God's faithfulness (and hookups)

My God is a God of Freedom.

Wanted to write a blog to document today and how faithful God is showing Himself to be in our lives.

I've been struggling so much with the idea that sharing what I'm doing and what I'm into is like bragging (1 John 2:15-17). I struggled half the day with wanting to put up a picture of a beanie I'm knitting.

Well, then I read this link by Heather Lindsey, http://heatherllindsey.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-private-woman.html#.UNpCem_O1qk, and basically, Heather was saying that so many woman could benefit from what I'm into - we can connect and share. She stated that our focus needs to be on God, not starting something. Well, that takes a lot of pressure off, so I was glad to hear it. I was up till Midnight looking up verses, the Greek, and articles on finding out how God can use my gifts and what they might be.

So Nathan and I started a website, which is only in the planning stages but I'm really happy! I feel like it's a major 1st step into getting connections started.

Then, at the Library the next day I got Your Plan for a Balanced Life, kind of on a whim. Man, am I glad I did! I have pages of notes for progress, planning, and changes I want to make. One area was really getting me down: community, volunteering, and a 3rd place (in addition to home and work). Nate and I struggle in these areas because we can't find what we're looking for. We've volunteered at several places, but they're either way too impersonal, or require way too much of us. It's really discouraging. We want so badly to reach dark places for Him, and build relationships. Which is kinda hard based on what we want - a mix of In His Steps by C.M.Sheldon and Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Anyway, I was feeling SO bad about this part of our Faith walk: Jesus wants us out there! He's given us gifts and expects us to use our "talents" for His kingdom, not bury them until His return. But where to start? I prayed. Last night and this morning.

After figuring out that we really didn't want to do something outside today, I started thinking about how sad it was that some people would be alone today. Then, a woman I used to visit once a week popped into my head. I thought about visiting her, but I haven't seen or called her in MONTHS. And would Nate really want to do it? Ugh, I figured I'd rather just wait  . . . or kind of go never. But then I remembered that one of the things the book said about Procrastination: Whatever you're wanting to put off for another day, do one small step TODAY. Well, I decided to just go for it - life is short and I'm trusting God to lead me, so it's time to take some risks and get messy.

Long story short, the visit was awesome! A mom and her adult daughter were also there and they were believers too! They loved hearing about our Homesteading vision and the daughter is in non-profit studies, which fascinates me. They knew of so many places to check out for volunteering and we exchanged info. I just read an E-mail of different things we could check out from bi-weekly worship services to a conference in - get this - 5 DAYS - that we can go to that should have a lot of information on serving in our area!

I'm not sure where we're headed, but o my gosh, I'm overwhelmed at God's faithfulness! And how quick it was this time! I asked, having NO clue where or what (we felt like we'd tried a lot of things) and then bam - He reminds me of the woman, I called, the visitors she had in addition to us (Same time and day!) seemed to be given to us by God for the very things that I had on my heart and brought to Him over this weekend. Why do I make Him small? He's so big! I think He just can't wait to bless us, if we'd only give Him a chance.

SO Enjoying Him,
Morgan

We also read the Environmentalism chapter in Red Letter Revolution and watched It's a Wonderful Life. We're bursting at the seems with ideas on ways to combine the vision God's given us for our family with His call to serve His church. I've wrestled with this for so long, I'm so happy right now.
O! And happy 10 year anniversary to me and Jesus - pretty awesome way to spend it <3

Happy Homesteader post

Questions from Another Mother

• Posted by Mark and Erin Harrison on October 13, 2012 at 8:30am
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So I wanted to ask you if you could, when you have some time, please do me a favour… I have a list of questions I would love to ask someone and I have no one around. I know your children love to work and seem to have a good time working together, and I guess they must also enjoy learning some “academics”, too… could you, as you can and have time, answer to this “list of questions and doubts”, so as to give me some of a realistic model to follow and learn from, or at least some ideas?

