I feel like I live on Old Macdonald's Farm this morning. Because we get bored and are always looking for something else to do, I agreed to watching goats for just over a week. We naively put them in the puppy kennel just outside our shop and all three quickly made short work of the overgrown weeds in a matter of hours. Our friends made a quick comment that I almost missed saying something like, "They might make a little noise at first because they're in a new pen...." Oh, that's ok, I said. I had NO idea it would be most of the night. Goats have evil tendencies.....
Thank goodness it was a cooler night. I shut the window and our door so I wouldn't hear them or the dog barking at them for the first part of the night as she heard them bleating and wanted to bark back. It's been a good reminder of why we don't have them as they can be very annoying!
However....what a fun experience again! We're calling it "Goat Camp". One of the main reasons I accepted this crazy idea was because of the goat milk I'll get again which means goat cheese! I made tons of it last year and hope to again this week. I am going to be the goat queen by the end of the week. Because I had said yes to this venture without really checking in with anyone, I didn't exactly expect buy-in. Once they arrived though, it was pretty funny to see all the kids being open to milking training. I went first. What a joke. I had never done anything like that in my life and was pretty much laughing the whole time. My younger kids got the hang of it right away. I was impressed! So I might not have to do it all myself after all!
Even having the goats is a bit of an answer to prayer for me. Whenever summer comes I never know how things will go, how we'll keep the kids occupied, content, etc....I always commit it to the Lord just asking Him to direct our paths. The vines have definitely kept us busy - that has been Vine Camp. The microgreens have given us Farmer's Market Camp. And now the goats have given us Goat Camp! I think it is just another neat way that God has provided a distraction for all of us. They, let alone me, never know what a week will hold.
The goats are quiet now....but I'm sure that will change in a second.....
Wednesday 24 July 2019
Monday 22 July 2019
Widow Ministry....in our driveway
We are now in two different farmer's markets, but it is slow going. I suppose it takes time with every new venture and you have to develop relationships. I tell my kids about being patient, but I am the one who is now impatient. Little by little, I keep repeating to myself.
Meanwhile the fly pestilence is out in full force on the farm. I should say, the flies have moved from the outdoors into our home. They love it in here! I enjoy being hospitable, but this is too much. The weather, mixed with farm living, has bred the perfect storm. I was losing my marbles about it yesterday. But it was as if God knew as I came to this short verse. I read in Judges when God was speaking to Gideon, he said, "Peace be to you. Do not fear. You will not die." I repeated that to myself multiple time during the day as I encountered flies throughout the house. I will not die. Yes, flies are irritating and they do feel sometimes like I'm in Egypt experiencing one of the plagues, but I won't die. So, as with all things, I just try to keep perspective. But I will be going at it full force today with bug spray. I've declared war.
Last week, we had the strangest encounter on the farm. We were all outside. The kids were playing basketball in the driveway, my husband was also outside. It was a beautiful warm evening. A car drove by and the kids waved for some reason, as a lot of people wave in the country to anyone driving by. My husband also waved (he noticed the driver had a sweet car...maybe that's why?). Suddenly the car turns around and an older woman and her pug dog get out and walk on to the driveway. Whenever I see a stranger in our driveway for whatever reason, I immediately run out as I always assume it's because they saw a horse out or a missing dog or some other animal. I just assumed it was the same in this case.
At first I thought she was having some strange confusing experience and that maybe she was lost and needed our help as she was kind of rambling about being at a festival, not being able to find parking and she'd lost her friends and ......yikes....I didn't know what she was talking about. Finally, I kind of stopped her and just came right out and asked her, "What made you stop here tonight?" in as kind a way as I could. She had been at a festival nearby, she had lost her friends, so she'd turned back towards home but felt her little dog needed a walk and some fresh air because he'd been cooped up in her car for so long. When she saw us wave to her twice, she figured, this must be a friendly place. I'll stop here! So that's when she popped out of her car with her dog and I found her on our driveway.
