Homesteading

Stacy MacDonald put this video onto her blog, and I had to embed it on mine, too. It is truly amazing to see what one family has done on 1/5th of an acre in California.

The website is here: The Path to Freedom


We have nearly three acres, and this year we will be raising 130 meat chickens. We have 6 baby ducklings that just hatched. We have been planting our garden, and so far, we have onions and garlic coming, plus romaine lettuce. Tomorrow I plan to plant our tomatoes and peppers, and a zucchini plant.

We also want to put corn and potatoes into the field.

I have been praying that God will bless our efforts to become more and more self-sufficient. The food we raise ourselves is not only more nutritious, because it doesn't have to travel 100's of miles in a truck, but it is more satisfying, because we've put the "sweat of our brows" into it!

I know we don't live in California, and we have a much shorter growing season, but I am hoping to grow plenty of our own food this year.

Held Together by His Power

Colossians 1:9 ¶ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 ¶ giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

The ESV and NIV put it this way:

He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

I am always astounded to see how things seem to come together. For instance, I have been teaching the children about American slaves and how they suffered before Abolition. We studied George Washington Carver and marveled at how this gentle man set his heart on learning, and did what he had to do to get a good education.

The other day, we just happened to rent a movie (The Great Debaters) that portrayed some of the indignities suffered by blacks less than a hundred years ago. Then today, Christopher's curriculum just happened to mention Harriet Tubman, the feisty ex-slave who led many to safety on the Underground Railroad. I have a book called "Stories of Real Adventurers" which featured Harriet Tubman. We looked her up in our old World Book encyclopedia, then on the internet, beginning with Wikipedia. Tomorrow, the children will be writing a report on Harriet.

I don't question that God orders our steps, even down to the details of our little homeschool. It is a joy to praise Him for daily provision even in this small thing.

We don't question that God has a plan for us in regard to every aspect of our lives. He is in control of the minutest detail, and because we trust in Him, we take comfort in this fact.

So, we observe that the Lord allowed our truck to break down in February, putting us further in debt. We had no choice but to replace the engine on the truck, so we could keep on servicing our customers.

We notice that the Lord ordained that now is the time that our neighbour decided to buy the farm from his dad, requiring us to have a new well dug on our own property.

This morning, we were reading the Bible together in our family devotions, and what jumped out at me was this:

Romans 15:
4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
5 ¶ Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,
6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 ¶ Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,
9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name."
10 And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!"
11 And again: "Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!"
12 And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope."
13 ¶ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Although we read three chapters together, this was the portion of Scripture that jumped out at me. I kept on reflecting on this passage throughout the day. It is in Christ I hope. It is in Him I rejoice. I only have hope because of His finished work on the cross, which has reconciled me to the Father, and it only by the power of the Holy Spirit that I can see this blessed hope. Without Him, I would be blind, lost, without hope and without Christ in this world.

It is no coincidence that today my husband was told that our financial situation and employment might be completely devastating by the end of next month. God knew that I needed to read and meditate on this passage that reminds me that in HIM I have hope.

So, I love it when a plan comes together. I love to see God's plan unfolding before my very eyes. I have no idea what is in store or what trials we may have to face. But I do know that my God shall supply all of our needs according to His riches in grace, by Christ Jesus. I know that He will never, ever leave me, nor will He forsake me. I know that He knows the plans He has for me, and that they are plans to prosper me, and not to harm me; plans to give me a hope and a future.

My God is better than the A-Team. He is in perfect control. Of everything. He is in control of the smallest details of an obscure homeschool in rural Ontario; He is in control of the decisions made in boardrooms of corporations in the urban metropolis. He has a plan, and it will all come together, according to His will.

Ah, I love it when HIS plan comes together!

The Clutter Cure

In my ongoing quest to be organized, I checked a book, The Clutter Cure by Judi Culbertson, out of the local library. It promised to teach me "Three Steps to Letting Go of Stuff, Organizing Your Space & Creating the Home of Your Dreams".

