Just Listen

Sometimes we need to sit back, put our worldly concerns on hold and just listen to the voice of the Lord...

 

Listening is hard.

Listening and acting on what we hear is harder.

Listening and not acting, will end up the hardest of them all.

 

I'm a far cry from good at listening to the Lord 24/7.

I still listen to my fears more then my Father.

I pray daily for Him to keep talking to me, keep urging me... even when I'm not listening.

 

Sometimes He'll direct our life in a new way or further us on the path we're on.

Sometimes He'll urge us to bless another family, occasionally in ways we never would have thought of.

Sometimes He'll place in our heart a need to reach out to someone emotionally or spiritually.

 

We may feel unqualified to fulfill the opening to be His hands and feet that He is presenting to us.

But He never asks us to be qualified!

He will give us all we need in resources, strength, wisdom and courage to follow what He lays on our heart!

 

When that little voice in your head pipes up and says to do something, take a deep breath, pray and starting acting on those words. Those are the words of the Lord speaking to your heart!

 

Grocery challenge update: My last grocery trip came to $87.09, leaving me with $120.76!

 

Homestead updates: Miss Penny had our third litter of kits, 7 strong healthy babies! And Duchess is due tonight but hasn't pulled fur, so might be another day.

I bought out a local breeder and sold off most of the breeding stock I wasn't interested in keeping.

I've almost finished the goat pen and have found a couple farmers who will stud out their goats when I'm ready to breed the girls in July.

The hens are giving us about 6 eggs a day! We didn't buy any eggs this month, sold a few and gave some to friend after she saved 2 baby bunnies who escaped their cage!

The front garden bed is completely planted and once the goats are penned I'll need to put in a bed in the back because I am not done planting!

Slowing Down

I have been a woman of many hats in the last year.

I have balanced more roles than I care to list. I've taken on more projects than I can count. Ignored my own mind telling me no. Generally pushed myself beyond any imaginable limits.

I thought I had it all under control with God backing me.

Except that with so many roles to balance... well, there hasn't been any balance. Things have started slipping. Some of those "hats" have slipped to block my vision of my goal in this life. Others have been time consuming. Some have gotten lost in the balancing act.

That last group hits my heart.

What have I lost? I've lost my focus. My time in the bible. My excited, adventurous school time with the kids. My patience. Myself.

I started adding all these things to who I am. To who God created me to be. All because I felt I needed to since I was a single mother.

Here I am a year later. In some ways better off and in others much worse off. Feeling completely empty and drained.

I need to refocus.

I need to slow down.

At least as slow as things can get with 6 kids and a small farm!

I'm reconstructing my company to focus on the homestead. I'm taking a step back from more time consuming projects in favor of more time with my kids.

Mostly, I'm getting back into my bible. I'm ashamed to say that last Wednesday I put my bible in my church bag for service and it didn't leave the bag until I sat down in the pew this week. For an entire week, I did not read my bible!



I'm also taking a slower approach to reading the bible. I'm no longer trying to get through the bible in a year. I'm always so focused on if I'm caught up or behind, that I'm not getting much from it. Instead, I am setting the goal of 20 minuets in the bible alone in the morning, afternoon bible time with the kids reading from the illustrated children's bible and asking questions, doing versus and then taking an hour to hour and a half to myself after the kids are in bed to study the bible.

If I make it through a large amount of reading in a day, great!
If I make it through a small section that I can't stop reading and taking notes on and the Lord is really opening my heart to, EVEN BETTER!
All that matters is that I'm refocusing on what matters. The Lord.

No Laughing Matter

I think most people like a good joke.

Some of us even appreciate dorky, corny jokes.

 

Sadly, a lot of people laugh at tasteless jokes putting down another group of people.

A lot of us would agree that this is wrong.

A few will stand up for religions, races, cultures, the elderly, women and blonds who become the punchline.

Many would say that they would never do this.

 

I want you to stop for a moment and think.

 

There is a group that secular society, and sadly even portions of the church, have deemed it culturally acceptable to put down for the sake of humor.

 

Men.

 

Social media, movies, television and even basic human interactions are peppered, sometimes heavily, with "jokes" putting men down, comments made to be humorous at the expense of cutting down an entire gender.

 

This pains me.

 

Ladies, we need to be lifting up our men. Weather they are husbands, sons, brothers, uncles or friends. These men are to guide their families. They are made to be leaders.