Still, this was so strange. Meanwhile, one by one, one of the kids would come over or walk out of the house, or drive in the driveway after picking up another sibling....so many kids! I would keep introducing them one after another and then, I can't remember how, but somehow it came up that we homeschooled. That's when she asked, "Do you have Christian values?" "Oh yes," I said, "We're Christians for sure!' "Praise God! I'm a Christian, too!" She was so excited. She suddenly felt so sure that God had led her to our place because she couldn't explain why she had stopped at our place of all places.
The funnier part was as we talked she explained where she was originally from, some small town on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan. "Lloydminster?" I asked. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "YES! How do you know about Lloydminster?!" "That's where my dad was born and raised!" She couldn't believe it as she was, too. We figure they must know some of the same people as they are the exact same age and from the exact small farming community.
We must have stood on our driveway for 30 minutes just talking about the Lord, His goodness, my kids, where we go to church, her kids, where she lives now, how she came to be there, how her husband died, on and on.....by the end of the time, her dog had had a great time being walked all over the place by kids and we were new best friends. When she met my oldest boy going off to Africa, she was so excited as she had a science background (went to the same university as my dad, probably the same time, too). She wanted to know all about his trip. In fact, now she's even coming to his fundraiser in a couple of weeks! She can't wait!
It must be hard to be a widow. She must be lonely! It was such a thrill to meet her. She was truly such a lovely woman. My kids really took to her, too, as she was just like my mom. I couldn't have planned such an unusual evening. If I could, I would place a sign over our house, "Widows and orphans feel free to stop in here!" This is what I long to do, to minister to those in need, but I don't know how to when life is so full with my own household. My husband reminds me I am in ministry, to those under my own roof, so what does God do? He brings them literally to me, in a way I can handle and in a way that my family can get involved as well. I get a chance to literally meet a widow that God literally brought to our door. It was almost as if there was a sign over our house - stop here! When she left to go home after our extended driveway visit, we hugged! We felt like kindred spirits in that very short time. Only the Lord can do that. We exchanged emails and she's already responded that she's coming to our place in a couple of weeks. She can't wait and neither can we!
There are actually quite a few widows and widowers in our life that we've met since moving here. A couple of neighbours have lost their wives and we have a few from our old church as well. These older people love the kids and my kids really love them. I enjoy speaking with them so much and feel their loneliness whenever I see them. I just love that in a small way God can use me and our family out in the middle of nowhere. It's easy to get caught up in serving just my immediate family, but God doesn't want that. There's always room for more people in our lives. Who can limit the number of friendships they have, that God wants to give them? This one has to to be one of the more unique ways we've met a new friend. I can only say it was a divine appointment.
Meanwhile the fly pestilence is out in full force on the farm. I should say, the flies have moved from the outdoors into our home. They love it in here! I enjoy being hospitable, but this is too much. The weather, mixed with farm living, has bred the perfect storm. I was losing my marbles about it yesterday. But it was as if God knew as I came to this short verse. I read in Judges when God was speaking to Gideon, he said, "Peace be to you. Do not fear. You will not die." I repeated that to myself multiple time during the day as I encountered flies throughout the house. I will not die. Yes, flies are irritating and they do feel sometimes like I'm in Egypt experiencing one of the plagues, but I won't die. So, as with all things, I just try to keep perspective. But I will be going at it full force today with bug spray. I've declared war.
Last week, we had the strangest encounter on the farm. We were all outside. The kids were playing basketball in the driveway, my husband was also outside. It was a beautiful warm evening. A car drove by and the kids waved for some reason, as a lot of people wave in the country to anyone driving by. My husband also waved (he noticed the driver had a sweet car...maybe that's why?). Suddenly the car turns around and an older woman and her pug dog get out and walk on to the driveway. Whenever I see a stranger in our driveway for whatever reason, I immediately run out as I always assume it's because they saw a horse out or a missing dog or some other animal. I just assumed it was the same in this case.
At first I thought she was having some strange confusing experience and that maybe she was lost and needed our help as she was kind of rambling about being at a festival, not being able to find parking and she'd lost her friends and ......yikes....I didn't know what she was talking about. Finally, I kind of stopped her and just came right out and asked her, "What made you stop here tonight?" in as kind a way as I could. She had been at a festival nearby, she had lost her friends, so she'd turned back towards home but felt her little dog needed a walk and some fresh air because he'd been cooped up in her car for so long. When she saw us wave to her twice, she figured, this must be a friendly place. I'll stop here! So that's when she popped out of her car with her dog and I found her on our driveway.
