Why and What if...

First off -- Brenda and anyone else, don't worry one bit about 'monopolizing' my blog or comments. That's what I opened my mouth and my page for :o) Well, that and for my poor husband, no doubt rolling his eyes at my bunny trailing here, wondering where the pictures of the children are :o)

I know this is a can of worms kind of topic. But, that's pretty much me. If Dewey makes it home for any Christmas holiday here, we will no doubt have a tree and a few lights and all that. We will have presents to open, a big Christmas day dinner...the whole traditional worldly shebang. Well, without the crackling fireplace and the snowfall....this is Mississippi. Christmas will either be in the 70's and balmy, or it will be rainy. But it won't be snowy and cold.

Honestly, I'm not out to smack folks with any kind of church history reality or anything. The Lord will direct your path where He wants. I'm just throwing out ideas and thoughts some "what if's" to get your feedback on. I like to debate every now and then. Keeps the blood pumping :o) It opens my sometimes-closed mindset to what others think on this or that topic and why they feel a they do. What convicts them in this or that. I'm not casting stones. I'm sharpening my sword against yours.

I like those kinds of discussions. One thing you ought to know about me by now is I don't get offended by things very easily at all. I get mad, I have my little hissy fits now and again, but I don't get what you would classify as offended. If someone plopped down a Bible in front of me and walked me here and there, showing me how this or that in my way of thinking could not possibly be true, I'm not going to jump up and have one of those V8 moments or anything profound like that. Well, not usually. I ponder it. I pray over it. I roll it around against my own thinking up to that point. I will still believe what I believe, but I'm wired up for a search now.

It starts a bit of a hunger in me.

Such as now...I want to know why someone fully believes Christmas is a Christian holiday. I used to, I suppose part of me (the flesh side) still wants the 'fun' and the memories and all that. I can worship The Lord with a tree...the greens stand for eternal life that He offers; the reds stand for His Blood shed for my sins and my salvation; the white lights, for His Purity and lack of sin. The bells, the hymns, the nativity scenes that are out in view in my home all year long. The angels...can you get more 'religious' than all that?

Religious.

That's the problem with it all from what I understand and read about now. Religion says I can worship the Lord in most any manner. I'm worshipping Him in the world's way and not in His Way, though. Maybe the tree and all the pomp and circumstance around December 25th doesn't make a difference at all, but my heart in all of it surely does. What if the heart of the matter is I have to be sincere in my willingness, my desire, to give all this up, and not so much in actually giving it all up?

I never looked at another side of the fence before. The side where I am really following a man-made tradtion and not the real deal from His Own Heart and Word. I certainly wasn't taught that growing up in churches. I like traditions, I like the pretty tree and the garlands of silver, the bells and the lights. They make a connection in me with Christ based on what teaching I grew up under. But it's a man-made connection.

What I want to know is why do you hang on to them? Is it just because you grew up with the tree, the lights, the gifts, the fat man in the red suit and all that reindeer stuff? Is it that your church has always had a hanging of the green kind of special, the choir works for a month or more practicing for Handel's Messiah, you child is singing this or that song for Sunday service, or you just like the pretty snowy backgrounds at Olan Mills for this year's family portrait?

I am not sitting on either side of the fence, really, but I have had my eyes opened and I can't ignore that. I have to start searching around for answers so it can be 'settled' in my own spirit. To do something, anything just because you always have or you were taught that way is ridiculous if you thin about it. Maybe, with some things, sin becomes somehow more of a sin once you have been told the truth and you ignore it. Once you have heard a thing, and you still continue on as though you haven't, you are willfully ignorant. (let's not start something about there not being levels or degrees of sin...I'm just trying to clarify myself a bit more here)

I may be, and totally am, ignorant on a great many things. Can't even count how many things, truth be told here. But, once I began to talk with those who, in this instance, don't celebrate Christmas, and who have shared reasons behind why they no longer do, I can't just smile and nod my head at them then walk away back to the tree decorations and lighting. I have to dig deeper and find out more.

That's what I'm doing with this can of worms. LOL...I have other cans sitting around here, shall I bunny trail off and open another one? What shall we bunny trail off to...why I believe homeschooling is better than public schooling? Why I prefer the King James Bible over the myriad of other versions out there? Why I believe women belong at home and not in the traditional workforce? I'm dresses-only and headship veiling...I'm not anything remotely gender-neutral...wanna discuss that?

I am simply a "what if" kind of person. I ponder far more sides to a subject than there is, but really, I don't believe things are gray...they all can be brought down to a purely black and white level more often than not.

What if the definition of pretending is to deceive or give a false appearance?

What if pretending can fool men, but it cannot fool God?

What if it's true that we are known by our fruits?

What if Jesus was right in saying that not everyone who calls Him their Lord will enter heaven? (Matt 7:21)

What if Satan wants me to believe I can sin and get away with it?

What if God is not only a God of love and forgiveness, but also a God of justice and wrath?

What if it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? (Heb 10:31)

What if my love for the things of this world reveals that I do not belong to Christ? (1 Jn 2:15)

What if I really should examine myself to see if I am truly in the faith?
What if I have not honestly been broken over my sins against God and completely surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
What if I have broken God's commandments thousands of times without even caring that it spits in the face of God?
What if God holds me accountable for every lie, every lustful thought, and every time I felt hatred toward a person?
What if God even considers my lust as adultery and my hatred as murder?
What if I'm actually ignoring the God who gives me my every breath?
What if I don't see myself as a despicable, wicked person who deserves nothing but eternity in hell?
What if God does not desire for me to go to hell, but He will not force me to stop living my self-centered life? (Mark 8:34-38)
What if even though I have been so selfish in my self-centered life, Jesus still desires me as He lovingly took the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross for me?
What if this conviction on my heart is begging me to genuinely repent and to surrender my life and desires to Jesus Christ alone?
What if God had me read this for a reason?
What if I'm pretending ...?

About that Christmas Tree...a comment

Thank you for all chiming in. I didn't expect everyone to agree at all and I have enjoyed the conversation and thoughts shared.

Well, we have spent countless dollars on 'doing' the tree every year here as well. I am very particular about my tree selection...ask Dewey and he will tell you stories about trudging through the dark tree farm with cold fingers and toes because I can't find that 'perfect tree' without heading through ALL of them first. I have a vision of what I want a tree to look like, I have a vision in my minds eye that has pretty handmade ornaments, some childhood special ornaments for each of my children, tiny lights that create a nice effect. It's all very dreamy and it brings back a lot of childhood memories for me.

For me, that tree is a problem, obviously. Sounds a bit like it could be for you, Anonymous, if you really be open and honest with yourself. You can remember those fond childhood memories without the tree. You can have wonderful family times without a tree. By saying what you did, whether that was the way you meant it or not, it does come across that you are pacing a good deal of worship and idolatry into the tree and the whole process of Christmas. Trust me -- I know it's got a draw to it. That's why we still struggle with it all. It evokes dreams of my history and of all those Currier & Ives moments in my mind.

But you mention wanting to make 'a pretty display of my childrens gifts under the tree' as being something you are going for. That's pride and vanity. It's a 'show' to those who enter your home, look over at my glittery tree, look at the gifts laid out nicely and wrapped pretty we bought for our children. It yells vanity...which in turn whispers 'idol'.

The comment about kneeling down to the toilet and not praying to it makes sense, don't get me wrong, but most Biblical stories of idolatry have little to do with bowing down to the given idol...it's mostly about the vanity and pride of those placing the idol and calling to it the worship.