-          How do you homeschool the children? How long every day, what method and materials do you follow?  We usually homeschool, starting at 8:30 am.  We use Pathway (this is the Amish Curriculum) for all subjects: reading writing and arithmatic.  We follow the Amish schedule for schooling.  This is how it goes and it feels so much more doable for us: Mondays, Wednesdays we do:  Arithmatic, reading, spelling, and english.   Tuesdays and Thursdays we do:  Arithmatic, vocabulary, bible memory, geography (for the older kids)  On Fridays:  Arithmatic, bible memory recitation (one verse per week), penmanship, art, history, fridays are an easier load.  We often have very little to do on Fridays which is nice.  What we do is about one lesson which is about 2 pages in each book.  Pathway is really great for little ones I have found.  I used many different curriculums in my day and I find this to be the best ever for teaching how to read and write.  Lots of repetition.  Most days we are done before noon.  Then we have a nice meal together, clean up, and work on other projects like sewing, baking, and canning if needed.  Homeschooling is very time consuming and takes a lot of dedication no matter how you look at it.  I can get the feeling of overwhelming frustration at times.  Miles is constantly getting distracted so we have to keep him prodded all day to stay with his school.  Thankfully this year, we have him caught up, usually he is about 6 months behind in all his books.  He is 13 now, and has a good work ethic, in all other things of business BUT schooling.  His Work ethic will pay off in his business endeavors.

 

For the little ones, just a lot of different work books so they stay interested.  Coloring, reading stories to them each day, counting money, folding laundry, helping bake. That all teaches them some math.  Fun stuff.  Keeping it light and fun is important.  And naturally, if they were around other homeschool kids, they will want to do more stuff too. 


-          How do you organize your day so you have time for everything? What time do you usually get up and go to bed? I used to get up really early when I had to do a lot of computer work.  But now, Mark and I usually go to bed around 9 and wake up by 6 am.  We make breakfast together, call the kids down, eat, do all the clean up.  I set timers and tell everyone what their jobs are, they have about 1 hours to get their chores done and be ready to start in on school.  Then if the kids are doing fast work, we offer a break and snack mid morning.  They love that, so it encourages the diligent work.  Around noon, we cook a nice meal and sit down as a family, eat, pray, then we branch off to clean up. The important part is to keep it up.  One day of laziness on anyones part can lead to a monumental tornado of a mess in the home.  We try to MAKE the kids do their part, even if we have to do it by force.  Junior is the one that needs a lot of prodding on the work, but the others are very cheerful by now.  I give them two choices:  You can either do the job cheerfully, or you can do the job after a swift spanking.  Still they will have to do it either way.  They generally choose the cheerful way.  That makes working fun.  Often the children sing and whistle while they work.  After lunch, we pick stuff we can do, the girls like to sew, read, or play dollies still.  The boys love to shoot arrows, play soccer, or football outside.  They keep after that for hours now that they are older.  Miles usually sticks to brushing his horses, cleaning stalls out, feeding the stock, building things with dad in the shop.  He is more business minded at this time in his life.  We are so glad for that.  Around 4 or 5 pm, the girls and I start thinking about what we will make for supper.  Usually, we use our canned goods and throw together a nice one dish meal. 

-          What is more or less the daily schedule you follow so that everything keeps on? I just keep things simple and when I know there is a big butchering or canning get together with the ladies of the community, I double up on the lessons, and try to make sure we wake up an hour ahead to get a dish made up to pass, and the dishes washed and put away.  I hate coming home to a mess.  I hate starting school in a mess.  I can't think, so I just make sure we get our chores done before we do anything else.  It is like this:  We like to finish each thing so we can think about the next thing, it really clears our mind.  One day at a time, too.  Just taking it step by step. I never look at the mountain ahead, I just take one step at a time and then by the time I reach the top of the mountain, it is all downhill from their.  

-          How do you organize your meals? We cook the same every week more or less and I am still somewhat lost! Well, I do not think far enough in advance to plan my meals for the week.  I just make sure I sit down with the girls about 1.5 hours before the meal to figure out what we feel like making.  I try to make enough food for lunch so that I can throw the leftovers together in a batch of soup for supper.  That makes it really easy for the end of the day when you are already tired.  