Still, this was so strange. Meanwhile, one by one, one of the kids would come over or walk out of the house, or drive in the driveway after picking up another sibling....so many kids! I would keep introducing them one after another and then, I can't remember how, but somehow it came up that we homeschooled. That's when she asked, "Do you have Christian values?" "Oh yes," I said, "We're Christians for sure!' "Praise God! I'm a Christian, too!" She was so excited. She suddenly felt so sure that God had led her to our place because she couldn't explain why she had stopped at our place of all places.
The funnier part was as we talked she explained where she was originally from, some small town on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan. "Lloydminster?" I asked. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "YES! How do you know about Lloydminster?!" "That's where my dad was born and raised!" She couldn't believe it as she was, too. We figure they must know some of the same people as they are the exact same age and from the exact small farming community.
We must have stood on our driveway for 30 minutes just talking about the Lord, His goodness, my kids, where we go to church, her kids, where she lives now, how she came to be there, how her husband died, on and on.....by the end of the time, her dog had had a great time being walked all over the place by kids and we were new best friends. When she met my oldest boy going off to Africa, she was so excited as she had a science background (went to the same university as my dad, probably the same time, too). She wanted to know all about his trip. In fact, now she's even coming to his fundraiser in a couple of weeks! She can't wait!
It must be hard to be a widow. She must be lonely! It was such a thrill to meet her. She was truly such a lovely woman. My kids really took to her, too, as she was just like my mom. I couldn't have planned such an unusual evening. If I could, I would place a sign over our house, "Widows and orphans feel free to stop in here!" This is what I long to do, to minister to those in need, but I don't know how to when life is so full with my own household. My husband reminds me I am in ministry, to those under my own roof, so what does God do? He brings them literally to me, in a way I can handle and in a way that my family can get involved as well. I get a chance to literally meet a widow that God literally brought to our door. It was almost as if there was a sign over our house - stop here! When she left to go home after our extended driveway visit, we hugged! We felt like kindred spirits in that very short time. Only the Lord can do that. We exchanged emails and she's already responded that she's coming to our place in a couple of weeks. She can't wait and neither can we!
There are actually quite a few widows and widowers in our life that we've met since moving here. A couple of neighbours have lost their wives and we have a few from our old church as well. These older people love the kids and my kids really love them. I enjoy speaking with them so much and feel their loneliness whenever I see them. I just love that in a small way God can use me and our family out in the middle of nowhere. It's easy to get caught up in serving just my immediate family, but God doesn't want that. There's always room for more people in our lives. Who can limit the number of friendships they have, that God wants to give them? This one has to to be one of the more unique ways we've met a new friend. I can only say it was a divine appointment.
Tuesday 16 July 2019
Post Farmer's Market Review
Whenever we want to try and express that something in our family that isn't really working or that it is a little too easy or not challenging enough, we'll say, "it's for babies". Well, farmer's markets are for babies. That might sound odd to say, but we figured that having been at two farmer's markets this week, unless something changes, we are making less than minimum wage at these things. When you include ALL expenses, including what it would have cost to have my children watched (fortunately I had some older kids to watch them yesterday), gas to get there (most of them are far away), time watering, time planting, seed costs, dirt, etc......it just isn't going to pay long term. We'll have to definitely go the restaurant route or another way to sell these little microgreens. We've got lots of ideas.
The thing about farmer's markets is that it isn't just about the selling; it is about relationships. THAT was super successful and very fun. In one week we educated a whole host of people who had never even seen microgreens before. As long as I could get them to stop at the table, they usually bought one, just because I engaged them and talked with them for a few minutes. It is definitely about communication and being friendly.
Our kids also made us lose money on the initial investment. For them, farmer's markets are like a fairground. They would take money out of the "kitty" and go around buying all the berries and cookies that were for sale at other's tables! They got bored super fast! They couldn't understand why we kept saying "no"! It was still very fun and I loved having them around. They just didn't understand the whole concept on day 1. That'll come.
