A Busy Week

soap ~ midnight pomegranate and green apple




pickled peppers



sourdough bread

Today is his birthday!!

Today is my honey's birthday. Happy birthday, Darrell! Thank you for giving us an excuse to eat cake.

We are in a house!

Well, we are in the house. We have been in for several weeks and are still getting settled. They issued our Certificate of Occupancy on September 25. Considering that we closed on the building loan on July 14, that was not a long process. We are still moving things in and unpacking but we are in the house, enjoying the luxuries of indoor plumbing and a full kitchen and SPACE!

Life has been busy lately as it becomes for many during the fall. The girls have started back to dance classes, and the dance studio is now further away. For a couple of years we were travelling quite a distance for their classes and had finally moved closer. Then they moved further away. Funny, huh?

The animals have been keeping us quite busy. As the cooler weather sets in and the orchard grass slows in growth, the horses have been eating their pasture down, so we had more fencing to put up. We have had quite a few baby goats born this summer, but one came early and didn't make it. In just the last couple of weeks, two older baby goats mysteriously died.

The time has come when we have tilled up the summer garden and planted the winter one. We have learned and lost quite a bit this year about gardening...and opposums, and racoons, and whatever else has been eating the fruits of our garden. Soon, hopefully, our garden will be safe and sound within an electric fence. But that is a project for another day. Although it has been an incredible amount of work, we have benefited from it as well. We have enjoyed many fresh fruits and vegetables. And we have learned, so next year should prove to be even more productive.

Then there is the unpacking, sorting, washing, organizing, and picking items to give away. We have given quite a bit away over the last year and a half, but there are still boxes that we missed of items we can no longer use, or that the girls have outgrown. We have learned quite a lesson this year and a half about what is necessary and what is not. We are looking at things we have multiples of as well. How many sauce pans do I really need? Or casserole dishes? How many pairs of shoes do I need? How many coats? What do I have that someone else may be in need of?

But we have been trying to take our time settling in so we can enjoy everything around us as well. I have been making bread and canning apple butter. We have had many friends over for fellowship. We have huddled around the wood stove. We are trying to live more simply. It is amazing how much richer our lives have seemed since we have been learning to live with less. It is amazing how much closer we feel to God when we learn to rely on him for our provision. It is amazing how much closer we are becoming to each other when we work along side each other to accomplish so much, and when we take the time to sit and talk together.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of scenes from around our home. I know we are.

The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple.- Doris Janzen Longacre

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.- Robert Brault

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. - Vernon Howard

Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.- Edwin Teale

Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking brings us close to the actual existing world and its wholeness. - Gary Snyder

Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing lessso I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more.- John Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are, p. 69

Close to Completion

We are getting close to completion. Maybe we will close next week!

I Sure Have Some Awesome Friends!

My friend Britnie has a bible study this morning and I am keeping her adorable four year old son for her for a few hours. She made him his own 'happy meal' and brought two for my girls as well. They are full of healthy goodies including homemade chocolate chip cookies made with whole wheat flour and dark chocolate, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. She even printed up her own bags with some fun activities.

Also, she knows how much time we have been spending at Lowes lately, and how bored the girls are becoming with going there. She printed up some fabulous scavenger hunt activity sheets for the girls to do while we shop for supplies for our new home. She even attached them to little clip boards and included a pen. How cool is that? Don't I have the most amazing friends? I only wish I had that much imagination.

The Countdown Begins

Stage Three

What a Difference Three Weeks Can Make

Okay. So are our builders applying themselves, or what?!

Near the end of the first stage

We have broken ground on the first home at Koinonia Community. To date, we only have approval to build the first one. The more time we spend here, however, the more we feel that God is going to do something amazing at this location.

There is a neighbor moving out to the community....maybe today. More information is to come on this individual who is wacky enough to follow God out to this amazing place and help make living in koinonia a reality.

A Quote Worth Reading...and Pondering

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Maryanne Williamson

Just a quick update....

We closed on the building loan. We are now in the midst of constructing a house. God is awesome! I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

To Close or Not to Close.....that is the question

So....are we going to close on our building loan today? Or not? It is less than four hours to closing and they have not given us any idea how much money we need to take to closing. We have been disappointed before and were starting to believe that the whole idea of living in a house was just a legend...a tale we heard tell of and retold...but based in fantasy instead of reality.

But a weird feeling hit me this week. Indecision and an odd feeling of peace. Honestly, living in a camper hasn't been that bad. Do I even want to build a house and live a normal life in a normal house just like everyone else? And fear. What if I become too comfortable? What if I forget about all that I have learned this past year? What if I become complacent? What if I become lazy and stop living intentionally? Also, something I hadn't thought of before....it is easy to live a life that others consider peculiar when your living conditions warrant peculiar living. But when you live under conditions like everyone else and just choose to make peculiar choices....that makes you....well, just peculiar.

So how about that feeling of peace? I feel complete and utter peace about whatever happens today. The fate of our building loan is in God's hands...not the lender. If we don't close on the loan for one reason or another, that is a closed door...not an obstacle. Honestly, I'm still not opposed to the idea of putting up a yurt. Quick, easy, inexpensive. Of course, there must be running water. That is my one request.

So that is where I stand today. What will the day have in store for my family? I don't know. I just know it is going to be awesome. At the very least, for now, I get to wake every day to the most amazing view, with the most amazing people I know. Our God is a wonderful, powerful, and loving God, and I am his servant.

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Community Updates

There are many, many things happening at once here at Koinonia Community. The garden is in full swing, so much weeding, harvesting, and canning has been underway. This is the largest garden we have ever undertaken, and we have learned so much this first year of gardening at this beautiful place. This is also the first year that we have undertaken gardening since committing to not using pesticides. Whew, what a learning experience. I am developing an intense hatred for squash bugs. I have located some diatomaceous earth though, so they just may be wiped out soon, even if it is too late to rescue a huge portion of our squash plants.

We are still living in the camper. Harvesting and canning is quite a challenge when you have a limited water source and limited space. We have been collecting cucumbers and beans and storing them in a plug-in cooler out in the barn until I gather enough to haul, along with my canning supplies to my mom's house to take over her kitchen. We have pickled several batches so far. My parents have been so supportive and helpful through all of this experience. My in-laws surprised me last week with a pressure canner. (See how spoiled I am!) Yesterday I canned my first batch of green beans in it. I say I, but truly my husband was an enormous help. We have enjoyed working together on this year's canning and pickling.

We have been blessed with more animals. Two of our goats had babies. Snow had one adorable little girl, and Jane had a boy and a girl. One of our cats had four kittens. We have new ducks, more chickens, and two new horses. We have a donkey coming our way once he is weaned...maybe later this month. We are enjoying them all so much.

We are scheduled to close on our building loan tomorrow. I am trying to keep my cool though since we have been scheduled to close before, and errors in paperwork caused delays. The incredible people who are building our house have gone ahead and started the grading and footings. It is so awesome to witness people stepping out on faith. I am excited to see progress, but a little frightened of forgetting all I have learned along this incredible journey within the confines of a comfortable life.

It has been 14 months since we closed on the selling of our previous house. We spent the first six months living with a friend. We started out as near strangers, but became more like family as the six months progressed. We have been in this camper for nearly eight months now. It has been a struggle and a blessing at the same time. It is a struggle because we are living very primitively by American society's standards. Our family of four is living in a little over 200 square feet. We still don't have running water. We haul it in by cooler loads. We heat it in a pot on the stove top. We haul water to our several dozen animals by the bucket full. Darrell spends alot of time filling up buckets of water at work. We recently acquired a large tank for him to put on the back of the truck to fill. It has been a serious blessing.

We do use an outhouse most of the time. We do have a toilet in the camper, but with no septic system...what goes in must be taken out. Anything in the tank must be removed by the 5 gallon bucketful as well. Additionally, as hot as it is outside, it smells up the camper in a couple of days if you use it.

We are still going to my mom's house or friend's house to shower and do laundry. The shower is probably the biggest struggle we face. It is hard to work outside all day in the heat, and try to sponge off with a small amount of water. I love my showers, and I love being clean. And it really takes quite a bit of time to pack up a shower bag and shower at someone else's house. And it is never first thing in the morning or just before bed as I was previously spoiled to be able to do to my heart's content.

But we aren't suffering by any means. We work hard, but live quite comfortably. We even have air conditioning in the camper. We all sleep on beds. That is more than many people have. We have food. We have family. When it rains or is too hot, we hang out and watch a movie together.

What a blessing this whole experience has been. We have become closer as a family. We have truly been focused on what is necessary and have banded together to get things accomplished. We have grown in our faith immensely. We know we are doing what God has intended for us. We knew we were giving up comfort and security but did it anyways out of obedience, trusting God to meet our needs. And He has. I have to say there is no greater comfort than to KNOW you are within the will of God. No doubts!

I assure you that when you step out on faith and depend fully on God to meet your needs, you have no choice but to see Him working in your life. For example, we have spoken with person after person who have seen their gardens perish this year due to lack of rain. They have told us that they watered and watered it, but it just isn't the same as rainwater. We don't have a way to water our garden, except for the occasional hauled 5 gallon bucket of gray water. But our garden has flourished. We have harvested hundreds of cucumbers. I keep thinking the plants are dying, then I'll check the next morning and find more than forty beautiful cucumbers. We've had more than enough to share. Only God is capable of making that happen.

Oh yeah, and we are getting a neighbor here in the community. Seems we have made camper living sound SO appealing that someone else wants to give it a try. But more on that in the next post.

Poetry by Alea Hunsucker ~ Age 9

On a dark night
you help me see the light
in the depths of the sea
through sights of blue and green
through it all
Your grace helps me
and now I see
it wasn't all me!

Just For Fun....food from the garden.

We are suddenly blessed with vegetables from the garden. I was planning on doing a bit of canning and freezing this year, but did not expect to still be limited to a camper sized refrigerator and freezer. So we are having to eat as we pick and give away the rest. Kasi is a huge fan of zucchini, but both girls claim to not like yellow squash...or red peppers. So I decided to shred everything together into a sauce. I told them that that way they will get all the yummy flavors mixed together instead of isolated. I shredded yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, and mushrooms (leaving a few mushrooms to be sliced ~ Kasi loves her mushrooms).


After sauteing with EVOO, I added a jar of organic spaghetti sauce. I simmered that for awhile, and just before serving added some fresh thyme, oregano, and sweet basil. Yummy!

Instead of being chunky, the sauce cooks up nice and thick! I'm getting hungry again just looking at the pictures.

Mix it in with some fabulously flavorful whole wheat pasta, and add a salad made of fresh cucumbers, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. It was a fresh and inexpensive and delicious!

Enjoy your garden!

Moving Right Along On Community

Well, it looks like things are moving right along. We finally got all our paperwork in order and submitted for our construction loan. It wasn't us holding it up. It appeared like everyone was dropping the ball along the way. The lender had our paperwork for a couple of weeks before he had an opportunity to even look it over. Then it has been a few more weeks to get it all together and get it submitted. But the appraisal has been ordered!

I had a moment of depression when he told us that because of the low interest rates, the system was swamped with people refinancing their houses. He told us that there was a six week wait on appraisals and that it was taking about 90 days to close on a loan. But I didn't cry. At least not in his office. I mean, in one more week it will have been seven months of living in this camper, hauling water. We have been patient, but we are ready to move along. We want to at least get to the point where we can dig a well.

He did assure us that he would do everything he could to speed things up for us. He is going to try to get us to close on the loan by the end of the month. Early last week the appraiser came out and took a picture of the home site. So it appears that things are really moving right along.

I have found that the more time we spend in this camper the less cramped it seems. It is still hard to find a place for things, but really, we are adjusting to it. We are learning to see things differently. I remember when I was a girl and we moved to Israel. Everything seemed so odd when I returned. Some of the things the other kids talked about just seemed so senseless. The way I viewed things was different. That is how I feel now. I feel like I have left the country and returned, and found that things are just so different here than I remembered.

I have found that our reasons for wanting to move along and get in a house are not the same as they were at the beginning of this journey. We no longer desire comfort as much as simplicity. Hauling water in and heating it up in a pot on the stove to wash my face no longer seems like a chore. It actually makes more sense than to run the faucet for minutes to warm up water and wet a washcloth. But not being able to store food or wash clothes or shower here adds quite a bit of complicated time management to our daily schedules. It keeps us rushed. And we are ready to remove all the rush from our lives. We want simplicity.

We have gotten so much done around here. I will have to post some more pictures. This place is changing all the time. We fenced a pasture for horses near where the house is going to be. We had to rush and get it completed in four days since the folks we were getting one mare from were going on vacation and wanted to bring her before they left. But we have two mares out there now, and they are the best of buds, eating grass to their hearts content. I am going to try to get my tack cleaned up this week and work with the eight year old to see if I'm ready to put the girls on her yet.

Our goats are content in a new pasture we have fenced for them. They have plenty of shade, and plenty of grass as well. We have only to put up an electric wire to keep them from scratching on the fence, and so we can put Sweet Pea, the pet pig, out there with them. Every day now we walk outside expecting to see some new baby goats, and looking to see if Meeka, one of our cats, has had her kittens.

The garden is doing incredible. We have had our fill of radishes. Suddenly, we have been getting yellow squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Pumpkins are growing EVERYWHERE. Tomatoes, peppers, and cantaloupe are beginning to take off. Green beans, eggplant, and watermelon are not far behind. Broccoli, carrots, celery, and corn are continuing to grow rapidly. I don't know about the cabbage though. I made a garlic spray for an organic pesticide. I may not have gotten rid of insects soon enough for them though.

I have an herb garden that is doing fantastic. I planted a rhubarb in it as well. For those of you that have grown rhubarb, I have a question. Mine has grown HUGE. The stalks are just breaking off of it, they become so heavy. But everything I have read says not to harvest stalks the first year. So, what do I do? Do I cut them off and discard them? Do I go ahead and harvest them? Or do I just let them break off? Help me here.

That's it. We always have something to do around here. There is always work to be done. But we are loving it more every day. We are loving the opportunities for working on things together. We are loving the opportunity to rely on God. We are truly blessed. And things are moving right along. Who knows what exciting news I will have to share next week.

.....a Thought Weighing Heavily on My Mind

Something has been weighing heavily on my mind this week. I just have to share so it stops bumping around in this empty head of mine. If we want to show people Jesus, we have to make ourselves invisible.

That's it! It all goes back to the scripture about not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6). I cannot let that thought go. It is so easy to get caught up in the execution of doing some amazing things. It is even easier to get carried away and start immediately thinking about how we can move on from doing small amazing acts to doing something bigger and better...something spectacular! But what I have noticed is that the more spectacular something I am a part of is....the more people recognize me for what is being done instead of the Jesus I am trying to show them.

Sometimes we don't even recognize how this taints our thoughts and actions. Our motives are still pure, but if we really focus, we begin to recognize the difference in our speech patterns. Where we would use phrasing such as "Jesus is leading me to....God is blessing me with....Jesus is using me to.....", we are now using phrases like "I am doing__for Jesus". I start feeling good about what 'I' am doing. People are starting to recognize 'us' for the amazing things 'we' are doing for Christ. That is an easy trap into which to fall. We don't even notice that we have transitioned from the invisible stagehand to the leading role.

I have had several people, when they find out our living conditions and our goals, comment that we should be admired for what we are doing. I don't even know how to respond to such comments. They make me nervous. We are merely being obedient. Obedience is not to be admired, but expected. A soldier is expected to be obedient to his superior officer. A citizen is expected to be obedient to their government. More so, we are expected to be obedient to our God.

We don't want recognition. We don't want admiration. We want to fly under the radar. We want people not to see us, but see Christ through us....in all we do. We want to be invisible.

So it should be for any good deeds we do for others. We do things to show love for others because Jesus told us to not only love our family and our neighbor, but our enemy as well.

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus tells us to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.: The light of the Holy Spirit! Not us. Him.

So remember that this week. Let these words bounce around in your head as well. If we want to show others Jesus, we have to make ourselves invisible. Have a fabulous love filled week.


Romans 12:10 ~Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

John 13:35 ~By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another

Time and Training in The Desert

A few months into our stay on this land I was really starting to lose focus. Most of my focus was on myself...my suffering. It hasn't been bad, but it has been hard. And I was ready to move along. Move along to obtaining water....move along to getting a road....move along to having a house....move along to having a shower....and a washing machine...and a comfortable bed. I was tired of hauling five gallon buckets around to water animals, and gallon jugs to cook and wash dishes. I was tired of the mud. I was tired of packing a shower bag, and hauling it and laundry across town. It took too much time. I was tired of my back hurting, and wondered how it was ever going to get better while I was hauling buckets of water, and sleeping on that springy bed. I was whiny!

But most of all I was surprised. After all, doesn't God want us all to prosper? Doesn't He want only the best for his children? Surely we missed the mark, because there is no way He would have sent us out here to suffer. Right?

But I was led to read about the temptation of Jesus. Remember when Jesus was sent out to the desert to be tempted by Satan? Ever wonder why he was sent out to the desert with no food or water? No comfortable bed to sleep in? Or friends to help him in his battle? Just him and Satan. And Jesus, though a God, was also a man. He was a hungry, thirsty, tired, lonely man. And he was sent into the enemy's camp.

Where was his focus? Initially, it may have been on himself. It would be hard to start out such a journey and not be focused on hunger, thirst, or discomfort. Jesus looked around and there was no one there to cover his back in his battles against Satan. Or was there?

Jesus was not only sent out to be tempted by Satan and learn to rely on God. Jesus was sent out to the desert for a battle of the minds with Satan. Without the distractions of comfort, he had no difficulty hearing the voice of Satan. Satan's voice was constant...taunting him....trying to lure him away from fulfilling his purpose. See, it was through personal suffering and resisting the temptations to serve himself (food, power, glory) that Jesus learns to deny himself for our sake.

One of the first things that you learn about Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and asked us to take up our own cross to follow him. It is a great story. We claim to believe it. But do we live like we believe it? Do we live our life burdened with the weight of our cross on our shoulders? Are we willing to die for our enemies? Are we willing to truly go without so that others may have? Do we serve others first? Or do we serve others after we serve our own needs and desires?

Living and thinking along such lines doesn't occur naturally. We naturally lean toward self preservation. We naturally meet our own needs and help others with what is left. We naturally help others if it can occur without harm to ourselves. But Jesus didn't. He gave it all.

There have been other great people through history who gave it all for others. Mother Teresa is often cited as someone who lived her life according to the Sermon on the Mount. But do you think she was born someone who loved to sacrifice for others? No. It took years of training. She spent time in the desert, training to resist the temptations of Satan. She learned how to see the world through the cross. Then she took up her cross and followed Jesus...every day of her life. I read that someone near her stated that her feet were crippled because when shoes were donated she gave all the best to others. Yet she hobbled along serving the least of these with a smile. To her it wasn't a sacrifice. That takes training.

Even Jesus had to undergo training to change the way he saw the world. For that training his time in the desert was necessary. It is necessary for any of us if we are to see the world through the cross, and take up our own cross and follow him. It is necessary to dislodge our automatic instinct to serve and preserve ourselves before others. It takes training to see serving as a gift instead of a sacrifice.