I am far from a scholar in Theology and I'm probably one of the most ignorant folks you'll find when it comes to Biblical history or having a decent conversation of some depth with all of that, but I have a brain and I have a good level of comprehension and I can read. Christ never celebrated a 'birthday' and plain and simple, if it wasn't a big enough deal to point out to us in His Word, why add to it by giving him some fictitious day? Worship of a 'day' was never involved in any story of the Bible that I've read. It is man-made. We are never once called out in Scripture to connect worship of any kind to something man-made. We are only called to worship HIM.

Debi is offering me comments in the background here...God made the trees, Deanna. Yes, He did. But He never said to worship them, or anything else He created. And he didn't grow it in the middle of my living room by the front window for everyone else to see.

We have family gatherings for Christmas. We get a chance to see one another and spend family time. You can gather together any time during the year. You can visit with family and friends any time of the year. And, gathering as a family for a meal and visitation time has nothing whatsoever to do with Christ, let alone His Birthday (which isn't this time of year, as established already). There is no Christ involved in that.

We give gifts to one another to remember His Birth and the gifts brought to Him. Yeah, well, that's hardy what I've ever seen anyone doing in real life. Christmas is totally a commercial, material event in our society, hands down. There are already Christmas 'things' going on in nearly ever store. Not the music yet, but all the trees, all the decorations, the plants and pretties, and so forth. The 'season' is pushed earlier and earlier every year for businesses to make more money on a holiday that evokes worship and dreams to families all over the US and then some.

Oh wait -- I get it now.

Christ was most likely born sometime during October (given our current calendar standards) and we have pushed all the 'Christmas stuff' now to the point it is in the stores now...in October.

There. See? I connected the dots of it all. Go ahead and play with the snowmen and lights now.


As for me and my house.....

Cutting Expenses on the homestead

I was asked about how we are cutting expenses.

Well, so far, it's slow-moving. But, I plug along and I am filled with ideas to put into action...just gotta put them in action. I'm a list-maker. I am a great list-maker, if I do say so myself. I can plan and organize the world (just about) on paper. Then I have to start putting action to that list and that's where I usually trip myself up. But, I know I have this tendency and I'm working toward limiting myself in that lack of complete action process.

Ok, money savers:
Turn off the lights. Don't whine to me about not having natural lighting during the day -- I live in a trailer. There isn't what you'd call 'well-placed' windows in here by any stretch of the imagination. I may as well live in a cave for all the natural light I get. It's a given that we have some kind of light on during even the brightest, sunniest day. But do you have to have a light in every room? Do your children need to be scattered about during the day with every light in the house on? Look seriously at just the lights you use during the day.

Cut back, even a little, on heating and air conditioning. I know -- that's funny coming from me, but I did work this year to cut back the central air this summer. I am not a summer person. Never have been. I absolutely can't stand being hot and muggy. I'd just as soon have icicles hanging off my walls all summer long. But try it -- cutting back a few degrees, setting up the automatic temperature control when you aren't home, when you're sleeping, etc. can save some money on the power bill. Turn down your hot water heater while you're at it. Some are hard-wired in and you'll use more electricity to cut them on and off, so just turn it down so the water isn't so hot.

Look hard and serious at your monthly expenses. Have you ever tracked your outflow of monies for at least a full month? I mean every penny accounted for, on paper, and in ink? Don't round off expenses at the store...keep it real and list it honestly. Then look at your receipts.
I spent $7.44 on 5 doz eggs at our Wal-Mart. Yes, I needed eggs, but...I also paid $17.65 on a bag of layer pellets and cracked corn for the stupid chickens who aren't producing eggs here on the homestead. And, to boot, I paid $7.99 for a bag of chicken breasts. See a problem here? I could have saved my budget $25.64 plus some tax if I had just butchered the dumb birds who aren't laying eggs. No, not everyone out there has chickens, but can you see a point here? I'm wasting money. Maybe you waste it in another area. My mom spends money each week on those checkout line tabloid papers...

How much store-bought food do you have in your house? What could you make yourself instead of buying every month? I can bake bread and buns. Last month, we didn't buy any store bread until Dewey came home for the weekend. He likes store-bread for sandwiches -- says the homemade just can't be cut thin enough to make a truly good sandwich without feeling you are getting all bread. I'm working on that, but for now, I buy a loaf for him when needed. With him in Arkansas, it's not needed.
What about other food stuffs? There is so much I could be doing, but I'm not. I'd like to say it's because I don't know how, or I don't have this or that, but honestly, I'd be lying. It's laziness most often than not. I can make pasta. I don't all the time because it's a long process to make spaghetti and to make enough for at least 2 meals and be worth the time spent...I'd be out here all day long, sun up to sun down. Time-wise, it's easier to buy it.
Then again, what do I need to save TIME for? I need to save MONEY, not TIME.
I have wheat berries. I have a grinder. I could grind my own flour -- fresh and much healthier. I don't always do this, but I could. My carpal tunnel kills me to grind by hand, but I do have 8 eager and willing sets of grinding hands here who could do it for me.
I could butcher these chickens and not buy anymore for a while. I don't because...well, um, because I'm a baby when it comes to killing off my livestock. Did I tell you it took me 3 years to finally talk Dewey into allowing me chickens in the first place? Yep. He knew I'd have elaborate plans in mind to have funerals and burial plots in the back pasture rather than having butchering season for the freezer. I'm much better now at that kind of thing, but still...there's a big city girl in me that prefers to stay in the house and allow the menfolk to butcher whatever...just bring it in ready to be washed and bagged up.

What can you buy in bulk? Why not go to Sam's or Costco and buy a case of TP instead of a small 12 pack, or worse...those useless 4 packs? It's TP -- you're gonna use it sooner or later. By buying in bulk -- anything you use regularly, not just the TP -- you are saving all over the place. You save in gas -- if you buy in bulk, you don't need to go into town weekly so you can save on gas. You don't need to replenish the supply as often. Storage could present some issues, but there is always a place to put things if you really want them. How do you think we all ended up with far too many things in our homes as it is? We wanted them and we made space whether it was there or not. Lack of space is no excuse for not buying in bulk.

How much gas do you use each week? Do you have to go where you go or do you just want to go there? Look at me today -- I was all over the big city yesterday, passed countless grocery stores dollar stores, etc. -- and today, I drove 13 miles one way, into town for 2 cans of spicy tomatoes and some tea bags. UGH. Yes...don't even say it. I already know. I spent how much in gas to go buy tea bags and tomatoes? Let's not even think about it. It's stupid, it's a lack of organization and preplanning, and I did it anyway. I have no excuses. Just stupidity.
What are you doing in town? Debi was going into town for a needful thing and she came out of the store with $60 some dollars of stuff. She only needed to spend maybe $12, however, once in that store, she thought about needing this or that, got some unnecessary things she could have lived without...baby yogurt, tortilla shells, coffee creamer, cat toys (cat toys??!! Debi!!!) and some flannel sheets.
She went in for $12 and spent $60.
So, what are you doing in town? Do you have to be there? Why can't you go to town once a week and do all you need then? Could you, seriously, go into town twice a month instead? What about once a month? That is our goal here -- hit town once a month. Ideally, I'd like to shop for about 4 months at a time, but I'm a ways off of that.

I homeschool. Not that I necessarily save any money doing it, but I am working on it. We are buying all of our curriculum so it's here. I use Rod & Staff -- hardcover texts, easily reused by each one coming up the line here. Very little consumable, which I like. But, I could go cheaper. I'd have to be more on top of things like planning and gathering, but I could go dirt cheap, rock bottom prices. Old Fashioned Education is totally free and downloadable online. Charlotte Mason style education using real books from the library. A lot of homeschoolers down here in our area use Bob Jones -- wow, pricey. Good, but pricey, I think. I can't see spending upwards of $900 per grade level. I'm just too cheap. There are all kinds of ways to save money on education and still get a superior education. You have to be deeply involved and committed to it, but it can be done easily enough.

