I've been away from blog world for a month now.  Traveling, with and without my family, has taken much of my time, as well as packing and unpacking.  We leave Saturday for a final trip and then our traveling days will come to a halt for a while, thank goodness. 

I have much to write about, but it may not be accomplished before I leave again on Saturday.  With that said, check out Rhonda's blog http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ .  This is a blog I frequently check.  She writes about simplifying your life through various ways.  Reading her work is like sitting down with your grandmother over a cup of coffee and discussing ways to get back to basics.  She hosts something called "the Biggest Kitchen Table", and this upcoming week she has a challenge for you. 

Check it out, and I challenge you to participate.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I did not plan our trips very well according to the timing on my garden.  We were just gone for 10 days.  Before we left, I was able to put up a lot of squash, zucchini, and green beans.  While we were gone, my wonderful parents put up what was left of the green beans and started on the black-eyed peas.  We returned home Saturday night, and we picked Monday, Tuesday, and this morning.  We will pick one more time in the morning and then we are gone again for 9 days.  My parents have agreed to pick during the time we are gone.  Thanks, mom and dad!

We canned 68 quarts of green beans from my garden, as well as 24 quarts from someone else's garden, for a total of 92 quarts for this upcoming year.

We froze 45 quarts of squash and zucchini, as well as two gallons.

Here's what we have put up this week:

Monday: 2 qt. okra, 1 qt. black-eyed peas

Tuesday:  2 1/2 qt. corn, 2 qt. zucchini, 1 qt. squash, 4 qt. black-eyed peas

Wednesday: 1 qt. okra, 1/2 qt. peas, 2 1/2 qt. sqash and zucchini, 2 qt. corn

Last night for supper we had things fresh from our garden (no meat last night).  We ate baked potatoes (not from the garden), fresh corn on the cob, fresh black-eyed peas, salsa made from our tomatoes and jalepenos, and tortilla chips (not from the garden).  We also had pickles that I put up last year.  Yum.  The kids love veggies. 

On Monday we also picked 7 jalepenos and some cherry tomatoes.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Cleaning occurs most days of the week around our house in the form of picking up, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, room tidies, etc.  Thursday is our major cleaning day each week.  It is one of the few days when we are usually home all day.  The weekend is approaching and it's nice to know if we decide to have people over on the spur of the moment the house is clean.  On Thursday we clean the bathrooms and floors and the kids must clean their rooms more thoroughly and vacuum.  I also dust. 

With 3 children at different ages and with different personalities, they each clean in different ways.  Easton can pick up, put clothes in the hamper, and help me vacuum.  We work together.  Alana is pretty good at cleaning.  She puts things where they need to be, but they aren't all straight and organized.  Jayde gets overwhelmed, I have realized, when she is asked to clean her room.  She can't figure out where to start.  One of the things that helped me realize that was learning about the children's personalities.  I have read Florence Littauer's Personality Plus before, but recently went through Personality Plus for Parents: Understanding What Makes Your Child Tick.  I decided to give Jayde a list she can put on her door and follow to step-by-step clean her room.  Here is the list:

ROOM CLEANING CHECKLIST

1.  Bring everything from corners of room and under desk to center of room on the floor. (She has a habit of stuffing things during the week into the corners of her room to get it out of the middle of the floor.)

2.  Put dirty clothes into hamper in closet.

3.  Fold clean clothes and put away.

4.  Hang any dresses or sweaters in closet that need to be hung.

5.  Put shoes in closet on shoe organizer.

6.  Put away books and other items that go on bookshelf and staighten bookshelf.

7.  Put away items that go into or on desk.

8.  Put away items that go on dresser.

9.  Put away pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets onto bed or in closet.

This list is posted and allows her to go at her own pace.  She can check off each item in her head as she goes along.  It is working!  She cleans her room in less time now without getting frustrated.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Yesterday the girls took their end of the year standardized tests.  When you homeschool in the state of Florida, you have two choices to prove the progress they made during the year.  We have chosen to let the girls take a standardized test every year.  The test administrator fills out a form when the results come back saying that the girls are on level for their grade.  Then we get to see the actual results to grasp what they need to work on and what areas we are covering well.  That helps in planning for the next year. 