So, after all this contemplation, I have arrived at the conclusion that we are in the desert. We are being trained to go without so that others may have, and to see it as an incredible opportunity instead of as a sacrifice. We are being trained to follow the leading of God even if it results in our own discomfort. We are being trained to see the world through the cross. I assure you it is beginning to look quite different. We are being fitted for our crosses.

Matthew 4:1-11
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Mark 8:34
34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Matthew 10:38
38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

History Lesson

We asked the previous land owner about the strange series of walls heading down the hill toward the creek, and the stone walls along one side of the creek. He said that they were build by German POWs after WWII. He told us that there was some sort of wetland and farmland preservation organization that used POWs as laborers. He couldn't recall the name of the organization. Anyone ever heard of it?

His grandfather used to tell him stories about when they came out here. They not only build the walls, but were responsible for terracing the land, as well. Maybe that is the reason for the unusual soil. Maybe they really did haul it in in order to build the terraces.

Has anyone ever heard of such a program? I tried to Google various things, and found quite a bit about POWs building walls and terracing. But I never found a name of an organization, or any work being done in Lexington, NC. Please help!

How Do I Look?

It was time for a change. What do you think of the new look for Koinonia Community? Love it? Hate it? Don't care?

I Hoe, I Hoe....creating a garden to feed the people

Well, with dance season over for now (yay!) we are home more and able to dedicate a little more time to getting things accomplished here at KC. We have been working on a garden. Hopefully, over the next couple of years it will evolve into a raised bed sort of garden in order to reduce the amount of time dedicated to weed wars. For this year though, we had to make due with what we have.

What we do have is an abundance of compost and organic fertilizer, soil that retains water, and space. So we set out to begin growing food to eat, to share, and to trade. We wanted to plant a variety of items to prevent frequent trips to the market for that 'one item'. We wanted to plant enough to can, freeze, and give away, but not so much that it would be too much for just us to handle.

It appears that I am having issues with moving my pictures around and my computer time is about to end. I will post more about this amazing garden with some new photos soon.

Here is what we have planted this year:

heirloom tomatoes

cherry tomatoes

grape tomatoes

several varieties of sweet and hot peppers

eggplant

cabbage

broccoli

carrots (orange and purple)

sweet corn

popcorn

lettuce (these didn't do well)

celery

pole beans

radishes

pumpkins

zucchini

yellow squash

cucumbers

sweet onions

sweet potatoes

garlic

cantaloupe

watermelon

rhubarb

shallots

various herbs

I think that is about covers it. Oh yeah, we did plant some trees this year as well ~ plum, pear, peach, and fig. Of course, this is a work in progress. Over the next couple of years our list will continue to grow. But for now, we should be able to start on our path to self-sufficiency and be growing our ability to feed people.

Alea's Illness

Sorry I have been so slow to update on what has been going on here at Koinonia Community. I have begun many times to write, but have been unable to complete what I start.

Alea was diagnosed quite awhile ago with severe abdominal migraines. She will go for days with abdominal pain and vomiting. She will be restless and exhausted, anxious, disconnected. She is fearful of travel, of sleep, of eating. She moves and thinks very slowly, and if you try to rush her, her anxiety level increases and she gets sick. She becomes very introspective and philosophical...in a very worrisome way.

These began when she was barely five. We have tried to treat them with medication. The meds did nothing. The doctors prescribed doubling the dosage of her medication and adding another very serious medication. Concerned with the way the medication made her feel, and praying for God alone to heal her, Alea chose to go off all medication.

She didn't have any problems for over a year. Recently they started again. Of course, she is nearly ten, so there could be a bit of a hormonal trigger occurring this time around. We have identified so many "triggers". I'm not sure they are triggers as much as amplifiers. Alea really can't have caffeine, especially chocolate. She can't have anything with nitrates in it, such as hot dogs or pepperoni. She has to be wary of preservatives and dyes in what she eats. Sometimes loud noises and bright lights can bring on an episode. Often fatigue, and stress or worry, or even a feeling of a lack of security can trigger days of pain and vomiting.

There has been research that has shown that a misalignment of the atlas bone between the cranium and neck can contribute to migraines. When Alea was five (right around the time the migraines began) she had a boy jump off some playground equipment and onto her head, splitting her scalp open. We had her neck scanned and her atlas is out of alignment (in the direction of the blow she received). So we began chiropractic treatment. I think we are onto something. But here is the rub. Every time she has her neck adjusted, it triggers another episode. That seems to point pretty clearly to the misalignment being a cause. But how do we get it back into alignment without aggravating the situation in the meantime?

Lately, she has been sick a majority of the time. It seems that the unsettled position of staying in the camper and all the running around town to shower and wash clothes, and all the running involved with trying to build a house aren't helping the situation. What she needs right now is to have the comfort of her own bed, with her own comforting things around her instead of in storage. She had the added stress of 'tech week' for two dance performances, and the death of a few animals here at the farm.

So why am I sharing all this information? Our family has been in survival mode lately. Everything has been placed on hold while we just deal with day to day living, worked around Alea's health for the day. Those of you with children with illnesses know exactly what I mean. True, we are not, to our knowledge, dealing with a terminal illness. But for day to day living for the entire family, it is no less disruptive.

We know so many of the readers of this blog are praying for our family and this project. I ask only that you redirect your prayers. Alea needs your prayers. We all need the prayers. God can create something amazing from all of this. He already has begun. He takes hardship and uses it to strengthen relationships. He takes illness and uses it to strengthen faith. We are completely powerless to help her now. But of course, when we are weak, He is strong. Please lift us up in your prayers.

Armchair Activism

We whine endlessly about the state
of our sorry privileged lives
our cold fries
our thankless jobs
we're hot, we're cold

we wake early from our soft bed
and starbucks made our latte
with milk instead of soy
we missed this week's lost
and didn't get a hug

our cashier gave us a look
as we paid for our load of food
after waiting five agonizing minutes
in line in air conditioned shelter
while a child dies from lack of clean water

another cries out from hunger
as we pound our fist in anger
at the injustice of it all
we throw words like daggers
that fall harmlessly to the carpet

eliciting no change
in the state of the world
but piercing only the ears
who had the misfortune
of being withing firing range

as the ears bleed painfully
from the force of our rage
we lean back and click the remote
to dull our emotions
with the next top story.

A Song to Sing

Lately, I have really tried to focus on the words I hear in songs as I hear and sing them. It is amazing how we can hear a song and fall into the melody without even realizing what we are singing aloud. We can sing worship songs and they fill us with a feeling of worship, without us believing the words we are singing. Even more often what we call 'praise and worship songs' are about us. They are safe songs that don't mention anything about Jesus but his grace. They don't praise God. They don't inspire us to follow Christ. They speak of our needs, wants, and fears. We rarely abandon ourselves to praising God.

I have found myself falling into the habit of disregarding a song if it says I or me more than a couple of times. But the following song is an exception. True, it speaks of me. But if you pay attention to the words, it speaks of reckless abandonment of self. It cries out against a lukewarm Christian existence. I think the words are beautiful. This is the sort of living that I envision when I read Christ's words about taking up the cross to follow him.

Luke 9:23 (Amplified Bible)
23And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [[a]disown himself, [b]forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, [c]refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [[d]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

Start focusing on the words you sing. Are they the words you want to cry out when you worship your Lord and Savior? Are they words of praise for an awesome God?

The Motions ~by Matthew West

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go)
take me all the way (through the motions)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions

What Now?

I don't believe in coincidences. Do you? So when we were told that it appeared as if someone had flown over our land and dumped soil completely unique in this area, in only this spot, I started to wonder why. I wasn't really surprised. God told us to do something different. It only makes sense that he would select a unique spot for such a venture. But where were we to go from there?

We had a preconceived notion of what we were to do. God wanted us to feed people. He wanted us to combine our energy and our resources. He wanted us to fellowship together. He wanted us to be light and salt. So it made sense that we would accomplish that through establishing a living community, right?

What about the soil? What made it unique? We knew that God had most definitely sent us here. So we needed to look at the reason for this location. The problem with the soil is that it acts like a sponge and does not release water. It looks like premium clay on the surface but once you dig past the first foot or two it changes. It takes on a different appearance. Suddenly it hit me. I went to our county soil scientist who was laying out our single septic system and said, "So the soil retains water. That may be a bad thing for a septic system, but wouldn't it be an advantage for growing things? When we are having a drought and everyone else is having trouble growing food, we should still be able to grow? Right?" His answer? "Yes, unless you are trying to grow tobacco. Tobacco likes dry sandy soil." But we aren't wanting to grow tobacco. We are wanting to feed people! Food requires water to grow.

So there is one part of the puzzle figured out. But what about the fellowship and sharing of resources and energy? How can that be accomplished if we are out here all alone? And how can we do all this ourselves? And home school? With Darrell working a full time job as well? It all hurt my head to think about.

But we have learned something over the last several months. We aren't the only ones that God has planted with this dream. We have encountered so many people who desire to feed people. We have learned that others, as well, desire to live in fellowship. Others desire to share what they have so more can be done to show the love of Jesus to people who do not know Him. We believe that God will continue to send people to help make this dream a reality. Already we have people coming out to help who do not live here. And I believe that many hands will help to turn this place into the place that God envisions. We will, together, feed people. We will feed them common food, and we will feed them love.

I believe that is only the first step. I think God envisions a living community as well. But to establish a living community as well as a small farm capable of feeding people takes quite a bit of energy and resources. It will have to be done one step at a time. Quite honestly, if it all happened at once I believe I would be overwhelmed and possibly even give up. So God is going to allow us to feed people on a smaller scale from the start. In the meantime, we will get settled and have an opportunity to get this small farm set up and running. It will be built slowly. We may even have an opportunity to rest and enjoy it.

Why would God give us a job to do, and then tell us to rest? Because we are going to need rest for what is to come.

Ahhh! The Joys of Sewage

So many obstacles must be crossed when purchasing land and building a home. One of the greatest obstacles is the perc test performed by your local environmental health department. Often people locate the "perfect" place to build a house but find the land is not suitable for a septic system. The problem is magnified if you are considering building more than one structure.

Of course you can circumvent this whole issue if you purchase land in an area with public sewage lines run to it. Sewage is being run in this area, but is still a couple of miles away, so that was not an option. When you purchase land with the intentions of building in an area that will require a septic system, often the purchase loan will be contingent on a valid perc test.

The land owner from whom we purchased had considered developing this land, so he had already done much of the leg work. He had hired a soil scientist to analyze the soil, and presented a report and map of the land showing where conventional septic systems could be used, where alternative (aka. more costly) septic systems could be used, and what land was unsuitable for septic at all. We were set. There were more than enough perc locations to accommodate the eight or nine homes we were intending to build in this community. We intended to cluster the homes close together, maintaining as much green land as possible, and utilizing much of the unsuitable land for farming.

Working closely with our county zoning and planning department, the soil scientist's map, and our surveyors, we outlined lots so that each lot would include some of the land ideal for septic systems. Then we waited for it to stop raining so we could go to the environmental health department and apply for our perc tests. It rained for weeks. Finally the rain ceased temporarily, and the county soil scientist was being sent to analyze our soil so we could get moving right along.

We had to dig at least three pits per lot, each four feet deep, and four feet wide. We dug 24 pits to start with. The soil scientist from the health department came out two or three times and told us he would be back in another two weeks with a man from the state environmental health office that was coming out just to analyze our soil. He wanted us to be ready to dig fresh pits while they were there. So Darrell took the day off work and dug some more pits while both of the soil scientists climbed in and out of the holes and discussed their findings.

The bottom line? They told us that the soil on this property is completely unique in this area. They have not found any like it in this county and in very few locations in this part of NC. They actually told us that it looked like someone had flown over and dropped loads of soil just on this field. They found a location that had perfect soil...down the hill and along the banks of the creek. You never find soil of it's type downhill or near water. Of course you can't place a septic system near a creek. The water at the top of the hill looked waterlogged. Water should be running away from it. It was insane.

They denied all eight of our applications. They did, however, find one location that would be suitable for septic...but it was not on any of the lots. It was on the area we had designated "community land". According to the soil scientist map we had from the previous land owners, it was a septic dead zone. The county would approve a septic system for a single house only if we reapplied with the entire acreage as a single lot. We were told that we would not be approved to build more than one residence unless 1) we purchased adjacent land and it would perc OR 2) sewage was run to this area.

?????

.....to be continued......

Road Log

The first of the updates

Wow! So much has happened. A year ago this month we closed on the sale of our house and started pursuing the dream that God had planted in our hearts to be a part of forming a Christian intentional community. First and foremost, God told us to feed people. Hunger is a huge issue. Maybe you don't see it. You have food in your cupboards. There is a market within driving or walking distance. Your neighbor is there for borrowing a stick of butter. But hunger is commonplace in many parts of the world. In fact, if we looked closely, we would see it closer to home than we would ever have believed.

People don't just hunger for food. They hunger for touch, a smile, a caring word, a bit of attention...a bit of hope. God wanted us to feed these hungers as well. He planted a vision of a community that lived in close proximity, caring for one another...living in fellowship, sharing their resources, bearing one another's burdens, and sharing in victories. Such a way of living, He showed us, would provide greater resources for feeding the hungry in our greater community.

So we waited for Him to lead us to the place where this community, a community founded on the principles of 'koinonia', would be established. There are communities founded upon the same principles being established all over the world. People are hungry. They hunger for a different way of living. They hunger for true relationships. They hunger to live intentionally. Many hunger for a way of living different from the comfortable routine existence that they have been taught to expect from life. These communities have been planted to feed such hungers.

God led us to some beautiful land in Davidson County, NC...an abandoned farm. We purchased it last summer and have slowly been going through the process of bringing to life the vision of a koinonia community. Our family felt led last November to move onto the land in order to work and live, and begin working with the resources already available to us to feed people.

We purchased a camper, hooked it up to electricity flowing from an old abandoned barn, and our family of four spent our first night living here on November 22, 2008. Our time here so far has been challenging, surprising, difficult, educational, and blessed. I will try to catch you up over the next week or so on all that has happened in the last 5 1/2 months now that I have received the incredible blessing of wireless internet.

We are not truly 'roughing it' but we are lacking several of the luxuries that we had taken for granted throughout our lives. We are living in a 31' camper that contains a queen size bed, a pair of bunks, a sofa, kitchen table, and even a small kitchen and bathroom. It is just a little shy of 250 square feet. It is about the size of an average kitchen. We do have electricity and even heat and air...usually. The air is working beautifully today!

We don't have a well or a septic system. Whatever water we use for living or for watering animals must be hauled in in coolers and buckets. From several weeks of rain we were able to collect rainwater from the roof of the old barn in buckets placed around the barn perimeter. Hopefully before long, we will be able to finish repairs to the old metal barn roof, and have gutters to direct that precious rainwater into holding tanks. The hauling in of water limits our water usage, and we do have to go somewhere else to shower and to wash clothes. And hot water for washing dishes and face cleaning is obtained through the old fashioned method of heating a potful on the stove. We do have a toilet, but with no septic system...what goes in must be taken out. So we try to use the outhouse whenever possible.

We have nearly 50 animals here now ~ two dogs, two cats, two pigs, three roosters, four rabbits, seven goats, nineteen hens, and six chicks....I think. That sounds about right. So we have a steady supply of organic fertilizer to add to our quickly curing compost pile. And we are collecting more than a dozen eggs daily. And we have planted a garden of goodies. New little seedlings are popping up every day.

We wake up to the most amazing and inspiring view every day. It truly makes me desire to have an opportunity to start painting again. When I start to become discouraged or whiny, (which does happen occasionally) all I have to do is walk out my door and look around, and know that God is all around me, and I feel comforted. I am reminded of my purpose.

But the big news is that we now have a driveway. It was completed a little over a week ago. Those of you that have been here know what a big deal that is. Our way in was truly a challenge, especially with the amount of rainfall this past winter. Many days we had to park at the road and walk back to the camper a little over a quarter mile through the mud, hauling groceries and laundry. Occasionally we had to drive backwards in order to make it up the hill. And we had a little narrow rickety 'bridge' crossing the creek that some found to be a little frightening. That bridge was our biggest obstacle to building, or a well, or septic system. It had to be replaced before any progress could be made. But now a lovely (and wide) concrete pipe is in place across the creek, and a graded roadway covered in sand rock leads back across this beautiful property...all the way to a still pristine home site.

Life is good and God is great. More updates and some fabulous pictures coming later.

Warning!

Warning! I am returning online in the very near future. Some posts are coming!

(for real real ~ not for play play)

Astronaut Farmer

God threw one of those surprise gifts at my family the other day. We rented a few movies the other day. I just happened to pick up a movie without even reading the case. I just felt like I should get it. It was called the "Astronaut Farmer", and starred Billy Bob Thorton. Really, it wasn't something that I would normally feel drawn to. But I picked it out anyways. What a gift!

It is a story about a man who decides to build a rocket in his barn to launch into space, and the effect his project has on his family, friends, and neighbors. It is about a family that dreams together, and the people that try to shoot down their dream. See, this family hears about how their dream can not and will not work. They hear about the foolishness of their ideas. The hear about how this dream is going to tear them apart.

But this story is about how they stick together, and support each other, and continue their dream together...even through hardships. It is about the foolishness of the critics. It is about how dreaming and working together doesn't tear them apart...but how it brings them closer together.

Once again, God's timing is perfect. We have heard of the foolishness of building a community based on sharing and fellowship. We have heard it will not work. But we are continuing to dream together...and we are finding ourselves being drawn closer together as a result. Check it out and keep dreaming. Gotta go...I have a rocket to build!

Hugs from Jesus

I have to share a little story. It is about my hug this week from Jesus. Have you ever had one? That is what I call it when Jesus does little things just to show us that he is active in our personal lives. They show me that not only does he have his hands in my life, but that my choices are within his will for me. Even if you don't believe in Jesus, you will enjoy this story. But I warn you...it will give you goose bumps. You will see why in the end.

It all started Tuesday when I had a morning free of children. I decided to use the time to hit some after Christmas sales for some jeans for Kasi. She is hard to buy for. Very few places carry slims, and if they do, they aren't slim enough. But I found them! Great price-more than half off...they had plenty of slims...I was on cloud nine. I even located a plaid skirt for Alea and fuzzy socks for me, all at a fabulous discount. I headed out of the mall in the early afternoon with a ten and three ones still in my pocket. I was dreaming about where I could grab a quick bite to eat before heading home since I had been in such an excited rush in the morning that I had only had a cup of coffee.

I pulled into the line at the stop light and saw a guy standing in the median holding a sign. I see folks lining this intersection all the time asking for money, but this man struck me as how ordinary he was. He wasn't dirty or unkempt or wearing rags. He wasn't holding out a bucket and eyeing the drivers with hungry eyes. He looked completely average and his eyes were downcast and his sign simply said "homeless please help". No lies here. Just a simple plea. So I grabbed my three ones and resolved to stop and give them to him when I rolled through the intersection. Within seconds, my mind went to the scripture in Matthew 25. You ought to read it.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Matthew 25:45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

And I thought about the song "The Twenty First Time", and wondered...what if he's Jesus?

