love snuggling up on top of it. But I’m sure my yellow labrador misses it.

    I really did try to get a good photo of the other two bucklings. They move fast! This one is Jackson, who is mostly gray but also has some of the same black and white markings. He was the third born.

    This is Lincoln, the first born, taking a stretch. He has the most spots! All of the bucklings are very, very active, and very friendly. All were disbudded on day four, and we are waiting to wether them in case someone needs or would like to buy a buck. We are strongly considering keeping one for our own use, with other doelings we hope to purchase this spring. We plan to keep a closed herd (meaning, we won’t be leasing out our bucks).

    So now you’ve met most of the family. Portabello is a beautiful tawny colored weather we have, and he is a sweetie (and, apparently, camera-shy). These bucklings, though, *whew!* they were running around and busy climbing on me and nibbling on my skirt. I’m just glad I got the photos I did!

    Blessings,

    Homemade Toys

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    I can sense winter is coming to an end. I have goat kids in the pen (pics soon!), a package of honeybees for my second hive on order, seeds ready to start and blackberry brambles to tackle before they get whiff of spring. Which means my time for the indoor crafting is slowly coming to an end, too. Well….mostly….we do still get our share of rain…

    I have two nieces and two nephews, and every year for their birthdays I sew or make something. I figure I can just be the weird aunt that uses a needle and thread instead of a credit card at Toys R Them (ala Dave Ramsey). For my January birthday-niece, this is what I made: a way so ca-ute doll pillow with clothing to put on it. It’s sort of like a paper doll, but it’s fabric. And did I mention that it’s SO cute?! She’s got sort of a smirk on her face, and of course I had to add the belly button (of course!).

    This is the back of the pillow, with clothes and shoes stuffed into the pocket.

    The clothes were totally fun to make! And all I used were scraps, so the cost (other than my time of course!) was minimal. My girls loved playing with them.

    Aren’t those mary janes so adorable?! Check out her jammies and slippers.

    And here are some play clothes.

    Way too much fun to make! It only (well….“only” is relative) took me a few days to sew up. I got the pattern and directions from this book:

    It didn’t take long for my 8yo to whip up some scraps and start making toys. Here’s a cute little puppy puppet she made for her little brother:

    And he doesn’t even care that it’s not from a store.

    Being a mommy is pretty fun most days. But being an aunt is pretty cool, too.

    Blessings,

    Money Book

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    So. Due to crazy circumstances, tomorrow’s the day I take over our finances. I haven’t done them in a while, and I admit it was kind of nice not worrying about it. I suppose it is my season to do them again for a while, and because my use of the computer is very limited (my husband uses it for his work and hobbies), I can’t do budgeting online. Which actually suits me just fine, really. I prefer doing a lot of things (other than laundry) the “old fashioned” way.

    But can I just say that a decent accounting book is hard to find? I looked, I really did. And finally with the month looming I just broke down and bought this super ugly money book from WalMart. The saving grace was that it was only three bucks. So already I think I’m doing really well, financially speaking. But…wow…a depressingly ugly book with the gold print “CASH” on the cover (as in…”I hope we’ll have some at the end of the month“???).

    Anyhow, the last week put me in a funk so I decided to close up in a room alone and pretty up this thing. I used the same technique as my Bible cover, and used scraps I already had on hand. And then…uh oh…the book didn’t fit! I totally thought the cover fabric was too large and snipped it down in size, eyeballing it (lesson: follow directions!). I wasn’t about to be thwarted though and figured, hey, the thing was only three dollars so…I ripped the cover right off the pages. It was actually sort of cathartic.

    I trimmed down the first pages on both sides, and white-glued it to cut, square pieces of (smaller) cardboard. Like, who’s gonna see it? No one! Well, except all of the tens of tens of my blog readers 😉

    And I put on a ribbon, not because it needed it, but because it was pretty. And pretty was the point here.

    It only took about an hour to do it. And now the job is a little more palatable to me, because even if the numbers look measly, at least my bookkeeping won’t be so ugly. Just because the chore stinks doesn’t mean I can’t try to pretty it up.

    Blessings,

    And Then There Was…LIFE!

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    Well, after the evening my friend and I had last night, we needed a good day today, and it was. Good, that is! Our kinder doe gave birth to three beautiful bucks (yeah….I know…), and it was wonderful to be there and see it all happen.

    Never mind the pink…we were expecting at least one girl from the bunch!

    And the more beautiful thing? Looks like this mama will adopt the orphan from last night’s tragedy.

    Life is so lovely!

    Blessings,

    Death Visits

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    I spent yesterday evening helplessly dangling a flashlight and watching a friend’s milk goat die as I tried to comfort the animal. Her condition was discovered too late, and even if we had been there when she had pushed her uterus out with her babies, I’m not all that confident we could have saved her. Other goat owners and a vet were called, and pleading messages were left on voicemails. Google was helpful, but as we gathered supplies in the dark, the Lord let the mama die. And I will tell you that dying is hard to do.

    Two babies died, too. I’m not sure if they suffocated in their wee sacks or what, but clearly with the mama unable to attend to them, they went quickly. I rejoiced to see the sole surviving baby doe take to a bottle, and was grateful for the milk from another goatherd we were able to contact.

    Two days earlier, one of my older friends died. She went in the night, at that seemingly tender hour when other events seem to happen in fleeting days, 3am. Her heart beat the last that was ordained from the beginning of time, and she flew. It is a great comfort to know her witness, her testimony in the Lord, and that her time of meeting Him was joyful and without condemnation. Still, on this side, death stings. How do you comfort a 4 year old?

    My milk doe is due to have babies any day now. With every morning for the past few weeks, we’ve expected to see kids as we set out for barn chores. I bought a baby monitor last night on the way home from my friend’s house, and I think I heard every hoof step and hay munch in my dreams.

    I hope it goes well. My heart is a little raw these days, but I am trying to listen to what the Lord is trying to teach me. I just wish I were a little more attentive when suffering isn’t involved.

    ReDecorating

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    So. Husband decided to stay put, and not relist the house in the sinking market where we’d end up with hardly enough money to do what we wanted. The market tanked so fast that our dream of rebuilding a debt free house went *splat*, so here we stay. I’m just glad that we’re in a position of being able to choose that direction rather than being forced to sell. We’re so thankful our business is still afloat, and know that it’s not because we are anything special! I wish no homemaker were ever in the position of having to sell or give up her home; these are such hard times for a lot of people (relatively speaking of course…we’re still living in the greatest nation!).