For example, the first day of testing was Language Arts and Science.  The second was Math and Social Studies.  Jayde came home from the first day not feeling very confident.  One of the things that surprised me was when I was asking her what kinds of things she had to do on the test, she said that she didn't think she did very good on spelling.  She said, "mom, I think next year we should work on spelling more".  I thought that was very mature.  She recognized that she needs to work on an area and then she actually told me about it.  So I told her I would look for a new spelling program for her when I go to convention next weekend.

The second way you can show your child's progress in Florida is to have a portfolio review done by a certified teacher.  They review your child's work from the school year and  fill out a form letting the school board know that they are on level.  We have not done that yet.  Maybe in the future we will. 

Convention weekend is always exciting.  When I leave, I'm on a "high" and can't wait to start fresh and use all the new curriculum.  The first year was overwhelming with so many speakers, thousands of people, and hundreds of vendors.  There are ten different speakers going on at the same time in ten different rooms every hour from 9-5 Friday and Saturday.  This is my third year and now I have my list almost ready of who I am going to listen to and what vendors I am going to visit.  I'll post some things this week when it is finalized.

There will be a lot of newbies that are friends of ours at convention.  We are blessed to have a large group of people at our church that homeschool and there are many new families that have decided to do it for the first time next year.  Watching them at convention will be fun. 

When God called us to make this lifestyle change, He certainly blessed us beyond our expectations in all areas.  The change in the kids' attitudes, a large support group in our city, many friends that have made the same decision, the list goes on and on.  God is good!

Jayde and I had to discuss why she is not getting a summer break like some of her friends.  I explained that because of the move, we took a longer-than-normal winter break.   We liked it so much that we are going to do that from now on.  When it is hot during the summer, we will do school.  The kids do not want to play outside in the heat, so they may as well be doing something constructive inside.  We don't watch T.V. during the week.  Then in the winter, when they want to be outside all the time, they can.  We will slow school down and take a very long break.  After we discussed it she understood.  She was reassured that she won't have to do school on her summer vacations :) .  I explained how if we lived up north where there was snow and she had to stay inside all winter, we would be doing the opposite.  They would do school all winter.  But this is Florida, and we are going to do things backwards.  96 degrees today at our house.  Who wants to play outside in that?

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We lost two chicks today.  We cannot figure out what is going on.  This morning when I went out to do chores, I opened the chicken coop and the chicks and mom were all out of the cage, but the cage door was closed and partially locked.  They had been scratching around so much that they dug a hole under the chicken coop between the coop and the cow stall next to it.  One chick had apparently escaped.  I found it a few minutes later dead in our yard.  Maybe it wandered over there and the dog killed it.  But I still don't know how they got out of the cage door.

Then tonight we came home from Alana's piano recital and the cage door was open.  We had secured it tightly before left.  One chick is missing.  We couldn't see it anywhere in the pasture or yard tonight in the dark.  We looked with the spotlight.  So Alan got a large piece of strong wire and wired the cage door so tight I don't know if I'll be able to get it open in the morning for chores! 

That said, the final count is five chicks, down from seven.

I have been working over the weekend to put up the produce we had.  I froze 6 more quarts of zucchini and 6 quarts of squash from our garden. I am not through yet, either.  There are more in the fridge, and I need to pick again tomorrow.  That brings the count to 19 quarts and two gallons of zucchini and 12 quarts of squash.  This year I'd like to have 36 quarts of each put up.  I'll take whatever else we get and bring it to church to give away.

The last two days I've worked on canning the green beans I got Friday from that organic farm.  I cooked some for suppers and still was able to can 24 quarts.  That is good!  It was so much cheaper than buying organice green beans, canned or fresh, from the store.  Yes, it's time consuming, but I can do other things around the house while they are in the pressure canner, and I love to see all those jars sitting on the shelf!

The blueberries I got for free made 6 frozen quarts, good for cobblers or muffins this year.