Washing clothes can be done cheaper...how many loads a week do you do? Personally, I do way way too much around here, but I have untrained children in that respect and we are going to change that. We have at least 4 outfits each, plus church clothes. I don't need to wash daily. I could plan one day for all laundry and that's it. Savings on electricity and water. I have nothing but sun and air out here -- it's Mississippi. I can realistically hang out laundry all year round. No dryer usage, saving on electricity there as well. I am just about ready for hand-washing just to prove a point about unnecessary laundry piles here.

Bottom line, stay home, learn to bake and cook from scratch, turn off your lights and organize your laundry better. I'm working on all of this myself. I honestly don't see us, as a society on a whole, lasting on much more the way we live. Life is changing. I don't have stocks and bonds, I don't have a credit card and I don't have much in the bank...pretty soon, no one else will either. What are you able to do to be prepared for what life will become? Dewey isn't not interested in saving money -- he just isn't ready to throw away the comforts of life and go off-grid just yet. Being an electrician, I suppose it presents a sort of conflict of interest for him.

We have $560 a month to one loan, and $420 to another. Everything else coming and going from this house is totally within our control. I have a high electric bill because of the trailer being what it is, our county has the highest kwh rates in the state, and we don't do all we can to cut back. Our water usage can be controlled much more than it is. I have a cell phone and a landline and this internet. I lived without the cell and the internet for years, I could live without it again. You notice I don't, but I could.

Monthly, our bills include the 2 loans, payments on the fridge we bought (and it wasn't pricey, just didn't pinch it in the budget), Netfix monthly (definitely not a need there), landline phone and cell phone, electric and water. That's it for bills. Of course there is gas and animal feed and groceries added to that, but bill-wise, that's all we have. The loans are the problem in our lives and they are getting attention above the other stuff. I could fill my tank once and be good for about 3 weeks or maybe the month. Longer if I truly kept it to honest NEEDS and not just wants in town. Church is 2 miles up the mountain, round-about.

I am in a better position for saving money here because Dewey isn't here. I can turn off the house and unplug from everything but the full freezers and heat pump and he won't care because he isn't here. With him home, I probably couldn't cut back quite as much. His heart of saving is in other areas that don't involve daily 'comfort measures' like being lit by oil lamps and eating simply, wholesome meals really. I need to really dig deeper and make these pennies scream for Momma while I can.

It's all about lifestyle change and how bad you truly want to save money. Where there's a will, there's a way. We always manage to get what we want if we really want it bad enough :o)

What do you do to save?

Taco Soup recipe

Dawn asked about our Taco Soup. It's nothing fancy at all, just good and warming -- something nice on a day like this where it's a bit chilly outside.
You can vary and play with the basic recipe by using home canned items easily enough. Here is the original recipe given to me -- enjoy!

Taco Soup
1# ground beef (or venison, or ground turkey, or even a spicy sausage if you like it hot)
garlic and onion

Brown meat with onion and garlic then drain well.

1 14 oz can Mexican tomatoes (the ones mixed with peppers and such)
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidneys beans
1 cup salsa
1 can sweet corn -- do not drain
beef broth or tomato juice (I prefer tomato juice)

Blend together and add any other seasons you like. We simmer this all day :o) LOL...and we nibble on it most of the day, too! I like the tomato juice for the main base instead of the beef broth, but that's just me. We serve this with tortilla strips, some extra cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Do you celebrate Christmas?

I'm curious what everyone thinks about :Christmas: or, more specifically, about celebrating a holiday with such pagan history?

We have gone back and forth on this. Something happens, every year, that places us back in the 'modern traditional' Christmas mode. I could argue celebrating to show the world that God is still God and our love and worship for Him.

Then, I could equally as hard argue why you sadden The Lord by placing any importance on a pagan-focused day. Calling it Christian simply doesn't make it so. Shameful activities like celebrating the hanging of the greens within the walls of a church that claims The Holy Spirit...no, I just don't think that pleases God.

Here is a good article, and several links worth reading and truly looking into your reasoning behind celebrating any version of Christmas.

http://www.siffordsojournal.com/bgsgam/Why_Not_Christmas.html

Something to think about:

If you study the Bible closely, you will see that God institutes how He will be worshipped, and expects that and nothing else. We are to obey what He says, and just because He doesn't reference something directly, doesn't mean we can just go ahead and do it, even if we think it is honoring to God. There are many references in the Bible where people tried to sincerely honor God in their own way, and God rejected those acts, whether it was Cain and the fruit of his labors, or the Aaron’s sons who brought their strange fire to God and were struck down dead, to David and his cart for the ark. God never said, "David, don't use a cart." He said, have the priests carry it with the rods. David did it his own way, and the result was bad. If we were allowed to do anything that God has not specifically forbidden, the Bible would be endless with tons of "do nots" to account for every machination our minds could conceive. That's why it's important that the Bible stand alone as the only way directing behavior and action.

Busy Tuesday...and frosty morning

Yesterday Miss Emily had her next visit with her surgeons up in Memphis. It is a full day trip for us. It's only about 211 miles (round trip) but it's Memphis...terrible traffic and lots of lanes of it all day long. We usually leave hom around 9 am and finally get back here about 6 pm. We are all flat out tired from being in the car all day, and nothing gets done around here. It's a long day.

We were told, though, that Miss Emily is doing great -- she has built up a greater portion of fat than they expected, given her petite size, and we won't have to return to a check-up for a whole year.

A full year of not having to drive all the way to Memphis and spend the entire day!!! Whatever will we do with the time? We have been visiting Memphis and LeBonheur Children's Medical Center for 2 full years now. Emily started when she was but a couple months old, and we have gone, just for her, every 3 months since then. And then there was Jacob's 2 weeks stay there last year after bring burned so badly.

Now both are cleared from visits :o) They expect that when they see Emily next year, she will have regained her fat stores along that shoulder and Lord Willing, the hemangioma will not have redeveloped at all. That is something we will be monitoring for many years to come with her.

But, so far, so good and she is doing wonderful and has absolutely no residual affects from either the hemangioma or her surgery several months back. Woo Hoo and Praise The Lord!!

Today, we are off to a slow start. It's frost-covered outside. Yes, winter white frost on everything in sight down here in north Mississippi. Go figure. The old timers are saying winter will hit hard this year. Let's hope not...I don't have my wood stove hooked up....hint hint dear husband...

Speaking of dear husband, he is looking at an EdenPURE Gen3 heater for this place until we can build and get a woodstove and heater set up. There are more house fires (trailer fires, really) in Mississippi than anywhere else. Trailers just are not ideally suited for using woodheat. These heaters are infrared quartz...safe in all areas and not a flame-hazard. Plus the larger one (which is still very small in size) will heat 1000 sq ft. That covers us well enough -- we are only 1440 sq ft. We'll see what he decides if one shows up here.

We spent Monday preparing the animals pens and barns for the colder nights ahead. Thought everyone was settled in and prepared well enough. Then, coming home yesterday after the long trip, we find I'm down 4 laying hens and the barn middle and surrounding area looks like a snowfall of feathers. Oh...did I mention a neighbor's dog enjoying a fat hen then taking off into the brush? I am talking to one neighbor later to see what kind of dog he has tethered over there, but last night we discovered that the other neighbor over there in the wasteland has a couple of new Pit Bulls.