    Still, I had spent the last year planning, packing, interviewing realtors and stagers, signing contracts, hiring inspectors, and taking stuff off the walls to pack. I collected dozens of boxes (still in the basement), cleared out for multiple showings, and sold off all my hens, goats, and most of my ducks. And perhaps most importantly, I had mentally and emotionally said, “hasta!” to this house and started planning our next one. And oh yeah, I lost a baby in the middle of it all. I feel like I lost that year of my life.

    So I’m having a hard time “reattaching” myself to our house. I know, it’s a big “wah baby” when others are facing worse than me, but there it is. I think my husband felt a little bad about doing a complete turnaround and therefore let me keep the staging interior designer, to help me re-decorate and move stuff around, hopefully to freshen up the house and make it feel like I belong here. I see it as reloading for relisting, whenever that is (or isn’t).

    Anyhow, what that means is that I’ve been completely distracted and ruthless in setting my house in physical order. Which unfortunately means I have to get my house in complete disorder to make the changes. It also means I’m probably going to need counseling after trying to pick a “butter yellow” from the 631 shades of the same color in which to (*gasp!*) paint my kitchen cabinets with. My husband, dear man, is staying out of the way.

    Here’s one room I’ve done so far. This library in the loft drove me crazy. Yes, it was organized, hardcover shelf and softcover shelf and nonfiction shelf, etc. But all I saw when I went up the stairs was clutter clutter and more clutter. It was just too much information for my brain to process.

    This is the other room on the other side of the stairs. The sofa (which I appreciate; it was free….but it isn’t “me”…) was still here from making room for the Christmas tree. Never mind the stuff on the floor; it just felt like a “catch all” space. And I’ve learned to hate “catch all” spaces.

    Here’s the same room, with the bookcases moved from the other side. One, I don’t see it when I go up the stairs. Two, I was able to get rid of one of the shelves. And three, separating the shelves gave less of a “big box of books” look. And, the room now has a “purpose”. It’s “purpose” is the “library”, so don’t leave your pajamas on the floor in here. The cost to make this room happen? Nothing but time and effort and a post-move twenty-minute chair massage at my husband’s office.

    The other room is still in transition but it’s going to be SO great, I can hardly stand it. And because hiring a color-designer-specialist for an hour is cheaper than therapy or marriage counseling, I’ve got one coming next week to help me pick the right shade(s?) of paint for my very scary big kitchen project.

    In the meantime, the children are excited. “It’s like we’re moving! But we’re not!” Not to worry, they’re still getting fed, bathed and educated (like…how to not bang into the walls when moving furniture…now that’s “real world” education!). And anyway, while they’re waiting for Mom to finish the craziness, they’re finding other stuff to do…

    …like, teaching themselves Morse code…

    …or making fresh butter…

    …or teaching their own students math….

    …and learning to be flexible when Mom not only flips the whole house on its head, but continues to bring home interesting and new foods for the supper table.

    I’m just thankful it’s winter, because the seeds are arriving and soon enough I’ll be outside (and reordering chicks….).

    Blessings,

    Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

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    No oil. No yeast. No honey. No extra gluten, vitamin C, or extra white flour. Just bread. Simple bread with whole wheat, water, salt…and starter.

    I’m very, very happy with my new kitchen passion: whole wheat, sourdough bread. The flavor is amazing. The health benefits are incredible. And the process is slow. Slow, to me, is an improvement. Let the world be in a rush around me. I…am going to live slowly, and purposefully. I am going to bake bread…like my Greek grandmother did.

    Baking whole wheat sourdough takes planning. You can’t just wake up, realize you’re out of bread, and *ta da!* bake several loaves before lunchtime. The starter I’m using is a fast acting starter…which means that I start around suppertime and slice the cooled bread the next afternoon. Some starters take five times longer! I like slow, but…we also gotta eat sometime 😉

    I got my starter from Sourdoughs International. I picked the Russian one because it was the fastest acting starter. There seems to be a lot of negative reviews regarding this company; I just ignored them (and the cookbook), and followed the instructions I got from this *wonderful* little book. This book explains everything SO well with delightful little drawings all throughout the book. I figured that if I killed the starter, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it did take me almost a week to attempt rehydrating and waking it up! And in case you’re wondering, yes, you can make gluten-free sourdough. You can also catch your own starter, but I was persuaded by my own romantic notions of finding a European-ish starter (I did look for a Greek one!)…and I wanted a quick starter as well.

    Here’s how I make my bread. I take out my jar of starter around suppertime, dump the contents into a bowl, and then measure into it 6.7 oz of fresh ground whole wheat flour, and 6.7 oz of water (using weight instead of volume is new to me, but I love how easy it is!). Then I stir it up gently. Don’t you just love it? Flour plus water. No mas.

    I lightly cover the bowl with a pan lid and let it sit on the counter.

    Then I “feed” my starter again, with the same amounts, before bed.

    Then I “feed” it again first thing in the morning. Do you see how this process takes some planning and thought?

    After a couple of hours, my starter has grown enough for the amount of bread I want, and it’s bubbly. It’s ALIVE! See how there are little bubbles? The book I told you about gives the (easy) formula of how to figure out how much starter to make for how much bread you want; this is just the amount that works for me right now.

    I take out 8 oz to put back into my jar, mixing in 3.5 oz ww flour and 3.5 oz water, and let the jar sit on the counter for a couple of hours before putting it back into the fridge (for next time). No jar in the fridge=no more starter. So far, I haven’t forgotten! But the best way to insure continuous starter supply is to share starter with friends! This sourdough starter is going viral around here, much like our kombucha frenzy years ago (no one around here will ever hurt for a kombucha starter!).

    With what’s left in my starter bowl, I begin to make bread. In another bowl, I measure and put in 2.5 lbs of starter, 16.2 oz ww flour, 7.15 oz water, and .65 oz sea salt. Then I just hand knead it all in the bowl, taking a short minute break to let the dough rest. The kneading is easy; I just fold over the dough and keep turning the bowl for a few minutes. I do NOT miss using my noisy mixer to knead! If I have leftover starter in my starter bowl, another one of my friends is very, very happy.

    It’s so delightfully easy…and quiet…and slow. Slow is good.

    Then I lightly cover the dough and let it rise to doubled. It takes an hour and a half or so.

    I gently deflate it and knead a few turns. Then I let it rise again. NO punching! Just a gentle de-gassing of the dough.