So I put away my three ones and pulled out my ten. As the light changed and I approached this man, I resolved to stop and place the money in his hand. I don't think anything is a more valuable gift than human contact, and all too often we are willing to give to people, but are not willing to touch them. I wanted to touch his hand and let him know that I viewed him as a man - my equal. So I rolled to a stop and squeezed the money into the man's hand and spoke to him. I didn't say anything inspirational or scriptural. I just looked him in the eye, spoke ordinary words, and travelled on.

And I stopped at Taco Bell and picked up a chalupa and an ice water with the money I had left and drove home. I didn't say anything about it to anyone but my husband. I only told him to explain why I came home with no money...and why I had eaten at Taco Bell. After all, these are things that require explanation.

You would think the story ends there. But there is no explanation about my hug from Jesus. That didn't happen until today. So hang in there. It is coming.

I went grocery shopping with my girls today. I was finishing a completely unremarkable shopping experience when I spotted something incredible and remarkable near the checkout lane. Razor blades on sale!!!! $2.50 off!!!! And me with a coupon for them!!!! If you choose to shave your legs with a quality razor you realize that they must craft the blades out of diamonds because you can only afford them if you find an incredible sale. I was facing a savings of four fifty with the sale price plus my coupon. So I purchased them - happy dancing on the inside as I checked out.

Now I have learned by experience to check my receipt before I leave the store. So I carefully scanned my receipt and quickly spotted a problem. My inspection showed that my razor blades had only been discounted a little over a dollar and not the two fifty that I had seen on the shelf tag. So I went to check the shelf again. There was a clerk changing the prices with her little pricing gun and replacing the shelf tag with a new, less discounted, tag. I explained that I had expected more of a savings. I thought it had been marked with a savings of $2.50. She showed me the tag that had just been removed. It seems that I caught her right in the middle of changing the prices. So the cashier took the old tag and was going to make the adjustment for me.

"Will cash be okay, ma'am?", he asked me. "Sure", I say, anticipating a dollar and change. I'm thinking what else are my options? He handing me my money. I glanced down briefly and in a shocked voice asked,"Um, excuse me. You gave me a ten." He told me that was right. Their store policy when something scans incorrectly is to give you back the original price of the item. So here I stood holding $10.12.

I was pretty chipper then but didn't think any more about it until I spoke to my husband. He asked the question that stopped me in my tracks and caused me to sit down. "How much money did you give to that man the other day", he asked? Ten dollars. And it hit me. Ten dollars! Jesus had given me back my ten! And with an extra twelve cents to boot. Not because I needed the money. Not because he wanted to repay me for my giving. He doesn't do things that way.

He gave me that ten just because he wanted to send a hug to let me know that he is here, alive and active in my life, and that he loves me. Because he can! I tell you, you can't outgive God. Try to sometime.

Now wasn't that a fun story?

The Twenty First Time ~ Monk & Neagle

Nowhere to live
Nowhere to fall
He used to have money
But he's wasted it all
His face is a photograph burned in mind
But I pretend not to see him for the twenty-first time

He sleeps under stars, it's all he can afford
His blanket's an old coat he's had since the war
He stands on the corner of Carter and Vine
But I pretend not to see him for the twenty-first time

He may be a drifter who's grown old and gray
But what if it's Jesus and I walk away
I say I'm the body and drink of the wine
But I pretend not to see him for the twenty-first time

She's 29 but she feels 48
She can't raise three kids on minimum wage
She's crying in back of the welfare line
But I pretend not to see her for the twenty-first time

She may be a stranger trying to get through the day
But what if it's Jesus and I walk away
I say I'm the body and drink of the wine
But I pretend not to see her for the twenty-first time

This is a call for a change in my heart
I realize that I've not been doing my part
When I needed a Savior, I found it in Him
He gave to me, now I'll give back to them

Drifter or stranger, daughter or son
I'll look for Jesus in everyone
'Cause I am the body and drink of the wine
And I'm thankful there's more than the twenty-first time

New Year Soap!

I spent my New Year's eve morning without children and decided to make some soap just for me. It is packed with all sorts of goodies in addition to my standard base of palm oil, olive oil, and coconut oil- avocado oil, hemp seed oil, castor oil, jojoba oil...even coconut milk. It is scented with black tea fragrance oil and anise essential oil, so it is one of those scents you either love or hate. I love it! My colors and swirls turned out so much better than I expected, I just had to share. I pray you enjoy the pictures and have a blessed new year!

Did You Know You Vote EVERY Day?

Do you vote? This was a huge issue just a couple of months ago. Everywhere I would turn, I would hear different people saying things like "vote for change", "cast your vote", "voting is a privilege and a responsibility", "vote...let your voice be heard". We all want our voice to be heard. We all want to express our beliefs. But how do we vote in our daily lives?

Do you realize that we vote daily? The choices we make in our daily living tell the world...and our government, what we believe is important. Remember those Nielson boxes they used to put in houses years ago? Maybe they still do. They would hook them up to your television and monitor what you watched. If you watched a program, they counted that as a vote for that program. If it didn't get watched...it got cancelled. Wonder how some of those crappy shows stayed on the air? Families with Nielson boxes watched them. Did your favorite show get cancelled? Nielson families, for the most part, didn't watch it.

I live in North Carolina, in an area that at one time was a hub of manufacturing activity. But now, as I drive down the streets of Concord, or Thomasville, or High Point, I see an expanse of empty buildings. The streets are lined with once busy factories, sitting abandoned and overgrown with weeds. In an area that once thrived with textile and furniture manufacturing, families are struggling to find jobs and many are living in fear of hearing the words 'layoff'. Why? Did we stop buying furniture? Did we stop buying towels and clothing? Did we stop buying beds? We had quite a few factories that made socks. Did we all stop wearing socks?

I have heard the complaint that American companies are setting up their factories abroad. They are shipping jobs oversees. But they are not taking the local workers with them. Why? Why would they abandon us? In a nutshell, because we voted for it. I hear protests now..."I didn't vote for that!" But here is the thing. The companies go oversees because they can make a product cheaper. They can pay employees less because they choose areas where the standard of living is low. They don't have the same safety regulations to follow. They don't have unions. They can escape pouring tax money into the local governments, and ours for that matter. They make more of a profit. They come out ahead. And the scary thing is...we buy more of their products. We really do! We don't buy less. We buy less expensive. See, we don't want to go without things, so we choose to buy cheap rather than not buy at all. But in doing so, we show our approval of those companies choices. We cast our vote.

We vote daily. When we choose to view things on the Internet...we cast our vote of approval...even when it is just out of curiosity or just for a peek. What we choose to view in the movies or on television casts a vote of our approval of the content of that program. We choose of what our next set of choices will consist.

When we shop at stores, we cast our vote for that company. When we buy products, we cast a vote of approval for that product. But it goes deeper than that. We approve of the business actions of the manufacturer by choosing to use their products. If they pollute, or do animal testing, or buy products produced by child labor, or finance abortion clinics, or lay off local workers to take their business oversees, we cast a vote of approval for their actions when we buy their products. We even help finance their practices with our money when we purchase their products.

We can change the practices of these businesses by our own buying. We can choose to cast our vote for better business practices. We can choose to cast our vote of disapproval for companies who do not follow a moral compass in their business decisions. We can choose to not buy products at companies that treat their employees poorly, or at companies where the employees treat us poorly. We have the power of our vote.

I know it seems like a huge responsibility. Voting always is. But we have a responsibility to the world we live in, and the people it contains. We can contribute to changing things for the better...or for the worse. Our voice is already being heard. Now let's work to actively choose what is being said. Cast your vote and make a difference.

Contemplating Stuff

I have been doing a lot of thinking...and a lot of praying. I am starting to realize some things, or perhaps God has been attempting to reveal some things to me and I just stopped to listen. We have been house sitting and dog sitting for my mom and step dad for nearly a week now. It seemed like such a blessing at first. A shower, a washer and dryer to use any time I wish, an indoor toilet, a kitchen, and hot water - even a driveway made of concrete instead of mud. I can even park just twenty or so feet from the door instead of nearly a half mile away. Does life get any more blessed? Seriously, we have no idea how many daily blessings we take for granted until we do try to live without them. I appreciate so many things more deeply these days.

But here is the thing. I am ready to give them up. I want to be back at my home - the land God has given to me! I miss it. I admit I don't miss the mud, and a few of the other things. I am ready to live with a few more modern conveniences. But if I had to choose, I would choose to stay in the camper at the land over comfort away from the land. Does that sound crazy?

You would have to stand there in my place and feel the peace that overtakes me. It is impossible to explain. God is standing there with me assuring me that all of this falls into HIS plan. He is assuring me that everything, even the trials, are for my good. He excites me with the plan he is slowly unfolding before my eyes. I feel him working personally, hands on, in my life. That is incredible! How could I walk away from that? How could I choose something as small as comfort over the enormous peace of knowing I'm in God's will?

I have given much thought to the community God is slowly working on forming. What is it's purpose? What is it's path? I know that God is using us to form a community that's primary focus is to promote fellowship and sharing. I know that he wants us to be able to meet the needs of our neighbors and people throughout the community. I know he wants us to feed the hungry, and that through sharing our resources and living more simply, we should be able to accomplish so much more for others with the resources with which he has blessed us.

But why? What is the purpose behind all of this? What does he actually hope to accomplish through us? I believe he has begun to tell me. It is SO simple. I really can't believe I have been struggling so hard with gaining understanding.

He wants us to teach people about Jesus. That is all we are supposed to do. We are supposed to go out and create disciples. But you reach different people through different avenues. Some people learn by reading. They will best learn about Christ through reading scripture. Others learn by hearing. They will come to know Christ through being told about him, through a preacher or a friend. Other people learn by seeing. Those are the people God wants us to reach. We will teach people about Jesus by living like him.

Jesus listened. Jesus shared. Jesus gave. Jesus forgave. Jesus fed. Jesus healed. Jesus taught. Jesus loved. Jesus participated. Jesus lived in the world, but not of the world. That is all he is asking of us.

So when we choose to live in community with one another...when we choose to share in each others victories and burdens...when we choose to teach, to listen, and to share...when we choose to give, and feed, and forgive...when we choose to heal, and love...we choose to live like Jesus. We teach people about who Jesus was. People will see Jesus in us. I can't think of a better purpose for our lives. Can you?

Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

December Update

Merry Christmas my friends! Happy day before the day before Christmas. It has been so long since I have had an opportunity to share that I don't know where to begin.

The leaves have all fallen and the community land seems more beautiful to me bare and brown with frost coating the ground. It is such a peaceful place to be. I awaken every morning and head out to feed animals and take my time returning to the warmth of the camper. I just look about me in awe.

So far our progress has consisted mostly of adding to our animal collection. Our herd is now up to eighteen hens which free-range through the day, three roosters, one pig, four rabbits, two dogs, and seven pygmy goats. They are so much fun. I never thought I would enjoy watching chickens, but the hens come running up to greet me and seem to check in on me throughout the day. The girls have leads for the goats and love to take them for walks and even carry around the baby billy goats, Cody and Bolt.

And it has rained...and rained...and rained. I admit the rain has dampened my spirits as much as it has dampened progress. The lots have been staked out since nearly Thanksgiving, awaiting perc tests. But it has rained bucket loads, and the soil is saturated. We have attempted to get a crew out to put in the road, but the rain rained on that little plan too. So we have been slipping and sliding in mud. Most days we park the van out at the main road and walk through the mud and back to the camper.

Little things like taking a shower and doing laundry now take up much of a day as we need to travel elsewhere (mostly my mom's house) to do them. So we have felt like we are chasing our tails a bit.

Boy, have we ever needed to shower and wash clothes! All this mud. I think God loves irony. He takes someone with some itty bitty obsessive compulsive tendencies about neatness and cleanliness and puts them in a small space in the middle of a mud hole with no washing machine or shower. And we have to get muddy to get to a washing machine or shower...isn't that funny? One day we will laugh about this...one day very far off.

Yet we know we are where God wants us and take incredible peace from that. See, we have been unsure before, but now we KNOW. That is an incredible feeling. That means we will be victorious. And it truly is an amazing plot of land. I feel God's presence and can witness so much of his creation from my vantage point. So many trees...and the creek...and the deer...and the birds. I love it.

And our girls love it. They think they live the most blessed life. Oh, the stories they will have for their own kids one day. They also encourage me greatly when I lose my feeling of contentment.

We have to come up with names for two roads - the one leading in from the main road which will be dedicated for public access, and the one that circles through the community residences, which will remain private. We think we have settled on their names. The public access road will be Koinonia which means fellowship, sharing, contribution, and participation. The residential road will be Allelon which means one another, reciprocally, mutually. Both are Greek words from the New Testament.

Well, I must get to work on my tamales for Christmas, but I am house sitting for my folks through New Year's day, so I will be posting more while I can. Have a blessed Christmas. Enjoy your family and friends and tell them you love them. And relax and think about Jesus and the babe he was when he was merely our Lord, before he became our Savior.

Community Update

Long time...no blog....

Time for a community update.

Today we are getting a camper set up to stay in on the land. We have reached the point where it is just insanity to try to run back and forth to try to accomplish anything and just need to be there full time. It is going to take us a few days to get set up though. There is power run to the barn now, but no outlets to plug into. That needs to be taken care of. The nights here have been rather chilly and I don't want to wake up to below freezing temperatures every morning in a camper. I know..where is my sense of adventure. Have no doubt I have already been on an adventure. Our water use will be limited to what can be stored in the tank as we have not yet dug a well or had county water run to the land. But we know that God is going to bless every moment we spend there.

We have chosen a layout for the lots. All of the lots are between nearly 3/4 acre and 1 1/4 acre. There are eight of them. There is a circular area in the middle of the field of about a half acre which will comprise a community park area. Around this circle will be the residential road, around which the lots are situated. All the houses will face this park area (and each other). All of the area which is currently being leased to purchase will be community land and will contain the garden, orchard, barn and pasture land, and community house.

There is so much to be done, but it is becoming very real. We meet with our first builder Monday and are planning meetings with at least two more. The surveyors are going to head out and put up stakes to designate boundary lines. Then we will be able to get the health department out there to do the perc tests. Then......a well! Then we won't have to head to mom's house to shower. Woo hoo!

I just wish you could see the multitude of confirmations God has sent our way. This is most definitely what he desires for us to do. It's not easy. I does take sacrifice. But he is creating something absolutely amazing, and allowing us to be a part of it.

We have a few purposes at the forefront of this project. We want to promote fellowship because fellowship with each other not only encourages us on this journey, but it makes our lives more meaningful. But even more importantly, it strengthens the bonds of our fellowship with our God. He created us for himself. We want to grow closer to him. Secondly, we want to promote sharing because sharing is the key to abundance...an abundant life, abundant relationships, and an abundant heart. Truly understanding that God is the owner of our possessions changes how we view things. It shuffles the priorities in our lives and frees us from bondage to stuff. Lastly, we simply want to feed the hungry. We intend to grow food for a dual purpose. We want to use it to feed the hungry, and to feed ourselves so that we can direct the money God has given us to govern into different areas. We want to be able to leverage our resources for something, not just use it to meet our own needs.

So many people are in a panic over the state of the economy. Their retirement funds are quickly disappearing. The price of living is rising. Well-paying jobs are becoming harder to find. How will we survive? Not by trying to find a way to make more money to fund their current lifestyle, I assure you. But by standing in unity we will survive. By sharing our resources, and living more simply, and by giving away to those in need. We will not only survive, but we will live in abundance, blessed with a heart overflowing with love and thankfulness.

I will be offline temporarily once we get moved to the land...until we get wireless service. I'm not so sure that is a priority though, so for now...good day.

Hate and Anger ~ A Dangerous Pairing

Hate and anger - have you ever seen them paired together? Sure you have. They are the automatic response of many of us when we have been wronged. They are the automatic response of many of us when we have a preconceived notion of the way things ought to be...and they aren't. They are the automatic response to other hate and anger.

But Jesus told us to be different. He told us to respond to people's anger and hatred with love.

Matthew 5:44
44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

Luke 6:27
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.

Luke 6:35
35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.

Why would he do that? I thought Jesus loved us as well. Doesn't he want us to defend ourselves? Doesn't he want us to ensure our own safety? I understand that he wants us to teach others about love, but doesn't he want us to be around to teach them? After all, we won't be around to teach about love if they kill us...will we?

I have worked in a juvenile placement facility and at a prison, and have learned a thing or two about self defense. I learned a thing or two about the most effective way to respond to anger and hatred. I would love to share them. When I first interviewed to work at the juvenile placement facility I was a bit nervous. I was going to be working with big, angry teenage boys, many of them gang members, and I was a small, young woman, less than five feet tall. Everyone was scared that they were capable of overpowering me. But true power doesn't come from physical strength. It doesn't come from physical control.

Back to the interview. I was asked how I would respond to someone if they came at me full of hatred and brandishing a weapon. I listed off my best street fighter self defense moves. My interviewer slowly shook his head and told me that the ONLY response would be to act calm and indifferent. He told me to lean back against the wall, stand on one foot, and fold my hands across my chest or stuff them in my pockets- James Dean style. I'm thinking he is insane. I am just opening myself up for a beating. But here is what he taught me, and after quite a bit of experience with such situations, I have learned that he was, without a doubt, right.

There is no more dangerous animal than a cornered animal. If you respond with anger and hatred and attempt to control someone who is already angry and full of hatred, they will shake off any remnants of coolness and self control, and come out fighting for their lives with fully unrestrained, undignified rage. If you do manage to overpower them...if they do appear to surrender, you still have not conquered them. They are still seething with anger and hatred on the inside, looking for another opportunity to rise up again and perhaps get the upper hand.

I have also learned that anger and hatred are like rabbits. They produce plentiful offspring. But their coupling doesn't just produce more anger and hatred. They produce contempt and disrespect. They produce prejudice and violence. They produce a feeling of righteousness and justification for sins. They produce loathing and they produce rage. They produce torture and they produce killers. But they must be fed in order to have the strength to reproduce. They must be fed anger and hatred in order to develop.

And I believe that is why Jesus told us to love our enemies. If we feed the anger and hatred...love....it never obtains the strength to produce any offspring. Love is the only thing that has the power to disband the pair. The only thing! Love is like an infectious disease to the darkness of anger and hatred. It eats away at all the darkness in it's path until no more is left.

Romans 12:18
18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 14:19
19 So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.

See, love and peace are the only way to victory. I have heard people say that 'redemptive violence' is necessary. To redeem something is to recover it, to free it, to restore it. This can never be accomplished through violence...one of the offspring of anger and hatred. Because more anger and hatred, even justified through a valiant cause will merely feed the anger and hatred of the enemy.

I once had a friend who was a victim of domestic abuse. We would rally around her and try to defend her. We would strike out toward the angry coward she chose to live with. Finally she begged us to stop. Our anger only fed the anger of the man who was beating her, which led to more violence toward her. It always does.

If we think we are going control people who are mistreating others...if we think we can strong-arm them into ceasing their violence, their rage, their torture and murder of innocent people...through our own anger and violence....were are wrong. They are not going to say "Oh, now I see where I was wrong. I should be treating people with compassion" because the anger and hatred within them will only grow stronger, fed by our own. And we begin to create exceptions to the commands of Christ. We begin to see loopholes, and we readily step through them, justified that Jesus would approve of our own hate and anger, because it is for 'good'...it is for Jesus.

