Aug. 21, 2008
S&T Fri -- Little Man's Birthday Extravaganza

Join the rest of us over at Mary aka CanadaGirl as we share our weekly Show&Tells.  

Our Little Man turned five last Friday, so we celebrated in our traditional family way -- A week-long BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!

As the birthday boy, he chose the breakfast and then played all day with his new workbench.  (When he sees you next time, he'll be ready to help you, Grandpa Mel & Grandpa Farmer!)

On Saturday, we went up to the city where we went to the park as a family...

After a stop at Barnes and Nobles to read some books and play with their Thomas the Train table, it was time to eat. 

"So, Little Man, where should we go to eat for your special birthday dinner?"

"Should we go to Saigon?  Or Manila?  Hanoi ?  Or Seoul?"

"No?   Hummm... well all those did seem terribly far away.  Oh, what did you say?  The white sign on the bottom tells us where you would like to go?   Well, sure!  Indochine it is!"

Our family's pick of "bday dinner" restaraunts (so far this year -- 3 out of 4 of us have chosen it, and the fourth person hasn't had his birthday yet) has been a delightful place called Indochine.  The owner is half Vietnamese and half French, and has created a place that pleases all of your senses.

The rickshaw, the beautiful lush vegetation and fish ponds, the artistry of the decor, even the little bathroom made us feel like we really had travel thousands of miles to Vietnam.

It was nice enough for us to eat in the garden in one of the little outdoor "houses."   Everything is good here and we ordered pad thai, mamsaman curry, and chicken with basil.  YUM!   We came hungry and enjoyed every bite!

As our tummies were getting contented and the leftover food was ready to be boxed up, the birthday boy was not shy about letting the waiter know, when asked, "Are you folks going to have any dessert?", that it was his birthday.  Our excellent server laughed and then graciously brought out Little Man's chocolate cake topped with five lit candles for him to make a wish with.

[And, his week is not quite over yet. After all, it's not every day/year you turn five. This Saturday, we are having a few families over to swim at our neighborhood pool and join us for lunch.  Little Man even planned the menu for his friends:  grilled hamburgers, baked beans, homemade strawberry lemonade, grapes, watermelon, and ice cream cake.]

Last Friday, while he was playing, I looked back through the pictures of him through the years and reminised...

Aug. 16, 2008
Week in Review -- August 10-16

This week was a full one, but the kind I like -- what a blessing it is to be healthy, have chores to do, and places to go -- it means you have a home to care for, food to prepare, and family and friends to share life with.

Sunday, we went mini-golfing after church.  Little Man requested this last Friday, so Daddy made a phone call and we were able to enjoy 18 holes in the town where we attend church.  (We live in a county that has more neighborhoods than actual towns.  Everything is spread out and driving to get to places is just the norm for us.) 

After sun-set, we focused on taking time to clean the house (I call it our "House Blessing").  The kids tended to their weekly chores, and I did the others.  We try to keep things up, so it's not so bad most of the time and takes us under an hour.  I'm going to try to do this every Sunday night so we can start our week off fresh and not have to do it during the school week (which eats into our school time).  Saturday is usually our true day of rest unless we have some major house chores to do; Sundays DH gets up before 6 am to help set up at church (we meet in a movie theater) and I help with the children's ministry, and then we get home around 1pm, have lunch and usually nap, read, play with the kids, etc.

Monday, we went to DD's riding lessons in the morning and afterwards went to the "hometown" library.  We have started volunteering there a couple days a month.  DD gets to learn the library system and we both get to give back to the community -- Little Man hangs out and looks at books and plays.  We came home where I did several loads of laundry and made a call to the children's pediatrician to set-up routine annual check-ups for them for later this month.  We had a delicious dinner of homemade rotisserie chicken & couscous for supper.