I don't want to discuss the pro's of pit bulls with anyone. I love dogs, I truly do. They are a nuisance at times, but over all, I am an animal lover of all kinds. Shoot, I put my car in a ditch in the snow one afternoon just to avoid hitting a raccoon....in my defense, he was by far the BIGGEST COON I HAVE EVER SEEN, but still, Dewey was not amused. (man, he was big...big as a german shepherd, easy. And smart...I swear he was laughing at me as I spun myself into the snow bank...).

Either way, animal lover or not, I don't count pit bulls as animals. They are not a breed designed for anything outside of fighting. I don't trust them one inch. That dog comes out here again, and as much as I hate and cringe at shooting any animal, I'll drop that blasted thing dead in its tracks without a second thought, then get irritated at having to drag it off my land. It has a taste for my hens now and I won't put up with that. Who's to say now that s/he has blood in his heart, he won't decided my babies playing outside don't look tempting? It will sadden me to shoot an animal, but I'm sorry, in my opinion, pits are simply an animal from Hell. If our neighbors had a more, shall we say, legal, career choice, they wouldn't have the need for pit bulls skulking about over there.

Well, I think morning chores are finally completed and it's time to get to schooling. We have fellowship at church tonight and I still don't know what I'm making to bring along. Some sort of casserole, I think. Or maybe I'll just make a big pot of Taco Soup to warm the evening.

Grrr

Light a Match? AMEN!

I wandered off and tried to catch up with everything this morning.

It didn't happen as I had planned. Too many emails waiting to be sifted over and taken care of. And too many great posts from friends to catch up on. And I'm sure I am still missing some great reads out there!

But, I had to catch up as best I could given my time-frame online, with Michael Bunker's notes. I'm behind terribly on keeping up over there, but I gleaned through and can tell already I will need to get more ink for the printer and get myself a notebook for some reading offline.

This phrase jumped out at me as I gleaned this morning over there...

Because it is easier to curse the darkness than to light a match. It is easier to blame Roosevelt or the Creature from Jekyll Island than it is to separate from this modern industrial toilet and go to work producing food and a society and culture for our children.

Not that it was the only thing that struck me as I skimmed over for a cursory read, but it did stay with me. He was talking (ranting as he calls it) about being a Conspiracy Theorist. After reading what I did, I think I'd have to agree with him and line myself in that same category. Our world is totally based on conspiracy...God conspired to move every moment in the direction it has gone, for better or worse as seen from our own eyes at times.

But this comment really stayed with me while I moved down to read about being prepared, truly prepared -- another whole rant close to my own heart. And much better said by his keyboard than by mine, that's for sure!

Think about it...look at folks you know in your life. Look around you while in town. Relate his comment to everything around you. It's easier to curse the darkness than to light a match. We are a people who are content to bemoan this or that, to belittle the choices of others when they aren't line with our choice selection...but do we every try to light matches? LOL...yes, I know some would argue I spend my days doing nothing but lighting matches....

When was the last time you sat in a pew on Sunday, or Saturday, mid-week or whatever day you happen to be at church services and truly listened to a deep, hell-fire and brimstone preaching of something akin to lighting a match as opposed to simply cursing the darkness? It's been too long for me, though I do see sparks of half-lit matches more often here than I have in other churches. We are content to complain about all that we feel is wrong with the world around us, and the people we meet or know but no one ever seeks a better way...no one lights their own match and moves on.

I have just under 20 acres here, overgrown and brush-covered, but it's still land and were I to really find some level of contentment with it, I could make something far more useful of it. But...I bemoan the soppy clay ground I have. I should be lighting a match here and working around it to make it productive.

No, this isn't exactly what he was talking about, but this is where The Lord brought me with that single phrase this morning. I am not seeking to do what I really believe I need to be doing. I do not belong to this world, though I am called to live in it. I roll against the grain rather than simply pulling myself out of it and moving myself along the path I know in my heart I need to. I can make a million excuses for why I do what I do, but honestly, when held up to any true scrutiny, they fray apart and vanish into the wind of pure common sense.

That's why I find myself drawn to Mr Bunker's blog so often. There are no mixed words to be found over there. It's plain and simple, cut and dried. There are no weak apologies for walking against the common grain of this world. It's plain common sense found in Scriptures, laid out just waiting to be found.

Stop cursing the darkness and light a match.

You complain your children are being subjected to the rot of the world, filled with evolution and not creation in school, tethered to some public school agenda producing inferior education....pull them out of that cess pool and teach them The Truth at home.
You have a small home without space to produce food stuffs for yourself, but claim your heart is there in thought....get some books on square foot gardening methods, find some buckets for container gardening, pull out the daisies and plant a tomato plant or two instead. There are always ways to grow something, even if only something small.

Turn off the television -- it's nothing but garbage anyway, no matter how educational they tout this or that program to be. It's teaching something you don't need to fill your head with until you have some sense of grounding in The Word of God. Turn off this machine here...it will steal your time and zap your creativity, despite all the good you can find for it to bring you.

Stop complaining about your current situation. You brought yourself to the place where you are by careless planning and lack of clear action...well, maybe I'm the only one who did that. I kind of doubt that, though, but for lack of argument, let's say I'm here alone.

I am where I am because I placed myself here. I have the debt I have because I lack common sense and a true calling in my life. I allowed stupidity to flow freely and I'm paying the price for it now with my husband having to work a job he doesn't have his heart in so we can ride back to the other side of this whole debacle. It is useless for me to complain about it. I need to pull out the box of matches and start striking some fires around here.

I can cut my expenses at least in half. Could have done more had I forced that garden to do its thing this season. No use crying over that. We won't starve, but we will have to pay other sources for that. I can do much more than I already do, but I don't. I moan and wallow in my discontent instead.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify... sell almost everything and attempt to pay off your debts. Cut off your cable and sell your TV. Sell, sell, sell... right now is the time to liquidate. While the world is selling stocks, you should be selling bonds (the things that keep you in bondage). Buy only those things that will guarantee you something in the future.

Anyway, I've covered all of this in my Off-Grid Living series... Go read it...

Go read it for sure. It's good stuff. All of the thoughts shared are. You might think you are walking on some thorns, but if you clear your mindset and look around you, it's not thorns...it's your own choices poking at you. The path is pretty clear.


Yes, little of this has anything to do with what Mr Bunker shared, but this is the bunny I ran off to chase into the brambles this morning..I do that...follow bunny trails here and there...now I'm going to can up some sweet potatoes and finish some sewing.

Walking By Faith

Dewey was home over the weekend and while we didn't accomplish much in the way of practical things, it was great having Dad back home. We could have easily talked him into staying here and just quitting his job.

But, we have that goal in mind here. There are so many things I could list that would keep him home where he truly belongs, but honestly, we know The Lord brought all this into play as He did so we could accomplish that debt pay-off. I have spent more than enough time working to circumvent the plans of The Lord in my life. As much as we all want Dad back home where he belongs, we know what the plan is and we are remaining fixed on that goal.

Despite Bro Bud talking about trusting in The Lord and keeping the Faith when it comes to Him providing what is truly needful. He talked about how a certain family he knew left their long-time home and extended family to move where The Lord took them, how they lost nearly 2/3 their income to do so, and how they were blessed with a much better life than they had making the extra money in their previous home. It was about us.

We left our homestead 3 years ago to move here. We didn't have a home lined up, we didn't have a job prospect lined up. We decided, in a mere 8-day window, to purge a homestead, load up the remaining things and family and move, sight-unseen, without a plan in motion for survival. We had a single brother living here and that is where we landed upon arrival, then began searching out what The Lord had in mind here.