The only way to put an end to the cycle of anger, hatred, violence, injustice, rage, and killing through retaliation is to stop. We are supposed to stop and pray for our enemies. We are to shower them with love. I know it sounds crazy but it works. And not only does it kill the anger and hate in the hearts of our enemies, but it changes us from the inside. It starts to slowly change the way we see other people. It starts to allow Jesus to take over our perception of them, and we begin to see these people...these people that were once our enemies...as Christ sees them.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Ephesians 6:10-17
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Redemptive violence is not capable of redeeming anything. Christ is our redeemer!


*Would you like to learn about the true power of love in the face of anger and hatred? Look into the history of Rwanda. Look into the present state of the country and how the present governemnt put an end to the violence. Love works!

Are You Disturbed As Well?

You know those big signs that so many churches post these days. They are often peppered with witty Christian sayings. I don't know who comes up with so many plays on words. Often I read them and roll my eyes. They are frequently too far on the corny side for my enjoyment. And often they are trying so hard to sloganize Christianity...and I think it makes following Christ look cheap and easy.

I saw one yesterday that disturbed me. I really could not remove the image of this sign from my brain. It said "November is the month for being thankful". Sounds simple enough. After all, Thanksgiving in this country falls in November. In my mind, I can already see their sign for December..."December is the month for giving". As if such enormous things and thanking God and giving to his people can just be checked off the calender and not thought about for another year. Why does this disturb me so greatly?

We are instructed in the Bible to pray without ceasing. In other words, we are to pray ALWAYS. And we are instructed on how to pray. We are to praise God. We are to thank God. And we are to petition God. So the way I see it...maybe I'm wrong...we are to THANK God without ceasing. We are to thank him ALWAYS! Not merely on Thanksgiving, but every month, every week, and every day.

I am thankful for life and the ability to use my life to serve...to give my life meaning. I am thankful for my family...they brighten my day, and comfort me. I am thankful that God loves me even when I am unlovable...because I am often unlovable. I am thankful for Jesus...because he truly saved me. I am thankful for creation. I am thankful for art. I am thankful that God meets all my needs and still throws in some of my wants. I am thankful for the laughter of little girls. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for a warm home. I am thankful for people willing to share what they have with others. I am thankful that I am not the one in control. I am thankful that others are more interested in politics than I...because I don't want the responsibility of running this country. I am thankful for peace...and long for more of it. I am thankful for the people who God places in my path daily who give me a reason to smile. I am thankful for music, and the ability to hear everything from the sounds of birds chirping to bluegrass music. I am thankful for sight to see beauty all around me. I am thankful for the changing of the seasons. I am thankful for love and passion. I am thankful for tears. I am thankful for compassion. I am thankful for healing. I am thankful for a purpose, and for opportunities to serve that purpose. I am thankful for the kind words of a stranger. I am thankful for the opportunity to share a smile with a scornful stranger. I am thankful for pain, because it means I can feel. I am thankful for the silent peace of snow. I am thankful for food and that I have not only enough to not go hungry, but a variety to enjoy. I am thankful for hugs and I am thankful for words of encouragement...they are the most valuable of possessions. I am thankful for trials, because they give me the opportunity to emerge triumphant. I am thankful for freedom which my God has blessed me with. I am thankful for the smell of horses and of dry wild grass. I am thankful for my husband who believes I am beautiful and wonderful...when I am far from either. I am thankful for silliness. I am thankful that God has created ticks and mosquitoes for a purpose...even if I haven't discovered it yet. I am thankful that one day we can sit around and chit chat...and he can tell me about it. I am thankful for laughter.

And I am thankful for all these things EVERY month, EVERY week, and EVERY day. May you have a blessed and thankful life as well.

Election Time

It seems that of people are putting their faith for the future of our nation in who is elected for president. People believe that the policies they intend to enact will make or break the moral well-being of this country. The future of this country lies in the hearts of individuals. We are capable of making this country a better place and it's leadership is in the hands of our true leader, our God. I realize that it is important to see where the candidates belief system lies in order to get a better understanding of their character. However, if you believe that a president can enact a policy that will make or break the moral fiber of the people of this country, you are deceiving yourselves.

So many Christians in this country seem to direct their energies into such activities as the non legalization of abortion. I have to be honest with you- I don't agree with the killing of unborn babies. Go ahead and have the baby and I will find someone who will adopt it. As a matter of fact, I will adopt a few myself. But I don't believe that our energies are directed in a manner that actually eliminates abortion. Making it illegal will not eradicate the problem. True change can only exist when you change the hearts of the individuals. Once you change the hearts of the individuals, they will not do something regardless of whether it is legal or illegal.

Same goes for gun control and so many other issues. We can enact laws and policies until we can't possibly keep track of them all. But they will not truly be effective until we begin to change the hearts of people. When we get them to truly understand that God is real, and that He loves us all, and that He wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves...when our greatest desire becomes to please him...then these laws become unnecessary.

So why do we direct our energies on who is planning on enacting what laws, and not on changing the hearts of our neighbors? Get out there and change some hearts people! Go love some folks. "You must be the change you want to see in the world. " Mahatma Gandhi.

Where oh where has Koinonia gone? Where oh where could she be?

Sorry for my incredible slackness in writing. I just may be that way for awhile. I haven't even read what anyone else has written in weeks. It seems that planning for community left me for a little more time for writing than actually creating community has permitted. Sorry! We really do have some cool stuff going on, and some nifty pictures to boot.

We have the land and have moved our pet 'dog in the body of a pig', Sweet Pea, into a stall in the barn until we can get some fencing up. She is very lonely and in need of some friends. We really want to get the fencing up so we can supply her with some. I have my eye on this adorable little pony and pray that he is still available when the fencing is up and God has provided the funds.

We have been refurbishing the barn, and cutting down trees, and hauling limbs. We have a huge brush pile and lots of firewood. I spent over two hours today digging a pit for the outhouse with Alea's enormous help, while Darrell cut and nailed boards for the walls. We should have it completed and set up tomorrow.

There is electricity run to the old barn. The meter is still there as well. Seems though that you can't get power turned on without an inspection from the city if power has been turned off longer than six months, and it has been off way longer than that. So we are waiting to hear from the inspector. We are also waiting to hear from the surveyor about dividing the land into lots so we can get the health department out to approve the lots for septic, and perhaps see about selling some of them. We also have to get that done before we can even think about digging a well, or purchasing a building permit of our own. We did complete all our calls about hooking up to the county water supply. That is now going to be a last resort, and only happen if we sell all the lots and one of our new neighbors happens to be rich. We will require high pressure six inch pipe running a very long distance. I don't see us investing that kind of money to run water that we will have to filter to drink! Lastly, we have to wait to get all our ducks in a row in order to get our construction loan underway and put in the road. Deep sigh!

So back to repairing the barn, clearing underbrush and bad trees, and watching the wildlife. With the abundance of persimmon trees, we have deer everywhere.

The Complexities of Simplicity

I have decided that 'simple living' is an oxymoron. Living is anything but simple. Life is a spiderweb, and maneuvering our way through it is not a simple matter. I love the way of life that people have coined 'simple living' - growing and making my own food, making much of what I use and give, natural learning. But this way of life is anything but simple. It is difficult. It is hard work. Just like following Jesus.

Matthew 7:13-14 You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

But just like following Jesus, travel on this difficult path is rewarding.

We have been up to our elbows in community planning. We have been working and working on trying to get this community underway. We want to be living there. We want to be living 'simply' and enjoying fellowship with our neighbors and our greater community. We want to be sharing. We want to be working the land. But trying to be simple is anything but simple. It seems like all the folks that have to plan and approve everything we do don't like to do things the simple way.

With all the codes, requirements, and regulations, there is no way we can by ourselves make this community happen. But God can! I am reminded of Mother Teresa, who with three pennies wanted to build hospitals and schools. They told her that with three pennies she couldn't do that. To which she replied that with God and three pennies, she could accomplish anything. And she did. I have to keep reminding myself of that story.

This community is going to become reality. We couldn't sell our house. We did. We couldn't buy the land. We did. We couldn't afford to rent a place to stay. Someone took us in. We didn't have the money to close on the land. The closing was delayed....and we received the money just a couple of days before this rescheduled closing. Can any of this happen without God? God can do anything. He can build this community. And He is.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Well, I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Two days after Athena died, a good friend of ours died from Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a rapidly developing illness, and kind of surprised us by it's progression. I will miss her dimpled smile and encouraging words. But I am praising God that she is no longer suffering.

My mind has been so full and active the last week or so, and I have been unable to shut it down to direct my thoughts down another path. Does that ever happen to you? Your mind is working on an issue, and you try as you might to shut down your line of thinking and direct your focus in another direction, you can't. Before you know it, it is 2am and your mind is still working.

I find it hard to focus on writing when I get in such a condition. I don't read well either. I keep rereading the same passage and never absorb the words. And I become quiet. I know! Some of you just don't believe that part, but it is true.

Well, I do have much to say! We now have the land to begin building a community. We are leaving for the Catalyst Conference in a few days and are going to hear some incredible speakers and sing to some incredible music. We are even going to have the opportunity to visit with some folks from a couple of Christian communities in Ga. I am reading one of the best books I have ever read (even though I took a week long break from reading it), and have just finished a pretty cool one, and we are still witnessing God's miracles in our lives. And I can't wait to tell you about all of it...just as soon as I can gather my thoughts.

Ever notice that certain numbers keep jumping out at you? It seems like almost every time I look at the clock it says 10:31. I see those numbers pop up everywhere. I used to think it was because that is the date of my birthday. I would say "cool, there it is again". Then I started reading 'Crazy Love' by Francis Chan. I'm reading along and he lists a scripture....1 Corinthians 10:31. Maybe this is why those numbers keep coming up. It is a reminder.

(HCSB)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory.

(The Message)

So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory.

See, it's not about me at all. It's all about Him! Cool, huh?!

Athena the Great

Athena

December 1994 ~ September 26, 2008

Yes, she was almost 14! and not a gray hair on her. Up until about two years ago she would still jump the fence to get out of the pasture away from the other animals when they were annoying her. These pictures are from last summer at our old house.

Athena, I love you girl. You were my first daughter. You were just a pup, and with me when I met Darrell. You were there when we welcomed two little baby girls into our family. You watched over all of us. You were like a mother to our other dogs Janice and Faith, and even the cats and pigs we brought home for you to care for. Janice and Faith still have not left the spot where we found you.

You will be dearly missed. But we are all so glad to see you go quickly and not have to suffer. This winter would have been rough on an old gal like you.

We love you and thank you for being such a loving and faithful member of our family. You have always been a blessing in our lives.

What's your color IQ score?

Ah, the things you stumble across when it is after midnight and you can't sleep. I took a color IQ test. Believe it or not, I got a zero, which means I have perfect color vision. Ha, all those art classes did pay off. Okay, maybe they didn't actually pay off, but at least I did pay attention.

Actually, I took it twice and the second time I scored a four, so I guess my vision is already deteriorating. Oh no!

Try it, you'll like it.

Just another Wednesday

~scuppernong jam and apple butter~

Updates.....

I haven't meant to keep everyone in suspense about all these fabulous miracles. It really has been a busy week.

This afternoon we are scheduled to close on the land for our community. I am truly amazed at the way God has brought so many factors together to make this happen. I assure you that when this project gets underway, it is fully in God's hands. We have neither the knowledge nor the finances to make it happen on our own. And, quite frankly, I can think of much simpler choices to make.

My husband asked me a question the other day from a book he was reading. If God were to cease to exist, would you continue to live your life the same way? In other words, are you living for God now? If you are, if He would cease to exist, you would change everything about your life, because your focus would change. If God did not exist we would not be building this community. It's not our idea. It is his. I have seen so many houses for sale that I would love to live in. Already built! Available NOW! Simple!!!

But he does exist. And He is going to build an amazing community right here, just like the ones he is building across the world.

.....well, I had better run. Apple butter and scuppernong jam down. Muscadine jam, pear preserves, mixed muscadine and scuppernong jam, and maybe some more apple butter to go. And, oh yeah, I have a closing to go to today....


~what a view!~

Oooops! Did I Say That Out Loud?

A couple of years ago we were sitting around talking with some friends about this plan for a community God had placed in our hearts. Talk turned to spiritual gifts, and we mentioned that God blessed us both with the gift of giving. We had struggled through some very tight financial situations, and we both believed that God had brought us through those times so that he could instruct us on how little we could live on. That way, when He does bless us financially, we will have already formed living habits that will enable us to give more and consume less. Well, I then said something that I almost immediately wished I could take back.

Have you ever said something and immediately had the feeling that God said "Hah, I was just waiting for you to say that. Now I can use you"? Just like the time a friend told me I should teach a class, and I responded "Sure, but God hasn't given me anything to talk about yet". Slam! He suddenly knocked me upside the head with a subject to teach on. (another Homer Simpson d'oh moment for sure).

Well, I told these folks that I was sure glad God had blessed us with a desire to be givers, and hadn't called us to be missionaries in one of those hot places with lots of mosquitoes, or worst yet, martyrdom. Now, aren't you glad God hasn't called you to be a martyr....yet anyways. As soon as I said it, I could hear God say. "Are you sure I haven't? And who is to say I won't?" Wow, I'm not sure that was what I wanted to hear!

That moment has never left my mind. In fact, I have meditated on it. And I have delved deeper yet into my Bible. I think I finally realizing some things.

Do you realize that God never tells us to preserve ourselves in the Bible? Never in his instructions does God say "Do this, unless it will provoke your suffering, or endanger your safety". It doesn't say Love your neighbor as yourself UNLESS he puts his stuff on your side of the property line or raises his hand against you. It doesn't say Thou shall not kill BUT if someone is threatening you it is okay to kill to preserve your own life or to hold on to your stuff. It doesn't say to honor your father and mother ONLY IF they are loving parents. God knows we are going to encounter situations in which we will be tested in our obedience. We will have times when we will be given the choice between honoring God and preserving ourselves. Often we fail. I know I do, and I'm sure that sometimes you do too. Ever wonder why there aren't more martyrs? In moments of suffering we often denounce our faith. Very few people are strong enough in their relationship with God to cling to Him regardless of the personal cost.

What concerns me is how often do we ignore God's instructions and his calling for us because it endangers our sense of comfort or security? Do you think God only calls people in third world countries to be martyrs? Or do you think that in our pursuit of comfort and self-preservation we drown out his calling?

What about missionaries? Aren't we all called to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ - to make disciples of all nations? But how often do we interpret that to mean folks in our own neighborhoods. You know - the ones that are just like us, and already open to receiving the Word. After all, we don't want to step outside our comfort zone, and we certainly don't want to make anyone else feel uncomfortable. Very few of us are dedicated enough to go into hostile areas, where we may not have drinking water, and there are huge mosquitoes among other dangers, to teach others about the love of Jesus Christ. We don't even want to give up satellite tv and high speed internet! "God, ya know, I would love to serve you and go to Africa to help the orphan children. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to find a Coke Zero there, and I just don't know if I can go without one that long." Sounds silly, I know, but I do that all the time! Do you?

It humbles me when I compare what Jesus did and continues to do for me with what I am willing to do for him. I have finally realized something though. There are no good or bad spiritual gifts or callings. Any opportunity to serve God should bring me irrepressible joy. The greatest tragedy in my life would be to be so concerned with my own comfort and preservation that I would miss such an opportunity.

Isaiah 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me.

God Has a Funny Way of Speaking to Us!

Sometimes God has a funny way of speaking to us. Sometimes he uses a sign or a magazine. Sometimes he uses other people or even a donkey. Sometimes he uses soap.

I love making soap. It is one of those activities that satisfies the mad scientist inside me, while still satisfying my urge to cook new, delicious recipes and develop my artistic talents. What an outlet! But some days everything appears to go wrong. I spill. I drop. I misprint. My labels won't peel. And I have a full out toddler's temper tantrum! Last week I had one of those days.

Well, you must know that I include a scripture on all the products I make. I know, what a fabulous testimony to God my temper tantrum must have been. Well, I was making some fabulously yummy emulsifying sugar scrub, and finishing up the labels for these soaps for a fall soap swap I am participating in. And I go searching for THE scriptures that God wants me to place on these products. So, here I am, struggling with scrub and labels, and I just happen to REALLY LOOK at the scriptures that God led me to place on the scrubs.

I Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Hmmm! I could use a little patience.

Ephesians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Surely He meant all things but these stubborn labels, right?

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

D'ooh! Okay, I hear ya God! Do you think He might have known I was going to need those later? I just hate it when He catches me in a temper tantrum.

Miracles! Miracles! And More Miracles!

Oh, my goodness! Do you have any idea how big God is? Do you realize that He is truly in control? I know we say it and we sing it, but do you believe it? Have you ever experienced life when you completely surrendered control of your life to God? Have you resisted the temptation to pick up those reigns of control when you feel things racing out of control?

I assure you that when you do, you will see God working in your life. You will see the individual care he puts into personally working on YOUR life. It is truly something awesome to see!

I am awestruck that someone as huge as God, who created EVERYTHING would choose to place his attention on someone as tiny as me. But He does. And He is personally trying to work in your life too.

I am witnessing miracles! True, living, breathing, real miracles! But I don't believe God was able to work those miracles until I was willing to relinquish control. See, He gives us the freedom to make our own mistakes. I think back to when the Israelites kept asking Samuel for a King. He kept telling them that they didn't need one. But they kept pushing. They wanted the illusion of control. They wanted to stick with something that was familiar to them. They wanted to stay inside their comfort zone. But an illusion was all it was.

1 Samuel 8(HCSB)

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. His firstborn son's name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have."

When they said, "Give us a king to judge us," Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the LORD. But the LORD told him, "Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to Me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning Me and worshiping other gods. Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them."

Samuel told all the Lord's words to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "These are the rights of the king who will rule over you: He can take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots. He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys and use them for his work. He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you've chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won't answer you on that day."

The people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We must have a king over us. Then we'll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles."

Samuel listened to all the people's words and then repeated them to the LORD. "Listen to them," the LORD told Samuel. "Appoint a king for them."

See, God tells us we are free to choose to do things our own way, but He warns us that the road we travel, if we choose to pave it on our own, will be a rough one. But so often we choose the long, hard, rough road just because we can set the direction in which to walk. But the other road, although it travels into the wilderness, although it leads into territory unfamiliar to us, is riddled with miracles. All we have to do is allow God to direct us down that path and He will reward us with them.

Well, He is rewarding me. Thank goodness I made it through at least the first dark, scary tunnel, and have arrived at the other end to witness the light and the first set of miracles. I can't wait to tell you the story about them. But those miracles are still being performed, and the story is still incomplete. Ah, but what a story it is going to be.

Francis Chan Sunday!

Enjoy these little snippets from Francis Chan, a pastor in Simi Valley, California.

Why do churches in this country display American flags?