To top it off, at the first farmer's market, which we were told was unusually slow for some reason, we were packing up to go at the end of the morning and when we turned the key to start the car, it wouldn't start. Hilariously, all our profits went to buying a new battery to replace the dead one. We ended up fully being in the hole - no money made that day. But a great experience! I love making relationships in the community. I love being known around town. I enjoy interacting with other people. In fact, within the first hour of being there I had two spiritual conversations with others around me about church and faith and managed to invite them to church! So, I know God will use this somehow in our lives and town. We just keep committing it to the Lord each time.
The verse that drives us is the the "little by little" one in Proverbs -
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11
I could paraphrase it and say, "whoever gathers (or sells) microgreen by microgreen will increase it"....each little square will sell seems so insignificant, but it is little square by little square....
And, because we aren't busy enough we also are planting another acre of grapes. We ordered them last summer not knowing we would be doing this other venture this summer! We got a friendly reminder call this week, "Uh, you know you have 1300 grape plants waiting for pick up?" Oh yeah. Forgot about that. So a couple days ago my husband prepped the ground, the remaining acre and a half, and this week or next, we'll see them planted. When we told the kids they looked at us and one of them said, "We're doing what?!?" Yeah, sorry about that. Surprise!
So, it is not a quiet summer that is for sure. It is not a summer I can compare my life to anyone else's either. When I do that, I can get discontent and so can the kids when we hear the words, "They're away" or "that family is on vacation" or "they'll be back after their trip"......they look at me with a big question mark, but I remind them and I remind myself that we are all unique. We are all living unique lives. They have unique parents and we live on a unique property. Farmers just don't live like the rest of the world and I know we're farmers now, but maybe my kids don't! Our time of rest will be when the rest of the world goes back to work. So I talk about that with them and amazingly there are so many verses in Scripture about harvest, working the land, working diligently in the summer and the payoff at harvest. So I have lots of verses to back me up! That helps.
Today is a day off from the markets, maybe one more tomorrow. Trusting the Lord for His blessing....
The thing about farmer's markets is that it isn't just about the selling; it is about relationships. THAT was super successful and very fun. In one week we educated a whole host of people who had never even seen microgreens before. As long as I could get them to stop at the table, they usually bought one, just because I engaged them and talked with them for a few minutes. It is definitely about communication and being friendly.
Our kids also made us lose money on the initial investment. For them, farmer's markets are like a fairground. They would take money out of the "kitty" and go around buying all the berries and cookies that were for sale at other's tables! They got bored super fast! They couldn't understand why we kept saying "no"! It was still very fun and I loved having them around. They just didn't understand the whole concept on day 1. That'll come.
To top it off, at the first farmer's market, which we were told was unusually slow for some reason, we were packing up to go at the end of the morning and when we turned the key to start the car, it wouldn't start. Hilariously, all our profits went to buying a new battery to replace the dead one. We ended up fully being in the hole - no money made that day. But a great experience! I love making relationships in the community. I love being known around town. I enjoy interacting with other people. In fact, within the first hour of being there I had two spiritual conversations with others around me about church and faith and managed to invite them to church! So, I know God will use this somehow in our lives and town. We just keep committing it to the Lord each time.
The verse that drives us is the the "little by little" one in Proverbs -
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11
I could paraphrase it and say, "whoever gathers (or sells) microgreen by microgreen will increase it"....each little square will sell seems so insignificant, but it is little square by little square....
And, because we aren't busy enough we also are planting another acre of grapes. We ordered them last summer not knowing we would be doing this other venture this summer! We got a friendly reminder call this week, "Uh, you know you have 1300 grape plants waiting for pick up?" Oh yeah. Forgot about that. So a couple days ago my husband prepped the ground, the remaining acre and a half, and this week or next, we'll see them planted. When we told the kids they looked at us and one of them said, "We're doing what?!?" Yeah, sorry about that. Surprise!
