The Great Adventure: Slaves in America???

We live in a country that has fought for the freedom of its people.  We have freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to assemble, and to petition.  But my question is, "Are we really living a life of freedom?"

Through my time in Scripture and living everyday life, I have found myself asking this question to myself. (If it seems like I asked myself alot of questions, its because I do :)  After re-evaluating my days and what I was spending time on, it was time to tackle the things in my life that distracted me from serving God and my family to my greatest ability as an extremely flawed woman. (thankfully God's grace is sufficient and his forgiveness is great)  I made a mental list of the things that people and I could be a "slave" to in a "free" country so here it is: (there may be more to add but this is all I could think of at the time)

1. Sports

2. Sex

3. Work

4. Money

5. Marriage

6. Computer

7. Facebook

8. Blogging

9. Drugs/Alcohol

10.  Food

11.  Our Kids

12.  Sleep

13. Bargain Hunting
14. School
15. TV
16. Exercise
17. The Phone (any form)
18. Texting
19. "Me" time
20. Politics

The above things are not bad in and of themselves but if you worship them and they are stealing away precious time from more important things in your life then I think its time to rearrange your priorities.

Once again, more things that God was wanting me to change.  My number one slave: FOOD (sleep and bargain hunting were on my list too...I was shocked to see what I did sometimes just to get a bargain...scary).  I did not realize it until I actually sat down and thought about it.  For the most part, I have no self-control when it comes to food.  It was something I did live to do.  It was so convicting but I did nothing about it.  I acknowledged it and then it sat on the backburner for months.

God kept tapping me on the shoulder to remind me about this area but I decided I had better things to focus on at the time like homeschooling, scrapbooking and taking care of the kiddos.

The tapping continued for months here and there.....but still nothing..........

The Great Adventure: An Unexpected Book

And the story goes on......

After I started milling the flour,  I also started doing cloth diapers.  Big surprise I know, but, I really liked doing it.  But my knew found fun diminshed when we were blessed with a new washer.  Little did I know that front loaders aren't the best for cloth diapers.....actually, I had to quit using them because they did not wash well any longer :(  Anyways, that was just alittle blip on the radar but just one more little "old-fashioned" way that snuck into our home.

Shortly after my cloth diaper adventure,  I finally saved up money to buy a book I had wanted for ages.  I ordered it and eagerly waited for it to arrive.  It took days and days and finally...........it was here.  Then it took me at least 3 months or so to pick it up and read it (Life is so interesting with kids and at this point I had three)  But once again, God's timing was perfect for me to read this book.  I bet you are wondering what the book was.  It is called, "Rite of Passage Parenting" by Walker Moore.

I would highly recommend that everyone (married, single, kids, no kids) read this book at some point.  I know it says its a parenting book but I gleaned alot from it personally.  I will have a full book review on it another time.  For now I want to focus on one part of the book.....Outsourcing.

Moore talks about how much Americans outsource....someone else to teach and take care of our children and elderly, Betty Crocker for our cakes, Green Giant for our frozen foods, maids cleaning our homes, restaurants cooking our meals, and the list goes on (I wish I had the book to give you some of his examples but I lent it to a friend)

As I was reading this chapter, it made me think of a couple of things.....1.) What am I outsourcing that I should be taking care of myself? and 2.) If I am outsourcing some of my duties, what am I doing with the extra time I have?  These two questions helped me do two things.....cook more from scratch (not just things with flour in them) and limit the computer.  It's amazing how lazy I realized I was and how much time I was wasting throughout the day.

I often get asked the question, "How do you do it?  You homeschool, have 4 children under 6 years old, make all of your own bread and still have time to scrapbook, blog and have girl game nights. ( I  have one more thing to add to my list but I don't want to spoil the adventure :)  I never have any time.  I'm too busy" the person replies.  My thought is, "What are you busy with?"  I will constantly reevaluate that question with my life in everyday comings and goings.  I like to keep it simple and fortunately, I do not struggle with saying "no" to too many commitments.

God is definitely my Rock everyday...I need Him and He responds to my calls of desperation.  To be honest, we don't have a tv to be distracted by.  We will watch an occassional movie but that is it.  I think that is a huge factor to the productiveness of our days.   I have learned to make useful the time during the day which I was being idle/lazy (like taking a nap when all my kids are sleeping through the night is not needed or my weakness, being on the computer too long researching one more thing).

Outsourcing was another interesting and convicting part of this adventure and I am still idle in some areas of my life but at least I can identify them now and work on them........

