Words of Praise and Worship

"Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees,

that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law

and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands,

for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes

and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant,

so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread,

for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts!

In your righteousness preserve my life." Psalm 119:33-40

A call to Simplicity

‘Tis a gift to be simple,
‘Tis a gift to be free,
‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed.
To turn, turn, will be our delight,
‘Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

Those are the lyrics to an old Shaker folk tune, written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett while he lived in the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine.

I have been considering these lyrics for some time now, pondering their message. They seem more poignant as I consider what homesteading really means to me and my family.

I have been watching as the body of Christ has strayed away from God, and striving for his way, as our world has grown more and more complex. Sadly, it has become difficult to spot a christian today. We have become so worldly, there is little difference between the people of God and non-believers other than where we park our cars on Sunday.

We have set our hearts on achieving what the world defines as valuable, and have put aside the ways of the Lord. Christians today are more concerned about the performance of their 401k then they are about laying up treasures in heaven. We also have developed a case of the “I wants” as bad as our unbelieving neighbors. This worldly focus has us chasing big screen televisions, new cars, bigger homes, elaborate vacations, and a life of leisure, as much as any of the pagan fellows we pass on our way through the store’s glass doors on “black friday”.

We eagerly follow our favorite television shows, know every name and stats of every player on our favorite sports team, yet we can’t navigate our way through the books of the Bible, let alone give good explanations of the doctrines we believe.

The writer of the book of Hebrews felt this same frustration around 67 A.D. when he had to stop his dissertation on Melchizedek because he realized his audience couldn’t understand the point. They had been christians for 20 to 30 years but he said; “…though by this me you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truth’s of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” Hebrews 6:12 (NIV).

The Barna research group has done some polling on modern Christianity. His survey’s show some disturbing trends. I have attached a link to the Barna information. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/18-congregations/103-barnas-annual-tracking-study-shows-americans-stay-spiritually-active-but-biblical-views-wane

I realize I am painting with a broad brush, however, God has burdened my heart regarding this issue. I fear we have become the Laodicean church spoken of in Revelation 3:14-21. Jesus had harsh rebukes for that church that resonate today; “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17 (NIV).

Christ also had a dire warning for that church, reminding them that God will not allow us to be cavalier in our faith and ignore him for very long. He will discipline his church as a father disciplines a wayward child.
I want to use this blog to call the Church back to simpler, humble lives. I intend to explore how God intended his Church and his children to live.

I plan to do this using God’s own word as a guide. I want to avoid drifting into legalism and lists of do’s and don’ts. We have freedom in Christ by his death and resurrection. I want, rather, to start developing an understanding of what the prophet meant when he said; “…to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8b (NIV). I wish to rediscover how to live simply and worship with a simple faith.

In Christ,
Todd

Garden vs. Microfarm

The thing that separates a garden from a Micro farm is the utilization of ground. A garden is usually placed in a spot, picked in advance, and never much changes from the original area. Plantings may come and designs may change, however, the space occupied by the garden rarely changes.

A Microfarm is all about change and expansion. Since I'm not able to work on lots of acerage, I have to make the best use of every inch of ground I have. That means less grass and more tillable ground. My wife and I spend alot of time walking around our property and planning a future expansion.

We recently had some stumps removed and next spring we will see a new raspberry patch and a asparagus bed.

The area shown here is the beginning of the asparagus bed. Our plan is to increase the size of the bed and to raise it in a stone bed. The rectangular bed will be raised about 1 - 1 1/2 feet with a beautiful bed.

Shown below is the area we will add our raspberry bed next spring. We've been wanting to add raspberries for quite a while, but never had a good spot in mind for the bed. The compost bin and removed stumps revealed and excellent site for the bed.

Other areas we are future planning include the front yard, east-side yard, current kitchen garden, and our west fence area. The front yard is in process with the addition of the new picket, however, there are 3 trees that will need to be addressed.

Some ideas we are kicking around include: a dwarf, apple orchard (for the front yard), 3-4 peach trees along the main garden line, strawberries or a perma-culture alternative for the east side, and lots of currents along the west fence.

We are beginning construction of our chicken coop in the next few weeks. This is a dream/goal that we have considered for a few years. We will also be adding meat rabbits next spring. I'll definitely be writing on both projects as they develop.

Bottom line to this post is that if you wish to move beyond a hobby garden and develop a true microfarm or homestead, you must be an "out-of-the-box" thinker when it comes to your property.

P.S.

A great big "THANKS" to our friend, Lindsay, for updating the look and feel of our blog. She made it look fantastic!