So, it is not a quiet summer that is for sure. It is not a summer I can compare my life to anyone else's either. When I do that, I can get discontent and so can the kids when we hear the words, "They're away" or "that family is on vacation" or "they'll be back after their trip"......they look at me with a big question mark, but I remind them and I remind myself that we are all unique. We are all living unique lives. They have unique parents and we live on a unique property. Farmers just don't live like the rest of the world and I know we're farmers now, but maybe my kids don't! Our time of rest will be when the rest of the world goes back to work. So I talk about that with them and amazingly there are so many verses in Scripture about harvest, working the land, working diligently in the summer and the payoff at harvest. So I have lots of verses to back me up! That helps.
Today is a day off from the markets, maybe one more tomorrow. Trusting the Lord for His blessing....
Thursday 11 July 2019
Working Mom
I was thinking about how my feet were a little on the sore side last night. I was also thinking how I was still up doing things when normally I would be slowing down and getting ready for bed. And then I thought, "I've gone back to work! I'm a working mom! I have a job!" Somehow I didn't realize that, just like so many other moms, I have my regular mom job and now I am a part-time farmer! The reason I missed it somehow is because I didn't apply for this job. I didn't get an interview. I didn't seek it out, per se, it just kind of happened.
As all these thoughts rushed through my head, I had mixed feelings. There was a little bit of sadness as I feel badly when I can't be the all-in mom, making all the great meals, always having homemade everything, always having the fridge and cupboards fully stocked, instead of rushing out for last minute milk and bread. But then I felt so grateful. I haven't had to leave my house to make the extra income. I've been able to work at home, alongside my kids a lot of the time. I'm really glad I didn't have to go back into a classroom. I'm super glad I didn't have to come up with some awful resume. That would have really stressed me out. I'm able to work with my husband. We didn't know it at the time, but when we decided to do grapes, and now microgreens, he was essentially interviewing me as his full-time assistant. I knew I'd be helping, but I didn't know how much I would be involved.
There is always a cost when a mom goes back to work, but it isn't always bad. The kids have to step up more. The house isn't going to be perfect. Meals will suffer a little. It's a really exciting day when I get to put on make up now. Most of the time, I look like a true farmer. I've given up my hand-modeling job, that's for sure.
This Saturday will be the true test as we're off to our first ever Farmer's Market. This little market is rather pathetic. Only a few people actually sell things they grow on their farms. Most of the people there are selling pet toys, coffee, essential oils....there are only a few of us that are actually selling food they grew which is why they are so excited to have us! I will bring all the younger kids. That will be hilarious....or awful....we'll see. My guess is they'll help me set up and then take off and visit all the people selling cookies. Should be interesting. But, in my ideal world, they are going to help me sell, help me mange the money side of things, educate people on why microgreens are so fanatastic and make new friends.
I'm glad I go to "work" with my kids. That is a huge blessing. As my 11 year old daughter and I were soaking, planting, seeding, watering yesterday, we talked and talked. She had had a tragic event happen yesterday - her beloved cat had been found mysteriously dead on our lawn. No evidence of a car hitting her, nothing, just dead. She cried for an hour. But we talked and talked as we planted and I walked her through it in such a natural way. Then later, it was in the vines...again with 3 of my kids....and we were talking about the Fall, school, courses, dreams.....all very natural, no scheduled appointments and I felt so grateful for that as well.
So many moms have to go back to work as their kids get older. It was not in the plan for me to ever do that. I was a stay at home mom, forever. So how did this happen? I think the reason I feel ok about it is because I still am a stay at home mom. Nothing has changed. I'm just a stay at home mom that works here at home. My office is in the vines and my kitchen. I don't realize I'm at work because of all the steps I skipped that most moms who work go through - the new wardrobe that is needed, etc. Fortunately, I didn't have to buy anything!
It's our new reality. With a large family that is getting older, the costs seem to go up dramatically. When we go over our finances, could we cut more? I always ask my husband that. He says, sure, feed them less. We joke that if I cut out a meal a day over time, eventually I could get them down to maybe a meal a day. All that to say, no. We can't cut much more without starving them which is clearly not an option. I could go on and on about the sacrifices I already make, but it's enough to say, it was either do what we're doing or get my husband a 4th job?! He's already working A TON. It was time for me to step in.