We left a higher paying job to move to an economically flat community with little in the way of jobs to offer. We left our extended families behind. We left everything we had known to be normal and be our lives for 20+ years to come to a place where we knew only 1 person.

But The Lord moved us here. We didn't have any idea what we were doing, really. We just knew that the thought of Mississippi came up and we were both flooded with a great peace of mind with the idea of packing up and trekking South. There were no worries or concerns involved.

Sure, there have been some trials since moving here, and satan likes to find toe-hold wherever he can. Being flesh, we tend to walk right into those ourselves, but we do remind ourselves that we didn't arrive here on our own and we certainly weren't left behind here. The Lord is just as present today as He was before we arrived and when we arrived. Some days we simply have to clear the mud from our eyes and remember to stop overlooking Him.

We will miss having Dewey home. I miss my husband and my children miss their Daddy. It's just going to be that way. We could talk him into staying when he comes to visit, and I know beyond a shadow of doubt that if I called him with a sincere heart of needing him back home, bills or not, he would be here by the weeks' end.

He may be working on a job and giving them 100% of his loyalty work-wise, but we both know where his heart is and we both know where his priorities are. This is just a job. Even down here where jobs are scarce, it is still only a job and it's temporary. Everything in this life is just temporary. We aren't laying up any stores here...things rust away and fade into the background in this life.

Hello Mrs Trixi :o)

Trixi is a dear friend from our other blog and we've chatted back and forth in blogland for a good year or better now.

She commented on my post rebuttal to the anonymous commenter and asked where we thought things went wrong and our eldest started making the choices he has in life.

My pride is rubbing me completely to stop typing, but I can't do that. I can clearly see what we did wrong in our history. I would love to say something short and blame-shifting, like satan got his hold on him and we pray for him to come back.

We do, of course, hold high prayers and hang onto that promise that if we trained him correctly in The Lord, he will not forget those teachings forever. But that isn't really our case and I would be lying outright if I were to shift the blame that easily.

So, the question to ponder is how my son made this choice/these choices that seem to ride against the grain of all we have raised in him and taught him to believe.

While growing up, eldest was in public school until 6th grade. By that point, bringing him home was rather a moot point, looking back. I was ready to homeschool, but in many ways I wasn't prepared for it at all. He was immediately filled with what he wanted to hear from friends and family members.
Why should he be isolated at home with us?
Why couldn't he have the friends at public school that he left behind?
What harm is there to put him back in school if he agrees to try harder?
Why does he have to feed the animals, why does he have this chore or that chore...the list goes on and on.

The bottom line is that we failed him, as parents. We were far too lenient in his raising and have seen that fruit come back on us, plain and simple. We didn't punish everything that was wrong and offensive, ad when we did, it was slow in coming. It grew slowly, and we have the exact fruit we as the parents planted in him and his heart. It just took a few years to really mature.

We once had a policy much like the Boot Camp process I share. Any offense, every offense, regardless of size and timing, was promptly dealt with. The rules were plain and clear. Everything was governed for a time, until his heart was in the right place and the correct responses to any and every discipline were given with ease.

But, we softened on it all somewhere along the line. A church that was more free with their youth and guidance, allowing satan to whisper in our ears little things like "does it really matter if he didn't clean his room today? he's had plans for over a week to go to a movie with his friend?" or "he completed most of his school work for the week, can't he do this or that and finish the work later on?"

We said yes...we should have towed the line and said no. We began to slowly teach him that there were loop-holes in our standards and rules. We taught him how to circumvent those rules by changing them by not being consistent in the response and discipline, and they went straight from being set in stone, to being hastily written in shifting sands.

We taught him to disrespect us and ignore our rules and our voice by letting things slide now and again. We did not respond to much of anything with any level of consistency, so we taught him that rules were subject to every external influence...where we were dictated how he might be punished, if at all; what he did received punishment based on our emotions or mood at the time of the offense; the rules and guidelines we claimed were in place, depended on those same influences.

Our eldest was allowed all manner of things for entertainment...we were taught to feel sorry for him, being pulled out of school, living out in the country away from friends and 'life' and all that, having to live the life we (the adults) chose (that country living and farm life). That was all we heard, from every side of the family connection and from friends (and looking back, it was the friends who either had no children of their own, or had only 1 child and took issue with that). We chose incorrect role models and mentors for not only him, but for ourselves as well.

Sure, I can sit here and easily see all that brought us to where we are now, and I can clearly see the path my eldest is walking and where it is leading him, but I am helpless at this point to do anything but turn him completely over to God for redemption and direction. I cannot change his heart now. He is no longer under our influences, though I do see at times the heart of that young child we once had peeking out and I know he is going to be dragged down and hurt terribly before he finally pulls himself out of this pathway.

I cannot even begin to describe the pain in my heart knowing that I have done this to him. That I have lead him this way by my own lack of parenting. That I will have to watch him continue in the path he is in, making the poor choices that will be with him his entire life. A part of me cries desperately all day and builds a wall of hatred for myself inside. Another part of me knows that it is water under the bridge now, so to speak, and there is nothing I can do to alter his course now, but to pray mightily and deeply with all I have in me for God to grab hold of him and keep him safe and guide him along.

And I can ensure that I am not making those same mistakes over again with our other 8 children. There is but small shame really in making mistakes once. They are most often made because of ignorance of a better way, a better choice. But to repeat those mistakes once you have been awakened to them? That is where the shame lies.

The Guidelines for Boot Camp

BOOTCAMP FOR ELIMINATING SASS

(Adapted from chapters 3 and 9 of Child Training Tips)

WHAT ABOUT AN OLDER CHILD WHOSE WILL HAS NEVER BEEN SUBDUED AND HAS NOT BEEN TRAINED TO OBEY HUMBLY AND WITHOUT ARGUING?

Many parents have older children whose wills were not brought into submission when they were young – they are full of themselves and voice their opinions about every command given them. Although they did not learn self-denial during their most formative years, it is not too late for them. Since their root need is to learn to say "No" to themselves, they must go back and learn to obey without discussion. It occurred to my wife and I one day that the military has success in training young men and women who were defiant and disrespectful to their parents. We figured that if an 18-year-old rebel can learn to answer "Yes, Sir," and make a perfect bunk within the first week of a 6-week military boot camp, a 10 year old can learn to be respectful in the same amount of time. Here's one possible plan:

· After finishing the book “Child Training Tips” or the seminar “Biblical Insights Into Child Training,” you should approach your children and apologize for failing to properly develop within them maturity and prepare them for adulthood.

· Explain how they must learn to humbly accept parental directions without always knowing the reasons why.

· Give them a time period for demonstrating quiet, humble obedience (perhaps 6 weeks), during which all parental commands will be given without reasons, and no appeals will be considered.

· Tell them they will be required to respond, "Yes, Mom," or "Yes, Dad," to every command, unless it is an emergency. Only then, may they make an appeal.

· An emergency is defined as a time when they have no ability to carry out the command, or they know the parent giving the command lacks information which will most certainly affect the command given, ie: The other parent has given a contradictory command; they have no transportation to go somewhere; there is insufficient food for preparation of a meal; the detergent box is empty, so clothes cannot be washed, etc.

· Explain to them that for every occurrence of sass (anything, but “Yes, Mom” or “Yes, Dad.”), one week will be added to the boot camp.

· So that the boot camp does not continue until they are 30 years old, I suggest that after their accumulated penalties increase the length to 10 weeks, start adding one day per offense.

· Let them know that if, at the end of boot camp, they consistently obey quickly and respectfully, then you will begin to give wisdom behind your commands.