Tuesday, I cleaned the master bedroom and washed the bedding.  I also made it my "Bread Day" and baked 2 loaves of wheat, 4 of unbleached with wheat bran, and a batch of cinnamon rolls that I freeze for a quick grab-&-go breakfast for Sunday mornings.  There is nothing better than fresh bread!  Unless it's fresh bread with homemade chicken soup, which I made with the leftovers from the night before, as DH felt like he was coming down with a sore throat and wanted to nip it in the bud (the soup worked!).  Little Man was thumbing though an atlas and saw a page on Mexico.  He got the art supplies and made the Mexican flag, and from there was spurred on to ask many questions about that country -- I love his love of learning  (Maybe he was drawn to it, as we are learning Spanish this year?)

Wednesday, we left early to drive up to the city for a day of errands and meetings.  Our kittens had their appointments to be spayed/neutered at the Humane Society, so we dropped them off at 9am and were told to pick them up at 5pm.  We went to the city library and Little Man wanted books on Mexico, so we checked some out. 

We met the director of our Classical Conversations group and the other four tutors at Monkey Joes to have tutor meeting in order to go over the first 12 weeks of our co-op (we were to meet at a park but changed plans due to the rain).  We were able to get a party room and spent 3 hours discussing our year.  I'm so excited for our upcoming classes.  We've doubled our enrollment and are adding 2 more Foundations classes (last year we had 3).  Another tutor & I are returning (the 3rd is moving) and the 3 new ones are going to be fantastic.  I love every family in our group and can't wait to meet the new ones and the students I'll be tutoring.  I also need to say a big thank you to DD who watched her little brother with such care and unselfishness so I could focus on the meeting.  She is the best big sister! (And daughter!)

Afterwards we did a quick shopping trip to Old Navy were I had  a $5 credit and I ended up buying 2 pairs of children's flipflops with the credit.  Then to Sams for our grocery run and gas, and finally picking up the kittens (who did just fine) and headed home.

Thursday was a work day for me as I finalized all the helps for the Foundations weekly memory work, etc I had created over the summer for Classical Conversations (CC) and sent them to the other tutors.  I also finished my parent letter, and other odds and ends for the Pressentials class I'll also be teaching. Foundations will be Tuesday mornings starting after Labor Day and Pressentials will be in the afternoons (where I'm teaching Writing Trails in American History, Shurley English Level 3, and all 3 Cycles/years of CC's English Grammar weekly facts) .

The kids did school and drew more Mexican flags and I pulled out our Ancient History Pockets book for Little Man who wanted more information on Mexico.  So copies were made for him of the Ancient Aztecs material.  Since DD had already did the entire book two years ago, she was content to spend the afternoon reading.

I simmered pinto beans on the stove all day for beans & rice for supper, which we had along with a big spinach salad.  In the evening, since it was gloriously cool after several weeks of very hot weather, the kids and I slept in the playhouse (Daddy prefers his own bed).

Friday, we had french toast for Little Man's 5th bday and then he opened his birthday gifts from us.  He played with his new Home Depot play workbench and tools all day while listening to his new CD/radio.  He is truly one happy "Big 5 Year Old Boy."

I finally made much needed phone calls to friends to invite one family over for a swim next week, while the other friend told me about some co-op classes down here in our county that her group is going to do. (They sound wonderful, but we will need to see if we are able to do them since we are involved in our weekly Classical Conversations group, and two groups may just be too much for us.  They are doing a very wise thing though and planning for them to take place from 2:30 to 5:00pm, as they understand having a morning out of the house makes it hard to do your needed homeschool studies.)

  Hubby came home and took the kids to the neighborhood pool to swim so I could make homemade tortillas to go with the beans & rice.  We relaxed as a family in the evening and watched a little of the Olympics.  After putting the kids to bed, I had a cup of tea, read a little of the new Court Reporter magazine for HSLDA, and drifted off to sleep listening to the book of James from our audio bible CDs.