 

If you wouldn't want it said to or about your son, don't say it to or about someone else.

 

How can we expect them to be effective and confident leaders if we cut them down for the sake of a laugh?

If a person is put down for something repeatedly, even the most confident person can start to crack.

 

Once that crack is there, it's there. You can slap a band aid on it or try to glue it, but it will never be the same. It will never be quite as strong, powerful or beautiful.

 

As mothers, wives, sisters and friends we need to lift up the men around us. Show them respect, trust their advice.

 

I challenge each of you to take this a step further.

Next time a friend makes a joke at her husbands expense, don't laugh.

When the cashier makes a comment about how you must deserve an award for raising "all those boys", tell her how amazing they are.

Someone makes a negative remark to you about a man you know, counter it with a great quality he posses.

 

I know this is something I am always working on. It's certainly something I could have done better in my marriage.

Ladies, I pray each one of us refrains from even laughing at a poorly made joke. I pray we efficiently fill the role of helping the men in our lives and lifting them up.

 

 

Endless veggies!

When trying to stick to a grocery budget, produce can be hard to fit in.

If your family consumes anything close to what we do, produce can break the bank!

 

Produce is also one area I refuse to cut back on buying to save a dollar or even a penny.

I love seeing my kids choosing apples and broccoli over other options.

 

But those healthy eating habits come with a price tag!

One I am working to make smaller!

 

First of all, watch prices at places you regularly shop.

Of the 3 places I regularly shop I've noticed one place has mandarin oranges at half the cost of the others. Another always has the lowest price on yams. The third wins for broccoli and strawberries every time. By keeping track of what places are charging, I can plan ahead and not pay more than I need to for what we need.

 

Second, skip the pre-packaged, pre-sliced stuff. It's over priced, not as fresh and usually doesn't taste the best. It's worth a little time to slice your own to save some $$$. Plus if you include one of the kids you can get in some wonderful time talking to them while they help divide and bag fruit you slice!

 

By far the best way to save money on produce is to grow your own. Not only is it more affordable, but it tastes SO much better. Even in a small apartment you can grow at least some of the food you eat!

 

Hanging pots are great for strawberries, peas, pole beans, baby spinach, herbs and cherry tomato vines.

 

Window sills can be great places to grow things that grow up (not out) like herbs, romaine lettuce and celery.

 

 

Quite a few foods can regrow from the scraps you'd normally compost or *gasp* throw away!

 

I have a baby food jar in my kitchen window that is on it's third time growing the same green onions! Just place slice the greens off to use and place the white bulb into water. Then regrow rather quickly!

 

Celery and romaine lettuce will regrow too! I slice through the bunch about 2" from the bottom. I have a plastic tray that I set them in with about an inch of water. Once they take root, I will be transplanting them to a container. Just trim off what you need from the outer layers and they keep growing back!

 

 

Onions can be regrown in the same fashion!

 

Even foods that won't regrow can multiply! Potatoes and garlic that have sprouted can easily be planted instead of thrown out.

 

Make sure you store your homegrown goods properly to avoid spoilage! Seeing your hard work go to waste is very frustrating!

I spent another $37.60 at the grocery store, leaving me with $207.85 for them month!

We welcomed 11 new rabbits today. I bought 4 new does, three are New Zealand whites and the fourth is a New Zealand, Californian and Flemish mix. The other 7 additions are Sally's thriving kits! She didn't lose one!
Tomorrow there will be a few more rabbit additions.
This week we also welcomed Trixie and Pepper Rose. They are Nigerian dwarf goats. They are a wonderful addition to the homestead!

His hands and feet

If there is one thing I pray to allows do better, to teach my kids and to be an example of, it's to be His hands and feet.

To be a living, breathing, moving, DOING example of Christ's love.

 

Not Just in word but in deed.

 

To live my life looking for chances to help.

 

To act on every gut instinct to help.

 

To do everything I can to show people that Christ lives in each of our hearts.

 

To leave the world a little better than I found it.

 

To give selflessly.

 

To show kindness and love, not just sympathy.

 

To hope that others will do the same.

 

 

And every once in awhile, it comes back to me.

 

That's not what it's about, but let's remember if no one is doing the giving, no one can do any getting.

Give the clothes you don't wear.

Give the food you won't eat.

Give the money you'd save for "someday".

Give the time you waste.

Give the love of Christ that grows.

