It's About Time!

My time tonight is short (I was ready for bed 2 hours ago!) so I am mostly posting in pictures. I intend to post on a regular basis by the end of the year as my youngest gets a bit older. I hope you enjoy, and maybe get inspired too!

Our first chicks hatched naturally. Three black and three brown.

My kind of fast food. 

You are looking a almost a month's worth of meals, most of which can go into the crock pot. Prep time was about one full morning plus a little extra here and there.

My freezer door is usually more filled with chicken broth, but this is it tonight. 

Applegate products are a treat we enjoy sometimes. Wild rice and garlic are leftovers from a meal this week. I made enough to serve again as sides with two different meals.

Fermented a batch of my favorite salsa for wild salmon- blueberry, pineapple and cilantro. So far two fish haters have eaten my salmon prepared this way and liked it.

My dancing, beautiful oldest is turning four in a few short days. Happy birthday sweetie!

We were happy with my recipe creation for braised short ribs. Recipe will follow!

She just started eating solids! My little baby is our earliest and most mature baby eater. She loves her cod liver oil, egg yolks and a little banana. And she cries if I don't feed her fast enough, just like I did. 

Our middle girl. This is what happened when mom and dad tried to have a ten minute conversation: 40 eggs got cracked. A huge bowl of eggs was the result with only three eggshells in it. Oh and about five eggs met the carpet. I am glad they are used to cracking eggs with me! Otherwise... it could have been full on disaster. I am now appreciating the old saying, "Don't keep all your eggs in one basket." Because, just maybe, your little darling will easily pull it out and go to work.

Once we got rid of some extra roosters our lovely hens started laying more eggs. Let there be peace in the hen house! My favorites are from copper marans who lay the darkest eggs. We had 12 hatched in an incubator and 10 were roosters. Go figure.

The fruit of a couple hours of labor: 1/2 gallon hot salsa, 1/2 gallon mild salsa, raw whey and cream cheese, blueberry pineapple salsa, sourdough starter, two jars of sour cream and one jar of mayonaise. This is all lacto-fermenting.

I have learned a lot about adoption through this momma. All the other hens laid their eggs and left but she stayed and kept them warm, made sure the humidity was right and turned them three times a day. And so they call her mama and they all love her and feel safe with her. A happy little family.  

I have started blending a yummy concoction that varies each day- a powerhouse of nutrition. Organic berries, bananas, organic chard, plain yogurt, raw honey, raw milk, acerola powder (natural vitamin c from cherries), butter oil, nutritional yeast and coconut oil. And whatever I feel like throwing in. Today I added apples and carrots. 

Fish is one of my favorite quick meals. A friend who owns some fishing boats in Canada gave us this salmon he caught- and even some white salmon too! This meal took 20 minutes tops.

With one little cluck from momma they knew what to do... search the ground for food.

Home made raw cream cheese.

Beautiful, I know... but these rooster feet make the best stock in the world. Thank you roosters for your gift of nutrition to our family! There are three birds in this huge stock pot.

Lemonade day. Our oldest made above minimum wage in one hour selling organic lavendar lemonade sweetened with white sugar and  organic lemonade sweetened with rapadura. Check out the piggy bank she used for her transactions! So cute. And she is really good at waving.

A little front yard color.

This was my first batch of ground organic corn meal. I love grinding my own flour! 

It's so easy with the right equipment.

Oh yes, children are a gift!

She makes me smile all the time. 

She was recently the birthday girl!

They love their glasses!

They've got some cutie girl style going on for their evening walk.

And this one couldn't last.

This is the first time our baby saw the snow, and the first time our second really got to play in it.

And so they had fun.

This is the renovated little home on a beautiful two acres we considered buying earlier this year.

This is the big home on a small lot that we almost bought last month. We backed out the day we were to sign our final papers and go about getting the key. We found some more issues and decided we were done. I am so happy we are still renting! And I have no desire to look again for some time, but I learned a lot in the whole process about buying a home for one, but also trusting God, recognizing the presence of peace and following God's voice one step at a time.

And so, this is my life so far in 2012. I'm blessed.

Returning to Eden

Click here to listen to one of my favorite songs about Eden. Just choose the song called “The Reward” by Jonathan Helser. And be blessed as you journey back to the place we never should have left.


So I am behind, and it feels like life as usual. BUT I don’t feel as behind as usual, and that is a triumph! About a year ago I decided to quit trying and working so hard. And guess what? I have been much more productive. Some of our best things, creations or routines come out of a place of rest. Our oldest daughter, Eden, was conceived during a season of rest for both my husband and I.