Today, Saturdy, we slept in until almost 8:00 am (a big deal at our house) and enjoyed blueberry pancakes.  We watched the video replay of Michael Phelps record-tying 7th gold medal swim.  Later this afternoon, we plan to drive up to the city to continue celebrating Little Man's birthday by going out to eat at one of our favorite restaraunts. (So far, 3 of us have had birthdays this year and we've all requested to go there -- wonder if Daddy will also pick it when it is his turn...)

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will go to church and then come home and get ready to go to our church's Baptism Celebration later that afternoon.  We always have it at a local Baptist camp that over looks the ocean -- truly a beautiful place.  I think I'll take Blueberry "Brownies" (a great story goes with their name) for the big potluck we'll be having. 

Aug. 16, 2008
We Found Our Fill, On Blueberry Hill.... (with recipes!)

Well, not a hill really.  Just a few acres that a wonderful family has owned along one of our local highways for several generations and has a U-pick blueberry farm on it.  Even though neighborhoods are popping up around it and a Dollar General has built a store next to it, they continue to bless the area with their wonderful blueberries. 

As the population grows and more people hear about it, due to demand (lots of people pick their fill quickly) they are only open a few Saturdays in the summer.  You just watch as you drive along the highway for their sign to change from "CLOSED" to "OPEN THIS SATURDAY 7-11."

I was thrilled to over-hear last year the conversation between someone I was behind in the "pay here" line and one of the family members who owns it.  The customer asked them when they were going to sell and reap the benefits of the "land boom."  "Never," was the family's reply.  (How I hope that determination lasts.) 

Every year, we pick bucketfuls of blueberries to enjoy throughout the rest of the year.  Last year, we picked 40-some pounds in one day (due to the late, hard frost of 2007, they were only open that one day last summer).  This summer, we picked 98 pounds during our two mornings of gathering.  One-third of our freezer is packed with blueberries for fruit smoothies, muffins, cobblers, etc., which will last us until next summer's picking.

Here are some of our family's favorite bluebery recipes which have gotten rave reviews from family and friends....

Aug. 15, 2008
"This is the Best Bread" -- "Just Like a Restaurant's!"

Those are the comments I got from Darling Daughter when she took a bite of the bread I had made from a new reciepe.  I had run out of whole wheat flour last week and needed to make some bread, so I grabbed the unbleached flour and doctored up a recipe I found.  It give you the lightness of white bread, but with the healthy-ness of unbleached flour and wheat bran.

1 ½ c. lukewarm water

4 c. unbleached flour

1 c. wheat bran (can also use oat bran)

2 t. salt

3 T. raw sugar

2 T. dry milk

2 T. olive oil

2 t. dry yeast

Mix all ingredients together in mixing bowl or bread maker and knead for recommeneded times.  Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.  Punch down and form into loaves (can also make dinner or cinnamon rolls).  Let rise.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  COVER with foil and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until done.  (I've only made free-form loaves out of it so far -- if using bread pans, it may take longer.)

Aug. 8, 2008
S&T Fri -- First Week of School

We do school year-round, but took time off from heavy academics during the month of July.  We started back this week, and what a great week it was!  (Our curriculm outline is HERE.)

Every year, we give the kids a large gift bag with their school supplies, books, etc and we sit around and the excitement begins as they pull everything out one-by-one.  Afterwards, they decorated the outside covers of their school planners.

Little Man is wonderfully creative, like his sister, and came up to me on Monday and said, "Mommy, I want to make an American flag."  Before I could finish what I was currently doing to help him, he had gotten some paper towel, a kite stick, and the markers out and was busy doing it all on his own.  Our little guy is getting big and more independent!

We also did some really great nature study this week, so go on over to our "For the Beauty" blog to check it out.  (Was a "C" Week theme -- Crickets & Cicadas!)

Please join the rest of the crowd for Show&Tell every Friday! Get all the information over at:

Aug. 4, 2008
Personal Quiet Time Goal Outline for 2008-09 School Year -- Paul's Epistles

I began my journey today of working through the Paul's Epistles during my quiet times as we start our school year.   These letters, or epistles, were written for doctorine, reproof, instruction and correction, all areas I'm desiring to grow in.