· You must make clear to them, however, that when you begin sharing wisdom behind commands, it will not be the same as your former habits, when you allowed debates. The reasons you give will be brief and may not be discussed at the moment of instruction.

· To kick off boot camp have them practice saying to you, “Yes, Mom” and “Yes, Dad.” Repeat the exercise until they can do it without a sour attitude.

Keep in mind that as they grow and demonstrate they can submit unquestioningly to authority, you can entrust them with more reasons for obedience.

RESPECTFUL WAYS OF CHANGING A PARENT'S MIND

Although parents must be careful to not invite discussion about every parental command, children who are humble and respectful in their attitude should have the opportunity to appeal parental decisions at times. The key to making an acceptable appeal is the respectful attitude in which it is made. Children must never be allowed to dishonor parents by responding with a raised voice, sass, or angry objection. Parents must be careful not to reward such disrespect by continuing the discussion. If children do not learn early in life to be self-controlled in their communication, they will become belligerent as teenagers and will lack self-restraint in all other relationships. Children should have the opportunity for appeals, but only if they demonstrate honor for their parents. More discussion on respectful appeals in chapter 9 of Child Training Tips

Giving Sass or back-talk

1. Sass is any response to an adult statement that is given without permission or invitation. ie:

· Denying responsibility

· Questioning or challenging

· Offering unsolicited explanations during correction.

· Grumbling or blurting out objections about parental decisions.

2. Contradicting a parent's statement is the same as calling them a liar. If a child believes his parent is mistaken about something, then he should be allowed to offer his opinion, but only after he has secured his parents' permission to do so.

3. If you allow them to continue to sass throughout childhood, they will make themselves obnoxious to their future employers and will limit their success in social relationships as well. Sass is a form of defiance and reveals a lack of submission to authority.

4. Sass is any response except, "Yes, Dad," "Yes, Mom," "May I appeal?" or some other respectful request for permission for further discussion.

RESPECTFUL RESPONSES TO PARENTAL INSTRUCTIONS

Respectful responses are ones that indicate humble subjection to authority, such as:

· "Yes, Dad"

· "Sure, Mom"

Children should be able to make appeals for discussion, but only if they show respectful subjection to authority, and first secure permission before offering their questions or thoughts. Possible appeals:

· "May I appeal?"

· "May I have your permission to discuss this?"

· "Excuse me, Dad, may I offer you new information before you decide?"

· "May I inquire as to your reasoning?"

Whatever the appeal process we give our children they should never be permitted to respond with "sass" or "back-talk." If they respond argumentatively, or with anything other than a pre-established respectful response, then we must guard ourselves from responding to them with anything except correction. To answer them or continue in dialogue is to reward them and encourage future sass. Those children who abuse the appeal privilege by appealing every instruction, should have it revoked for a time.

About our Boot Camp...

The tips and thoughts in the article shared are from Reb Bradley's site -- Family Ministries. Yes, he has some ideas that run much like The Pearls, and that tends to bring out the flames and arrows in folks, but think about it for a minute...

As the article says, if the military can take a rogue child without an ounce of proper training growing up and turn them into a respectful, functioning adult, why can't parents manage to do that?

Why do your children have to be 'independent' to the point of plain ignorance, arrogance and disrespect all the time? Why can't parents claim their children while young, and train them to behave properly while outside the home (as well as inside the home)? Don't say most do -- I walk through the same Wal-Mart's and other shops the rest of you do. I've seen the same children, some young and more sad, some over the age of 10, climbing in and out of clothing racks, running all over the store, playing with and grabbing at virtually everything they come near, yelling and talking disrespectifully to their parents, throwing fits when they dare to be told no for something, and worse, any store personnel who dare to correct them for their actions receives the same treatment. They ride bikes, bounce balls, totally tear apart everything in the toy aisles, grab everything off the shelves as they paw after food treats as though starved and they are a nuisance and sheeer annoyance to every other person in the store.

And the parents do nothing. Or they make very feeble attempts to plead and bargain with these children to get compliance on any level.

Why are parents bargaining with their children for proper behavior? Why on earth would a 20-30-40-something adult have to beg and plead with a child, offer deals or compromise their own ideas of behavior for a child so they an do as they please and disrupt the day of every other person they meet?

Plain and simple, what gives you the right as the parent of that child to allow that behavior out in public and disrupt my day? It isn't affecting your day -- you created that behavior and grew it up to where it is, but what gives you the right to inflict it on anyone else? Sure, that sounds arrogant of me to say I imagine, but we've all thought the same thing once or twice when confronted with children like that in a store. It's one thing to allow that behavior toward yourself in your own home, but don't you have an ounce of shame in your lack of parenting skills to want to hide the fact you have untrained, undisciplined, unruly children who think they deserve their own way all the time and demand it? I would. Shoot, I do. If mine act up like that, we push the cart to the front, apologize to the store clerk for thier having to place our items back into stock and we leave the store. Period. I have no right to make everyone else suffer the disobedience of my children. That's my burden to bear and my shame to repent of.

Have we really become a society where the children rule the world simple because we are too lazy?

Don't even answer that. I already know that answer without having to think long about it. Children do as they please because lazy parents have trained them that way. Every time you bargain to get your authority back, you create the monster of greed in a child. Every time you have to plead and beg with a child of any age to get them to quiet down or sit down or simply be still for a few minutes, you are building an arrogance in that child that festers until we have the teens and adults we have out there now. Unless they find fun or entertainment in a thing, they wll not subject themselve to it. They feel somehow privileged because they breath air or something. The world owes them something. Sweeten the pot and maybe they will submit to it a little bit, but it's only going to be temporary and totally on their terms.

Why do we have to bribe children with treats, gifts and what-not to get them to obey even basic rules of proper behavior? Why do you have to bribe a child to have their room cleaned? It's their mess. They made it. Doesn't matter one bit that it's in "their room" -- it's a part of the family home and as such is still under the same rules. Bugs and rodents don't just live in one room -- they just start there. Why are we bribing children to behave while we go to the store for groceries? Don't they eat? Isn't it in their best interest, technically, to behave in that store so the food needs can be bought? Maybe you need to leave the shopping cart and go without groceries for the week and see if they decide it's better to behave for that brief time than to get their own way and go hungry without the treats and meals they demand. I know most parents won't do that -- they aren't going to limit their own selfish wants to make a point with the child. I'll wager their parents didn't either. It's called the trickle down effect.

Parents don't discipline because they can't discipline. They have no authority in their own homes. Television has shown children nothing but weak, insignificant parents and called it funny. They get in their groups at school and dismiss their parents with an ease no decent child should feel comfortable with. They have no conscience about talking rudely, disrespectfully or down-right hateful and wicked about their parents, their teachers or anyone else in authority around them. They do not have rules and guidelines in their lives and it shows in bright, glowing colors. Even if you don't see it, trust me, others who deal with the children do. Look around that Wal-Mart next time you're in there. There is a world of children from age 2 on up through teenhood who feel they have every ounce of power and authority -- and sadly, I suppose they do. It's been handed over to them by wimpy parents who don't want to rock the boat in their own home. They want thieeir children to have fun. They claim to be 'choosing' their battles, but in reality, they are 'choosing' nothing. They don't want to get off the phone to deal with the behavior of their children. They don't want to miss that football game or movie on TV to deal with their children. They don't want to get off that computer chat group to deal with their children. It's easier to give in and let them do wha they want. They want to be buddies and best friends with their children instead of the God-called, God-ordained teachers and true parents of their children.