    Now it’s ready to shape into loaves or rolls. I put parchment paper on the back of a cookie sheet and shape my dough onto it. Again, it takes time to rise.

    When it’s ready to bake, I quickly and narrowly slash my dough with a serrated knife and then slide my parchment paper with the rolls/loaves onto a preheated baking stone in a 500 degree oven (yes, you read that right: 500 degrees! Lower to 450 for smaller rolls). I put in about a cup of water into a small cast iron pan next to it so that the steam will create a crazy-good crust.

    It takes about 30 minutes to bake one large loaf, and about 15-20 minutes to bake rolls. I remove the parchment paper about halfway through the baking.

    When it’s done, the bread needs to cool for about two hours. If you slice into it too soon, the middle may be gummy, so patience is a virtue here.

    And then….oh my….slice it up and toast it if you want to. And butter. Lots of good pasture salted butter.

    *sigh*

    Slow life is good.

     

    For an UPDATE on my sourdough baking and a plan on how to juggle multiple sourdough starters, go here.

    Blessings,

    What’s A Friend For?

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    I find myself in a quandary, and it is this: how to lovingly support a friend when engaged in practices that are questionable at best and yet this person expects, or even demands, my approval of them in order to maintain the relationship? I know we all function with people every day that are not the exact same as ourslves (thank the Lord), but sometimes there are important and/or life and death issues that come up that cannot be in good conscience ignored by at least one of the persons involved. So what is the response of a friend in disagreement supposed to be? What should it be?

    Of course it is almost an easy matter if advice is requested. Then, at least, permission is granted for dialogue. But what if a celebration is planned for a party that is based on congratulatories that makes you sick to your stomach? How do you graciously bow out of the underlying assumption that if you’re friends, then of course you agree with their premises? And if you must bow out, how then? How do you lovingly disagree without any person feeling (God forbid) judged? Is it even possible to strongly disagree with one big issue but still fellowship with each other through the other parts of those lives that are compatible? I’m afraid that even when hard things are gently shared with the greatest of trepidation and fear…it doesn’t always fare well. Add the fact that you’re dealing with two sinful people and whoa-baby!

    I’m pretty lame at this; I don’t know how to do this well. If I knew the answers, I would still have not only the friends I have now, but all of the friends I’ve lost through disagreements over the years (some without even knowing why or how or in what I was apparently disagreeing with!). It just seems to me that a friend who is always in agreement and blessing with everything you say and do isn’t a loyal friend at all, but a fan. Or maybe one that has been somewhat manipulative demanding complete acceptance (or silence) in exchange for friendship.

    If friends can’t ever disagree, then I do wonder what the point of a friend is at all. Better, it seems to me, to just buy a dog. In the meantime, if you have friends that not only hold you up, but will hold your feet to the fire when they think it is necessary, give thanks to God. They are rare, and as such are precious. I know, because I have them. The others that demand my unconditional approval of things I cannot in good conscience bare? Those, I’m afraid, I need to learn to sadly let go.

    Living in a Life You Didn’t Plan

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    I want to know how the girl-Esther lived, the same Esther that became queen, and risked her life to save her people from destruction with the amazing statement, “if I perish, I perish.”

    From what I gather, as a child she lost her parents somehow and went to live with her uncle. What were her parents like? How did she lose them? Did she cry on her pillow every night as a girl? Did she have siblings? Were they split up? Was her uncle kind and loving? Or aloof? Was there an aunt at one point? How was her home life?

    Then, of course, she grew up and as a young woman was yanked from her uncle, her friends and her home to go live in the king’s palace as one of many women there to serve him for the rest of her life, whether she was chosen to be queen or not. What were her dreams? Did she have a beau? Did she desire her own simple home, a husband, children, a garden? Suddenly it was all gone, whatever her plans were.

    All I know is the history of her as written in the book of Esther, and she is described as being beautiful, gracious, kind and humble. Did she ever feel self-pity? Sorrow? Loneliness? Did she ever have a mental temper tantrum or argue with why God was allowing all of this?

    I guess (unless she was God…nope!), she had all of these failings and more. And I suppose that unless God had chosen her to traverse through these painful paths, she may have never been shaped to become the godly and courageous woman and queen that she did. Today an elder said, in church, “Whom God chooses, He chooses. And whom He chooses, He uses. And whom He chooses, He chisels.” I am certain Esther was painfully shaped to become the woman that God would work through, at “such a time as this”.

    It’s so difficult to dream dreams and see them die, and certainly I have not had the sorrows many, many women and mothers have lived through and are living through….mothers without food to nourish their starving children…women beaten by the husbands that are supposed to tenderly love them…wives whose husbands suddenly die in the midst of a full and busy life with small children…and so much more. But the minor things sometimes hurt, too, and we wonder what God is doing in our lives, and sometimes we’re proud enough to demand an answer from Him.

    I think that godliness does not come apart from pain and sacrifice, from humility, from loosing the fingers around the grip we think we have in control of our own lives. The question is, do we really want to reflect God’s glory? Really? If we are honest, we may say “yes, we want that….if we can get it via comfortable and agreeable means that are on our own timeframes and undertaken in ways that we fully understand and at least get partial credit for.”

    If young Esther knew that as a woman she would save her people from destruction and be a beautiful and courageous, godly woman who inspired God’s people still thousands of years later…would she have chosen to walk through the valley of death? I think pain is a fearful (and *painful*!) thing, and it is difficult to choose that sort of path even if we were given the choice of seeing the wondrous fruit that would be born from it. In that sense, it is a good and gracious God that sovereignly gives us these things in His timing and in His wisdom, to get us to where we really in our hearts want to be: close to Him and glorifying Him with our lives.

    Are you living a life you didn’t plan? Aren’t we all, in varying ways? I am. A lovely woman told me today that some days it takes just focusing on what is on your plate today…or this hour…or this minute…and just doing the thing that needs doing at that very time. God is at work and His presence is near in it all. Let us trust His word on the matter and trust the hands that made us, to finish the work in us that He’s begun. The end of it, I know it, will be glorious.

    Running the race with you all,

    Fast Food: How to Feed People on the Quick!

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    Have you ever had meal preparation time delayed? Or last minute unexpected visitors to feed? Listen in as we delve into the challenges, discover some new ideas of how to prepare for this inevitable hurdle in the kitchen, and what sorts of snacks and meals can be easily put together with just a few raw ingredients. You don’t have to send people away from your home hungry!