I'm am reading them chronologically, in the order he wrote them (some scholars disagree on the exact dates), studying his inspired teachings as he traveled around building and exhorting the early Church.  I study from The Reformation Study Bible and www.bible.crosswalk.com, along with listening to the bible on CD as we drive around in the car, hang out around the house, and drift off to sleep at night. (Deut. 6)

Books Written by Paul

Missionary Journey #	Books	Description	Date
2	1 Thessalonians & 2 Thessalonians	Written during 2nd missionary journey in Corinth. Called the "eschalogical epistle." "escha" = last     "logical" = study of Are about the study of "last things" -- the 2nd coming of Christ 1 Thes. is about the history of Paul's ministry among them; Instructions in Ethics, Eschatology, & Congregational Life 2 Thes. is about Paul's cause for boasting ; Instructions regarding the Day of the Lord, Prayer & Exhortation, and Labor	50-51 AD
The following 4 letters written during Paul's 3rd missionary journey are called the "Doctrinal Epistles"
3	Galatians	Discusses the problem in Galatia (Dif. gospel from false teachers; Defends Paul's Apostleship; Paul's Defense of the Gospel	54-55 AD
3	1 Corinthians	1 Cor was written in Ephesus.  Describes the divisions of the church (The Gospel & True Wisdom; Ministry & Apostleship); Responds to the Corinthians letter	55 AD
3	2 Corinthians	Written after Paul left Ephisus but before he arrived again in Corinth. Explains Paul's ministry; Shares about the Christians in Jerusalem; Defends against the false apostles	55-56 AD
3	Romans	Written in Corinth, before his visit to Jerusalem Themes are: The righteousness of God for Jew & Gentile Mankind's universal sinfulness God's righteousness for justification Grace reigns through God's righteousness God demonstrates His righteousness in Jews & Gentiles God's righteousness grasped & expressed in His people's lives Paul's plans & Concluding greetings	55-57 AD
The next 4 books were written during Paul's first imprisonment, which was a 2-year house arrest in Rome (Acts 28).  They are called the "Prison Epistles." The theme of these letters are "Christology" or the "study of Christ" because the doctorine of the person & work of Christ is prominent in them. I remember these books with the acronym that comes from a popular soft drink: "PEPC" (click to read a devotion I taught on Paul's prison epistles titled: "One Believer's Journey: Would We Sign Up for This Trip?"
	Philemon	Written to Philemon, a Christian brother & slaveholder, asking him to welcome Onesimus (Philemon's slave who had run away and met Paul in Rome, where Paul led him to Christ.) back not as a slave, but a Christian brother.	60 AD
	Ephesians	Ephesus contained the Temple of Diana, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Themes are... Our Position in Christ Our Walk in Christ: Toward Unity & Purity Our Stand Against the Spiritual Forces of Darkness	60-62 AD
	Philippians	Themes are... The Truth of the Gospel Truth Against Error	61-62 AD
	Colossians	Themes are... God's Son as Head over Creation & the Cosmic Powers, as well as Head over Re-creation & Reconciliation The Purpose of Paul's Ministry & and His Interest in the Colossians. The Sufficiency of Christ Life in Christ	61 AD
The final 3 books were written during Paul's release and 2nd imprisonment. Called the "Pastoral Epistles" or Ecclesiastical because of the emphesis on church adminstration.
4	1 Timothy	Written in Macedonia to Timothy Themes are... Dealing with False Teachers & the Law Paul's Testimony & Charge Instructions for the Life of the Church The Problem with False Doctorine Guidelines fr a Young Pastor	62-65AD
4	Titus	Written in Macedonia to Titus, a Gentile Christian. Paul wanted Titus to complete the organization of the churches, deal with false teachers, give instructions to the churches on proper conduct.  Themes are... Organizing the Churches in Crete Instructing Various Groups Instructing on Doing What is Good.	62-64AD
	2 Timothy	Written in Rome while awaiting death Themes are... Exhortations to Boldness & Faithfulness The Problem of False Teachers Paul's Final Instructions to Timothy	66 AD

Aug. 2, 2008
Padems Visit, Part 2

Here are some more pictures that I just received from a friend* from church of Sunday's events while the Padems were here visiting.  