Why do churches in this country display American flags? I don't mean to sound rude or unpatriotic, but seriously, who are we there to worship? Who are we there to pledge allegiance to? Who are we supposed to look to first...our flag or our God?

Who are we supposed to look upon as our brethren? Christians? Americans? What about the non-Christians? What about the non-Americans? What about the folks that have different beliefs than us? What about the 'bad' people?

My Bible tells me that ALL of us descended from two people, and that our original national affiliation was Garden of Edenites. That means that those people in China are my brothers and sisters....even the communist ones. That means that those folks in Africa and are my brothers and sisters, even though they don't live in my neighborhood. So, why, when I am thinking of Jesus...when I am worshipping Jesus, should my thoughts rest on the flag of the United States of America? Are these the most worthy of my brothers and sisters? Are these the most important of my brothers and sisters? Are these the only folks worth dying for?


Check this out. Choose 'launch movie' when you go to this link.

A Place of Refuge - A Bit on Stewardship

Finally, I'm back to talking about this community living stuff! And you are on the edge of your seats, waiting to read more. Yes? I wrote about sharing and fellowship as two of the major goals and benefits of living in community. Now I want to talk a little about stewardship - both of our personal resources and of our environment.

Whether you believe in the reality of global warning or not, there is the simple fact that we do have limited resources on this planet. Once we push an animal to extinction, it is gone forever. Once we pollute the air, we don't have a quick way to pump out all the filth and replace it with fresh air. We have no choice but to breath in all the pollutants. Do you have a filter on your tap water? Wonder why? In this county it is necessary. You filter your water, or you drink only bottled water...which comes in plastic bottles...but hey, that's another issue altogether.

When we were in Kauai, a man told us that the reason land was so expensive on the island was because they had a limited, finite amount of real estate. But don't we all? We may exist on a larger land mass, but it is still finite. Our whole planet is, and our population is skyrocketing.

One thing we hope to accomplish through living in community is better stewardship of our environment. We hope to accomplish this first through sharing. It is a fact that one lawnmower produces less pollution into the air than ten lawnmowers. And one lawnmower takes up less landfill space once it breaks down than ten. Now imagine the impact on our air and in our landfills once we are sharing more than just our lawnmowers.

We also hope to impact environmental stewardship through the way we live. We are planning on establishing organic gardens and orchards in this community. We hope to be able to make these self-sustaining through composting for fertilization, and the use of honey bees for pollination. And we are also planning on raising our own animals for meat and eggs. It really can be an efficient way to live in more than one family is willing to share in the labor.

There is an additional environmental plus to raising much of your own food. You reduce your dependence on the grocery store. This translates to less gas being used for those once-frequent trips to the store. It also translates to less garbage being produced as your food comes with less packaging. Now your diet is consisting of fresh canned or frozen organic fruits and vegetables, fresh organic eggs, and fresh and frozen organic meats. Very little to go into the landfill, and you have the added peace of mind of knowing what is going into you. Now, we aren't planning on giving up the occasional trip to the store for some ice cream, yogurt, or soy sauce, along with other supplies, but look in your pantry and realize the amount of waste we can eliminate...and eat better quality food to boot!

The layout of the community is being planned with the intent of homes being built in a cluster, preserving the most open green spaces and wooded areas. This too, reduces the environmental impact. And it is just plain prettier to look at.

I hope this idea of community living is starting to come alive in your minds as new pieces are added to the puzzle. I will continue on later on the how living in community effects our personal resources. Have a blessed day and do something amazing!

My Prom Pictures ~ Arts Evangelica Prom 2008

I just came across these on the Arts Evangelica site today. My husband and I were invited to participate in Arts Evangelica's prom and graduate blessing ceremony this last spring. The first picture is us. The second picture includes our glamorous looking dear friends, Lisa and Grady Kidd. Hope you enjoy!

This was the first time EVER that I have seen my husband in a tux. He cleans up pretty well for a pig farmer!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Mighty to Save

What will I do when my mind is gone?

I found this is my archives and thought you might enjoy.

What will I do when my mind is gone?

Will I forget the names of my children
or the contours of their faces?

Will I gaze questioningly at my husband
and call him by another name?

Will people look at me with pity
or with disdain
or will they notice me at all?

Will my friends sit and read to me
and listen to me repeat myself
again and again?

Will my friends sit and read to me
and listen to me repeat myself
again and again?

Or will they grow tired of the forced smiles?

I will still have Jesus by my side.
But will I recognize him or remember his words?

Will I find comfort in his presence?
Will I know he is there?

Will I occupy myself with the hobbies of my past
or try to learn new onew?

Will I be able to learn?
And will they let me use the scissors?

Will I be able to hold my grandchildren
without hovering hands waiting or me to lose my grip?

What will I do when my mind is gone?

Will you still love me?
Will I?

Lanterns, Spiders, and Wells

Have you ever read the story of the 'woman at the well'? You will find it in John 4. Jesus stops to rest at a town well. A Samaritan woman is coming to the well at noon to collect some water. Jesus just happens to run into her and strike up a conversation that will change her life forever.

Think about it. Here was this woman heading to the well in the heat of the day for water. Why was she there in the middle of the day? During the time when the sun was at it's highest and hottest? Because she was living in disgrace. She was a sinner. She had been married to five men already and was shacking up with another man she wasn't even married too. Gasp! Living in a small village, I suppose all of her faults and mistakes were known to everyone. Some folks probably even let her know that they knew of her mistakes. Can't you just hear them listing the inventory of all her wrongs? Just in case she forgot. Can't you hear the snickers and see the looks? Have you ever seen or heard them before?

So...was she likely to head to the well at the same time as all the other ladies? Probably not. She probably chose a time of day when the rest of the village was not likely to be outdoors, and less likely to be at the well collecting water. She wasn't looking for a friend. She wasn't looking for a man. And she certainly wasn't looking for a savior....or a Lord for that matter. She wasn't looking for anything but water.

So, along comes Jesus. He is tired and looking for a place to rest. Where to rest? Where to rest? The shady spot under that huge olive tree? Nope. How about right there at the well. So there Jesus sits resting at the 'randomly' chosen well, and 'coincidentally' (because we know Jesus was a part of bunches of coincidences) along comes this huge sinner of a Samaritan woman. Sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? And we thought they originated in the age of television. The Bible is just full of juicy stories!

Jesus asks her for some water, and she is shocked. He is speaking to her! This Jew is speaking to her - a Samaritan. And she probably notices that he is neither winking or smirking at her - treatment she has become accustomed to in her village. Jesus goes on to tell her about the 'living water' he offers and how she will never thirst again. He tells her things about her sins that she thought he, a stranger, could not know. He then tells her that he is the Messiah. Do you think she believed him? Oh yeah!

Then his disciples return and freak out when they see who Jesus is talking to. The woman, immediately recognizing the expressions and the tone of their voices, leaves, running to the village. But she is a changed woman. She is no longer hanging her head in shame, fearing judgement from her neighbors. She has seen Jesus! He spoke to her! He knew her, and all the terrible things she had done. Yet he spoke to her. And as she returned to her village, she sought out her neighbors - the same people that minutes before she was willing to suffer discomfort to avoid - and told them all about the messiah, Jesus. She told them all about this man she had just happened to run into...and took them back to meet him.

I love that story! Ever notice that we never learn the woman's name? It's not important. Or maybe she has more than one name. I believe that all of us, or at least many of us are the woman at the well. She could be me. Could she be you? There was a time when I would hang my head in shame when out of sight of others, perfectly aware of my mistakes. But unwilling to admit my mistakes, I would boldly and arrogantly march before my judgemental neighbors, not willing to let them see the shame that I felt, flaunting my sins at them, daring them to cast a glance or a word in my direction. And I wasn't seeking Jesus. I was perfectly content to live with a mess all around me. I was content going to the well during noon when I wouldn't have to see their stares. Who needed them anyways.

But there was that one day that Jesus happened to be sitting there, ready to blind side me with the truth. Our 'coincidental' meeting. And life would never be the same.

There is this crazy thing about truth. You can live in the darkness, and you can be happy not seeing what is in the dim corners. But once you shine a light in the darkness, you can't remove what you saw from your mind. If you shine a lantern , and there is a web full of spiders illuminated in the corner, you don't walk quite as boldly into that corner again. And then your mind starts doing some wacky things. You start wondering what is in the other dark corners. Then you start wondering if there is possibly a brighter and safer place to be spending your time.

That's what happened in my life. Jesus, who I wasn't looking for in the first place, showed up and shone a lantern into the corners of my life. Surprise! For the first time, I saw the dangers all around me. And for the first time I saw him. And I realized that as long as I walked with him, he would light up all those dark corners for me, and help me to steer clear of the dangers all around. Here is the kicker. The dangers are still all around. He didn't cause them to disappear. But Jesus illuminates them for me, and walks with me every step of the way. He never leaves my side, and he never, ever, turns out the light.

See, I told you it was a cool story!

A Picture of unSchool Our Way....

I don't often share daily happenings in our lives with y'all, but I thought it would be fun to share what we are working on in unschool this week.

Alea got a book for her birthday about a young Christian girl who lived during the Depression. She loves those fictional historical diaries. It has a chart in it that details the cost of several items during the 1920's. So we decided to do a comparison of the price of living during the 1920's and today. So first we designed a spreadsheet. Kasi and Alea both got to learn how to design a chart and practiced on the computer designing their own spreadsheets using Microsoft Works. I think we now have in progress a spreadsheet of their Build-a-Bears, and how many shirts, shoes, etc, each of their two animals have. Then we headed into town to spend the day travelling to MANY stores to check on current costs. The chart had food, clothes, appliances, toys, vehicles, and even items such as the movies or a travelling circus, and private music lessons. We should be finishing our charts today. Maybe I will post them next week. It has been quite fun and very informative.

The girls reached their 30 book reward level a couple of weeks ago, but I have not been feeling great, so we have been holding off. Their reward for reading 30 books was a trip to Dan Nicholas Park to do the 'gem mine' and play in the water fountain park they have there. The gem mine is really cool. You are given a bucket of sand with various unfinished 'gems' which you take down to the flume and get to pan for your own gems. They give you a chart for identifying your new treasures. You can even have them polished and made into jewelry.

Alea and Kasi helped me with chores, learning to sort and spray laundry, and what is washed in warm and cold. We were actually trying to stall so that we could head out after lunch time for a surprise visit to Daddy at work. The girls made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, we loaded the van with our lunch, and we surprised Daddy at work. We told him we stopped by to kidnap him and take him with us to the park. He did not resist. We all had a wonderful time panning for gems and then Daddy and I sat in the shade watching the girls play in the water. Ah, the life. We hated to have to leave.

After we got home and ate supper, the girls and I finished out the day by making coconut, blueberry, banana bread following a recipe I found at the Hungry Housewife blog. Yummy! We made one change though - substituting honey for half of the sugar. And I don't think that I reduced the liquid by quite enough to compensate for the change since they kind of sunk. But they are delicious. And honey makes them moist, and adds nutrients. Kasi and Alea each made three mini loaves, so we are going to be swimming in sweetness this weekend.

Well, today we are finishing up our spreadsheets and heading to the library. Tootles! Hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Quotes from my Babies to Make You Smile...and Laugh

Kasi
(when saying prayers at night)
"And God, I hope you are safe and happy in heaven."

(after falling down AGAIN)
"Another bruise!" (big grin) "Yeeeesss!"

"I love you even when you suck up."

Alea
(after seeing a commercial for a magazine subscription)
"Why would I want to buy issues? Like I don't already have enough issues of my own for free!"

"Aren't these the coolest thing EVER? Magnifying glasses with lights so I can read small things in the dark! They are a little big though. I need smaller ones so I don't look goofy.

A Place of Refuge...The Importance of Fellowship - A Repost

Living in community has so many benefits, which stem from it's few basic purposes. I already discussed the first purpose, which is to promote sharing. The benefits from sharing are numerous.

Today I want to talk about the second basic purpose which is to promote fellowship. Fellowship, whether we know it or not, is important to us all. I want to repost an article I wrote about fellowship last year to establish a foundation for this topic.


The Importance of Fellowship *originally posted 10/22/07*

Koinonia is often translated as fellowship. How important is fellowship? How important is getting together with other people?

Scientists have studied the longevity of married people versus singles. They have found in every study that married people live longer than people that never marry. They have found that married people have fewer health problems. Now does this mean that a wedding ceremony instantly wipes away illness? No way. The root of the problem is isolation and loneliness.

Think back to when you were in high school. What was your greatest desire? For most of us, it was to belong. We wanted somewhere where we felt like we were a necessary part of a group. Why do you think kids join gangs? To feel like a necessary piece of a puzzle. To feel camaraderie. To belong.

Houses used to be built close together. They had big front porches and front lawns where entire neighborhoods would gather and chat. Folks would sit and greet their neighbors as they returned home. They would sit and share a drink and chat. They would slow down and relax, and invest in the lives of their neighbors. Ever been sick and wishing for a steaming bowl of chicken soup? Neighbors knew when someone was sick, and would look in on them.

Today front porches have been replaced with back decks. Today people want more land, more privacy, higher fences, gated neighborhoods, and bigger houses so they never have to go outside. Everything they need is at their fingertips, in their nice, climate controlled environment. Even the outside hot tub has been replaced with a jetted tub in the privacy of their own bathroom. They don't even walk out to get their mail. They drive the car close to the box, blocking traffic, so they never have to get out of their car.

We complain about how people in the stores are so RUDE. What do we expect? They have no socialization skills, because they never socialize. It is a fact that isolation builds self-centeredness. People have forgotten that other people go through trials just like they do. That is why support groups have become so popular. Deep down we all desire fellowship. We all desire to be a part of something. We all desire to share our hopes and dreams, and struggles with other people.

It was always my dream to buy a big chunk of land, and build a big log house in the middle of the woods. Ahhh, completely silent, but for the sounds of nature. But the more I think about fellowship, the more that big chunk of land and woods seems like a box to me. The thought of having a really neat place, and no one else but my family to share it with, somehow seems inadequate. And then, I think, how will I be able to teach my children about sharing and giving, if I am hoarding, saying 'all this is ours', not theirs.

I want to live close to my neighbors, and have a big front porch with a free soda machine on it. That way everyone with stop by for a drink and a chat. I hope I get so busy chatting that we are forced to eat sandwiches every night for supper, because I got nothing accomplished. That would be living life.

Lately, there have been stories of kids killing. There have been stories of kids claiming their own lives. Do you think these kids had a feeling of belonging? Do you think they had a strong history of fellowship? Do you think they sat around and chatted on the porch with their neighbors? Or do you think they felt isolated? Alone? Different? Misunderstood? Do you think they were loners who sat quietly and unnoticed at school, and came home and shut themselves in their own rooms with their own thoughts?

I want to show my children that the stories in the Bible are not mere stories of what people did long ago, but a blueprint for how we should live our lives. I want to show them that it is possible, in the modern world, to live like Christ. I want to show them that miracles can again be commonplace. I want to show them how to change the news. I want to show them that they are an important piece of the puzzle, and an impact on the lives of others. And I don't want to just tell them about it, I want them to see it in action by the way we live.

Back Among the Living

Okay, I am back among the living. I have been under the weather for nearly a month now and so many things have just been put on hold while I just muddled through the necessities. But after trips to three different doctors, several different tests, and even more medications, I am feeling much, much better. Yay God! I promise to be back to posting the first of the week. Please enjoy the last installment of quotes on education in the meantime.

Have you read any of them so far? It is wild how differently people look at learning. The common theme I have noticed is the emphasis on the importance of creativity over mere knowledge. And the importance of learning by doing instead of learning by memorizing. How does that line up with how we educate our children, and ourselves for that matter?....since we are all still learning something. Hopefully.

In our schools we promote conformity, not creativity. We make sure our children learn the order of the US presidents and about Greek Mythology, but place little emphasis on life skills and common sense. Their stringent adherence to standardized curriculum limits how far children can excel in their learning.

My daughter tried getting me to purchase a science curriculum a month or so ago. I tried to tell her we don't need one. She was in the third grade last year, and her CAT test scores placed her at the seventh grade level for science. If we had followed a curriculum, she would have never been giving the opportunity to learn the material that she mastered at four grade levels above her own. And she did well because she was learning about things she had an interest to learn.

Anyways, the purpose of these quotes is to allow you to think outside the box in the ways you teach your children. This isn't just for homeschoolers. You are capable of teaching your children new things every day, even if they attend public or private school. We learn something from everything we encounter. Take advantage of it. Ignite their curiosity. Promote their creativity. Encourage them to become excellent at something they enjoy!


John Dewey
Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.

Maria Mitchell
We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing.

Mortimer Adler
The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.

Anatole France
Nine tenths of education is encouragement.


Ralph Waldo Emerson
Skill to do comes of doing.

Simone Weil
The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running. Where it is lacking there are no real students, but only poor caricatures of apprentices who, at the end of their apprenticeship, will not even have a trade.


Vernon Cooper
These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.

Virgil
As the twig is bent the tree inclines.


Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood

More Quotable Quotes of Note on Learning ...

Edith Hamilton
It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated.

Ethel Barrymore
You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens.

Henry B. Adams
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Hannah More
It is not so important to know everything as to appreciate what we learn.

Goethe
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

James Baldwin
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.

Is That Really A Good Idea?

We had Alea's 9th birthday party the other day. She had a disco skating party at the local skating rink. Check out the menu board from the skating rink. Look closely. It is really a poor picture.

Butter milk + sardines + hot skating kids = ?????

My guess would be disaster! That just really doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I wonder how much of that they sell?

A Place of Refuge...A Bit on Sharing Stuff

Exodus 12:4(NIV) If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

So what happens when we loosen our hold on our possessions and begin sharing? What happens when we not only share what we have available, but receive what others have to share? What does God do in response to that sort of management?

Let me first say that you have to change the way you look at your stuff. I know several generous people. They love to share what they have. They would love to be able to meet your needs through what they have. But they want to be the ones sharing. They do not want to go without and be the ones dependant on someone else to share. They want to know that when they go to bed at night, they possess everything they will need. It makes them feel good to be able to have excess and share. I have to admit that in many ways, I am this way. I would love to have enough money to meet the needs of so many people, and the resources to bless the many wonderful programs with which I come in contact. But that is not the key to sharing. It needs to be give and receive.

2 Corinthians 8:14 (NLT)
Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal

My husband was given money to give away. Seriously! A friend of ours noticed that he seems to have a knack for allowing God to show him people in need. So the friend started giving him money to give away. At first, my husband said he felt a little weird about giving away someone else's money. He felt like he had to really be careful with how he distributed it, because someone else had entrusted him with the responsibility of managing it. Then it occurred to him that the source was the same. Money, whether it came from his bank account or someone else's, all comes from the same origin. God blesses us with it.

To truly grasp the meaning of sharing, we need to first really let our hearts absorb the fact that it all belongs to God anyways. We need to grab hold of that fact and let it infect every fiber of our being. It is not MY stuff! I'm only managing it. Then it becomes of question of what I believe God would choose as the best use for HIS stuff. What do I choose to do with it? Do my choices honor God? So, I choose to spend money on big toys....What do I do with those toys? He is not against us buying fun stuff. But how do I use what I have? Am I bringing honor to God? Am I glorifying Him in my use of them? Am I using them as a tool to strengthen my relationship with Him? Am I using them as a tool to strengthen my relationship with others? Or am I hindering my growth and relationships through my use of them? Is it any better to just save the money He gives me to manage, or then am I just hoarding?

