Father at Home and Community living

I was reading a mish-mash of things this morning...I tend to do that, bunny trail from one thing to another. I started off looking for a barometric damper for the cookstove...we were told it needs one, but no one sells them locally. Does anyone know if it's really needed? I have found more than a few sources that say it can cause excess creosote build-up...

Anyway, from there I ended up on a link that took me to a really neat cordwood house building site. Now that was a time-user there...I read and saved and gleaned all sorts of information there.

Then somehow, I ended up on a Catholic site about green homesteading and the like. I'm not discussing the Catholic part at all, but I did find some thoughts I can relate to in the notes here. This is what I long for....Dad at home, close-knit family, close-knit community...everyone working together with a common goal and Path in view.

I can nod in agreement to just about everything on this list, and I'm sure more than a few who visit her can as well. The italics added are my own -- the immediate screams of agreement that shot out at me.

Why would fathers want to work at home?

• Because their children and wives need them throughout the day
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• Because they are likely being strongly tempted to compromise Christian principles in today's work place, through influences of fellow-workers, clients and bosses, and through the motivation to make a decent living for their family in an economic system that rewards the unscrupulous
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• Because they are likely exposed to a host of environmental toxins in their job, and in getting to their job
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• Because they are likely contributing to the creation of environmental toxins in their job, and in getting to their job
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• Because they are missing out on the smiles, hugs, tears and brawls of the family every day, and life is too short for that
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• Because they will gain much closer relationships with their children and wives if they spend more and better quality time with them
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• Because they may have much greater influence over the education and formation of their children if they are home
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• Because when they go off to work, they give the better part of themselves to their work, and are left worn and tired for the time they spend with their families
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• Because their work often does not provide the security and stability of true ownership of capital, as a homestead does, nor does it likely provide healthy physical and mental stimulation
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Why would families want to live on the land?

• Because the homestead provides an array of opportunities to observe God's creating and preserving Hand, leading to greater knowledge, and hence love, of God
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• Because the homestead offers opportunities for even the smallest children to be useful
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• Because the homestead requires that all members of the family work together, thus forming bonds of mutual respect and need for each other
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• Because the homestead offers a slower pace of life, with a quiet rhythm that allows man peace of mind and heart and ability to reflect and pray while he works
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• Because the homestead provides the most healthful food that one can put on one's table
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• Because the homestead provides the most healthful, and affordable, fibers and natural materials for making buildings, clothing and household goods
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• Because the homestead provides the most healthful form of work, usually outdoors and varied to tone the whole body without stressing it with factory repetitiveness
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• Because the homestead allows man to be proper stewards of the earth and frees him from dependency on and collaboration with businesses that exploit the earth and people
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• Because the homestead provides a constant challenge to man's creativity and resourcefulness which stimulates prayerful learning
• Because life on a homestead emphasizes and encourages man's reliance on God

Why would families on the land want to form communities?

• Because communities are an expression of the Body of Christ
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• Because families need a wholesome, stable environment in which to grow
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• Because children need friends and potential spouses who share their values
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• Because, in community, we learn to be concerned with the needs of others
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• Because the general culture has become contrary to the needs of families who are trying to live on the land, so extra support is needed
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• Because, as communities, we can help each other to learn the myriad of skills necessary to live on the land
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• Because, as communities, we can gather together in prayer, thus multiplying the power of our prayers
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• Because, as communities, we can share resources both for buying and selling in a cooperative manner
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• Because, as communities, we can more readily share our extra resources, such as garden bounty, extra plants (such as strawberries and raspberries), seeds, seedlings, livestock, outgrown clothes, unneeded items, etc.
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• Because, as communities, we can help each other with large tasks that require crews, such as barn raisings, and pool resources for commodities that may be shared, such as heavy equipment