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    Here is an easy and frugal recipe for Split Pea Soup. I usually have all of these ingredients on hand, so other than just a few minutes to throw stuff into the pot, it cooks itself so I can concentrate on other things. Enjoy!

    1TB coconut (not extra virgin!) or palm oil (better for you than olive oil 🙂
    1 onion, chopped
    1 stalk celery, chopped
    2 small (preferably red) potatoes, cubed
    1 tsp. cumin
    black pepper to taste
    1 cup green split peas
    4 cups water or vegetable stock (I really like this brand; I buy it singly from my market)
    1 bay leaf
    1/2 cup frozen peas
    1 tsp sea salt
    1 tsp dried dill

    In a soup pot, saute onions in oil until soft. Add celery, carrot, potatoes, cumin and pepper and saute about 5 more minutes. Add split peas, water/broth and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower heat, simmer for 90 minutes. Then, add peas, salt, and dill. Stir and serve! Mmmm….

    Adapted from Feeding the Whole Family.

    The Mercy of a New Year!

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    The coyotes woke me again tonight. Well, I ought to say the dogs woke me, what with their running and barking and guarding and sounding the alarm. I love watching them work, and think they look beautiful racing around with their long legs and communicating with one another. It’s a bother waking in the middle of the night, but usually it’s because I either have an infant needing milk or dogs needing my attention. Both are worth waking for.

    As the ruckus settled, I was patting my dogs and looking out from my front porch at the blue-black sky punctured with clear stars, thinking of what I might goal-set for the new year. But the beauty of the sparkling frozen ground lit with my flashlight’s wonderings filled me with more gratitude than wants. I have no new year resolutions. In my mind, every morning of the year is a brand-new-day resolution to glorify God in the best way I can, to serve and love others and to do my best, giving my life to them. And as often as I falter during a 24 hour period, the thought of crafting one or more resolutions for 365 days (in a row?!) frightens me to no end!

    Much easier for me to ponder my thankfulness, to count my blessings. I’ve had the most relaxing end of the year. Yes, the thorns in my life have been plenty (see the last post), and I’ve been fodder for an unexpected and astonishing amount of unkind gossip, but the indwelling joy of the Lord is untouchable. I love His peace, even in the hurts. It is truly like a river glorious. I have so much to be thankful for, but none compares to being saved by His grace and His presence within me.

    The turnabout in our house sale caught me a bit off guard, but I am humbled and thankful for it. I had mentally prepared for the challenges ahead, and also physically prepared by collecting moving boxes and removing things off the walls. And yet here we stay! Suddenly I am planning not only a garden outside of my kitchen, but an enormous new one in the front yard. I am retracting my request for a honeybee babysitting service, and reconnecting with a shepherdess regarding lambs. And for the first time in more than a year, I feel I can just snuggle into my house and not worry about how we’re going to make it all work. A dear friend reminded me that it was not my job nor my calling to worry! I know I am worth more than the lilies of the field, and because I am under His care, I can trust God to provide meat and clothing regardless of where I am living in this vaporful life’s span of mine. My husband is encouraging, positive, passionate about loving others in Christ to good health, and I am thankful for the opportunity to bless him while I have breath. I know the Lord will bless the work of his hands, and I will continue to be his biggest cheerleader no matter where we put our heads at night.

    I have also been blessed with beautiful friends. Friends who press me forward and encourage me in the Lord to continue to love “much”, because I have been forgiven “much”. Luke 7:47 …to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Friends who trade eggs, text Scripture, and celebrate God’s goodness with me in all things. Friends who join me in crazy new endeavors and friends who joy with me in keeping our homes and loving our husbands and children, serving our wonderful Saviour in the process. One friend said that selling the house and trying to become debt free was probably becoming more of a yoke of bondage than just dealing with a mortgage, and that I could rest in my husband’s decisions, knowing that I could “rejoice to be not entangled again in any yoke of bondage”. Praise the Lord for His sweet freedom! And for the blessing of these sisters who remind me!

    I am blessed by the quietness of mid-night, of winter, of the quieted land and animals, of the quiet household tonight with sleeping children, and of a quiet, sound mind. It is already a new day, and my resolution for today, the gift I have right now, is as the wonderful hymn says, Lord, take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord to thee…

    May the Lord bless your efforts in the new year, and may His peace be yours.

    Pleasantries Among the Thorns

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    I love the quietness of late December. Time to just relax and spend time indoors, dreaming about gardens and planning animal husbandry changes. Time to start new handwork projects, too. It’s a bit odd this year, though, because I ought to be feeling a babe moving by now in my womb. I partly blame myself; I checked my hormone levels “just in case” and began immediately on a wild yam cream because my progesterone levels were in the tank. Well, I’ve since found out that wild yam isn’t going to cut it, and furthermore…..I discovered black cohosh in the ingredient list! That is a herb used to stimulate the uterus! I felt defeated when I found out, because I *know better*. I’ve used and played with herbs long enough. But sometimes mistakes just happen. Sometimes lessons are hard.

    My husband decided not to relist our house for sale, because at this point we’d come out with meager change to sell it. It feels like a disappointment; the road to debt-free living was cut short. We feel we made a mistake in taking on a mortgage, and now we’re stuck with it. Again, lessons aren’t always pleasant.

    But what is pleasant still are the little things of the day: lentil-barley stew on the stovetop, sourdough bread rising on the counter, the kitty curled by my feet, letters in the mail. The cuckoo clock tick-tocking. Handwork. A hot cup of herbal tea held between my palms. The bubbling joy of my children and rubbing their chilled hands when they come in from the cold. My husband’s strength and his integrity to always do what is right in going forward.

    I’m grateful for the pleasant things. They seem so humble but because they are God’s blessings, the troubles and mistakes are robbed a bit of their volume. Peace on earth, indeed.

    Blessings,

    A Merry-in-Your-Heart Christmas!

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    It’s quiet. We spent a wonderful evening with friends (my first time trying roast goose!) and later with our church body at an Eve service that was so, so worshipful and lovely. Now, the gifts are ready and cinnamon rolls for the morning are rising in the fridge. The children are blissfully asleep and my husband is yawning nearby. I cannot believe how blessed I am to have a clean, warm bed underneath the pitter-patter of raindrops on the rooftop. I know I’m not worthy of any of these people or things; I’m not any better than any other woman who goes without them. I’m thankful for my life.