Just writing her name makes perceived images of the original Eden float through my head like airy whispers of a future time to come. These same images also sound an invitation into a present day possibility. Our errant humanity may have defiled the earth with bloodshed, selfish ambitions, greed and conceit, but Christ in us is the hope of glory. At times great masses of people have been guilty of being arrogant, overfed and unconcerned about the poor (the very things which God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for.)  I would daresay that we live in an incredibly corrupt world at present. While the very earth itself is groaning under the weight of guilt and sin, entry into Eden again is offered through Christ alone. And while the physical world and humanity is polluted by dark things, we have the invitation to walk with God in the garden again, possessing His glorious light and taking on the incorruptible mind of Christ.

Any one person can choose to respond to the call to return to Eden. No matter what may come, or what demons we find ourselves facing, I am one of those who has chosen to put on Christ. Being clothed in his nature enables me, with my many quirks, shortcomings and limitations, to enter into Eden, into the garden, once again. It makes me less of me with faults, and more like He made me to be- like Himself, the one who is LOVE. Love doesn’t fail. It is not selfish or conceited. It prefers people other than myself. I thank God for marriage and mothering! What a wonderful gift I have been given to learn to put aside selfishness and put on love.

By choosing love, peace and rest I am returning to Eden. I am returning to intimacy. I was made for intimacy with God. I was made for a garden that is not racked by weeds and drought but has been given everything that nourishes soil and human life. And so was my spirit made for this reality. I can choose to step in now, in the midst of dirty dishes that are staying dirty because I need a nap now and I am feeling a bit under the weather. I can choose to enter in even though my phone is lost, and though I have not been a good steward of all my commitments (it is wonderful learning to say no to prevent this from happening again!) and even though I really have some people to get back to that need things from me I should have gotten them a long time ago. All of this is true.

I may not be superwoman (she’s overrated and unattainable) but I am Christ’s, and in Christ ALL things are possible. In Christ I can lose my stinky nature and take on his perfection- in stages. J In Christ I can ask forgiveness of the people I have been delinquent with and thank Him a lot that I have been keeping it more simple. I might not be able to run a business right now without having child care but I can love and nurture my family, keep the house as clean as possible, take care of laundry that never ends, teach my pre-schooler, keep our 20 plus small animals and one big dog fed and alive, and sort of barely keep my garden up. Oh yes and make three meals from scratch every day. And of course I have friends I make time for too. And getting ready for our newest baby to be born… well, I have a few things to do in the next few months. I could be overwhelmed but instead I am cherishing reflecting on a key verse which helps me enter into the garden again:

"Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:16-17

God wants you and I to live in Eden. It is His will. Paradise was His original intent. In ALL circumstances we can function in joy, prayer and thanks. Hand placed in a fallen world to reflect the glory, life and light of Christ, we can choose to make Eden our resting place, one day or one hour at a time.

My Top Picks from the Web This Last Week: Facebook, Google, Pre-Natal, Infertility, Vaccinations, Judge Ruled We Have No Right to Produce or Consume Our Own Food, Raising Kids, Justice Issues, Etc.

Top Picks for the Week

Spiritual:

Practical Work and Embracing the Opposite of Calling

A conversation with a convicted murderer highlights the faith a young girl gained from her parents. Let us never underestimate the power of our lifestyle and testimony before our children.

Kids:

 Toddler activities 

Getting kids to eat salads 

Struggles in Child Training 

Newborn Cloth Diaper Reviews 

Household:

Save $10 on Seventh Generation

 Nutrition: General

What are you missing on a dairy free diet? 

Wisconsin judge says the plaintiff does not have right to consume foods of choice, or the milk of it’s own cow.  

Nutrition: Fertility, Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

What to take while preggo… Good stuff. My only comment to her advice to take Garden of Life’s raw pre natal is read this first.  I am very careful about my vitamin a and d ratio since the wrong amounts can be toxic and harmful to developing babies. And also, she mentions fish oils, and says not to take cod liver oil. Cod liver oil is one of the most important things a pregnant woman can take. However, she is addressing taking quality fish oils for omega 3’s and such it seems. While cod liver oil is taken for mainly vitamins a and d, it is not a good supplemental fish oil for omega 3's. Costco also sells a Pure Alaskan brand of Alaskan salmon oil, also unrefined. It is not as high quality as the Vital Choice brand, but it is easier on your wallet and one of only a handful of fish oils not destroyed in refinement. Refined fish oils are pretty much worthless. 

Real food hope for those with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or otherwise struggling to get pregnant.

Health Care:

Homeopathy for Moms 

Natural leg vein solutions 

The Lancet issued a report on one of the biggest health problems: cheap “food”

Vaccination:

RED FLAGS TIMES A ZILLION: CDC plans on phoning every household in the US with children to grill us about our children’s vaccination history. Then, they plan on asking for their doctor’s information and contacting the doctor directly for these records. Massive collecting of personal information.