• Yesupadem & Monika meet and greet people outside the cinema our church is renting on Sundays.  Yes, Virginia, we DO meet in a movie theater! 
• Pastor Troy & Yesupadem joking around.
• The prayer before the sermon.
• Yesupadem sharing his testimony and challenging us from God's Word.

*We have a wonderful servant at our church who takes pictures every week to capture the events of our church.  What a blessing she is, as it allows a chronicling of the history of our church, day by day, which all too soon turn into years.  As they use her pictures for slide shows, etc, I am always grateful that Ms. Bev is always there, quietly and consistently taking wonderful pictures.  She had snapped some the Sunday Yesupadem spoke, and graciously sent me some copies this week.

Aug. 1, 2008
Padems Visit-- One of Our Favorite Moments of the Summer

We are blessed to know a dear family who are ministers in India. Look HERE & HERE for past blog entries about our family's relationship with them.  We first met them 9 years ago at DH's uncle's home, when their daughter was 6 months, and I was almost due with our daughter.  (DD's cousins have each gone over to India for about 9 months between high school & college to serve with Yesupadem's ministry, Love-N-Care.)

They stayed with us the 17-21 of July and how we enjoyed them in our home!  It always blesses us in such an amazing way.   Since our daughters are the same age, they get along very well and did the girly things of dress-up, playing in the playhouse, being imaginative, etc.  The boys, while further apart in age (their son is 8 and ours is almost 5), they got along famously and played cricket with the daddies.  All the kids played very well together and put on a play for us the first evening they got in...

Yesupadem & Monika getting some much needed R&R while the kids perform their play.

Our days were spent swimming, going to the beach, and playing cricket (DH had bought cricket bats during his trip to India this past January, so we were glad to get some pointers and rule clarification).  DH was also able to have them with some electronic equipment, and worked with them on details for the website that he hopes to help them upgrade. (A new website has been on their prayer list for awhile.)   We filled them up with homemade meals and fresh bread -- something Monika said she truly missed as they don't have ovens in India.  (After her statement, I made sure to have bread on the table every evening.) 

Friday evening, we went to Celebrate Recovery, a ministry our church has, where both Yesupadem and Monika spoke.  (Monika telling about how they met and the ministry, and Yesupadem gave the message from John 9 on the blind man, that was full of challenge and truth.  (Yesupadem says he could right a book on that chapter and how I hope someday he will!).

1.  Christ always went to those who needed help, acceptance, & love

2.  The man didn't need any more condemnation in his life (v.2) -- it was the disciples who asked the question, "whose sin caused this man's blindness."  Are we in the church condemning others when we ourselves have a sin nature in us? 

3. Jesus replied to them that God allowed that man to be blind because God wanted to glorify his name.  He didn't rebuke the disciples, just spoke the truth to them.  We need to make sure people feel welcomed in our churches and that as the church, we never lose our salt & light.  One soul is more important than the whole world.

On the way to Friday's service.

On Sunday, Yesupadem spoke at our church and what a powerful message!  To hear it, click HERE.  (Sorry there is not a more direct link.  Click on the "podcast" icon and then on the July 20, 2008 message titled "Go."  You will see Yesupadem's name and a description of his sermon.)  I know we are all busy, but I hope when you have a minute, you will listen to it to be encouraged and challenged, and learn more about what Jesus can do and desires to do.

That evening, we had the church staff over, along with those who had gone on the mission's trip in January, to our neighborhood clubhouse to swim...