The garden looks good.  Green beans, peas, and tomatoes are all growing, though not ready to pick yet.  The okra and corn I'm still not sure about.  Time will tell.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Wow!  We picked 2 six gallon buckets of zucchini yesterday and 1 bucket of squash from our garden.  I just finished blanching and freezing the zucchini and it made 13 quart-size bags and 2 gallon-size bags.  I'll do the squash when I get home tonight.  We are going to eat dinner at a friend's house. 

I realize that squash and zucchini do not always hold up their texture well in the freezer, but I mostly puree them.  My kids don't eat them, so I puree them with green, red, and yellow peppers and put them in my homemade spaghetti sauce.  I fix it monthly and freeze it.  The kids love it.  It's used for everything from spaghetti to lasagna, pasta bake, stuffed shells, etc.  Sometimes they'll just want spaghetti sauce for lunch plain.  It is so good for them.  Nothing but pureed veggies (mostly tomatoes) and spices.  It's a great way to disguise any veggies kids don't like.  It makes the sauce go farther, adds vitamins, and makes things richer without really changing the taste.  (Try eggplant, too).

A friend gifted me with two large gallon freezer bags of blueberries today for free.  How wonderful!  I am going to freeze those tonight as well to use in baking.  I want to put them in smaller bags.

Another find today was a large box of organic green beans.  We are growing green beans in our garden but they are not ready to pick yet.  When I went to pick up raw milk today, a local organic farm had extra boxes for sale for cheap (for organic).  I got a box to get a jump start on my canning for the year.  So those will be canned tomorrow after the kids soccer games.  We go through so many green beans in a year, you wouldn't believe.  The kids will eat them for lunch, dinner, and snacks.  I put them in all kinds of dishes and soups. 

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

During my stints teaching Crown Ministries and Dave Ramsey classes, I always had people who had problems because they worked on commission.  They had trouble budgeting because they never knew exactly how much they were going to get paid.

We own a small business and I do the bookeeping for the business now, as well as pay our personal bills.  Alan knows exactly what's going on, but I am the one writing out checks.  We do discuss everything.  We are very open (extremely important because so many marriages attribute financial hardships as contributing to their divorces or marital problems).  We make big money decisions together, and most small ones, too.  This communication did not happen overnight, it was the result of taking classes and lots of practice.  Teaching classes helped keep us accountable as we were learning, too.

Since we own a business, we are at the mercy of people who owe us money at any given time.  Our business checking account can fluctuate dramatically from one month to the next, or even one week to the next. 

We have budgeted for minimum expenses each month and pay ourselves a check each week to cover our personal expenses.  I take our yearly expenses for categories like life insurance, clothing, car insurance, vacation, etc., that are not due every month and divide those by 12 to get the amount I set aside for those things every month.  I take what we need for the month and divide it by the number of weeks (usually 4) and that determines our check to ourselves. 

This past week, we were unable to pay ourselves (not the first time this has happened).  This is no cause for alarm (don't worry, family members :), however, because we have an emergency fund, first of all, but also for a few other reasons.  We know the amount of money that is owed to us that we can expect soon.  All our bills are up to date or paid ahead.  Weeks like this that I have no money in coming in for groceries, etc., are the weeks that I am thankful I have a well stocked pantry.  It really does make sense for us to stock up during the good times so we have things available during the lean times. 

We have a vacation coming up soon.  I don't have to be worried about not being able to pay for it because I have already funded it.  I have set aside a little bit each week all year and I am ready.  What relief to pay for everything in cash. 

We have no debt other than our mortgage.  That did not happen overnight either.  Dave Ramsey has a wonderful plan called the Debt Snowball.

My point is, anyone living on commission, business owners, or anyone worried about their jobs in this economy would be wise to get their financial house in order as soon as possible.  Read the story of the ant in the Bible.  Or David's story of 7 abundant years followed by 7 lean years.  This concept is nothing new, and it is totally Biblical!

Information for finances, budgeting, and forms for figuring out expenses if you live on commission can all be found on www.daveramsey.com .