Once we accept the fact that it is God's money and God's stuff, it becomes natural to share it. We want to do something with it that honors our God, and what better way than to meet the needs of His children?

Matthew 25:40 (NLT) “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Hebrews 13:16 (HCSB)Don't neglect to do good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

We know that sharing what we have makes God happy. But what else is there to it? What can we accomplish through sharing our possessions.

We will have more. Sounds crazy, but the less we own, the more we will possess. If we are dedicated to sharing, we have access to each others stuff. I don't have to buy a pickup truck for an occasional load of lumber if you are committed to sharing your truck. You don't have to purchase a boat to fish every couple of weeks if I will share mine with you. Every family doesn't have to fork out money for a lawnmower (or two) if we will pool our resources and buy one, or pay a lawn service. Suddenly we all have boats for fishing, and trucks for hauling. As a matter of fact, we don't each have to pour money into a complete wood shop for that occasional project. We can pool tools and equipment into a community shop and share in fellowship while we work.

Which leads me to benefit number two. We will be less wasteful. Okay, not everyone stands in the same position on the whole "Green Living" issue. But whether you are a greenie or not, you have to recognize that we have limited space for landfills. One day we will run out of land to bury our waste. When we share, we produce less waste. One truck, one boat, one lawnmower... You see where I'm going with this. They take up a lot less landfill space than six trucks, boats, and lawnmowers. And less storage space, so we don't need to buy all those sheds!

We can plug into helping in our area of giftedness, and allow others to plug into theirs. Some of us have some areas where we are super handy, and others where we appear to be trying to work with nothing but thumbs. And some of us have physical limitations. For example. My husband mows the yard at least once a week. But every time he does, he needs to take a Zyrtec, wear a mask, and still suffer somewhat for a day afterwards. What if you, my neighbor, like nothing better than to ride your mower? Think of the blessing you could be for my family. What if someone in the neighborhood loves beautiful flowers, but has arthritis? But I love to tinker in the garden. Could I pull her weeds while I am pulling mine? What if we have a few stay at home moms who love to can...and a few working moms? Can canning moms share in the bounty while working moms pick up a pack of diapers from the store they are passing on their way home from work? And you have the added bonus of fellowship with your neighbors as you share in chores. Those are just a few examples, but once you start thinking this way, more will just pop into your head as well.

Here is just one last thing to think about before I end this illustration of sharing. So many of us want to truly make a difference in our communities. We are being bombarded by soaring unemployment rates. Homes are being foreclosed on all around us. People are scared and hungry and they are praying for help. We try to buy some canned goods to distribute at the local shelter. We search for a few coats and blankets to distribute to the homeless in the winter. But with our own limited resources, we can only do so much. The answer is not just to work more to earn more. What if we lived in such a way that we could live off of less, and use the excess to help those people? What if we could, instead of making a small difference in the lives of a couple of people, band together with others to make a huge impact on our community? How many lives could be changed forever? Would ours?

Some verses to chew on:

Psalm 112:9 (NLT)
They share freely and give generously to those in need.Their good deeds will be remembered forever.They will have influence and honor.


Luke 3:11 (HCSB)
He replied to them, "The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same."


Acts 4:32 (NLT)
All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

Romans 12:13 (NIV)
Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

1 Peter 4:9 (NLT)
Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

More Quotable Quotes of Note about Education

Roger Lewin
Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.

Annie Sullivan
Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.

Arthur Koestler
Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Beatrix Potter
Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.

Bill Beattie
The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.

Carl Rogers
If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.

Dean William R. Inge
The aim of education is the knowledge not of fact, but of values.

Quotable Quotes of Note about Education

For many of you, the time is fast approaching for the dawn of the school year. In honor of this momentous occasion, I will be posting some quotes about education and learning over the next several days. Enjoy the following quotes:


Nelson Mandela
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Patricia Neal
A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though awakens your own expectations.

Maria Mitchell
Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow.

William Butler Yeats
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

Albert Einstein
It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.

Anatole France
The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards

Thought of the day....

Be silly!

Study, Meditate On, Memorize, Learn.....What Next?

I am a new creation. The Word of God is alive. By learning the Word and by following it's instruction I will be changed. Now, what am I going to do with that knowledge?

I have memorized scripture. I can flip back and forth from book to book in the Bible. I have absorbed what it says - love God, love your neighbor, love your enemy, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, take care of the widows and orphans. Live peacefully for the meek will inherit the earth. But what does God want us to do with that knowledge? Is it enough to be merely well-informed Christians?

Through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by my deeds, I have been saved. I have obtained salvation. I will spend eternity with God. But what about the space in between now and eternity? Do I stop at salvation? Should that be my goal line? Does God have any expectations of me?

I have heard people say that God only calls certain people to preach, evangelize, feed the poor, become missionaries, become martyrs, or sell their possessions to meet the needs of others. That is why they don't take action when they read the Word. They are waiting to be 'called'. Why would God share these stories in the Bible and instruct us to study them, meditate on them, memorize them and understand them, if they don't apply to each and every one of us? To inform us? To inspire us? What if they apply too me? What if they apply to you?

What if God doesn't expect us merely to be well-informed, knowledgeable, and righteous Christians, but expects us to be Christians of action?

Am I going to sit back and enjoy my new found, abundant life or am I going to use that knowledge blended with my softened heart to change the world in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

James 2: 14-26 (CEV)

14My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? 15If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, 16you shouldn't just say, "I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat." What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? 17Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!

18Suppose someone disagrees and says, "It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds."

I would answer, "Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them." 19You surely believe there is only one God. That's fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear.

20Does some stupid person want proof that faith without deeds is useless? 21Well, our ancestor Abraham pleased God by putting his son Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him. 22Now you see how Abraham's faith and deeds worked together. He proved that his faith was real by what he did. 23This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, "Abraham had faith in God, and God was pleased with him." That's how Abraham became God's friend.

24You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe. 25For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way.

26Anyone who doesn't breathe is dead, and faith that doesn't do anything is just as dead!

A Place of Refuge...a bit on MY stuff

I was writing before about the benefits of sharing. Sharing not only possessions, but our victories and our burdens, does so much to develop peace in our hearts. But I want to look closer at the sharing of possessions. In this first article let's look closely at a picture of personal ownership (what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours), and what happens to our relationships with God and with others. In the next article to come, we will look at a picture of sharing possessions, and what is gained or lost and how it effects those same relationships.

In this day in age, sharing of possessions is something that causes a huge internal struggle when it is first presented to us. We are taught that what we have is who we are. We are identified by our possessions.

What do you think when you see a person driving a Mercedes or Lexus? What do you think they do for a living? Do you assume they are intelligent? What about when you see a person mowing their lawn with a new, fancy lawnmower? Or better yet, when a landscape service is doing their mowing? What do you think when you see someone driving an old rusty lawnmower? See, we make assumptions about who people are, and how educated they are, and how successful they are, based on how they spend their money. We wrongly assume that rich people spend more money, when actually it is just the opposite. The rich often become that way by being frugal. Those that buy expensive things all the time will never be rich, as there will always be something new to buy.

Posessions seperate us. They help to establish the differences between us. Worse, we fall into the trap of judging people by what they possess and not by who they are.

These illusions trap us in our buying. We too want to be perceived as rich, successful, educated, sophisticated. So we accessorize. And we shrink from the whole idea of sharing, or giving up ownership of possessions. "Bbbbbut, what will be mine?" In other words, what will I have to show for all my hard work and success?

God doesn't view us that way. He doesn't identify us by our possessions. In fact, He knows that it all belongs to him anyways. He is only allowing us to care for it for him. He realizes how easily we fall into addiction to ownership of things, in our attempt to keep up with the Joneses. Worse, he knows that we can keep amassing things, but that we will never feel satisfied, and will never discover the joy that we obtain only through the Holy Spirit.

Luke 12:15-21
Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Ecclesiastes 2:4-11
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.


Here is the thing. God knows that as long as we are focused on obtaining and caring for our stuff, we will not be focused on Him. We are incapable of serving. These things are distractions.

Think about someone you may know who has purchased a new car. Do they park that car in tight places? Or throw the keys to everyone they know? "Take 'er for a spin!" Or do they wash that car frequently, park it away from other cars, sometimes taking up two or three spaces in the process? What happens when someone rams a shopping cart into their new car? Or when a neighborhood toddler runs into it with his tricycle? Or someone bounces a ball against the door? Do they say, "Aw, it's okay. It's just a car". Do they come unglued? How do they react to the person who damaged their car? What do they say or do to the toddler with his tricycle? Do they honor God with their actions? Is their focus on Him or on their car?

Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13
You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Things aren't bad. Money is not evil. It is the worship of money and possessions that leads to trouble. It is all about what you choose to do with them that determines whether you are worshiping them or using them as tools for God.

The only sure way to loosen the bonds that tie you to worship of your possessions is to give up ownership of them, either through sharing or giving them away outright. Not through selling, but through actually meeting someone's needs through what you already have. I have seen miracles occur when people really grab ahold of this way of thinking and living. The folks written about in the Bible have seen them too, and so can you!

More on that to come...

Uncle Ter ~ Two Year Anniversary of His Death

JACOBS TERRY WWO1

Terry W. Jacobs was a potential VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 08/04/2006 at the age of 58 from Helicopter crash while fighting fires in California.

Thomasville, NC
Flight Class 69-41
Date of Birth 02/18/1948

Served in the U.S. Army Served in Vietnam with 191 AHC in 70-71 This information was provided by Bernard R Harvey

More detail on this person: Terry Wayne Jacobs age: 58 date died: 08/04/2006
address: 676 Old Hwy 29 North city: Thomasville, state: NC zip: 27360 country: USA
place of death: California cause of death: Helicopter Crash
flight class: 69-41 branch of service: Army dates1: Jan 1970 Mid 1971 unit1: 191st AHC location1: Can Tho
survivors: Never married and no children

other: Terry was killed while fighting fires From: Bernard R Harvey (bharvey03@ntelos.net)
That crash was on 4 August. Steve Dillman (Gunslinger 39) had been flying that Crane and had just finished his rotation. I talked to him week before last and he said the aircraft was at the dip-site when it picked up a severe vibration. The crew pickled the load and tried to get it to a landing site. It slung a tail rotor blade and, before they had gone much over a hundred feet...it slung the t/r gearbox, went into a spin.... and the rest is history. Guess the aircraft wound up in the river. They grounded all the cranes for an inspection and replaced a bunch of blades etc. They are back flying now and when I talked to Steve he was enroute back to relieve one of the other crews. From: "doc daugherty"
This information was last updated 08/14/2006


On August 4, 2006, Heavy Lift Helicopter N6156U,
crashed into the Klamath River at Independence Creek, resulting
in the line of duty deaths of Andrei Pantchenko and Terry
“Jake” Jacobs.
Firehouse.com - Printable ArticleThe Web's Source for Fire, Rescue & EMS

Copter wreckage to be pulled out of Klamath River
Officials investigate crash that killed two in firefighting efforts.
By Christine Vovakes -- Bee Correspondent
Published 12:01 am PDT
Tuesday, August 8, 2006

HAPPY CAMP -- Officials plan to raise a mangled helicopter out of the Klamath River today as they continue to investigate the accident that claimed the life of the pilot and co-pilot Friday near the town of Happy Camp.

The bodies of pilot Terry Wayne Jacobs, 48, of Wofford Heights, Kern County, and co- pilot Andrei Pantchenko, 38, of Burns, Ore., were recovered from the submerged wreckage Saturday, Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said. The two men, who crashed around 7:45 p.m. Friday, had been part of firefighting efforts in the Marble Mountain Wilderness.Results of the autopsies are expected today, said Gravenkamp.

The pilots worked for Heavy Lift Helicopters Inc. of Apple Valley, a San Bernardino County company under contract with the U.S. Forest Service.Sheriff Lt. Jim Betts, operations commander during Saturday's recovery, said that either cranes or heavy-lift helicopters will be used to pull the Sikorsky CH-54 helicopter from the steep canyon. The wreckage will be taken to a National Transportation Safety Board site to be reconstructed in an attempt to determine what caused the accident.The river in that area -- about 10 miles southwest of Happy Camp along Highway 96 -- will remain closed to recreational use at least through today as divers continue to search the water.

The aircraft came to rest on its side in a portion of the river that is 6 to 8 feet deep. Witnesses on the river tried to aid the pilots, but to no avail, Betts said.

"There were people who could get up on the rig itself, but the wreckage was torn up and the pilots were pinned inside," he said. "About half the aircraft was submerged. The cockpit had partially torn away and was totally submerged."

Jacobs got his pilot's license as a teenager in Goshen, Ind., his sister Sandra Santrock said in a phone interview Monday.

Santrock, of Lexington, N.C., said her brother, a graduate of Purdue University, served two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he mainly flew medevac missions. "He loved to fly," she said.

Later, when Jacobs wasn't flying helicopters for logging or firefighting, he spent his time outdoors as a general contractor.

Several years ago he temporarily quit flying to care for his mother during her terminal illness, his sister said.

Jacobs was engaged to Lucette Evans of Wofford Heights, Santrock said.

No information was available about Pantchenko, whose family lives in Russia.

Jacobs and Pantchenko's helicopter was one of three that had been scooping water from mountain lakes to dump it on the persistent string of wildfires that have been burning for two weeks.

A series of thunderstorms in the far northern counties sparked numerous fires Sunday and Monday. Officials were worried that storms Monday night would result in more wildfires.

August 6, 2006
Two killed in Klamath River helicopter crashBy Paul FattigMail Tribune

HAPPY CAMP, Calif. — The pilot and co-pilot of a Sikorsky helicopter were killed Friday evening when their aircraft plunged into the Klamath River.

Terry Wayne Jacobs, 48, of Wofford Heights, Calif., was identified Saturday afternoon as the pilot of the Heavy Lift Helicopter Inc. chopper out of Apple Valley, Calif., according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department. The co-pilot's name was not released because his family lives outside the United States and had not been notified of the accident yet, sheriff's department officials reported.

The accident occurred while the aircraft was battling the Happy Camp complex wildfires in the Klamath National Forest some 10 miles south of Happy Camp, a Klamath River hamlet about 50 air miles southwest of Medford. The accident occurred near milepost 28.63 on Highway 96 near Happy Camp around 7:45 p.m. Friday, according to the Siskiyou County sheriff. A dive team from the department helped retrieve the bodies from the river Saturday. Autopsies were planned for early next week.

Smoke from the complex of fires drifted into the Rogue Valley Saturday and is expected to linger for a day or two.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jean Gilbertson said the helicopter was owned by a private company working under contract to the agency. No additional information about the crash would be given to the media until a National Transportation Board team completed its investigation, she said.

The helicopter crew was among the roughly 500 firefighters deployed to the wildfire complex sparked by a July 23 lightning storm. Because of the crash, no aircraft were used in fighting the fire on Saturday, officials said. However, ground crews continue to dig firelines and burn out areas around the main fire to stop the fire's advance.
The accident was a severe blow to firefighters already hampered by steep, rugged terrain.
"In our small community, this is really devastating," said a weary firefighter who answered the telephone at the Happy Camp complex firefighting headquarters.

All but one of the 11 fires in the complex had been contained by firelines Saturday afternoon. The Titus fire, which had burned 2,843 acres in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, is only 25 percent contained.

In addition, firefighters are battling the Uncles complex in both the Marble Mountain and the Trinity Alps Wilderness section of the forest between the Klamath River and Interstate 5. That complex includes the 2,500-acre Rush fire, the 2,880-acre Hancock fire and the 1,915-acre Uncles fire.

The terrain is steep, rugged and rocky, said forest spokesman John Zapell.
"The fire behavior is one of creeping along, the making short runs uphill," he said. "We are taking indirect suppression action because of the terrain.

"What we're doing is going in on ridges and putting in containment lines," he added, citing safety concerns for firefighters on the ground.

"These fires do have the potential to get quite a bit larger," he noted.
With a chance of more lightning today, there is also the potential for more fires to spring up, he said.

Because of concerns for public safety, forest officials have closed the Marble Mountains Wilderness area and some roads and campgrounds immediately outside the wilderness boundary.

The road closures are in an area potentially threatened by the Titus Fire, and are being used by vehicles and equipment assigned to the Happy Camp Complex. The closures will remain in effect until the fires are suppressed.


Equipment Failure Behind California Fire Chopper Crash
............
JOHN DRISCOLLEureka Times Standard

Part of the tail rotor on a firefighting helicopter fell off moments before it crashed into the Klamath River outside Happy Camp, killing its two pilots, a preliminary report says.
The fatal crash of the Sikorsky CH-54A Skycrane chopper on Aug. 4 was caused by the failure of a spindle connected to the tail rotor gearbox, the National Transportation Safety Board report reads. The report does not point to any human errors being to blame for the malfunction.
The helicopter was flown to Happy Camp on July 29 to help fight the Happy Camp Complex fires, which now total 3,800 acres. Killed in the wreck were Terry "Jake" Jacobs, 48, of Kern County and 38-year-old Andrei Pantchenko of Oregon, both veteran pilots.

No one from the safety board returned repeated calls.

After flying for two hours on Aug. 4, the helicopter returned to the base to refuel and was examined by mechanics. Then it left to begin a second round of firefighting.

"The helicopter conducted one uneventful dip and water drop during the second cycle and was in the process of conducting its second dip when the accident occurred," the report reads.

The helicopter had filled its tanks with water from the Klamath River at the site near Independence Bridge several times that day. On its final run to get water, a witness heard a loud bang, and ran toward the river. When he reached a road next to the river, the report reads, he saw the helicopter flying toward the bridge. A large piece of equipment -- later identified as the gear box -- fell off the chopper, reads the report.

The helicopter's nose pitched sharply forward, and without the tail rotor to counter the torque of the main rotor, the fuselage spun around until it crashed, the report says.

The twin engines of the helicopter transfer power down a series of shafts connected by universal joints to the gear box at the tail. Each tail rotor blade is connected to the gear box by a spindle. In this case, the blade associated with the failed spindle has not been found, according to the report.

On the morning of the accident, the helicopter went through a series of maintenance tests after having an engine replaced the day before. It was cleared by mechanics with chopper owner Heavy Lift Helicopters of Apple Valley and a U.S. Forest Service helicopter manager.

The tail rotor hub was overhauled on Dec. 22, 2005. That included using an X-ray like technique to inspect the spindle, a part that can be reused. The fractured spindle was sent to the safety board's materials laboratory in Washington, D.C.

A military helicopter pilot and maintenance expert consulted by the Times-Standard said that the material failure probably happened without warning -- until the loud bang. The crack in the spindle likely happened after the inspection, the expert said.

A helicopter can safely land after losing its tail rotor section, under certain conditions. The helicopter must be moving forward, possibly as fast as 100 mph. Or, if a tail rotor is lost at a hover, the engine can be idled and the craft settled vertically. But that can be exceptionally difficult in tight conditions like a river canyon, even for experienced pilots.