.. and to share a meal and enjoy some great fellowship with each other and the Padems before they had to leave the next day to continue their trip across North America.

Their son had never had apple pie, so we made sure to pick some up specail just for him -- he LOVED it! Little Man did to, and he loved Monika and Yesupadem.  He keeps telling us how he is going to go to India.  He has been praying for a helicopter (yellow, to be exact) for their ministry to use in medical missions since they mentioned it last year.  If you have read about our son, you'll know that he ADORES helicopters.  Perhaps someday he'll be flying one for Love n Care! 

The story of Yesupadem & Monika's marriage is quite interesting  -- and a testimony of how God can bring 2 people together.  Yesupadem's first wife (whom he had 2 children with who are now grown and are serving in the ministry) died of cancer and about a year or so after her death, he was being pressured to remarry.

He did not desire to so and prayed to the Lord a prayer he didn't think He could answer.  In his "Impossible Prayer," he told the Lord that if He had him to remarry, his wife must...

1. Have blond hair.

2. Have blue eyes.

3.  Be light-skinned (so far these do not describe any Indian, do they?)

4.  And come to him and ask (a cultural taboo, wherever you live!)

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Ocean in Canada, there was a young woman named Monika who had read the story of Isaac and Rebekah, and who asked the Lord to arrange her marriage as He had done for that biblical couple.  She recalled the quote, "God gives His very best to those that leave the choice up to him."

While she waited on Him to arrange for a husband for her, she grew in the Lord and served Him through YWAM and other opportunities.  As she shared more about this during year's stay with us, it was amazing how He used it all to prepare her for India.  (We encouraged her to write it down and Yesupadem agreed!)  One thing the Lord did to prepare her was to have her be an assistant to a paraplegic who was going to Malaysia, which allowed her to experience the spiritual darkness of a nation.  She said the woman she was assisting was not a Christian, and she felt very alone in her faith, but that God strengthened it as she leaned on Him and she learned to have a strong faith in a place where there was none.  Eventually during her time there, she found a church that was like a shining oasis in the dark desert.

When she got back home, she was told about a pastor from India who was going to speak at a church.  She had always felt a call to missions, and as she listened to this missionary, she felt led to go.  She didn't have enough money or financial support to take such a trip, but he said that if anyone wanted to come help at the ministry, they only need the plane fare there.

A few months later, she was in India and joined the team of foreigners that had heard this man, Yesupadem, speak and had planned to serve the Lord short-term in India.  DH's cousin, the first from his family to go, was one of those people she met during her stay there.

As time passed during her trip in India, she felt burdened by the responsibilities Yesupadem had and began praying for him.  One evening, during a crusade in which he was speaking, Monika was praying for him while the team from the minstry attended it.  She heard the Lord say, "He is your husband.  You are to tell him."  Yes, she was shocked!  If you knew Monika, you would know that she is quiet, reserved, and not one to tell a man such a thing.  She prayed, asked if He was sure, and I'm sure struggled with many other questions one who is in that situation has. 

The next day, the car which they were riding in, along with some other people from the ministry, broke down.  While others went of to get the car fixed, Yesupadem and Monika were left to wait along the side of the road.  God told Monika, "Tell him" and she bravely obeyed.  Needless to say, Yesupadem was quite surprised, but then he thought back to his "Impossible Prayer."  In that prayer, God was leading him to the perfect woman to be his second wife, and He had prepared her to meet that role.

They were married about 18 months later and Monika has now been in India 11 1/2 years.  God has blessed Yesupadem with 2 more children, and Monika is the perfect helpmeet for him.  Another  amazing "thread" through all of this story is how God used a nation (Canada) to bring Yesupadem to a relationship with him, and to provide him with a second wife.