Take a look, give it some thought, pray about it, and talk to your spouse.  This is a great time to start communicating about your money.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

The new chicks are doing well.  Their adoptive momma is doing a fine job keeping them covered and warm at night.  They are so cute!

A friend called Monday and informed me that she has had two chickens for a few weeks and her husband says now that she cannot have them.  So she needed a home for them and wanted to know if we would adopt them, along with four chicks she is getting next week (they were already ordered).   I said yes of course, so she brought them over Tuesday.  They are a different kind than any I have and the kids thought it was neat that they have feathers on their feet.  They are a couple months old. 

So, the latest count: 7 newborn chicks, two 2month old chicks, and seven older chickens.  16 altogether.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Well, yesterday we had 6 beautiful chicks that hatched over two days.  Alan and I had a date night and went out to eat last night at the Columbia in Tampa (yum).  When we came home, we went to check on the cage with the chicks and shut up the coop for the night.  When we got in to the coop, we only saw one chick with the mom.  The cage door was open, and dented on one side.  We ran back in to get the flashlight and sure enough, there were four little chick bodies strewn in the pasture.  We never found the fifth.  Something got into the cage and got five of the chicks.  I was very upset.  I was thankful the kids were not home (they spent the night with their grandparents).

So as of this morning, 1 chick.

I dreaded telling the kids all through church.  After church, we drove to a feed store (the only one in our area open on Sunday) to see if they carried chicks.  They did.  We sat in the parking lot and told the kids about the chicks and told them they could go inside the store and pick out two new chicks each.  They took the news very well.  Much better than their mother (of course, they didn't see the little chicks lying in the pasture, either).  They picked out new chicks and we brought them home and put them in the cage with the other lonely chick.  We fixed the door on the cage, and put chicken wire around the outside of the cage so nothing can put their paws, hands, etc. into the cage.  We will close the coop earlier tonight.  Hopefully whatever came last night will not come back.

So as of right now, 7 chicks.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Hello!  Haven't written in a while.  That, "so much is going on, where do I start?" feeling. 

In the last month (since today is officially April 30), we have some additions to our homestead.  Our garden is growing beautifully.  Our corn, black eyed peas, green beans, squash, and zucchini are large.  A couple weeks ago, we planted another round of seeds and plants: more corn, black eyed peas, and green beans, as well as zipper peas, speckled butter beans, tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, and some herbs.  They are all sprouted and looking good.  Our okra and watermelon, I'm not so sure about.  We shall see.  The eggplant never came up.  I'll try again next year.

We purchased 3 heifer cows a couple weeks ago.  Two are Santa Gertrudis and one is half limousine/half brahma.  They are freshly weened from their mothers.  We will breed two and eat one (eventually).  The kids did not take my advice to name them things like "steak", "cheeseburger", etc., but instead have given them real names.

One of our hens went broody at the beginning of the month, and today 5 chicks hatched!  They are so cute.  Two yellow ones and three black ones.  Their momma is currently keeping them warm and will peck the mess out of you if you try to come close.  I had a time trying to get them all into a box for protection out of the regular chicken coop.

More updates later!

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Our nation is laying heavy on my heart tonight.  No, I am not worried.  No, I am not afraid.  Saddened, I guess may be the correct word.  I have been reading Proverbs today and these verses struck me in the context of all that is going on in our nation at this point in time.  Keep in mind that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", Proverbs 1:7a.

"Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:  How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my works known to you.  Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they wil call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own divices.  For the simple ar killed by their turning away, and the complacencey of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."  Proverbs 1:20-33.

You see, I believe that our nation will have God's hand removed from it soon if things do not change.  For 200 years we have been slowly falling away, and at this point in time the degradation is speeding up.  As Christians, we can see why this is happening.  But we cannot just sit by and say, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it".  That may be true, but we can at least try.  Why not join the 9/12 project?  I know that Glenn Beck is a Morman, but other than that he is on the right track.  Go to his website and read about it.  Stand together for those principles.  Consider going to an April 15 tea party.  Have you heard about them?  Google it and find a location near you.  For you locals, it's happening in Brandon, Tampa, and Lakeland.  Get involved.  Call or email your Congressman.  Don't give up without a fight.  The Puritans came here for the express purpose of "Advancing the Christian Faith" (read the real, original Mayflower Compact, not the edited version in almost all public schools today).  This country WAS founded on Christian principles.  When a nation is no longer founded on the Bible, it is founded on Satan.  If you are not for God, you are against Him.  God doesn't want lukewarm faith.  Wake up, America!!