-          What do your “Casseroles” usually consist of? They do sound nutritious! Do you have some recipes at hand that you think I might use? One casserole I enjoy making that really stretches across a few meals for our family is my Mexican casserole.  First I make about 4 cups of rice which takes 8 cups of water.  I boil and simmer the rice until fluffy.  Then, I take about 2 cans of my spaghetti sauce that we canned, a quart of cooked beans, a quart of tomatoes, a quart or 2 pounds of ground meat of your choice, mix and bring to a boil.  Then add chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder.  Now you can make a Hay stack dinner.  You grate some cheese, chop up fine some onions, green or red bell peppers, avacado, lettuce, sour cream, and crunch up some corn chips.  This would be the first go at the meal.  You start stacking the haystack with a scoop of rice, then a scoop of chile soup mixture, top it with all the fixins and you have a very yummy dish to eat.  Next meat, you find a oval roasting pan with a lid.  You put your rice on the bottom, then layer on the chili, next, the leftover fixings like onions, bell peppers, avacado, and top with cheese.  You save your lettuce and sour cream and chips for the next meal.  Heat the casserole up until the cheese is bubbling on top.  Scoop out your portions and you can add the lettuce, sour cream, and chips again to this meal.  After that is through, there will still be a lot leftover, so we take all of this and dump it into a stock pot, add water, more seasonings, maybe another can of tomatoes and you have a taco soup.  That is one idea.  I do this about once every week.  Another casserole I have made lately, is Chicken lasagna casserole.  I crunched up a bunch of Kale into my canned chicken breast chunks, added some rice noodles, one cup of cream cheese, seasoned it with onion powder, salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, onions, and top with cheese. That is really really good, too.  

-          How do you do the “Bologna” you often talk of when talking about butchering and canning? We cut all the meat off the bones while it is raw. Then you have to measure how many pounds and add seasonings, grind it all up, add some water until smooth and then pack it cold into quart jars with wide mouths.  It is pressure canned for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.  

-          I am, to sum up, quite lost as how to train myself first to keep the house working, and how to take the girls alongside with me.You need to be sure to include them in EVERYTHING you do.  They need to be your side kick.  It is harder to get things done while they are small, but believe me, that will pay off when they are Molly and Megan's age, running the house themselves with very little encouragement.  They just grow into that type of work load.  

-          I think I tried to have the girls “do everything with me” so much that they got tired of it and I never got to get anything done. They still like to help me, but I am still finding it hard to know how to balance work together with classes and with their own interests… I never find so much time in a day!! Could you please give me some ideas?It would be best if you could try to only pick one thing extra in the day.  Try to set one goal to accomplish besides the normal routine.  One can never put too many irons in the fire unless they want to get burned from it, or I should say, burnt out!  I have been there and done that.  Now, I try to keep our daily lives very structured and the same as every day so that it becomes like second nature. Kids really thrive when they know what is expected of them all day long.  Then for the little time left over, you can pick one thing to tackle as they hold interest.  If sewing is something they would like to try, just say that you will spend about one hour each day in the afternoon when all the schooling and chores are done and they will enjoy that.  It could be a myriad of other activities as well, but making sure to make it a reward type of time.  Never let the children do these "extras" until the other things are put away and cleaned up.  That makes for them a good habit of cleaning up after themselves.  I just never allow new projects, even for myself if things are not cleaned up first.  If we bake a cake, I expect that my kitchen is fresh before beginning that task.  I never want to make a mountain of a mess for us later.  When I bake, I put things away immediately, and then the task is a lot smaller to clean up.  I wash my own bowls that I use.  And before we sit down to a meal, I usually like to have all the pots and pans dried and put away.  That way, the big stuff is done ahead of schedule and the kitchen looks nice when you sit down to a nice meal. 

-          How long did you allow your children to play just on their own, imagining things or whatever? What thing did you or do you play with them? I liked to allow the children to play on their own, but only if they asked first.  I wanted to know what and where they were at all times.  If I heard some disagreements, I would take them all together, find out the real story, if they could not get along, then they can't play this time. They have to do work or sit down for a period of time with each other, hand in hand until they like each other again.  I love to work with the kids, I find little time for play.  Sometimes I make things with them, like a card, or a puzzle.  Sometimes I will sit down and read to them.  There is just so much work to do that work becomes a game and responsibility becomes play.  It all works together for the good to those that seek peace and order in their home. 