The Great Adventure: An unexpected purchase

Shortly after my thoughts on transforming our home environment, a friend was telling me how she was "milling" her own flour.  Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was her turning a crank of a mill as the grain was mashed into flour, outside in the backyard and I thought, "How in the world does she have time to do that? and "What a silly thing to do when you can buy flour at the store."  Whole grain flour had not been introduced to me up till this point and here she was, making her big debut and I shut her down.  I did not know the benefits of whole grain yet but I was semi-interested in the whole "milling" process. 

As the weeks went on, I thought more about how neat this was...I could make my own flour (and it was alot cheaper too!)  So I priced out the good ole' Nutrimill from a good friend locally who sells them.  God's timing is always so perfect and unfortunately this was not the time to buy the mill :(  So I waited patiently and wondered when the day would come.  I waited longer and still no extra money for the mill.

Christmas was just around the corner and I thought just maybe, someone "might" get me the mill.  Christmas came and went....no mill :(  (I know, I know.....bear with me....most people want big glorious things and here I am wishing for a flour mill....its just me.....I never thought in a million years that I would ever dream of getting a flour mill :)  Then, very graciously, one of our family members allowed me to return some gifts and use the money toward the mill !!!!!!! I picked it up in January 2007.  It was glorious and now I could forever use whole grain, non-processed, no bleach, free from chemical flour from my very own kitchen.

I love the mill.....how much do I love my mill?  I have not used flour from the store in this home since January 2007....cheaper and much more healthy.  I use the flour from our mill for everything.....cinnamon rolls (actually rising right now as we speak for Easter tomorrow), waffles, pizza, bread, muffins, cookies (yum)....you can substitute the whole grain flour for flour in any of your favorite recipes.

Whole grains have shown to be better for you than white flour.  I have had two pregnancies now since switching over to whole grain everything (except the occassional white bread at restaurants and fast food) and they were both amazing.  I really think that switching to whole grains helped my body get the extra nourishment it wasn't getting from store bought bread (basically dead food...nutritionally I mean) to nourishing and nutrient dense whole grains. ( I have lots of recipes I will share but they will come later on)

I was excited to provide good food for my family and I felt better about what I served them.  I learned how to plan better (with 4 kids you have too!) and it has in turn made me more disciplined.  The kids love to mill the flour too and Little Bub knows exactly how to work the machine....its precious.

This was quite an adventure for me but that was still about 3 years ago, so the story goes on, but I have not yet scratched the top.  What was in store for me down the road I would have never forseen even if I could see into the future :)  Stay tuned............

The Great Adventure: The Story Begins

I have been pondering many days how to appropriately communicate to you our change.

I think I need to give you alittle background trip through the past three years and some little tidbits about how I am wired these days.

To start with: I LOVE EVERYTHING TRADITIONAL/OLD FASHIONED!  I have many people tell me, "You were born way past your time" and "You should be a farmer." and "Little House on the Prairie is calling your name."  I fully agree with everything that has been said :)  I love the old way of doing things....I don't know why...but I do.

I love the old days when the man would ask the father for his daughter's hand in marriage,  when you wash your clothes by hand (yes...I know its nuts but I have actually had a desire to do this even with four kiddos....nuts I know), make your own clothes, know who your neighbors were because you all had a front porch, when no one knew what a gummy bear was, when people spent more time together than on the computer and phone, when living together for the first time was the night after your marriage, when commitment actually meant "till death do us part", when all of our food and such were clean and free from processed chemicals.....all these beautiful things that get so lost and clouded in a culture of busyness and confusion. 

I love to make my own things with my hands.  About three years ago, I watched a video that talked about all the chemicals in our house and how much indoor pollution we live in.  It sent me search for new household cleaner recipes which I actually love.  With so many kiddos in the home, I was alittle fearful of them getting near the cleaners I had.  One of my favorite is listed below:

1 spray bottle
filtered water (enough to fill the bottle)
20 drops of essential lemon oil

I use this on everything and even my windows (no streaks either).  If you want to make it alittle stronger, you could add 1/4 cup of vinegar for alittle more disinfecting power. 

This is one tiny piece of the adventure to come..............

Book Review: Dinosaurs for Kids

Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham is by far my favorite dinosaur book I have come across in the two years my little boy has been interested in them.  I enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book.  I was most impressed with the high quality information presented, in 64 colorful pages, that you do not get from other dinosaur books.

Ham focuses on the Seven Ages of dinosaurs: Formed, Fearless, Fallen, Flood, Faded, Found and Fiction.  Each section focuses on information about dinosaurs based on God's Word.  Ham consistently draws the reader back into Scripture.   I appreciate that he states facts based on the Bible and says that some things about dinosaurs are truly uncertain.  I have never heard other authors state that many things about dinosaurs are still a mystery.  Many books will tell you everything about them like it is fact, where in fact, it is just an educated guess or fiction.