The Sikorsky CH-65A is considered a workhorse helicopter that first saw military duty in the 1960s. The wrecked chopper was built in 1966, and had been rebuilt and redesigned for firefighting by Heavy Lift Helicopters.

They can carry up to 750 gallons of water, making them valued by firefighting efforts around the world.

Marty Pociask, communications director and editor for Helicopter Association International, said both the CH-54A and Heavy Lift Helicopters have a solid reputation. Flying wildfire duty is unpredictable, and pilots and equipment are constantly operating in less than ideal conditions, Pociask said.

"These guys go out there and risk their lives and do a yeoman's job," Pociask said.
Pociask and others said a final determination by the transportation safety board could take a year or more.


In Memorium: Terry Wayne Jacobs and Andrei Pantchenko
August 13th, 2006

On Friday, August 4th, the pilot and co-pilot of a heavy-lift helicopter were killed battling the Titus Fire, one of eleven fires in the Happy Camp Complex in Northern California.

Terry Wayne Jacobs, 58, of Wofford, California and Andrei Pantchenko, 38, of Burns, Oregon died when their Sikorsky helicopter crashed into the Klamath River approximately 10 miles southwest of Happy Camp along Highway 96. They had been working for Heavy Lift Helicopter Inc. of Apple Valley, Calif.

The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting the investigation, since it was an aircraft accident. More detailed descriptions of the accident may be found here and here.

For descriptions of the Happy Camp Complex Fire see here.

The Northern Arizona Incident Management Team (Type 2) was managing the fire. Command was transferred to the Southern California Type 2 Incident Management Team on August 9th. The NAZ IMT was the team that suppressed the Warm Fire after the Kaibab N.F. punted their Wildland Use Fire designation.

Forest firefighting is a dangerous thing. Everyone who has ever fought a forest fire can tell harrowing tales. But fatalities are rare. Not as rare as everyone would like, however.
Terry Wayne Jacobs and Andrei Pantchenko died in an attempt to save a forest, and to protect the forest firefighters on the ground. We honor their commitment, efforts, and intentions. We mourn their passing. We extend our deepest sympathies to their families and friends. Our prayers are with you.

And maybe, just maybe, if we took better care of our forests, then they would not burst into holocausts so frequently, and maybe we could save some human lives, too.

Investigation by the transportation safety board could take a year or more.


Pilots Killed in Copter Crash at Cal. Wildfire
Posted: 08-07-2006
Updated: 06-14-2007 12:09:44 PM

Two pilots died after a long day battling wildfires when their helicopter suddenly plunged into the Klamath River near the town of Happy Camp on Friday night.

The men, whose bodies were recovered Saturday by the Siskiyou County sheriff's dive team,
worked for a private company under contract with the U.S. Forest Service.

Siskiyou County sheriff's officials, who found the men's bodies about 10 miles from Happy Camp, identified the pilot as Terry Wayne Jacobs, 48, of Wofford. The co-pilot's name will be released after relatives living outside the United States have been notified, spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said.

Both men worked for Heavy Lift Helicopters Inc., of Apple Valley in Southern California.
Members of the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.

The huge Sikorsky helicopter, called a Type-1 by forest officials, was assigned to the Titus fire, one of two fires in the Happy Camp Complex wildfire still burning since lightning sparked nearly a dozen blazes in Siskiyou County two weeks ago.

The aircraft that crashed was one of three helicopters that had been scooping buckets of water from Marble Mountain Wilderness lakes to dump onto the persistent string of wildfires.
The pilots also dropped supplies to fire crews who spent the night in the rugged, barely accessible terrain rather than return to the Happy Camp home base, Gravenkamp said.

Happy Camp Complex fire information officer Niko King said the helicopters are key to fighting the fire. "The contour here is just straight up and down," King said.

The fires are threatening two campgrounds, the Happy Camp watershed, and numerous American Indian cultural and spiritual sites. They have forced complete closure of the Marble Mountain Wilderness, a part of the Klamath National Forest that is popular for hiking, fishing, camping and mule-packing trips.

The section of the Pacific Crest Trail that wends through the area also is closed, but transportation to a detour drop-off is being provided, King said.

About 500 personnel are involved in fighting the Happy Camp Complex wildfire. The Goff fire is nearly suppressed, but the 2,500-acre Titus fire is only 25 percent contained, officials said.
Steep banks line both sides of the Klamath River where the orange and white helicopter went down near Independence Bridge on Highway 96.

The aircraft broke into several pieces, King said, with parts of the rotor strewn in all directions and a large portion of the fuselage in the water that is about 5 feet deep in midsummer.
"Debris is scattered on the east bank and in the water," King said.

A long segment of the river, which is popular with rafters, will remain closed to watercraft and recreational users until the recovery and investigation are complete.

No fixed wing aircraft have worked the fires. Smoke from the Titus and Goff fires grounded the helicopters for part of Thursday but they were back in the air on Friday, King said.


Terry Wayne Jacobs Andrei Pantchenko
U.S. Forest ServiceAugust 4, 2006
On the evening of August 4, 2006, Terry Wayne Jacobs and Andrei Pantchenko were piloting a Sikorsky CH-54 helicopter under contract to the U.S. Forest Service. The pilots were was in the process of conducting its second dip, refilling the aircraft’s water tanks while fighting the Titus Fire, when the crash occurred. Witnesses claimed they saw a large piece fall off the helicopter which was later identified as the tail rotor gearbox with three of the four tail rotor blades attached to the hub. The morning of the crash, the helicopter went through a series of maintenance and flight tests and the evening before the number one engine was replaced. Jacobs is survived by his finance Lucette Evans and his sister Sandra Santrock. He was 48-years old, from Wofford Heights in Kern County California and served two tours in Vietnam. Andrei Pantchenko was 38-years old and from Burns, Oregon. He was originally from Russia.

God is My Copilot. So...who's driving?

I saw this bumper sticker today God is My Copilot. Have you seen it? I never really paid attention before, but today it just hit me. So...who's driving? Is the driver really suggesting that he is in control of his destination and God is in the passenger seat...along for the ride...just in case he should require some rest?

Sadly, don't we all do that? We want control of our lives. We want to choose where we go, with who, and our method of transportation. Then we get lost, and we say, "Hey God, can you bail me out here? I'm in a jam. I think I would like you to drive for awhile. Maybe just 'til we hit a familiar area. Then I'll take over the controls again. Then you can rest while I drive. I can handle it. I'm cool."

We need to learn to surrender control to God. We don't just need a savior, we need a Lord. Trust me, he makes better decisions than we do. We will never find ourselves lost when he is driving. And when we allow God to direct our path, he will take us places we never dreamed possible.

A new sticker should read God is my pilot. I'm just along for the ride of my life.

Tagged Again? Aw shucks!

Trisha, at Suds to Love is one of my soapcrafting friends I have made through the Soapmakers Corner forum. She has presented me with the above blogging award. I am supposed to link to the person who sent it to me *check* and send it on to seven others. As this has traveled a bit already I am going to have to limit how many folks I send it to. Sorry, I only have so many friends! Go check out Trisha's blog and admire her gorgeous children.

The one plus to all these fabulous tags is that it gives us all an opportunity to explore new blogs that we would have never checked out otherwise. Thanks for the opportunity. I have been truly blessed with some wonderful new friends through the blogosphere. So.......I would like to take the opportunity to present the above award to

Sherlyn at Carolina Cowgirl
Starr at Threshold Moments
Elizabeth at Gassner Custom Soaps
and my newest blogging friend
Heather at Swallowing a Moose

I LOVE their blogs and I know you will too.

A Place of Refuge....and a bit on sharing

We are moving right along (slowly) on the plan to help build a community. We have agreed on a purchase price for half of the land, and are still working with the land owners to arrive at an agreement for the lease with option to purchase on the other half of the land. God gave us the project to work on so I have no doubt it will succeed, but, wow, what a road this has been thus far. Here is a little more information on what is going to be a thing of amazing beauty. I will try to provide pieces of the puzzle over the next several weeks. Hopefully, these pieces, when they come together, will provide the big picture of what we hope will be accomplished.

God wants us to help to kick-start a living community to reach out to the people of this area. God has outlined his plan for community living in Acts of the Bible. His plan includes people living in fellowship with each other, sharing their blessings, and sharing their burdens.

Acts 2:42-47 (NLT)
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 4:32-35(NCV)
The group of believers were united in their hearts and spirit. All those in the group acted as though their private property belonged to everyone in the group. In fact, they shared everything. With great power the apostles were telling people that the Lord Jesus was truly raised from the dead. And God blessed all the believers very much. There were no needy people among them. From time to time those who owned fields or houses sold them, brought the money, and gave it to the apostles. Then the money was given to anyone who needed it.

Over time we have lost that vision. People don't often share what they have. They don't share possessions, or meals, or even their time. They have sealed off the avenue toward sharing by the way they live their lives. People don't live in close proximity to one other. They live in secrecy. Sometimes they live emotionally isolated from others within their own home. Look around as you drive through town. Homes face the road not for access, but for appearance. People drive around back, go through a back door, shut the doors and windows, and retreat into their secret lives. And if they go outside, it is often within the confines of the high 'privacy' fences they have erected. How many of your neighbors do you know?

At one time or another, each and every one of us bears something that needs to be shared. It doesn't just apply to things. Sometimes it is our hopes and our dreams, or our concerns or burdens that require sharing. When we have good news, we can't wait to share it with someone else. Victories seem hollow unless there is someone to share in your joy. When we are dealing with guilt and shame, they continue to eat away at our peace until we share the stories with someone else. Once we break free from those chains that bind us in secrecy, we are liberated. And when we are struggling, emotionally, physically, or even financially, we need to share that too with people. We need to stop trying to tackle those sorts of burdens on our own. Struggling against these powerful burdens ourselves is like trying to fight our way out of quicksand by ourselves. The more we struggle, the deeper we sink. But if we only had a hand to grab hold of, someone to help pull us out. If only we were given the opportunity, in turn, to be that hand reaching out to others.

....more to come on sharing, fellowship, and living in community....

Yikes!! I've Been Tagged!

Yikes! I've been tagged by my buddy Starr from over at Threshold Moments!

These are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Sooooooo......here are some nifty little tidbits about moi. I know you are on the edge of your seats!

1) I am a wee bit 'energetic'. This means I don't sit well, I talk excitedly, and I am easily distracted. You may be able to tell that from my writing. When I'm talking to you you may hear "Well I was driving down highway 8 and Oooh that's pretty. Did you see the color of her shirt. I like that..and I came to the stoplight and was sitting there thinking...Kasi, get off that chair. Furniture is for sitting, not for climbing...and finally it turned green and it was my turn to go..." Fun, eh?!

2) I love reading aloud to my girls. If we don't get any learnin' in for the day, we get in mommy reading time. And we talk about it and have a grand ol' time. How else can a momma get a chance to read those corny as always Nancy Drew mysteries? Ah, yet another chance to find out what sort of smart outfit titian haired Nancy is wearing, and what pleasantly plump Bess is eating.

3) I am married to the coolest pig farmer in the whole world. He is laid back and brings me back to earth when I do get a wee bit 'energetic'. God definitely brought us together to establish balance.

4) I wake up early every day and let my girls sleep in just so I can have a couple of hours or so to myself of complete silence. This is my selfish time. I hang with God, write on my blog, send emails, read....anything a wanna.

5) Cooking is a creative artistic outlet for me since I don't have time to paint anymore. There is no telling what you will eat when you come to my house. Beware! I will try to make anything.

6) I was once a correctional officer. That's right! At one time, a long, long time ago in a far away land...someone respected my authority!!!

7) Yup, I had to add one. I'm a nonconformist. I'm not as normal as you think I am.

So, now you know all the important whatsits, howsits, and whosits. Have a blessed day!

And, a tag you're it to.....we'll all find out after this important break.


A "Tag, you're it" goes out to my buddy Sherlyn over at Carolina Cowgirl. You will love Sherlyn. She is warm, funny, and a huge animal lover. And she is short like me. We short people are drawn to each other. Maybe it's 'cause we can hug flat-footed. What do you think, Sherlyn?

Next is her hubby and also my buddy Mike aka Preacher Mike. Mike writes some incredible posts that really get you thinking about the biblical relevance of some of our current trains of thought. Mike has been a little slack about posting lately and I want us all to encourage him to get back to it. Try it! You'll like it!

Next, one of my newer friends from the Soapmaker's Corner, Elizabeth from Gassner Custom Soaps. She too is a SAHM and a soap maker! See, and y'all thought I was weird. She is generous and has some adorable little girls. You will find all sorts of goodies on her blog. She's not just a soap artist. Enjoy!

I also want to tag my friend Karen aka That Mom. You really need to check out Karen's blog. She is an incredible mentor and encourager for homeschooling mothers, having home schooled her own six. She has numerous podcasts available for download from her site. Stop and hear some words of encouragement and testimonies, and enjoy the discussions and information you will find there.

Reverend Colin is a gentleman I have become friends with during the last year or so through my friend Lindsey via Blogger. Even if I am rushed, I stop by his blog, Share My Journey, for a visit. You will find the Word of God, encouragement, compassion for the needy, fabulous poetry, and also be able to access the Voice Ministries site for Christian music and writing. So often, when I visit I find that God has placed the same issues on our hearts.

And, lastly but not leastly is my newish friend Anne-Marie aka the Soap Queen from Bramble Berry. I think all of you need to learn a little bit more about soap making. It is incredibly fun, and natural soap is SO much better for you than those bars and bottles of harsh detergents you buy at the store. You will find that Anne-Marie not only writes about soap but her other passions. Stop by and learn about entrepreneurship, exercise, and maybe a wee bit about cupcakes. She's a busy woman. You never know what she will have going on.

Now give these folks a couple of days or so to get going with the game. They are all very busy people and incredibly good sports for playing along. Then drop by and see what they have to say. Get to know them. Encourage them. Learn some new stuff. You will see that my collection of friends are as eclectic as I am. Have a fabulous time getting to know them! Then enjoy your new friends.

Thought of the day....

Psalm 123:1 (KJV)

Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Swimming or Serving?

Several days ago we had a blood drive at our church. Darrell and I were going to be donating. Normally, my girls, being the social butterflies that they are, walk around and talk to all the donors while we are there. The Red Cross always manages to get a wee bit behind, and even though we make an appointment, we are usually there for three to four hours. I figured that I would be prepared this time around, and asked my mom and step dad if the girls could stay with them and go swimming while we donated. They agreed that would be a wonderful idea. The girls love hanging out with their Grandma and Grandpa, and you have to realize that to my girls there are few greater pleasures than swimming.

So I told them. And they looked like they were going to cry. My eight year old, Alea, said "but Mooooom, we wanted to go and encourage people there giving blood". (she really does talk like that!) Kasi, my six year old, in the semi-Valley girl teenish tone she has adopted said "yeah Moooom, we just wanna walk around and talk to everyone...please, mom, please". (puppy dog eyes)

So our girls, bags packed with useful tools, came with us. They had fans to fan people waiting in the hot gym of the American Children's Home (where we meet for church). They brought their magical stuffed animals, 'Spotted Puppy' and 'Purrs' to give to folks if they got scared. And they worked all afternoon to encourage people. They walked around, talking to people, and fanning them. They gave hugs. They directed them to refreshments, and even brought them snacks and drinks. When the waiting got a little long, one woman announced that we needed music or entertainment, so the girls performed a dance for them. Before we left, they walked around and hugged all those remaining and thanked them for coming and sharing their blood. It was an amazingly blessed day.

We have had many people come up to us and tell us what having the girls there meant to them. One man shared that his mother couldn't give because her iron was low, and Alea stayed and talked to her and thanked her for trying, and encouraged her to try again at the next blood drive. God worked through them to touch the lives up many.

It never ceases to amaze me how God can use each and every one of us, even a child to touch others with the love of Jesus Christ. We just have to make ourselves available. It amazed me and humbled me that the children that God blessed me with would choose to serve others rather than go swimming. They learned that from the Bible. Jesus set the example and we are to follow it. He is our King, yet He chose self-sacrifice as his way of leading. He expects us to be servants, not Lords over others.

We have explained to our children that it is easy to give up something that you no longer need or want, but that true sacrifice and serving occurs when you give up something that you love and still want, merely because someone else has a need for it. I think they learned the lessen.

Galatians 5:13 (CEV)
My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.

Romans 12:10 (NLT)
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Thank you, God, for using these children to teach me a valuable lesson. I love to serve my brothers and sisters, but thank you for showing me that when I give up something that I desire in order to serve, you truly step in and create a miracle.

Thought of the Day

Let your imagination soar!

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create. ~Albert Einstein

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice.

~Arnold Toynbee

Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.

~Blaise Pascal

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

~Carl Sagan

Nothing happens unless first we dream.

~Carl Sandburg

You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

~George Bernard Shaw

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.

~Gloria Steinem

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

~John Lennon

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.

~Lauren Bacall

A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Imagination is the living power and prime agent of all human perception.

~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Recipe for Homemade Granola

My own recipe for yummy, healthy granola. Packed with nuts, this granola is great for fighting those hunger pains between meals. I eat mine dry so it is not super-sweetened. If you like yours in a bowl of milk, I recommend sprinkling it with additional brown sugar or palm sugar while it is still warm from the oven. I like my granola crunchy with toasted nuts so I do allow mine to brown a little longer in the oven than an hour. Adjust it to your taste preferences.

8 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups raw almonds 'chunked' *I like the flavor of large bite sized pieces. You get maybe three or four chunks per nut.
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seed
1 cup sweetened cranberries *Craisins
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar or grated palm sugar
1/8 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and flax seed. Set aside.

Measure out your cranberries and set aside to add later.

In a saucepan over low heat, simmer cinnamon, vegetable oil, honey, brown sugar or palm sugar, and hot water until the sugar begins to dissolve.

Slowly pour sauce over your oat & nut mixture and mix well. Pour mixture into a baking dish and place in your preheated oven. Bake for about 50 minutes stirring mixture every 10-15 minutes. Mixture will begin to turn golden.

Add cranberries and return to the oven for 10 more minutes. *Any longer and they will become very chewy or hard.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

A Quote to Remember

Alea was sitting on my lap the other day and snuggling ... something she rarely does anymore ...unless she wants something. She was poking my belly ...something she always does. I was teasing her about playing with my fat.

I said, 'that's okay. I like my belly this way. It's not super fat... just fluffy.'

To which she replied, 'Yup! Stuffed with love!'

You gotta love her!!!

Living Green?

Do you ever consider the impact you have on the world around you? Do you think about how much you as a family or individual use for yourselves? Do you think about how much you waste? I didn't until recently, and wow, was it ever an eye opener!

How do we measure success? Usually we measure success by what we have and what we are able to do. If we take a Caribbean vacation, people assume we have it made, we must be doing well. If we have a big house, we must have arrived at success. How true is their assumption, and how often are we putting on a show to impress them. Or worst, how often do we think we deserve these things. We are entitled to them whether we can afford or even need them?