-          This is an extra J Do you think the girls would like to share their German cake recipe? I know we would be thrilled to try!!  This recipe, we got from a very old betty crocker cook book.  I found the very same recipe online to share.  We used spelt flour instead of wheat because Molly is highly alergic to wheat. 
German Chocolate Cake Recipe from Betty Crocker

The Reid's are Now . . . Archers?!

October 1st, the day the range opened, Nate and I were there. We had both taken the day off because we'd just come back from Colorado - we were leaving the library when I remembered and said something to Nate. I wasn't thrilled about going. Actually, I figured I'd go with him a few times until it got really boring. And then I'd only tag along when I felt like I had seen him in a while and it was a good chance for us to spend time together. Well, after mentioning it, we were on our way.


I watched Nathan shoot a few times and then asked if I could try it. I always hated archery at summer camp - it was my least favorite - I STINK at it. But what did I have to loose? Nate's fingers need a break and as usual, I was curious.

WHAT.A.BLAST. I really didn't want to stop - and might not have if it weren't cold and we were starting to loose day light. Trust me, I wasn't amazing - even at a short 10 yds away, but I enjoyed it! Nate was shocked - almost as much as me - but so pleased. I was starting to think this wouldn't be so bad after all.

After shooting at a buddies house (and mucking out horse stalls for the 1st time) and talking to a guy on the range Sunday after church - we got really interested in compound bows. Nate liked the naturalness of the recurve, but we both really want a deer and with our limited time, we decided to look into it.

JIM
So we left the range, went out to lunch, and stopped at Dick's. They measure your draw length, poundage etc. I saw a pink camo compound bow and knew it was what I wanted. If I ended up getting one, she would be it. We were told to come back the next day and talk to Jim. It was perfect because I didn't have my internship due to a government holiday and Nate could use his lunch break.

The man we met with is named Jim Bibler. He has traveled all over the world and shot everything from big bears in Alaska to fast leopards in Africa. They keep a picture album of his kills behind the counter and looking threw it I was a.m.a.z.e.d. I could right an entire blog on our experience with Jim, but I'll try to summarize: This man KNOWS his stuff. He's been hunting for 30 years and working as a bow tech for years. Once completely against hunting, it's now his biggest passion. He worked with Nate and I on our stance, hand/head/whole body placement, with target practice (they have a place to shoot right in the store!?! Who knew?!) teaching us about the bows, and giving us hunting advice. He is incredibly patient, and his passion is contagious. I felt completely free to ask questions and make mistakes. He is one of the best positive reenforcers I've ever met and not only did my poundage go up 9 lbs in one day, but I shot 2 bull's-eyes under his tutelage!! I went from feeling like I could never have any substantial ability in archery to feeling confident and excited about growing and developing my skills.

God is unbelievable.
My God is so faithful. Instead of bow hunting and deer season being something that I dreaded would separate me and Nate, take him away from me, and limit our time together, He has made it something that has brought us together. To Him be the glory! Anyone who knows me will tell you this is true: God is the only way this is possible. Not only did He put the desire and enjoyment of archery in my heart, but allowed us to be mentored by Jim - which gave me confidence. If I don't enjoy something, I won't want to do it. And if I don't feel confident in something, I won't enjoy it. And even some things I do get into, I can't fully enjoy them because I'm too busy thinking about how I'm not the best at it and comparing myself to whom ever I believe is better than me. . . it's such poison.

This is so different. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I will never be the best at this. I have way too many interests to give Archery the time it would deserve for that. However, I can enjoy being my best, spending time with Nate, growing with him, in Him, glorifying God, and making investments in our future for life together and one-day homestead.

LORD God, I can not thank You enough for what You do for me; who You are to me. Continuously blessing us with grace after grace, showing us Your ever-loving nature and proving yet again to be the most important, most glorious, strand in this Cord of Three. I can't find the words to express how my soul is singing to Him now.

I love You, God. My Jesus, my Best Friend. I thank You for Nate, for Archery and for this day You've given us.

Fill us LORD.

Morgan



(My husband shootin' sexy.)