So....(yeah, finally...) as we are having some of these same issues in our home, we are having Boot Camp here beginning Monday. We have to decompress and deprogram from the past month of chaos and upheaval here, and get down to the business of adjusting to Dad being gone for a time. I have to teach my children that rules are rules, period. They are not guidelines to be heeded only if their are fun. They aren't going to get out in the 'real world' one day and be allowed this sort of free-will, rampant arrogance they think they prize at home. They will never have job where they can come and go as they please, or skip altogether because they don't feel like getting up and getting there. They are not going to get to work and decided they don't want the task they have been assigned and simply wander off to do something more fun and entertaining. If they aren't schooled (and we have really slacked off there all month!), they won't even be able to complain about flipping burgers at McDonald's, if they can even get that job. They will not be able to provide properly for their own family one day and we'll just repeat the cycle over and over again for generations.

Gee, kind of like those wicked families where there was no Godly influence heeded all throughout Scripture.

I don't want that for my family and I plan to work hard to discourage it. If I have disrespetful children who grow into adults with that heart of disrespect, it's all on my shoulders. No one else will bear that shame except me. I don't want to stand before God one day and answer to all the times I allowed unGodly behavior in my children.

I'll post the Reb Bradley Boot Camp article in the next post...

Back Online...and commenting

My computer is fixed :o) And for under $50, too. Can't beat that.

For everyone who mailed me concerned I was forgetting myself and running amok at the local computer store, don't worry. I love being connected to everyone and finding the like-minded fellowship I covet so much here online, but I want my husband home where he belongs far more than I want a new computer. We have a local library.

Seriously, I know our agenda here and it doesn't include a new computer...and my husband knows it doesn't include a new flat-bottom boat and trolling motor (right, honey? You do know that...right????) I am still working toward one goal...debt-free. I can't wait for the day this job is finished and Dewey comes home...to sit on the front porch with shotgun in hand, waiting on the perspective suitors to come calling :o)

Now, onto my comment. I love anonymous comments. They breath such life into a blog, don't you think? They slink in, lurk in the background and wait on your to say something they feel is usable to share their own thoughts. All the while, standing strong and firm in their convictions, knowing they are right and prepared to share with you all the reasoning they have...

yeah, you'll stop laughing soon...I did...just breath deeply and continue reading....

Cripe are you a mom or a loud mouth boss who is the know These are your children and yet you sound like such a nasty cold hearted person.

Why would you want your DS to be with a "plain" girl. Plain girls live under rocks and get stepped on the time. Good for her, let her be here own person and LIVE. Take it from her you could learn something.

That was a comment shared about my Boot Camp post...like I said, I love folks without enough courage to stand behind what they claim to be such strong convictions.

In answer, I'm very much a loud-mouth. Ask my mother. Ask any of my real-life friends. Ask my husband. He'll bob his head silly in agreement with you, then probably give you a heads up on all the other things I could be considered as well. I shared way back in the beginning of this blog that I am what I am. I don't say things I don't mean, I don't speak things I don't believe to be true and honest within my own heart I'm working on changing quite a few things in my life, but for the most part, what you see is what you get with me. There are other blogs out there if I offend you so much. No one is holding anyone cyber-hostage. Ya'll are free to come and go as you wish. My GPS blew up with the computer, so run while you can :o)

God didn't give me these children so I could sit back and watch them get run over by the idiots 'living under the rocks' out there in the so-called 'real world.' The real world, in case your rock doesn't have the same view mine does, has nothing whatsoever to offer someone seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. If it did, we'd all be headed there, and honestly, a great many are not walking in that direction at all. I am trying my best to keep my toes from frying in the heat of hell, and I'd really like to impart the same to my children. Free-will is empty and based totally on a lie created by satan.

The real world offers lots of shiny toys and a lot of rampant free will and, well, stupidity -- which seems to run amok on my comments when I voice my own opinion...but wait, we've established it's my blog...I get to do things like that...share my own personal viewpoint and such.

I said, in the beginning of this blog, I am not here to play comment police. I have my opinion and you have yours, and this is still a free country and we can all share, period. I like comments shared in truth and love and with back-bone enough to stand behind your words, but truth of the matter is, it's just not your blog and I will continue to share what and as I please. No one was actually invited here, not in a traditional sense anyway, and you are most certainly welcome to stay and be polite, or move along by using that button at the top of the blog there to take you elsewhere. Life will then continue as it has been up until this point...you, uninformed about Godly issues and me, being content with raising my children under the standards set forth in the Bible.

Just for the record here (repeating again so as to be clearly understood by those under those rocks), I am not trying to raise my children for this world, or any part of this world. In fact, I pray daily that I am raising them to be against this world with their whole heart. I am raising my children for the future. For the future outlined in The Bible. For the future with The King in His Kingdom. I am not raising my sons to be whore-mongers and my daughters to be the whores the world is after. Or any of the other things listed in-depth in Scripture as being an abomination unto The Lord.

It's very simple, really. Left to their own will and choices, children do not have a vision for a future aside from the sick world they are living in and will not make correct choices for their future. Video games, television, radio, books and whatever other media they find...this all pulls them in direct opposition to what The Lord calls them to in order to be fit for His Kingdom. I want more for them than drinking, drugs, loose sex and a party atmosphere. I want more for them than a life of 'do what you want when you want and to hell with the rest of the world'...because that is precisely what the 'real world' is walking toward at a rather brisk pace these days.

Plainly put, I am raising them, training them, to seek something in life far above the garbage of the world. To be in this world but not of this world. They are strangers here. We all are if we are truly seeking a life with The Lord. This is just a pilgrimage for true Christians. There is no future here for those called to His Kingdom, so don't get comfortable and start playing along.

To my voice-full commenter, I never once said my son's fiance, or one my daughters may choose one day, needed to be plain or anything of the sort, you need reading comprehension lessons, I guess. This young lady in question was not raised under the rules or moral standards that I am trying to impart to my children. We do not dress so the world can see all we have. That is for our beloved one day -- not Joe Schmo on the street or at Wal-Mart. I am trying to raise my children, boy and girl alike, to have at least a cursory knowledge of basic homemaking skills...how to prepare a meal aside from some boxes and cans from the store. How to keep a neat and tidy home. How to balance their finances and set a budget for practical use. How to raise a family -- tend a baby, use your brain when researching all the modern medical mumbo-jumbo thrust at families these days.

My children will and have made choices, and for good or for worse, they are going to have to live with them. If they choose a spouse with a wild heart because of the fun of the moment, they will be living with that choice the rest of their lives. There is no divorce in the Bible. It is a choice that you make and find contentment with, period. If you choose to go out on your own and select a spouse based on the emotions of the day, well then, you have placed yourself in that unequal yoke and you will not find a place of true peace in your life until that is resolved and the yoke is equally burdened. Some find that later on, sadly, many do not. I don't want my children to select based on emotional feelings when they have no concept of a better future in their hearts. I want them to realize The Lord has a spouse already selected for them and He will make that known in His Time, so why head out without thinking and sample the offerings of this world?

Saturday on The Homestead

This hasn't been the most productive day around here. I mean, it hasn't been the worst we've ever had, but still, I know so much more could have gotten done. I did get a denim jacket, 3 dresses, 3 aprons, 4 pairs of bloomers, 4 sets of boxers and 4 kapps cut out for sewing. Lord knows when I'll get to the sewing part, but they are ready for me now.


Eldest son and Dad will be home this weekend. Eldest son wil be loading up his storage unit and he and his fiance (who's been staying here all month) will be heading back to Arkansas.