At the same time, as Christians we need to heed Proverbs 3:25-26, "Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be you confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught." That does not mean that we believers will not experience the same pain as the rest of the nation when it is being rebuked.  But at least we have a promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ, when the rest of the world has no hope.  But remember, "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall.." Proverbs 11:28a.  So keep contributing to that 401K, but don't trust that it will always be there for you!  Don't be surprised if it is not!  God provides for those who trust in Him.  We have seen that first hand in our lives.

I'll quit now, but keep your eyes on Jesus and look at everything that is going on from an eternal perspective.  God loves you.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We closed on the old house today! Whoo-hoo!  What a relief.  No more extra monthly bills (not to mention having some money to put toward the new house).  Praise God for homebuyers in a market like this. 

Last night we spent a few hours getting all the last things out of the house.  Mostly holiday decorations and such.  They were all in my house and on the porch today so I spent a lot of time going through them and putting them all away.  I finished about 80%. 

This morning the girls and I went hiking with our 4-H group.  Each year the group picks two books on sujects they want to learn and we work on those two subjects during the year.  Last year the kids picked drama and health & nutrition.  This year they picked hiking and woodworking.  Before Christmas we met and they made flower boxes for woodworking that they entered into the Strawberry Festival's 4-H show.  Now we are finishing hiking so at the end of the year banquet they can get a pin for the books they have finished.  Not all 4-H groups choose to do these books.  But our group is made up of all homeschoolers (we meet during the day).  You know, homeschool families have to find an oportunity to do school at all events!  So we do the books.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Hope everyone is having a wonderful, restful Sunday.  Hope your worship experience this morning was uplifting.  I know mine was.

Kris Ante is having a contest over at her blog, http://krisantecountrymom.blogspot.com/ .  She has made a very cute waiste apron and is giving it away in a contest.  Just leave a comment on her blog to enter.  I wear an apron every day at home when I am working around the house because I tend to be messy (especially in the kitchen). 

If you have never visited the site, http://www.etsy.com , you are missing out.  It is an online store where people sell there handmade goodies, from crafts to clothes and everything in between.  Great gift ideas there.  It is nice to support small family businesses instead of big stores.  Check it out.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Happy Birthday, Easton!!  5 years old today!

I can't believe my youngest baby is 5.  We need some more babies in this house!  If only my dh would agree to adopt.......  another story for another time.

Right now, Easton's favorite things are...  swords, guns, bows and arrows (or any weapon), Narnia, Batman, Spiderman (shall we say "superheros?"), candy (specifically white chocolate with oreos candy bars), playing outside in the dirt, his schoolwork, and his white blankie (which he sleeps with).  He likes to say "You dotta do whatcha dotta do".  He loves spaghetti, carrots, yogurt, and anything sweet.  Since he loves school, he tells me often that he wants to learn to read.  When I get out our book, How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, he says "no, I think I'll wait till kindergarten, mom", so it goes back on the shelf.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

A month goes by, and.........

We planted the majority of our garden the beginning of last week.  I am estimating that our garden rows are about 15-20 feet long (I am not anal enough to measure and I have no depth perception).  So far, we planted 8 rows of white corn, 8 rows of yellow corn, 4 rows of heirloom seed sweet corn, one row of eggplant, 3 rows of okra, 6 rows of black eyed peas, 6 rows of green beans, 6 mounds (made in a circle) of squash, 6 mounds of zucchini, and 3 mounds of watermelon.  We still have tomatoe plants to go.  Also, we are going to get some zipper peas this week to plant and some more green beans and black eyed peas.  The herbs are going to be planted in strawberry pots.