    Christmas to me is a time of reflecting how God kept His promise and sent the Messiah to redeem mankind from the biggest problem there is: the human heart. All evil, all sin, all heartbreak…is always traced back to (no…not overpopulation….no, not global warming…) to sinful and selfish and self-righteousness people just like me, to the ME in the mirror, even. And yet, He still came. And so I rejoice that what I could not do (save myself from me), He could. And did. And does. What kind of love is this?

    It’s also a time for me to reflect that I am, in history, on the other side of His coming. I can look back and read about it and joy over His birthday. But it also stokes a soberness that He is coming again, and soon. He said so. So as I ponder and consider how ready I am for Christmas tomorrow, I do wonder how ready I am for the second coming, the real tomorrow that will show up unannounced and catch us all by surprise. The decorations are up, but how is my faith? The gifts are wrapped, but how goes it with my heart? Am I so consumed about what’s in my living room or on my table or how this life I’m in is going, that I allow my spiritual wick to burn low regarding the life to come? Am I keeping the wick trimmed with diligent Bible reading, prayer, and service….or it that wick just pumping out a lot of smoke? Christmas is a good time for me to ponder these things.

    I am abundantly thankful for all of the merry Christmases I’ve had, but I know that God isn’t concerned with how (or if, for that matter) I celebrate Christmas. His focus is always the state of my heart. My prayer is that He will give me what I really want: a heart solely devoted to Him, untainted with sin. And if He tarries in bringing it about, I know He’s waiting for me whenever I cross the river to His waiting arms, cleansed completely and totally. And then it will truly be Christmas, and a very merry one indeed, every day for all of eternity!

    A very happy Christmas day for all of my sweet readers, and a sincere desire that the joy will run deep in your hearts for gratitude in it all. A wonder it is, this Babe, this King of Kings!

    Rejoicing with you,

    Fall Finished Projects

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    I love the first day of the new season, whatever the season. It gives me a chance to look back and put challenges of the old season away, and to look forward to new projects and plans for the upcoming season. I thought I’d share some handwork projects I finished this fall; it seems so much more satisfying than just focusing on the multitude of works in progress everywhere!

    I just finished this cotton washcloth today! It’s so soft, I loved working with the yarn. I wrapped up a bar of lemon-poppyseed soap I made with it for a gift and tied a pretty silver ribbon around it. I’m going to share the pattern with my fellow knitters, because it is easy-peasy:

    Use size 8 needles (and honestly, I have no idea what size I used 🙂
    Cast on 4 st. K one row. K3, YO, K to end of row. Repeat until you have 43 st.
    K2, K2 tog, YO, K2 tog, K to end of row. Repeat until 4 st remain.
    K one row.
    Cast off.

    I’m fairly new at knitting and I’ve been learning to crochet, too. These wrist warmers also were finished very quickly, using romney wool that one of my friends spun and dyed a beautiful cranberry color. I love how the ruffles just peek out from my jacket sleeves.

    I got the pattern for the wrist warmers here:

    And this is my miracle project. I say miracle, because it’s a *miracle* I actually finished it. I was SO frustrated using four (four!) double pointed needles, and I could never get the gap to close between needles as I was going around (and around…). My very gracious and patient friend (kiss kiss!) fixed my mistakes and put me back on track I don’t know how many times. And oy, the amount of times I had to rip out! But I was persistant and stubborn; I wanted to wear this amazing soft wool and silk blend that I myself had spun. And yes, I’m addicted to spinning now.

    And the beautiful thing? It FIT!!

    Here’s where I got the pattern (that I had to fix because it missed a step!):

    I finished a basket and I wish I had a photo ready of how lovely it looks stained with walnut. I like how deep and roomy it is, and I’ve been using it as my “purse” for a couple of months now. I have another basket pattern I want to play with, but it may have to wait until we get into the next house. Whenever that is.

    I got the pattern from here:

    Lastly (I think), I finished a quilt that I thought looked very autumnal with its dark greens and golden yellows. It’s hard to tell in the photo but I had it quilted with a leaf pattern; it looks so neat! I love just snuggling up in my papasan chair underneath it with my iPod on and my hands busy with knitting needles. I didn’t use a pattern for this quilt; I just used whatever scraps I had on hand and made them all rectangles.

    So now winter is here and new projects are calling my name! I plan to finish knitting my second pair of socks, applique a bed cover, sew a couple of dolls, and embroider a gingham apron. We’ll have to see just how well that goes in between getting the house ready to list for sale again and packing up boxes of our lives to put into storage. It sure would be nice if the Lord would reveal where we were to be moving to, but I suppose that is another blog for another time.

    Happy winter handworking!

    Counting the Cost

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    Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

    There is a problem with going through the painful process of humiliation, repentance, dying to your own needs/wants/dreams/plans and putting your trust and your entire life into the scarred hands of Jesus Christ. Once you get there, it changes your heart, your mind, your outlook, purpose and presuppositions. And through time, He changes how you feel about Himself, yourself, and all of the selves around you. You’re not so bitter about past hurts. You’re not so envious or angry or manipulative with people around you. And of course, the weight of sin is *poof* gone and atoned for so there is with the lightness of forgiveness a burden for the loved ones around you to know the same. And so you want to tell them, too, about Jesus. And therein lies the problem.

    Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

    2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

    I wonder why repentance would need to be pleaded for at all. It is, by its very nature, completely offensive. It means that there is something to repent from. Much easier to ignore the spotlight of the law as a standard and instead just focus on the goodies God provides: love, peace, joy… It seems mean to use the law to convict of sin, to share or talk about or post the ten commandments. Isn’t that why they are being removed from public places all around the nation? The law exposes and no one likes to feel naked. Much easier to focus on the “positive” to encourage a can-do moralistic repentance built on behavior modification rather than a gospel circumcision of the heart that cuts and hurts.

    Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

    A person whose heart is soft towards God will be thankful that the goodness of God revealed the law because if it weren’t for the law, knowledge of how sinful they really are would never been brought out. A person who is comfortable with how “good” they are will hate the law, because knowledge of how sinful they really are has been brought out. It is offensive. It will humble and bring repentance towards God, or it will offend and be fodder for pride (see Rom 2:4-5)

    Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

    The compassion of Jesus can be offensive, too. It assumes pity, a desire to teach the unlearned. Have you ever felt sorry for those who “don’t need your pity”? It doesn’t matter that the teacher is compassionate; what matters is the heart of the student. I wonder about all the people on the mountainside that heard Jesus teaching. Were they annoyed? Where were they when He was on the cross? Where would I have been? I already know…His teachings would have been foolishness to me. Without His spirit, I am dead in sin.