 

Today I was privileged to meet wonderful ladies who were giving away books. Some very wonderful homeschooling books.

 

 

They also raise adorable Holland lop rabbits. The rabbit sells fund ministry work!

The ladies as Holland Lop Hollow are wonderful... if you decide to buy a rabbit from someone other than me, buy from them!

Grocery Goal

Some of you may remember that I set a goal to lower my grocery bill to $400.

 

I have not done a good job at that one.

 

Now that I am striving to save every penny for the down payment to buy my house, I'm trying to reach that goal with new motivation and excitement!

 

 

I made my meal plan.

I ate before I left.

I didn't take kids.

I made a list.

 

and for once I was close to my budget!

 

My goal for the first shopping trip of the month is to only spend $150.

 

 

I went over by only $4.55!

 

With what I picked up we should be stocked up for the month and only need to fill in a few things and pick up produce and milk each week.

 

This amount also included a 25 pound bag of carrots for the animals.

 

I have $245.45 left in my grocery budget for the month.

When feeding a crowd this size that's not much.

We'll be utilizing a lot of what we have in the pantry and freezer.

Many cheap recipes, which I'll be sharing here!

Two or three of our hens are ready to butcher.

I've discovered that some foods can be regrown from the scraps. I'll share more on that tomorrow!

 

I hope everyone takes what the Lord gives them, no matter how much or how little and uses it wisely.



"But" is dangerous word

I like reading blogs. That's part of why I started my own blog.

 

I love learning from those who have been there and done that.

 

I love another way to share the gospel.

 

I love the variety of voices that are found.

 

I don't love how hard it can be to find blogs written by those with a heart for the Lord. I mean truly, deeply given their life to the Lord.

 

But it's not just blogs where this is a problem. It's everywhere. Books, movies, people.

 

How many times have people said...

 

"I know I should do more for my church but....."

"Sometimes I feel the Lord calling me to (insert whatever it may be) but...."

"The Bible says (insert one of many topics here!) but..."

 

Each time that little "but" is added people are justifying why they are not following the Lord whole heartedly.

It's a little word. It's a dangerous word.

 

What we're really saying is "but I know better than God."

 

If you're not following God's word, you think you know better.

If you're not listening to what the Lord lays on your hear, you think you know better.

 

None of us knows better than the Lord. We're all at different points in our walk with the Lord and that's great. We're all learning. Learning together, learning from one another, learning individually.

 

The problem is when we KNOW something is against the Lord's will and we try to justify it!

 

We need to pray hard that the Lord will soften our hearts to His will. We need to do this daily.

 

But we also need to listen.

No amount of prayer is going to help if you don't listen.

 

It's like asking the same question 900 times.

If you don't listen to the answer, the question gets you no where!

 

Sometimes God asks us to take steps of faith.

Sometimes God asks us to take leaps of faith.

Either way, we need to listen, learn and live God's will for our lives.

 

It's not always easy, sometimes it's down right terrifying!

But we have a God who wants to see us prosper and profit!

 

What steps and leaps has the Lord placed on your heart that you are struggling with?

 

INSANITY

Sometimes things get a little crazy... and I hate that it means the blog gets pushed to the back burner for a short time. What kind of insanity has happened you ask?

I was baptised.
2 litters of kits (baby bunnies)
Lost one litter.
Presented with the option to buy this house.
Added a lot of rabbits!
Finished up 4 custom orders.
Stomach flu, which is still hanging around! Poor kiddos!

and now today we have roofers here to replace our roof!

None of it is really out of the ordinary for us, just usually it's not all at once!

Times like these I am brought to my knees in prayer multiple times a day. I am brought to tears. I am overwhelmed. I am tired and I am weary. Most importantly, I am faithful.

I am steadfast. I am clinging to the Lord. I am comforted in the knowledge that He will never give me more than I can handle and no matter how alone I feel (like sitting in the ER with 6 kids and no help to be found!) I am not alone, He is right there with me through it all!

Even when you feel like you can not handle it another minuet, if the Lord has laid it in your path, trust that it is for a reason. I have learned that I am stronger than I think, I can work more efficiently if I try.

I've learned where I need to let go. I've seen what areas are taking up time I can not afford to spend.

The house is slowly coming back together and the animals are all doing well. So it's time to get things back to our routine and prepare for garage sales, bake sales and a lot of extra work to pull together the down payment we need!