Before Yesupadem was born, his father (who was an untouchable, the caste named so as in that culture they believe that particular caste was so low that it came from under the foot of God) served as the village priest for the monkey god, who he had been named after.  (The priests usually come from the high caste, but would not come to an untouchable village, so his father was assigned to do those duties.)  He was married, had four children, was very poor and sometimes only had enough food for his family for 3-4 meals a week. 

One day, a Baptist missionary from Canada came to his village and being preaching.   Some people came out to listen, including Yesupadem's father, and one-by-one they all left but him.  He accepted Christ and as a result, became an outcaste among outcastes and was rejected by his village and family. 

When his fifth and last child was born, his father gave him the name "Yesupadem" which means "the foot of Jesus."  One day on the way to school at the age of 10, dying of starvation, Yesupadem collapsed on the road.  No one would help him, due to his untouchable status.  But a Canadian missionary riding in a jeep with his family stopped his vehicle, picked the young boy up and took him to the hospital.  The missionary paid for his almost 2 week stay, and without his "Good Samaritan" act, Yesupadem would have died.

Yesupadem did not share the faith of his father, due to the injustice he felt in the caste system. He continually felt rejected by society.   It was added to by the fact that he was known as a "Christian", due to his father's faith -- being a Christian in India limits you even more than being an untouchable.  He became a communist, as it promised to remedy many of the things wrong with his nation.  Many miserable and sinful years followed.  While disappointed, his father never stopped telling him, "Son, Jesus loves you.  He died for you."

One day, he was invited to a Christian meeting and as the preacher spoke, he saw a vision of Christ on the cross.  As he saw a close-up of Christ's hand with the nail and His blood dripping drop by drop, He heard Christ say, "All this I have done for you.  What will you do for me?"

Radically saved from that moment, vowing from the very last breath of his life that he tell his people that Jesus is God, he became like Paul the apostle and immediately began to preach. Those who knew him before were shocked.  Though threatened with death by his former friends in communism, he said that he would tell people about the salvation of Christ until his dying day.  Amazed by his courage and the truth of God, that day three of those friends accepted Christ. 

For more information on his ministry, visit http://www.love-n-careministries.org

Aug. 1, 2008
S&T Fri -- "Farm Families Have Always Gone Green"

Yesterday, I received the most delight surprise in the mail.  Two months ago, I was reading about 100 mile diets, gardening on city lots, etc.   As I pondered on all of those things, thoughts of my childhood came to my mind, and I jotted down a little something on my laptop.

My sweet MIL, who is editor of a local newspaper in her area (I'm so proud of her for fulfilling her dream!), is always interested in my musings that I share on this blog, along with any private ones I may have.  So off went the document to her via email, to give her a little smile.

Imagine my surprise when she replied to me that she loved it and wanted to know if I would consider submitting it for a Going Green section they were planning on for the end of July.  So I agreed, and didn't think about it much more, as I was busy being a wife & mom, was delighted to be working on another writing opportunity God had sent my way (writing a chapter for a Nature Study ebook TOS will be putting out soon), and preparing & attending Creation Camp.

Well, yesterday the newspaper arrived from her and within the section was my article!  Thank you my dear, sweet mother-in-love* for helping another person fulfill her dreams.

*What a privledge it is to have her for a mother-in-law, but she is far more than that.  She welcomed me from the very moment we met and has been one of the dearest people in my life.  Although a 17 hour drive separates our families, we chat via email or phone weekly, and she is always interested in our going-ons and encourages us.  We may be bound through the legal law, but there is a bind between us even stronger for the love and respect we have for one another.

FARM FAMILIES HAVE ALWAYS "GONE GREEN"

Have you heard about the 100-Mile Diet?  It is becoming a popular movement today in some circles, encouraging people to eat locally.  Much of our current food supply comes from 1500 miles away – that’s right 1500 miles! 

People are saying, “Enough of that!  Let’s get our food locally, fresh & organic, and in season!”  They are supporting their local farmers’ markets; buying from health food stores that carry local produce, meats, and dairy products; even replacing some of the sod in their yards for a small garden, all with goal to have the food on their plate come from less than 100 miles around.