    1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

    1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

    It is the love of God that has made a history pregnant with suffering Christians and martyrs. Why? Could they not just cloister themselves and say nothing? Deny Him in public but praise Him in private? Carry themselves in a way that is more agreeable to the current culture? But the compassion of Jesus moves us.

    Mark 7:25 For a certain woman…heard of him…

    How would anyone like this woman hear of him if testimonies were not given? If lips were shut? The gospel is offensive because it brings Christ into the public arena, where religion is acceptable but Jesus is not. And among the small band of seekers (Acts 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?)
    there will always be mobs of mockers (Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine). It is nothing new. But how loving is it to not share the gospel?

    Romans 10:13-14 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

    Sharing the gospel is more than just quietly living your life in a way that causes others to *notice* your holy living, because even if your character and conduct are impeccable (and is anyone’s?!), the choices and decisions you make to live that way (any way that happens to be) before God will cause some to feel judged if those are not their choices and decisions in life, as if God put the stamp of approval on your life and not on theirs. I’m not saying that is true; but that is how some think, especially if you’ve confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. If your morals oppose theirs, and you claim to know God, look to be insulted, because yes, they DO want to impose their beliefs on you (ironic, isn’t it?). Even Peter followed Jesus from afar at one point, so yes, the temptation is easy to become a secret Christian, a private one. No one likes to have enemies but Jesus Himself promised them. Is He is a liar? No, He IS the Truth and yet He Himself had enemies and we are not above our Master. Yes, we need to live righteously. But we also need to speak Truth. And speaking Truth paints the bullseye.

    Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

    Some say it is not loving to share the gospel, to tell others, in essence, that we have all fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) and that there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Ps 14:3) However, Jesus Himself shared God love AND used the law to convict the conscience (read John 4:13-18). Is He not loving? God IS love (1 John 4:8). In fact He is so loving: Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

    For a true Christian, however, all of this makes for big hearty “amen!” Something along the lines of, “Yes, I’m a sinner! Yes, I’m a liar, blasphemer, adulterer and murderer at heart! Yes, and I’m even worse than you think I am! You name it! ( Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ) BUT PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS SALVATION!!!” True Christians will never deny their own filth and always point to the One who has cleaned them up! The good news of salvation is always preceded by the bad news of how bad we really, really were and are, because we compare ourselves to an infinite, eternal, holy, just, and righteous God.

    Most Christians I know are tender and humble; they have a fear of the Lord and humility towards Him, His Word, and the church body as a whole. There is a right understanding of how lowly, wicked, sinful they are–in fact, it is grievous to them, but they rejoice loudly for amazing grace. They are grateful for God’s redemptive work, Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. They are growing in grace. None are perfect, but there is growth in forgiveness, sweetness, compassion for the lost. They are honestly hard to offend; Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

    Unfortunately, today’s view of Christianity removes half the gospel message and focuses on private religion, prosperity, and a pampering spirituality with a God suited to one’s own desires. A lot of Americans consider themselves Christian but don’t know the gospel. It is less, “thus sayeth the Lord” and more “this is what I think God is like.” Classic Christianity too often is seen as negative, judgmental, hard, and unkind…and is hated for its message. Again, this is nothing new. Jesus was HATED, too. John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. Christians sharing Truth have been hated, oppressed and killed for over two thousand years and it is still ongoing.

    It’s important that when sharing about becoming a Christian, your listener knows that it will not make their life *whole* and the point is not to fill the *hole* in their heart. The point is forgiveness of sin and a right relationship with God! Becoming a Christian may even make their life torturous (just read the new testament; how “prosperous” were His own disciples in life???). In our country, the cry is for “tolerance” but God’s Word calls for casting down imaginations (2 Cor 10:15). It is less focus on positive thinking, works and ritual and more on faith alone in Jesus alone and His amazing grace in it all.

    Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

    So what to do? Deny Jesus and live a safe life? Keep our faith private and by our silence agree with the misrepresentations and sin, knowing that the lives of those we love are but a vapor but God’s wrath is real and eternity is well, eternal? I sometimes think I fear God too much to keep my mouth shut. But I know the truth is that I don’t fear Him enough to open it more.

    It hurts to be hated, to have others say unkind things and half truths, to be fodder for backbiting and gossip. But if you share Christ rightly, expect it.

    Know that faith alone in Jesus alone is what will keep your feet grounded, and reading the Bible will sharpen the red flags of discernment when “new Christian” ideas and books are written and published and are wildly popular (as if first generation Christians knew nothing and we are sooo enlightened now). And yes, sometimes you’ll be hated just for critiquing those ideas, too.

    2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

    But don’t grow discouraged and weary, sisters. If you’ve repented and put your trust in Jesus, remember that you are under grace, not under the law! God will prompt you to speak and share, and of course there is joy and trembling in it because no one signs up to be abused for it. But we do it because we love Jesus, and yes, we love the ones we share Him with enough to tempt the backlash that may happen. No one “lovingly” ignores warning others about the wrath to come. And I will tell you that even ONE person who repents and trusts Jesus is a tremendous joy! Remember that YOU are not the offense; it is Jesus. It is His message. And it is His work, not yours.

    Galatians 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

    Philippians 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

    2 Corinthians 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting…

    Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

    Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…

    Press on, and share the good news!

    Soli Deo gloria,

    Stained Glass Christmas Cards

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    Spending a lot of time crafting sure does put some things into perspective. Like…why is crafting, handwork, cleaning, baking, fort-making, and just plain running around through mud puddles get the short end of the stick on the list of “what my kids have to accomplish to be ready to compete in the world”? And is “competing” what we’re to be about teaching them to do anyway? Another thing that puts stuff like that into perspective is reading through Ecclesiastes. I’m pondering. I’ll share. But first…do you need or want another Christmas craft? Not that the internet isn’t swimming with mommies sharing craft ideas. But I can pull this blog off in 15 minutes. Thinking takes longer.

    First draw onto dark paper with light colored pencils the design you want. You can also use stencils or even cookie cutters.

    Then carefully cut out the middle with a paper cutter, carefully leaving “roads” as I called it criss-crossing the center.

    After popping out the cut pieces, glue pieces of colored tissue paper to the back where the lines were drawn. That way, the front looks clean, no lines showing.