I have really enjoyed reading this book to help answer some of the harder questions about dinosaurs and also finding out that the discovery of dinosaurs is still very young and scientists still do not know very much about this amazing creature.  I love being able to incorporate God's Word into teaching my little ones about every aspect of life....including my son's beloved dinosaurs.

I would recommend this book as  a "must have" for your library especially if you have a dinosaur lover.  This book gives you a great picture of dinosaurs on the whole. 

Photography Fun!

I just love to showcase the amazing beauty, captured by camera, that the Lord has created.   Here are some of the recent photos that I have been blessed with taking.

These are my dear friends, The Bravo's. 

Our precious Peanut.  She loves the nutcracker.

I can't seem to locate some other family pictures I did :(  I will have to look more later.

We are back online :)

Ok, after alittle break, we are back online.

Once again my life has drastically changed and it wasn't due to another addition to our family.  Ever since I met the Lord nine years ago, my life has consistently made drastic changes....so needless to say, I was not surprised by this change but its huge.

I bet you are wondering what this big change is :)  Over the next couple of weeks, I will reveal to you what has changed our family physically and spiritually.  It has been one of the most liberating and exiting and extremely frustrating (at times) changes of my life!

I look forward to sharing more with you soon but for now here is alittle family update :)

Peanut:  This little girl is turning into alittle lady.  She is consistently helping me around the house with cooking, cleaning and taking care of her siblings.  One of her jobs is to sweep the front porch so it looks nice when guests arrive and she does it so proudly.  She is reading very well and excelling so quickly in her school...it has truly been a blessing to watch her learn and grow in character.   We have started studying bits and pieces of God's word together and its neat to watch her put the pieces together.

Big Bub:  The biggest praise and exciting news is that he is finally eating vegetables.  He is so proud of himself and shows me his muscles every time he takes a small bite of his veggies at dinner.  This is a little boy who would gag at the sight of veggies.  He is growing up so much too.  He is very creative when he plays and he loves to make spaceships out of everything he can find.  He is also still very in love with dinosaurs and is questioning more about God and creation which has been very exciting.  He is a very sensitive boy and is still learning how to play with his growing little rough and tough brother.

Little Bub:  I wish I had a clip of this little boy talking...it would melt your heart.  He is so funny.  He talks in complete full sentences which sometimes I laugh at because he just seems too little.  He loves, loves, loves trucks.  One of his beloved times is going with Gaga to watch the trucks work.  He loves to read books and nuzzle right into your lap....he melts my heart daily.  He is also the fiesty one out of the bunch and he has a pretty good and passionate temper on him

Baby B:  She is just so teeny, tiny cute.  She has just recently started to crawl and its so funny watching her crawl acrossed the floor because she is so little.  I think she weighs a whopping 14 pounds.  She is about 10 months now.  I can't believe how fast time flies.  She has two little bottom teeth and eats about everything you put in front of her.  Her favorite: saurkraut homemade by mommy!

Big Daddy:  He is doing well and keeping very busy.  Praise God for all the jobs He has brought our way and is providing for us during a rough ecomony.  I think the business is doing the best it has since its birth 6 years ago so I consider that a HUGE praise and thank you to God alone for His provision. 

Bethany:  Photography has been great and I am loving it.  It really helps to have some extra income to work with.  I have a nagging pinch in my shoulder that consistently reminds me of my weakness and my need for God because it is really annoying and really painful.

So this is us and I will continue to post more about the family as I remember and I look forward to sharing my newest "grand adventure" with you bit by bit.

Long time no talk

I took alittle sabatical from blogging to get my house in order, to ponder my purpose for blogging and to put myself through nutrition college.  More to come soon...............

Jacob's Surgery Update

Book Review: The Answers Book for Kids Volume 3 and 4

The Answers Book for Kids Volume 3: 22 Questions from Kids on God and the Bible and Volume 4: 22 Questions from Kids on Sin, Salvation and the Christian Life by Ken Ham are great resources for helping your children try and understand some of the big questions they having rolling around in their minds.  Thses books are great at helping guide the child to find out those "Why" questions and to dig deeper into the Bible.

 Each page has a question from a child, a response and extra scriptures that you can use to learn even more of what God's word says about the question.  Some of the questions are, "Who made God?, How big is God?, Why does God let the bad guys win sometimes?, How does God get His power? Where does He get it from?" 

This was also a great resource for me, as a parent, on my journey of faith and wrestling through some of the more difficult questions of life.  I really enjoyed the pictures used on each page.  They were creatively put together to help match the question asked.  I have not yet read Volumes 1 and 2 but I am sure they were done with the same quality and accuracy as Volumes 3 and 4.  I would definitely recommend having these in your home library, town library and/or church library.