We decided we wanted to reduce our environmental impact when we sold our house. We started looking at 'green' house plans. I was amazed at the number of 'green' mini-mansions! Folks, it is not environmentally responsible if you are utilizing nearly 3000 square feet of space for one couple! And trying to heat and air condition that amount of space counteracts the fact that you constructed it passive-solar. The amount of material used on constructing the spaces that don't necessarily get used are a waste in themselves.

Here are several things to consider when trying to build 'green'.

Of course, we all know about using green materials. It is helpful to not only use materials made out of renewable resources, but ones that are constructed using methods that are environmentally friendly. For example, bamboo is renewable. However, if a product is made out of the bamboo, and it's production requires high amounts of energy and produces toxic gases, it's use is counterproductive.

Reduce Waste! Many home plans are now being developed in ways that produce less scrap material. For example, walls are being constructed in dimensions that use standard lengths of lumber. Floor plans are being developed with simplicity in mind, with fewer exclusive areas of the home, but with areas that serve more than one purpose. For example, a house can be constructed more efficiently if a study 'area' is designated off the main living area instead of an extra room designated as a den. Many people are considering the simplicity of design and are now constructing homes in simpler shapes, with fewer peaks and gables.

Don't build areas for infrequent use. When considering whether to construct extra rooms consider their usage. Do you need to build a guest room for Aunt Sally who may or may not come to visit once every year or two, or would it be more cost effective to pay for her to stay at a motel, or with a friend. Is there really a problem with her sleeping on an air mattress for a few nights?

Consider not only construction costs, but heating and air conditioning of that space. Consider the cost, then divide that figure by the amount of time the space will get utilized. How much are you paying per hour for usage of that space? If you have frequent guests, it may be cost effective, especially if you can use that space for something else during the rest of the time. But so often we just want to be prepared for the 'what ifs'. Use the same method for rooms used for a sewing room or home gym. Consider a multi-purpose room to serve as a home office with a sewing closet and a stow-away bed or sleeper sofa for infrequent guests. You get the idea.

Consider energy use. You can use green materials in the construction process. And you can keep the wastefulness of the design to a minimum. But if you construct a house that uses a large amount of energy in order to maintain a comfortable environment, you will be nullifying all your efforts.

Most of all, consider the reasons for your design. Why does it need to be so large? Do you need that much space, or are you trying to impress others. Be honest with yourself. Can you be comfortable with less? People often believe that they need a certain amount of space in a home in order to distance themselves for the other inhabitants - personal space. Buy, hey, that is another issue! (see posts on fellowship)

The most useful tool in building and living green is our own mind - measuring our sucess not by what we have, but by what we accomplish.

Cult Talk

There has been a bit of talk lately about emergent churches. Some refer to them as the 'new church'. Some refer to them as 'new testament churches'. Some refer to them as 'biblical-based churches'. Many traditional churches refer to them as 'cults'. I decided to look up the meaning of 'cult'. According to Merriam-Webster, the word cult comes from the French culte and Latin cultus which means care and adoration, and from colere which means to cultivate.

Cult~
1: formal religious veneration : worship 2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents 3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator 5 a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b: the object of such devotion c: a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

As I began to read these definitions I began to say 'oh my goodness, I belong to a cult"! I am devoted to Jesus Christ. I participate in a system of beliefs and rituals, alongside a body of adherents to Jesus Christ. The questions begin to arise when we look at the wording of definition number 3 "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious". Unorthodox means breaking with convention or tradition. Something that is spurious is something that is not genuine, basically false.

Christianity in it's early stages was highly unorthodox. It was referred to by many as a cult. Here were all these people deviating from the norm of erecting idols and worshiping multiple Gods. People thought they were crazy. They thought they were following a spurious leader. But they were wrong. Time proved that Jesus was and is the Christ. I heard a pastor once say that Jesus was either mad, he was bad, or he was and is the son of God. Those are the only possibilities. It has been proven historically that Jesus the man existed. So, was he mad? Was he just a delusional crazy man? No records exist of anyone claiming such a thing. No historical record exists of anyone questioning the authenticity of Jesus. In fact, it appears that everyone he came in contact with became completely enamored with him, made a positive life change, and became a devout follower. And there is no record of him doing anything negative. Not exactly the fingerprint of a madman. So...was he bad? Was he just a liar? Did he merely claim to be the son of God to deceive people? What would his motive have been? Once again, there is no record of him doing anything negative. He didn't take money. He didn't live lavishly off the pennies of his devout followers. He didn't kill his enemies. And there is no record of anyone who knew him claiming he was a liar. There is only record of him showing love for everyone, including the unlovable. There is only record of him selflessly serving others. There is only record of him enduring beatings, torture and death. If he was merely a madman or a liar, couldn't he have avoided arrest and crucifixion? It leads me to the third option - that he is the Son of God. Who else could live such a selfless life, but a son of God? Compare Jesus to the 'gods' of other religions, the 'gods' of traditional religions of the time, who lived in selfish luxury, while their followers starved. What did they do for the people? And these were the orthodox religions, while the Jesus followers were considered members of a cult.

So, there is an example of what society has viewed a cult. Following the definition of 'cult' it qualifies...that is, until you get to the part of the definition that includes the word spurious (or false). Many of us believe that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God. For us it is a question of faith. And, according to the Bible, which we believe to be the inspired Word of God, 'faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.' Hebrews 11:1

In our society, people are quick to throw names around when they become uncomfortable. And they become uncomfortable when they are treading unfamiliar ground. These New Testament churches have more in common with the early churches than with the churches with which we are familiar. Most of their followers are more interested in following the guidelines for living outlined in the Bible than the traditional denominational guidelines outlined by men. Shane Claiborne is known to say that he gave up Christianity to follow Jesus. Many like him are breaking out of the mold. They are receiving criticism for worshipping Jesus Christ in a way so many people are uncomfortable. They are reading their Bibles and doing what it says. Many people claim that these emergent church are to be the downfall of the 'Church'. But are they a trigger for destruction or the catalyst of Revival?

1 Peter 4:6 (New King James Version)
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Thought for the day....

Dream with the same imagination that you used to use for looking for shapes in the clouds.

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
~Albert Einstein

Bye Bye Mousies!

I thought you would all like to know that two mice were found and evicted. They were very picky mice. They ate only peanut butter, peanut butter chips, homemade granola and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans. They were so desperate to get to the peanut butter that they chewed part of the label off my jar of Skippy! Everything else appears untouched. Just to be sure they weren't part of a mouse community, I will be waiting another day or two before making any more granola.

You can all rest tonight knowing I'm not laying awake at night listening for nibbling.

Will You Eat Them In A House? Will You Eat Them With A Mouse?

I LOVE animals! I love mice. They are my friends. But when it comes to the furry little cuties breaking into my family's food supply and traipsing all over it with their little footsies, I get a little annoyed. In fact, I get irate! And a new little mouse has welcomed itself into the house we are staying in.

I have tried nice little humane methods of getting rid of our little friend, who, by the way, moves faster than any mouse I have ever seen in my life. Even made my husband jump. Trust me, that is no small feat! Nothing is getting rid of the little guy, who scurries at the speed of light from the storage closet to under the range to the wood stove to behind the couch to the pantry faster than you can blink. I'm not even sure what color he is. I call his color dark blur (aka. not white).

We went to Costco the other day, and have a sack load of goodies that I picked up for Grandpa. Soon to be Dead Mouse apparently has developed a taste for coffee and decided to help himself to Grandpa's coffee beans! So now he is hopped up on caffeine. And I have to use another half tank of liquid gold to drive to Costco and get Grandpa some more coffee. I do not have my happy camper face on right now. And he has been clawing his way into my boxes.

Then I sniff sniff opened the pantry to find my last little Ziploc of healthy homemade granola on the floor with little pieces of granola goodies strewn across the floor. It is eviction time Mousie! No more Mrs. Nice Guy! Just as soon as I finish my big bowl of not so healthy Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which, apparently, you are not so fond of.

Year Round Unschooling

So many people have asked my girls if they are glad school is out. Alea will tell them, "We are still doing school. I'm a natural learner." People often misinterpret what she is saying and think she is bragging about how easily she learns. Let me explain. Natural learning is learning from the things around us, and turning our experiences into a learning experience, as opposed to learning from a curriculum or worksheets.

The biggest difference between natural learning and school is that you don't turn your learning on and off. We don't take summers or weekends off. We discuss, look up and learn from daily experiences. We use movie watching as a jumping off point to learn about history. We use vacations to learn about cultures, geography, science, and take advantage of everything around us. Kids that go to a traditional school often see learning as 'work', so when they are out of school, they are off work. And they want to shut off their minds. My twelve year old niece made a comment about shrimp being her favorite fish. I told her that it wasn't a fish. My six year old pipes in "It's an invertebrate." Said niece rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips and said "well it swims in the ocean so it's a fish". This opened her up to learn that there are even mammals in the ocean and actually very few ocean creatures are fish. She told me that she was out of school, so she didn't have to learn anything, so she didn't want to hear any more. She actually covered her ears! She has never been taught that learning new things can be fun and exciting. We were designed to experience life, not just go through life. And all of the new things we experience and learn are the seasoning that give our life flavor!

So we choose to learn all the time. And it is working! We don't sit down and memorize times tables, yet even my six year old is multiplying. My eight year old (that is now 8 11/12 - deep sigh!) is writing books and has a business going where she makes and sells bookmarks, and donates 80 percent of the sales to our church. They are learning plenty. We are currently researching bats because......bats are cool! and interesting! We may finish up by making a bat house. Or ten! The property we are purchasing runs along a large creek so we may need ten bat houses to house all our friendly furry mosquito eaters. Did you know there are resources on the web to teach you how to make a bat house more desirable for our bat friends? I didn't either. But now I do.
Here is last week's fun learning project. We made lip balm. The girls picked the scent. They designed the name and the label. They poured the lip balm and applied the labels. We found a recipe that needed to be divided in half, so we worked on division. The recipe used decimals, so decimals were discussed. It was listed in ounces so we talked about units of measure and the metric system. And they weighed them on the digital scale. They even asked questions about the different oils and butters used, and we looked up ( and they read ) the different properties of the oils and butters we used, and why we chose them.

And here is what I have learned. I LOVE this lip balm. I have been making lip balm for over a year and tried several recipes, but this is the smoothest, creamiest lip balm ever. So, they have now developed my new lip balm for my new company! I might change the label though. And they are talking about a product line for girls. And they have discovered a new gift they can make for their friends. Who knows what this could turn into? All because we didn't take a summer vacation.

Go to Work with Daddy Day!

The girls went to work with Daddy yesterday.....FIELD TRIP!

They came home with a spot or two of dirt. And Kasi rode a bike (a two wheeler) down a steep hill, at the last minute deciding to dodge a mud puddle in the gravel. Wipe out! She has a couple of new boo-boos.

So the girls got to visit the piggies and play in the mud and I got to go run errands all by myself. The bank folks didn't recognize me without my girls limboing while in line, and I only spent 30 minutes at the grocery store, spent less than $40 and didn't visit the bathroom. Who's life is this, anyways?

Confessions of a Mere Puzzle Piece

I made a promise regarding this blog. I promised God that what I wrote would honor Him. I promised to not make it into a gossip column. I promised not to make it into a page for venting my frustrations when things don't go my way. It's not about me. It's about Him.

Well, here is the thing. Everything that we have been working on has been moving SOOOOO slowly. And I have been frustrated. I have not been content in my circumstances. I have not been rejoicing. And I have not been praising God in the storms. There! It is out! I have been thinking about MY suffering, and MY discomfort. I have been sticking out my lip and stomping my feet. Don't I look mature?

I haven't been writing because I haven't had anything positive to say. I haven't had any words of encouragement. Looking back, it almost cracks me up. Would you believe that miracles have been occurring all around me, and I couldn't see them? I was too busy looking at myself.

It really hit me yesterday about how blessed my family is. We are actually staying with a friend while we are waiting for all the pieces to fall into place for this amazing project God chose us to be a part of. How many people do you know who are willing to take in a family of four? And our host is being so good to us. God told him to take us in. And he chose to listen.

And God has been showing us favor wherever we go. I have run to pick up a bit for everyone to eat, and the clerk has smiled and told me he gave me a coupon discount (I'm not the cute young hottie that everyone gives free stuff to, by the way). We go to get the oil changed in our van, and the guy gives us our old air filter to us in a box marked 'merry early Christmas'. We know him, but I wonder, did God prompt him to do something for us as well? My van sure is running better with the new one! We went to one restaurant recently and it hit me. We have been to that restaurant more than a half dozen times, and have never paid! Someone else has offered to treat us when the check comes EVERY time. That is my new favorite restaurant, by the way.

And the pieces are falling into place. I can see it all around me. It seems like we have been waiting for months to be able to proceed with the survey and an actual contract for the land we intend to purchase. But I can see how that was moving slowly to enable us to be prepared financially. Now, new doors are opening in that area. As much as we wanted to jump in and get going, there is no way we could afford to proceed. We are coming across people who want to be a part of this amazing venture. We are coming across people who want to help. It may appear to be coming together slowly....but it is coming together. And much more smoothly than I could have imagined.

I need to catch myself when I start questioning God's purpose. Maybe you do too. Maybe the next time I wonder if He is listening, when I wonder if He is punishing me, when I wonder if He has forgotten me....maybe I will look away from me, and toward Him. Then He can show me all the puzzle pieces He is dropping into place, waiting for just the right moment to drop me in as a part of an amazingly beautiful puzzle.

Filling Our Hearts with God

I found this at my friend, Sherlyn's site (aka. Carolina Cowgirl). It struck me as to how true it is.

I'm afraid that I often crowd God out of my heart with thoughts of myself - thoughts of my desires, my discomforts - focusing on me, me, me. In all truth, I should be focused on God. I should focus my heart on God, and he will fill it up. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Our teaching pastor gives us an illustration of a triangle when describing the relationship between a husband and a wife. The husband exists at one lower corner, and the wife exists that the other lower corner. They are far apart. In fact, as long as they look toward each other, the distance remains. But as they travel upward toward the other corner (where God exists), they not only travel closer toward God, but closer toward each other. In seeking God, they will discover each other.

A Glimpse at a Future Community

These photos are of a future community. We are incredibly blessed to be working with a landowner who is excited about helping God's vision for this community become a reality. He has agreed to sell us a portion of the land with an agreement to lease and later purchase the remainder. We are awaiting the results of a re-survey to divide the land nearly in half. When it is complete we hope to sit down with the owner and strike an agreement that will benefit us all. We truly desire the entire tract of land, as you can see it is amazing. We have all agreed though that purchasing a portion for now, and making an agreement for a future lease and purchase is much more desirable than living in a tent for the next couple of years.

I am getting anxious and truly covet your prayers for this incredible project.

Thought of the day....

Make new friends!

*Note* photos taken at Tiger World. Tiger World is now open!

Signs of Change?

Yesterday, when driving past a place that sells sheds and picnic tables, I saw a sign that read 'rent to own'. It suddenly hit me....can you now rent to own a picnic table or shed? I thought it was a wee bit odd. Companies are now making it possible for us to finance ANY purchase. Harley Davidson makes it possible for you to own a motorcycle with just $99 down, and 72 monthly payments. Wow, that is a lot of payments for a toy! And those payments substantially increase after the first two years. But a picnic table?

I wish people would stop and think it out before they finance unnecessary purchases. Do I really need this item? There is nothing worse than the feeling you get when the newness of an item wears off, you tire of it, it is in the way, and you are still paying for it. How much will it cost me if I finance it? Figure in interest rates (and possible penalties) and you could be paying 200 percent or more (usually more if you make the minimum payment) of the original purchase price. Is this item something I could save for a couple of months and purchase with cash? If it is, the peace of mind you purchase when paying cash makes it worth waiting. Then when you scratch it, dent it, your kid hits it with a baseball bat, it catches on fire, or gets damaged in a storm, you don't panic. It is paid for!

My Cool Idea for Summertime

Our local library has a really neat summer reading program to encourage kids to read over the summer. The problem is that with their limited budgets and the number of kids they are trying to reach, their rewards consist of little plastic trinkets. Not wanting to accumulate stuff that we just don't need, and will very soon find it's way into the local landfill, I brainstormed for a way to devise my own 'summer reading program' for my girls. I ran it by them, and they are jumping up and down, absolutely thrilled with our new program. In fact, they have both almost finished reading the four books each they picked out at the library yesterday!

They are keeping a log of the books they have read - title, author, number of chapters, number of pages, and the date they completed it. They reach a new reward level for every 15 books read (books of their own choosing, of course). The first 15 book level is going to be a trip to the movies (yup, even popcorn and a drink). At the 30 book level they are going to get to participate in a soap making craft day. The adorable little guys pictured at the top of the page are made using a soap making kit available through Bramble Berry. We will (hopefully soon) be moving into our new home and I thought it would give the girls an opportunity to participate in creating their own special bathroom. And, as some of you know, I have a wee bit of a passion for soap making.

If you want to order your own, and I know you do, you can order it through http://www.brambleberry.com/. For less than $20 you will receive the very adorable amphibian mold ( with two cavities each of the salamander and the frog), orange mica, blue-green mica, iridescent glitter, white melt and pour soap base, clear melt and pour soap base, pearberry fragrance oil, and watermelon fragrance oil. There is enough to make soap for your kids, for mom and dad, and even for your kid's best friends. Ooooh, how about a slumber party craft?! Or a summer craft for you homeschoolers?! Whatever the occasion, pick one up and enjoy!

As for our 45 and 60 book levels, I haven't decided. They will have to be big to follow this. Maybe supper at Mr. Gatti's with a few tokens to play the games. But, with cute little critter soaps that they made themselves in their own bathroom, who cares?

Thought for the day....

Look for art in everyday objects.

Think about the thought God put into all that He created. He created so much with our enjoyment in mind. He could have found a way for the leaves to fall to the ground in the Autumn without infusing them with color. He could have found a way for the birds and animals to attract a mate using something other than their melodious calls and vivid colors.

He is an artist. Our world is his canvas. He creates his masterpieces for our enjoyment as well as his own. Praise him for it!

Thought for the day....

Be still and know that I am God

Psalm 46:10

Off to the Mountains

We are off to the mountains for the next three days. Alea is participating in GUIDANCE (God U and I Dance) for the first time this year with Arts Evangelica. They will be performing at Cherokee Cove in Mountain City, TN (coincidentally during the Christian Songwriters Camp there). Then they will be performing at Shelter Rock, as well as distributing clothing and food. GUIDANCE is a wonderful program that provides these girls not only with top notch dance training and opportunities to perform at multiple venues, but also an opportunity to be missionaries. Check out Arts Evangelica at http://www.artsevangelica.org/.

My husband and mother are going to be travelling with me, my two daughters, and several other dancers and their families (20 carloads in all!). It is destined to be a miraculous experience. Please join us in prayer for safety, favor, and above all else, that multitudes of people will witness the love of Jesus Christ through these young ladies.

Thought for the day....

Take

Time

To

Smell

The Flowers.

Updates on Community

Well, we are moving right along on building a community. Our real estate agent has spoken with the land owner of the gorgeous land we want to purchase. She has told him of our plans for the land, and he loves the idea. Yeah! He is on board for working with us on making it happen. We should have a contract within a week. I'll keep you updated.