Homesteading Quotes

"We have a large organic garden. We have fruit trees. We raise chickens for meat and eggs. We milk Nubian goats. We raise hogs occasionally for meat. We hunt for deer and wild hogs. We fish. We pick wild grapes, dewberries, and blackberries. We are homesteading in the 21^st century." - the Texas Homesteader

"One day Daddy came home from work and said he saw a little farm for sale on three acres of land.  Excitedly, they jumped into the truck and off they went to see this new place.  Oh, it took a lot of imagination for the little family to see what it could be.  The farm was dirty and messy and falling all apart.  It was not a dream, but there was a twinkle in Daddy’s eyes, and a smile on Mamma’s face, for they new what they could make it.  They could make it perfect.  Of course that would take some determination and that is just what this family had." - Erin the Homestead Community Post

Homesteading Location options 2

Hey Lula, do you still want to move to Costa Rica? Nate and I are looking into Belize :)

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  Joe Kitchen likes this.
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    Lula McAmis for real?! that's awesome!! i lived there for three months and i absolutely loved the people and the culture and the country. (: i wasn't thinking to move there personally, but if the Lord wanted me to, i'd be off!

    Sunday at 5:04pm · 
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    Morgan Michelle ‎:D Cool - that's so good to hear. We're thinking of visiting and getting a feel for how much of a culture shock we'd be in for but I'm so ok with growing my own avocados and coconuts :)

    Sunday at 5:06pm ·  · Lisa Gopp likes this
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    Lula McAmis hahahaha. dude. i would do it so soon if that's where Jesus wanted me. (: i think you guys would love it. there's not really much culture shock unless you're moving to an impoverished area. unless you would be culturally shocked by the food and the brand names and the language.

    Sunday at 9:33pm ·  · You like this
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    Morgan Michelle yeah it's a lot to consider. Did you come across a lot of snakes, spiders and other scary things? Nate was showing pics of their dangerous creatures and all last night I wouldn't consider Belize anymore hah

    Yesterday at 8:36am · 
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    Lula McAmis hahaha. well. i can't answer that question truthfully and expect to qualm your fears.

    19 hours ago · 
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    Morgan Michelle Give it to me straight, Lu. I gotta know.

    17 hours ago · 
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    Lula McAmis snakes, not a lot. there was one that a farm hand caught and killed with a machete that was super poisonous. spiders, yes. there are many spiders, especially in the jungle. but that's to be expected, in any jungle.

    17 hours ago · 
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    Morgan Michelle Blah. Hopefully it depends on where we go? Or who you know, in your case. We need to study up on this stuff and visit for sure.

    17 hours ago · 
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    Lula McAmis hahahaha. it depends on what area of a country you're inhabiting. every place has their own scary things. (:

    17 hours ago ·  · You like this
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    Morgan Michelle Thanks so much Lula :):)

    17 hours ago · 
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    Lula McAmis welcome morgan! (:

    17 hours ago · 

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        Morgan Michelle You too, Pixie Miller!

        Saturday at 8:38pm · 
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        Morgan Michelle so apparently the bugs suck? "eaten alive by bugs"?

        Saturday at 8:40pm · 
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        Morgan Michelle what about costa rica?

        Saturday at 9:01pm · 
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        Pixie Miller 
        

        Well we would defiantly live there if we could. But it is so different from what we are all used to. It's amazing when it comes to beauty, beaches and jungle. In my opinion tho you have to be able to let go of a lot that we have here. Like 
        

        I said Soleil and I would so be there if we could and I'm still trying to make it happen but I got to finish school first and that is well taking longer than I expected. Good luck to you!!! I think you should visit and if you do be sure to be in touch with me or mr hintz for places to go and stay!!! Luv u both!!

        Saturday at 11:48pm via mobile ·  · You like this
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        Pixie Miller 
        

        I've been to costa rica also and although I had an amazing time in costs rica I would totally pick Belize instead. The bugs stink but I didn't have to much of an issue with them at all. Got a few mosquito bites but nothing bad. The culture 
        

        seems more friendly and open to non natives coming and contributing to their culture and country. It's cheap to. I was looking at a place on the river, 3 bedrooms, lemon and mango groves on like 20 acers for like 60,000. So much opportunity if you can do it.

        Saturday at 11:59pm via mobile ·  · You like this
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        Morgan Michelle O that's sweet! Thanks Pixie, we love you too! Miss you and Soleil lots!!

        Sunday at 10:40am ·