    That’s all there’s too it. They sure look pretty on a windowsill, with light coming through. The one on the far left was drawn with a stencil by my 6yo (I cut it out for her). The middle one was done by an 8yo and the far right by a 10yo. You can see the different complexities in the cutting out!

    Easy and fun!

    Blessings on your day!

    Keep ‘Em Guessing

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    So, I’m at the market on a dark rainy afternoon (no, really, it’s 4:30….and dark!), and wandering around in awe at all of the wonderfully amazing food choices just a decision away from my cart. I mean, really. Really. Don’t you ever just stand in gratefulness that you can pretty much have anything you want in any season you want at any time you want in any store you want? I can tell you that if we had to depend on my garden for December eating…well…there ain’t much!

    Anyhow, there is a LOT of food offered that (1) I’ve never tried and (2) wouldn’t know what to do with it even if I wanted to try it. Asian food intrigues me, but their produce is beyond my knowledge of how to prepare any of it. I find Thai food amazing–in restaurants. I love the flavors of Mexican foods and yet there’s a whole lot of things in cans and packages down the “International” food aisle that I just shrug my shoulders at. Don’t even get me started on the meat department what with their livers and sweetbreads and I don’t know what-else.

    So today I pondered at the fishmongers looking at all of the cases (at least half a dozen) of oyster varieties. Oysters! Those things that look like what we used to pick at off the fishing pier. The fishmonger wasn’t busy so I asked him, “are these things really any good?”

    Well, a good 10 minutes of instruction, a couple of bags worth of two varieties of oysters, and a new kitchen tool later, I brought home something new to try. My husband had to crack open the computer just to figure out how to open these things properly. I figured, well, doesn’t anything with melted butter, minced garlic and a splash of white wine taste good?

    I have to say the visual looked disgusting. It didn’t help matters that my 10yo son was reading and sharing all about the real, living body parts I was going to chomp down on. But still, butter and garlic….

    My 8yo couldn’t believe we were really going to eat them. She was just incredulous! And no, she did not want to try any!

    Bottom’s up! Slippery little thing!

    And, actually….it tasted pretty good! I had two! My daughter looked on with newfound awe and respect (or maybe, an inkling that her mom wasn’t *all there*). My husband and 10yo son gave it a thumbs up also.

    But you know, we can’t all have the same tastes, now, can we?

    All I’m saying, is that if you want to keep things fresh and funny around home, sometimes you just gotta try something new. And a trip to the grocery store is an easy way to make it happen.

    Blessings,

    Candle Play

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    We don’t just cook in our kitchen. We play, homeschool, read, and CRAFT! This is what we did yesterday with our “adopted” grandma who is just so good at coming up with fun things to do. I think every mom needs a woman that she can call and say, “Hey…..can you come do something fun with the kids? I’ll do lunch!”

    So we played with candle wax and fire (first thing every mom wants to play with! Fire!).

    First we found containers and covered them with foil. And then we dripped wax into the middle so that a candle would “glue” onto it and not go floating away.

    Here are the prepared pans.

    Then we melted a large can of leftover wax. You could use a bunch of candle ends, digging out the wicks (with tongs, of course, not fingers).

    Then pour the melted wax into the container around the candle.

    Ready? Hold the container over a large basin of cold water and 1…2…3…

    Take the quick plunge! Don’t worry if you get a smidge of hot wax on your hand; it cools immediately in the cold water. Besides, even though all my kids did this, I was the only one that happened to.

    Pull it out and look what you get! Pour off the water and let it dry.

    You could also use bigger pans and larger candles. If the cold water causes the wax to pour over the wick, just pick it off while it’s warm.

    They came out so cool! What a fun and easy craft!

    Here’s what a larger pan looked like:

    This was a very unusual and interesting addition to our meal table last night.

    Blessings,

    Hours in the Kitchen?

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    I recently read a comment about how preparing and eating healthy food sounds like a good idea, but this particular person didn’t want to spend “hours in the kitchen”. I do find it curious that activities such as cooking (and exercise for that matter) that foster good health typically have a bit of dread involved, or *suffering*. I mean, why wouldn’t we want to spend “hours in the kitchen” if it meant more money in the wallet now and less disease later? (And why does it have to such a woeful thing to take a half hour walk every day?) In any case, I was curious. How much time do I spend in the kitchen?

    This morning I walked into my kitchen around 8:15am. We actually used to eat at 8:00, but I soon figured out that we all like sleep, especially in late fall when the sun doesn’t even begin to show itself until 7:30am. And anyway, we don’t have a bus to catch. Photobucket

    So, in a nutshell, this is what I did this morning:

    • fed my sourdough starter
    • refilled my wheat berry jar
    • checked on the meat for tonight
    • decided on lunch
    • made up a fresh eggnog for hubby’s out-the-door smoothie (and for me, too!)
    • took my supplements
    • helped my 10yo empty the dishwashers (we have two)
    • and made pancakes (scroll down for recipe).

    My heart and mind was also occupied with greeting my wee children and encouraging them to get dressed and “up and ready” for their day, and checking in with the morning animal care.

    That bit was 55 minutes long; let’s call it an hour. Then we ate, and then my kids took care of cleaning up.

    I returned to the kitchen two hours later. This is what I did then:

    • ground whole wheat berries into flour and mixed and kneaded for my sourdough bread.
    • supervised and enjoyed my children’s candlemaking craft (post and pics coming soon)
    • visited with a friend who stopped by (yay!) with boxes of empty jars for me (yay!)
    • made tuna chowder for lunch (scroll down for recipe)
    • ate with the children and our guest
    • cleaned up the dishes

    That portion was three hours long. I don’t know how much time I spent visiting or eating, so that’s all in there, too (life is like, SO distracting when you have a blog to prep for) Photobucket

    I returned two and a half hours later for the evening prep:

    • formed the bread loaf, preheated the oven, and after proofing the last time, baked the bread.
    • prepared our supper (meatballs, sweet potatoes, cucumber, and of course whole wheat sourdough bread with lots of pasture butter).
    • cleaned up the prep dishes

    That took an hour and a half.

    Somewhere after supper I visited with the third friend of the day in the very same kitchen, probably for another half hour.

    Before bed I cleaned the dishes, counters and floors, and then decided on meals for tomorrow, soaking a bowl full of black beans. I also put away the sweet potatoes that weren’t quite ready for our meal (ah well…tomorrow we’ll eat it!).

    That was another hour.