Judi is good at making the reader ask important questions of herself to determine why she keeps so much stuff. There is a lot of emotional baggage attached to our things. Sometimes they remind us of someone we love, or even more poignant, loved and lost. Sometimes they produce guilt if we contemplate getting rid of the things. We keep them because we just know that Great Aunt Nelly loved them - and it doesn't matter that we don't particularly like those things much, ourselves.

I am taking a good look around my house to see what I hold onto that is weighing me down. There are many things that just take up space and don't really give me pleasure anymore. They just end up being one more thing that needs to be dusted or cleaned.

Today I went through my closet, again, and rid myself of two green garbage bags full of clothing that was either outdated, or didn't fit properly, or was stained or damaged in some way. I have to coerce my husband into sorting his own things, with my help, but I know that won't happen any time soon. I'll have to set a and promise him great rewards!

In The Clutter Cure, Step One, Judi has added some worksheets - "Stuff Lists" - that force the reader to evaluate what items she is holding onto because they are perfectly good (but does she really need them?) or because they were free, or a 'good deal' (but would she replace the items if they were lost in a fire?) or because they are 'evidence' (part of her personal history that she might need some day, or want to remember - but can a picture be taken of the evidence and displayed in an album or on a wall?). Judi has a whole worksheet on paper items - bills, magazines, newspapers, books, flyers, etc. , and another one on sentimental items. She gives plenty of samples of "self-talk" you can use to remind yourself why you simply don't want to hang onto the items, but leaves the final statement up to you. For example, "When you are struggling to let go of items like these in the future, you can tell yourself: _____________________. She leaves plenty of fill-in-the-blank spaces for your own ideas, thus personalizing the method to the reader.

Step Two is Assessment. What would your dream bedroom look like? Your bathroom? Your kitchen? Judi encourages her readers to assess and evaluate, so they can de-clutter and plan the home they really want to live in.

Step Three is A Call to Action. Once the reader has filled out the stuff lists and decided what items she wants to dispose of, all that remains is to DO it. Judi includes suggestions of where to donate specific items, and gives clear instructions about selling things through Ebay, for instance.

I followed the links she gave to a couple of websites. If you want to be horrified, go to
Squalor Survivors and explore. I followed a couple of links and watched videos of people who simply can't throw things away. One of the sites was called Children of Hoarders, and it was horrifying to see how some people have let this compulsion to keep things ruin their lives.

Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 "And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 "So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."‘

20 "But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

22 ¶ Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 "And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 "If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

29 "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

A lot of people hoard because they fear the future: "I might need this some day. What if there is a downturn in the economy?" Yet God is in control of the future.

People hoard because they need evidence that they are special, that they are important. Yet God is the One who knows us through and through, and loves us enough that He sent His Son to die in our place.

People hoard because they want lots of stuff - it makes them feel powerful. Yet in the end, we take nothing with us. Better that we should live in a peaceful, calm, organized environment that frees us to serve the Lord in various ways, than to be occupied with building storehouses for our many possessions.

The Great Debaters

I'm not one to do movie reviews much, but we sat and watched this movie today, and it bears mentioning. You can see videos here: The Great Debaters

I checked Wikipedia, and learned that it is loosely based on a true story. Although the real debaters never actually debated Harvard, they did win a victory against another established school.

The film is a good one to watch to raise awareness in your teens of the racism that was rampant in the South in the beginning of the last century. The bus scene near the beginning of the film pans down the bus, clearly showing the whites in the front of the bus and the blacks in the back.

Another lesson is that being well-read is important. In order to be articulate in speech and writing, you must read a wide variety of literature, including poetry, plays, the classics, and of course the Bible. Commit great quotes to memory. They will come to mind when you need them.

"As Charles Spurgeon once said,
"The man who never reads will never be read;
he who never quotes will never be quoted.
He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains,
proves that he has no brains of his own."

There is a clear depiction of the bullying that was experienced by Negroes at the hands of the poor white sharecroppers, when a Preacher was forced to pay an exorbitant amount to a farmer for a pig killed on the road accidentally. The preacher, played by Forrest Whittaker, was willing to be cheated and humiliated rather than to let his family be harmed. There was courage in the acceptance of the humiliation, in some ways, even though his son didn't see it.