Hum… seems like this farm kid’s parents were hip before they knew it – they just did the 100-mile diet out of necessity and by following how their parents grew up, and their parents before them.  Seems like this new “idea” is just a matter of getting back to the way things used to be.

My folks are 3^rd generation farmers; my older brother is currently the 4^th generation farmer for the land that has been in our family for about 90 years.  Growing up, my mom was “super-woman” of farm-wives, but then again so were most of the farm-wives around us.  Typical of most of the farmers around us, we had a large garden, chickens, beef cattle, etc. and what ended up on our dinner plates came from our own farms.

We have pictures of Mom pulling my older siblings in a wagon while she tended her geese. We slept on feather pillows, thanks to those geese and my mom’s pillow making abilities.  We sliced fresh sweet corn off the cob every summer to put into the freezer.  Strawberries would be sliced, sugared, and frozen for toppings for ice cream (the home-made kind, of course, made with milk from our dairy cattle and eggs from our chickens).  And I remember how sad Mom was when her huge strawberry patch had to go to make way for a much needed grain bin!

 Vegetables were enjoyed fresh out of the garden and the remainder canned.  We milked twice a day, brought the milk in, strained it, separated the milk from the cream, sold some to a few town people, and had the rest to drink and cook with.  Mom even made fresh butter from the cream.  

A whole cow that had spent its entire (short) life on our farm was usually wrapped in neat white paper in the huge chest freezer located in our cellar.  I remember many scary times of going down into the dim light of a single 60-watt light bulb, getting out steak, hamburger, etc. to bring up for Mom to cook for dinner.  There were many nights we kids, sick of beef, complained, “Oh, Mom!  Not T-bone steak AGAIN?!”

Every spring Mom ordered dozens of little fuzzy yellow balls of baby chickens, or peeps.  For those of you who don’t know chickens, in my mom’s, aunts’, and grandmothers’ minds, there were two kinds:  layers & fryers.  When grown, the layers lived a life of producing eggs on our farm and my mom made a small income off their eggs and the above mentioned milk from our cattle, while the fryers… well, became fried chicken.  I remember learning anatomy when we butchered those chickens every late summer – that might be why I had the stomach to be a nurse. 

I also became an expert at holding my breath for long periods of time when it was my turn to gather eggs from the chicken coop (due to all the good “natural fertilizer” in there).  My sister and I also had the joy of cleaning the eggs before putting them into the cartons – they aren’t always the nice clean white things you see in the store!

Farming is hard work, especially keeping up on daily chores.  We kids whined – a lot!  We always had chores to do.  We would complain that our other friends had nowhere near the number of chores or amount of hard work.  We did daily farm chores, helped with inside house work, did dished by hand every morning before school and every night after supper, walked beans, cut thistles out of pastures, were in 4-H, helped with seasonal work around the farm, etc. 

But, wow, what an amazing work ethic we each have now.  We shake our heads when we see people who don’t know how to work, or who fail to have any initiative.  I’m afraid it’s becoming an epidemic.

People are amazed when they see “little, petite me” lifting heavy things, doing hard work, etc.  We helped at a work day last spring at a friend’s house, as a group of us cleaned up his acreage.  When he commented that he has never seen another woman work as hard as me, I was a bit amazed.  In my family, you just worked HARD.  It was normal. 

When an elderly neighbor recently offered to help my husband and I move a mattress box spring into our house, my husband declined, thanking him but saying, “My wife is one strong lady.  We’ve got it.”  The neighbor turned to me, looking at me like, “How can your husband make you do this?”  I replied, in a joking way, “I grew up on a farm.  If you didn’t learn how to work, you got yelled at or made fun of.”  J   

Plus, it was the only way your family would make a living or have anything to eat…

Please join the rest of the crowd for Show&Tell every Friday! Get all the information over at:

Jul. 31, 2008
2008-2009 School Plans