    So there you have it: seven hours worth of work. And for what? Well….for meals that will fuel growing bodies, keep them healthy and taste delicious besides. For memories in creating amazing crafty messes. For a warm place to love friends who need a hug and offer prayer. For more money in our pockets because fresh food made from scratch is a better value. For a clean kitchen that I won’t dread coming into in the morning. I dunno. Maybe it is too long. But for what would I give it up? Store boughten bread?

    Tomorrow won’t be so long. Oatmeal for breakfast practically cooks itself. Lunch will be leftover soup just reheated, with leftover bread from tonight. And supper? Chicken that will boil on its own in a pot, with black beans that will slowly cook for a nice side dish with the soft tacos we’ll have. All I’ll really have to make tomorrow is the tortillas. Some days are long in the kitchen, but others are much shorter.

    I guess we all have to choose where we’ll spend our time. As for me, time in the kitchen is time well invested, and besides, the children always know where to find me.

    OUR PANCAKES:

    4 cups leftover whey from making Greek-style yogurt (you can use runny yogurt or buttermilk)
    3 farm fresh eggs, separated
    1 tsp sea salt
    2 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour
    2 cups rolled oats
    1 stick unsalted butter, melted
    1/2 cup coconut sugar
    1 tsp vanilla (homemade)
    3/4 cup shredded coconut

    mix all ingredients but whip egg whites separately and fold into batter. Cook as you would other pancakes, and serve with organic maple syrup, homemade applesauce, and fresh raw milk to drink (if you’re blessed enough to have that!)

    TUNA CHOWDER

    Melt 4TB unsalted butter into pot (we happen to really like butter around here!).
    Chop and saute: 2 leeks, 4 carrots, 4 ribs celery, 3 russet potatoes, 2 cloves garlic.
    Add: 1 tsp kosher salt, black pepper, 1 cup wine, 2 bay leaves, and enough chicken stock to cover. I added a wee bit of dehydrated hot peppers.
    After simmering and cooking veggies, add 5 cans unsalted tuna, 4 cups of milk/cream and a sprinkling of dill.

    Mmm…

    May the Lord bless your time in your kitchen!

    Change of Seasons

    2 Comments

    Since the miscarriage, I’ve been thinking lately how my life is changing seasons. I’m no longer the young woman taking my fertility and youth for granted. I’m also no longer the girl who was so challenged by what other people thought of me, it guided what I did, said and wore. I’m finally comfortable being the person that some people love (xo!), and the same person that others hate (xo to you, anyway!). I am learning to become more content every day with who God has made me to be, and it is a lovely and restful place to be.

    So it seems appropriate as I think on things that the leaves outside are about all blown from the trees, and the smell of winter is in the air. Fall is bowing out, winter coming in. And God is so gracious in it all, directing and orchestrating changes both in creation and in me.

    I feel I’ve been MIA in these Internet parts. All the blogs I used to read…I’ve sort of forgotten about them. I didn’t mean to. I just decided that not having the computer available when I want it was actually a blessing. And that I could actually do the things I was reading about others doing and blogging about. In fact, if after reading this post you want to turn off your own computer and go to work on your own projects…and then you forget to come back…I wouldn’t be offended. I’m definitely not a “stay on the computer” encourager!

    One thing I’m doing more of is reading and writing snail mail letters. I love getting mail in the mailbox! It’s so lovely to see my writer’s handwriting, to steep a cup of tea and then just focus on my friend and her words. It’s so different than reading a blog-click-reading a blog-click-reading a blog… I know, I’m a dying breed. It’s ok. I don’t mind what others think 😉

    I’ve been picking at projects here and there, mostly the ones that are stashed here and there. Seems I’m forever dreaming up new projects without completing the ones I’ve started. I think it’s time for a little discipline and to finish up some of these lovely things.

    I have a lovely bump of Icelandic wool to spin, but first I needed to get the other spun wool off the bobbins. Like I said…unfinished projects!

    One thing I did get done was to harvest a good bunch of herbs before the first frost was due to arrive. I was surprised at how nicely they dried just hanging in my kitchen; usually I use the dehydrator. I’ll have to crumble and jar these up soon, though, to avoid dust collecting on them. Or maybe I’ll just leave several bundles out for good smells and looks. I left the rest of the garden as is. I knew the first frost would kill the tumbling bright orange nasturtiums but I couldn’t bare to pull them out yet.

    We’ve had lots of people over, some invited, some surprises, but always a great delight. We keep a puzzle out most of the year (not summer…that is outside season!) and our guests like to pick at them while they’re here. It’s surprising how a simple thing can open up someone to dialogue. Of course, it also helps that we don’t have a TV to distract anyone.

    I managed to get some shopping done with my Mom when my parents came to visit. Shopping is not my favorite thing to do; I’m so picky about clothing (no plastic-wear, please) and it is so hard to find basic things to wear. If someone would open a shop that sold wonderful aprons and simple cotton shirts and long easy skirts and shawls for fall and woolen capes for winter and real wool/cotton leggings and homespun knitted socks…I’d be a customer for life!

    With the colder weather outside, the board games are coming out more. And books. And elaborate train tracks and baking recipes.

    And then, we did get hit not only with the first frost, but the first snow! We got 6-7 inches and the children were wild with pleasure in sledding and snowball fighting. Last year we got not even a single snowflake! Outside, the roads were slick and cluttered with abandoned cars. I was so thankful I had pre-bought snowpants and snow gloves for all of the children, just in case, during one of those rare shopping trips. It was nice to be comfortable in my home, not feeling “trapped” at all….of course it helped that we kept our power on the whole miraculous time. Our visitors from California, however, were freezing!

    Our two does (far left and right) are (we hope) expecting kids next month sometime. If these gals actually give birth, it will be the first successful breeding we’ve ever had and what a joy that will be!

    Staying snowed in with grandparents keeping the children occupied gave me opportunity to address our Christmas cards. Every year we receive less and less; folks either stop sending them or they transition to e-cards and such. I miss finding my mailbox full of cards, but I realize, as I’ve mentioned, I’m a dying breed of treasuring snail mail.

    I’m already in the mood to decorate for Christmas. We bought the largest tree we’ve ever had, placed it in the middle of the room, and brought down boxes from the attic full of lights and sleigh bells and children’s Christmas books. If the Lord sees fit to sell our house this spring, this will be our last Christmas here. I want it to be nice.

    So blessings to you, sweet readers! Make sure to make time to sit on the snow chairs your kids make and enjoy the other funny things they like to do.

    Blessings,