Surprise knock at the door: In Novato CA visits are made to immunize school children on the spot, with parental consent of course. 

Allowed Exemptions for California whooping cough vaccine

California voted for a vaccination bill that would permit students to be vaccinated without their parent’s knowledge or consent. Governor Jerry Brown can sign it or not, by October 9. Prayer needed!

Discrimination:

Student punished for expressing his personal moral beliefs on homosexuality to a friend, when he was overheard by his teacher.

Does Google Search show favoritism?

Both Facebook and Google discriminate against those practicing Christian faith.

Christian student groups being suppressed

Science and Technology:

Did you know that Facebook is tracking your online movements even when you are not logged in? RED FLAG again… How can we fix that if we don’t even know about it? I learned of this several days after I decided to move my personal life off facebook…. mostly. I will never forget several years ago when I purchased a movie ticket, not logged into Facebook, and the purchase showed up in my news feed. So much for privacy.

9/29/2011 UPDATE: Facebook says it has fixed the cookie issue that was able to track online movements of logged out users. Just need to post what they are saying...

How to help your privacy with the new Facebook changes, except they don’t mention the one above about tracking your online movements. Even so, this might help you! Great information.

Justice and Prayer:

180 The Movie See what changed these minds in just minutes. Please do not show to children without viewing prior and weighing with their age and maturity because of some disturbing images.

Tradition Moving Girls Into Sex Trade

Follow Prayers For Noah Facecchia on Facebook if you are not; also, read here to learn about his case. The hospital wanted to remove this six year old’s breathing tube against the consent of his parents. Thankfully after much prayer and vigilance, he has been granted a tracheotomy. 

West Virginia toddler is missing 

New documented cases of forced abortions in China. Thank you Women’s Rights Without Frontiers for your work. 

Government:

The real scoop: what your families’ budget would look like if the US government controlled it. 

Someone is calling for a new constitutional convention?

The Life in Sharing in His Sufferings

Phillipians 3:10-11 "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead." I want to know God!

God has something for us where we know him intimately, totally beyond how we each know him now. He wants us to understand the way his heart breaks, how his heart suffers. To quote a Jason Upton song, "...in the midst of suffering, there's a God worth worshiping."  Though he walks with us in our own pain, he wants us walking this journey clothed in the love, life and peace of God. There is beauty in rest, beauty in peace in the midst of turbulence that can only be found in Christ. To share in his sufferings is to go beyond the borders of our own pain. It is to touch the pain of the broken people around us as their pain is his.

In scripture God taught us about sharing burdens. Once, when I comforted a stranger who had just lost her tiny nephew, I felt so empty. I had to face my lack in that moment. How do I comfort a stranger? Is such an attempt an intrusion into her private pain? Those were my questions. After holding her for an hour I realized that this was part of the gospel of Jesus Christ: sharing in each other's burdens. I did not know her language. I had no words. All I had was the tangible love of a weeping God. I learned that as I was choosing to enter into her burden, just for that hour, I was helping her to carry it. I discovered I was easing God's burden. He feels every pain, every wound and grief known to any individual. Previously I had always thought that to share in his sufferings I must be persecuted, injured or martyred. However, comforting that woman I was transformed with the knowledge that to share in his sufferings is also to enter into the suffering in the world, the suffering in the person we are next to.

The good news is that sharing in God's sufferings is not just about us and him. It is about those who are wounded around us. In Southern California where I live, it can be a real challenge to be intentional with people, especially those who are strangers. The area moves at a ridiculous pace with little left over to even glance at a stranger, not to mention stop. In the words of one of my favorite missionaries, God is saying to, "Stop for the one." God is reminding me of this.

As moms we can be so busy and consumed in the day to day with our family dynamics that it can be hard to remember Phillipians 3:10-11 is for us. If we are not compelled to love those around us, to pursue God's heart and what is wounding it, we can start by spending more time in prayer, for prayer is simply talking to God. In the place of communion with Christ we will be transformed by his love. It is not a question. He gives good gifts to those who seek him. He is love. In nurturing his heart we will be strengthened to nurture the ones in our family and the others we encounter.

If we truly want to enter into his suffering we must open our hearts and eyes to what it is that makes him suffer. Sometimes it is our own sin. Sometimes it is the loneliness of a neighbor. My encouragement to myself and to you is to nurture our communion with God. During dishes, driving or even working at times, moments when you are awake in bed and no one is speaking to you, connect. As we engage with God's giant heart and embrace the cross he has for us each day, we will pass through the gateway into resurrection strength and life for that day. And we will posses it in order that we can give it away.