The peas have started coming up.  It is so nice to see that something might actually grow!  I just really want SOMETHING to work out, even if it all does not grow.  I understand this is a learning process.  I am keeping a notebook with what is being planted, where, how much compost we used, etc., to help learn from our mistakes.

School is back on full force. We had our spring break during the Strawberry Festival.  It is so nice to be back in a routine.

Pantry items are being crossed off my list.  I am trying to keep a large supply on hand.  Every week I am adding to the list of extras with leftover money from my food envelope.  My organizational skills are being put to work trying to store and organize all of them.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I was blessed to be able to spend an hour yesterday with a very wise woman from my church who has over 20 years of organic gardening experience.  She invited me over to learn about vegetable gardening.  I have spent some time on the phone with her and she has informed me that a lot of the information in the gardening books I have read cannot be used here in Central Florida because we have growing conditions and soil unlike the rest of the states.  Most of the books that are written are authored by people with gardening experience from up north or the midwest and much of the advice just doesn't work here.  She used trial and error for many years, kept notebooks, etc., and was so full of advice my head was spinning (in a good way).  I told her she needs to write a book to sell to people who live in Florida who want to get into organic farming.  Anyway, she explained in detail how to set up my garden, how to use my compost (and hooked me up with a free source of rich compost :), what seeds I can plant now and which ones I have to wait until fall to plant here, which ones won't work here at all (Asparagus, sadly), and pest control,  among other topics.  I should have brought a recorder, though I took furious notes. 

So, my new plan consists of the following:  corn, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, watermelon, black eyed peas, green beans, eggplant, peppers, and okra.  Also basil, parsley, and cilantro.

I learned how much compost to use for each plant, how deep to plant them, how far apart, how many seeds to plant, etc.  It was so much fun!

We are getting the compost next week.  It will be put in the right amounts in the different areas of the garden in trenches, based on what is going to be planted there. Then covered with a light layer of dirt (using stakes so I don't forget where the compost is), watered in for a couple days, and left to sit for 2 weeks before actually planting.  I'll post more when I have another update.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Today I am trying to start planning the garden.  What goes where, etc.  I finished the Organic Gardening book and will move on to Carrots Love Tomatoes again.  The last time I read it I had checked it out from the library but there is so much information in it I decided I would like to own it instead.  I will be starting seeds this week indoors.  My first time so we'll see how that goes.  I am going to Lowe's later today to finish getting what I need for the seed starting. 

Alana is sick now.  She has the same symptoms Easton had last week.

Laundry day is today (Mondays).  I love the clothesline because my laundry goes quicker.  It takes over an hour to dry clothes in the dryer.  Since hanging on the line, I can rotate clothes much faster because they dry in only about 20 minutes outside.  So my laundry can be done all in one day instead of all week long.  Hurray!

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I've made a pantry list for stockpiling necessities.  I feel led to have months of necessities on hand for a few reasons, a couple of those being:

1.  Our nation is headed for a fall in our monetary system.  No country in the history of the world has ever lasted more than about 200-300 years with a fiat system of money.  ( A fiat system of money is one that is not backed with gold or silver or the like.  It is only worth anything because the government says so).  When that eventually happens (who knows when?)  people will be panicked and we will be in for some serious inflation. See Doug's blog at http://free4him.org for thought provoking information on our money system.

2.  We live on commission.  Our business at any time could be taken away by God and we might not be able to pay ourselves for a while.  It would be wise to have things on hand and not be desperate.

3.  We live in a hurricane-prone state.  We would like to have food and necessities available to help friends and family if need be after a storm.  We would like to bless others.

Don't get me wrong, I am not fearful.  God is fully in control.  But a country who turns away from God will not be blessed.  So our family is going to be like the ant and store things up for hard times.  Lord willing, it won't be necessary, but what a relief to know they are there.  God provides and hopefully he can provide for others through us.

It will take some time and extra money to fill the items on my pantry list.  I started yesterday with a few things on the list and figure I'll keep adding a small amount with each weekly trip to the store.  There are great websites for learning to rotate foods from your pantry, like http://theprudenthomemaker.com .  Hillbilly Housewife has some great tips on cooking from your pantry and lots of CHEAP recipes as well.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link