After witnessing a lynching, the debate team suffered a great deal, emotionally. One of the men reacted by drinking and partying (caveat: there are a couple of scenes with women that should be avoided by using the fast-forward). However, in the end, they rallied and worked tirelessly to win the debate.

I haven't lived with racism as people in the South have experienced it. I do remember being in the minority, growing up in a small Quebec town where there were only 6 English-speaking families. I remember some strife and misunderstanding, especially around the time of the FLQ crisis. However, the prejudice I experienced was minimal. I spoke fluent French and often fooled my peers. I could hide my identity - whereas blacks cannot hide their skin colour.

The Bible predicts the enmity of the last days:

Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

We fear what we do not know, and we don't like things that are different. We are most comfortable with people like ourselves. Yet God says in His word, He will redeem people from every nation.

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

There is no room for prejudice in God's economy. We are all from Adam, so we are all brothers and sisters. The genome project made that clear, too.

It's good to understand how racism flourished in the past, so we can avoid it in the future. And this movie, The Great Debaters, helped us understand it better.

The stuff of life.

We were supposed to be camping this weekend, but the weather forecast called for cold AND rain. I can handle cold. I can handle rain. But I can't cope with both in a camping situation, especially not when I don't really have to.

Last year, when we were at Camp de la Joie in Quebec City, it poured buckets one night. The children that were sleeping in the tent found themselves in the middle of a lake by the next morning. I have pictures of the makeshift clothesline we fashioned by stringing a rope between Adeena's van and my van!

Anyway, that was a necessity, because we were a day's travel from home. However, the camping we were planning to do was to be within a half hour of my nice, warm, cozy bed. The warm bed won over the adventure of camping. We'll do that later.

So, today turned into a cleaning day. My oven needed attention, so I sprayed it and began to scrub. I was able to do the door without much problem, but found that I could not scrub the sides or the top or the back of the oven without a great deal of pain. This neck problem that began with a car accident on February 8 last year has not resolved itself, even after more than a year has gone by. Patrick came to my rescue and finished the oven.

I had all of the children scrubbing baseboards - another job I found impossible to do. Then, later in the morning, I had Daniel and Linda clean the ceiling fan in the kitchen. I cannot look up long enough to do that job. They were great, though, and they had it done in less time than I would have taken.

After our deep cleaning of the kitchen, the kids headed to the pool for public swim. They met Heather and the entire gang, who were there to celebrate Quinlan's 8th birthday.

Linda and I stayed home, relishing the peace and quiet. We did a little bit of net-surfing, but the rest of the time was spent in doing other jobs around the house. After the kids got back from swimming, we all went outside to do yard work. I emptied the pond, which needs a good cleaning. Elena discovered that we have 7 baby ducklings! Elena and Tiana closed the ducks and geese into a pen to keep them from my pond. Linda installed a brick walkway circling the far side of the pond. Daniel mowed. Patrick helped me with odd jobs.

As the day drew closer to evening time, Tiana and Elena went inside to make supper while the rest of us finished our projects. Rick and Jared got home just when supper was ready!

When I think back on this day, I realize that it's the little things that matter. We accomplished so much more than a clean oven, a clean kitchen, clean baseboards and a clean fan. We worked together all day. We built relationships. We had fun together, both at the swimming pool and at home or on the truck.

This is the stuff of life. And it's all good.

Yahoooooooo!!

Adeena finally did it! She entered the world of blogs. It's about time. She is the mother of four of the most beautiful children on the face of the earth. Also, she is a multi-talented person. She cooks. She organizes. She plans. She is a typical first born. And to top it all off, she's MY firstborn, which makes it all the more special.

So, I am a happy camper this evening.

I was actually supposed to be camping at Jeff and Adeena's Creekside Camping this holiday weekend, but the Lord saw fit to send rain and cold and misery our way. So, no camping yet. But it won't be long until we haul our little trailer up to Creekside and join in the fun.

Check it out here: Creekside Camping

By the way, I have a secret surprise for you, Adeena. Ask me about it on Sunday.