It's not nice to say, but I am so so looking forward to having everyone gone from here. We have had a hard time with Dad being gone, but honestly, we just haven't had a chance to adjust to Dad being gone from the family. The day he left to head down for this job, our friend/neighbor called with 'dysfunctional family issues' going on and their 17 year old son needed to come over her for a couple of days. Just what I needed. Like rocks in my head.


Dysfunctional family issues subside and then here comes son's fiance. She isn't remotely Plain or conservative or unworldly in the least. It has been one trial after another now. I'm living with attitudes that need serious deprogramming and a life that is about as upside-down as it can go.


I need time to get used to Dewey being gone. The children need time to get used to Dewey being gone. We just need time to decompress from the chaos we've been thrust under in the past month. Everyone is back-talking, everyone has made really poor choices as to what they need to be doing daily around here...no one has touched more than a lesson or two of schooling the past month. They are constantly arguing over things that are settled and carved in stone around here.


We need to regroup and restablish the long-running Rules of This House for everyone. We need a refresher course in proper attitudes, proper dress and proper direction of and from authority.


What we need...what we are going to have here...is Boot Camp 101. We are going to get back to the brass tacks of things. Basic and simple. No 'demoncratic style' whatsoever. I will speak, they will listen and follow directions. I will be assigning every moment of every day and some freedom will be given after a time of adjustment has been completed. No bathroom breaks, no talking without being spoken to first and directly, no drinks, no movement of even the tiniest little toe unless so directed and mandated by me. Everything will move along in an orderly fashion according to the schedule I set out daily.

Just like life in the real world here. You don't get to choose when you wake up and start your day. It's chosen for you by your job choice, and your employer. You don't get to choose what you wear. It's chosen for you based on the decisions this family has had in place for many years. You don't live in a hotel. You don't own a restaurant. Meal time is scheduled and those not prepared go hungry until the next meal. I don't run a short-order kitchen. Every single thing you do in your life is governed by someone else. That's how life works in this world, and that's how it will be working around here until we get back to where we belong.

Eldest children will receive the deepest punishment --
1) they know better. They have lived under the same rules their entire life. They know what is expected, what is and will be tolerated and what will not. They have full and total recall of all rules and consequences they have lived under for however many years. They are conscious enough to make their decisions and know full well wht will happen if those choices do not line up with the family standards.
And, 2) it all trickles down through the ranks. If the olders are brought back under subjection, the youngers don't have issues of authority. They see that it is simply how things work.

I will be the supreme power of life on this homestead until things are back to some sense of normalcy again. No more free choice/free will allowed. Period. I don't do the "this family is a democracy" mumbo-juumbo very well at all. Things are not gray -- things are either black or they are white. But never are they both. You listen; you follow rules and direction the first time you are told; you obey with a spirit of joy and a smile on your face; you put a full effort, 100% of your energy and heart into it. Afterwards, once this or that direction is followed and completed, you may come to appeal the priority of said direction. Give me a viable argument with sound research and we'll discuss it, and it will be taken under advisement for next time. But don't give me some sobby little whine and wimper rant about it. That's just a poor attitude and a poor plan of action. Save that tact with your boss at McDonald's/Wendy's/Burger King/etc., when you are flipping burgers for a living, lamenting your poor childhood and lack of direction and foundation.

We need this in this household right now. The sooner the better. Time to pray over the doorposts and anoint the corners of every room and push the spirits of the world back out to the curb where they belong.

Building an incubator, setting a woodstove

This came through a list I receive and I thought I'd share. We have a large incubator in the workshop here just waiting on a re-work of its wiring and such. Well, that and some chickens who feel the urge to lay an egg ocassionally.

http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/idea/incu.shtml
This site has great photos of what they did.

We really need to get ourselves set up properly here. I'm glad the cooler weather (yeah, right...this is Mississippi...) is coming. Next weekend, when Dewey is home, I'll have the insulation and the plywood here for him to do the roof onthe front porch. Then I can get my cement board and move my woodstove out there and pipe it up for use. The idea at this point is that we will enclose that front porch and make it an actual usable portion of the house here. I'd like to take out the front windows and have a double door to the 'outdoor kitchen' we're making. Something to move the heat into the dining room/living room here when it is a bit cooler, and something to close off in the summer when the last thing I need is heat!

For right now, I would just like to get the cookstove moved out there and put to use. I can't do the ceiling plywood myself at all, but once Dewey does that, the children and I can do the rest. We will have to close the porch in somewhat now to use the stove as it's north-facing, and all the weather comes straight on. I'm hoping something simple like a piece of plywood for a bit of wall will due, right behind the stove itself. We'll see. I really want to start playing with that stove and getting used to it and using it.

Hmmm...wood. Guess I need to get some wood lined up and ready to use. LOL...I don't know that I'm very good at splitting wood for kindling. Better start on that now :o)

Well now...

Ok, this week my modem decided it was time to pass on.



Not necessarily a big deal, but in the world of notebook computers, apparently it's a bigger deal than I thought.



I bought an external modem (yes, my husband loves me, doesn't he? awwww, sweetie...) and it worked. Yeah :o) Life was once again not so bad. Well, we turned off the computer over-night and poof...hardware failure and no modem again.



Grrr. Life took a turn away from really good toward really annoying.



Yes, time away from the computer and Internet can be a good thing. I'm a mom. It isn't as though I don't have a gazillion things to do away from here. But...it's also my life-line to like-minded fellowship and I really do treasure that.



Either way, I left the notebook with a repair man today and maybe, maybe, I will get good news (like the whole thing isn't lost, just needs a bit of reformatting to make it work) next week. The computer isn't but 2 years old, so I would hope it can be easily and cheaply fixed back for internet access again, but then again, it's technology and was out-dated the week I bought it. I'm hopeful, though.



I told my husband to buy himself a boat.



And I, in return, would go pick out a new entertainment PC for myself. Or maybe a Mac. I have a friend trying to get me to the Mac side of life :o)



Now, wouldn't you think any husband would jump on that offer? I mean, how many wives just up and say, Honey, I want you to have a new boat. Sure, don't go wild and get some mega-horse-power speed boat, but something in a nice 16 ft flat-bottom with a good sized motor and trolling motor for those puddles over there in Arkansas...



But, alas, he declined. The prude. I tried to tell him our cell connection was bad and I didn't catch that :no: but that didn't work either.



You know, it's hard being a Godly wife sometimes. Living with the practical and the right. All that wives obey your husbands stuff in there, among other little reminders.



Maybe, just maybe, if I try that part about winning your husbands with your quiet spirit instead of nagging...



I just won't mention the notebook again. Or that I am using our old computer here now...big beast of a computer with a 100# monitor that took up my ENTIRE desk....I had to move all the sewing gadgets and sewing machine out of here to make room for the monitor. And slow...you would think something this blasted huge woudl have a bit of pick-up-and-go to it, but notta chance. It's molasses...in winter...a far north, Canadian sort of winter. And do you think I can find a thing on this machine? Good grief, no! It's Windows ME. ME. I balked against loading the XP update on this way-back-when and let me tell you, I've got bruises from kicking myself now that I've pulled it back out and put it back into work. Everything is different on here...the menu's aren't the same, the icons aren't the same. LOL...I can't find anything! The colors are weird, the screen is funky and it takes up way too much room.



I'm spoiled. I admit it. I like my notebook. I like the XP operating system. I like not having to give up an entire room of my poor tiny little doublewide here just to have internet access.



Honey, please....please...I love you....GO GET A BOAT!!!!



and don't try to take this out of context sweetie...your notebook will self-destruct if you try to cut-n-paste the part about getting a new boat and motor and leaving off the part about the computer :o) Love you!