I remember when my mom did this, too, when we were in high school. I don't remember her ever complaining. She took on two part-time jobs herself. She came home late at night. She was up early in the morning, in classrooms during the day and then at a tutoring center at night. God used that to meet our needs and I'm sure my dad was grateful. We were grateful as we saw how tiring that would have been. I am not walking a path other women haven't walked before me. I see God using me to help meet needs in my family and I see it as helping my husband see a little relief. I am sure praying God will bless our little farmer's market venture this weekend as well as our grapes this summer.
Had I gone back to the "real" workforce we are convinced I would have gone into sales of some kind. My husband wishes I sold airplanes, but alas, it's just little packs of green stuff. The fact it is something so small, and not an airplane, is kind of cool as it is more of a "little by little" approach to making some income. If we make any money on something so small, God will definitely get all the glory as it makes no sense in my eyes! This is truly going to be easy for me to do though, which is also why it doesn't feel like work. This is my IDEAL kind of job. I get to interact with people. Love that. I get to be with my kids - fanatastic. I get to be in the community - hello new friends! I get to use all my sales/personality giftings - so easy for me! And, on top of all this, I get to sell something that will actually make people healthy! Truly, if I had to make a job description for myself.....this was it. Only God can create this type of work.
Am I a little more on the tired side these days? Yes, but I sleep better! I am more fulfilled! When my husband and I go out on our own every so often, I often can't help but feel a little guilty. I always think, "We shouldn't spend money on ourselves!" But, the other night when we were up late into the night planting, we were side by side and I told him, "This is the ideal 'date night' for me." Instead of spending money, we were potentially making money. What do I love about going out with him? Just talking, just being together....we had all that, just around the kitchen table with seeds and dirt. Don't get me wrong....I'll still take a "real" date night, but that night, I was just as fulfilled, or moreso, by just being at home, doing something together for the sake of our family. I loved that.
Right now, all my kids are sleeping. I'll take my first shift in the vines during that time. See? Flexible hours! Perfect! I've already checked on the microgreens. Doing well. The grow lights are on, the trays have been watered. Then later, I'll come back in, feed a few, put out the laundry and attempt a grocery shop. Just a regular day in the life of a working mom.
As all these thoughts rushed through my head, I had mixed feelings. There was a little bit of sadness as I feel badly when I can't be the all-in mom, making all the great meals, always having homemade everything, always having the fridge and cupboards fully stocked, instead of rushing out for last minute milk and bread. But then I felt so grateful. I haven't had to leave my house to make the extra income. I've been able to work at home, alongside my kids a lot of the time. I'm really glad I didn't have to go back into a classroom. I'm super glad I didn't have to come up with some awful resume. That would have really stressed me out. I'm able to work with my husband. We didn't know it at the time, but when we decided to do grapes, and now microgreens, he was essentially interviewing me as his full-time assistant. I knew I'd be helping, but I didn't know how much I would be involved.
There is always a cost when a mom goes back to work, but it isn't always bad. The kids have to step up more. The house isn't going to be perfect. Meals will suffer a little. It's a really exciting day when I get to put on make up now. Most of the time, I look like a true farmer. I've given up my hand-modeling job, that's for sure.
This Saturday will be the true test as we're off to our first ever Farmer's Market. This little market is rather pathetic. Only a few people actually sell things they grow on their farms. Most of the people there are selling pet toys, coffee, essential oils....there are only a few of us that are actually selling food they grew which is why they are so excited to have us! I will bring all the younger kids. That will be hilarious....or awful....we'll see. My guess is they'll help me set up and then take off and visit all the people selling cookies. Should be interesting. But, in my ideal world, they are going to help me sell, help me mange the money side of things, educate people on why microgreens are so fanatastic and make new friends.
I'm glad I go to "work" with my kids. That is a huge blessing. As my 11 year old daughter and I were soaking, planting, seeding, watering yesterday, we talked and talked. She had had a tragic event happen yesterday - her beloved cat had been found mysteriously dead on our lawn. No evidence of a car hitting her, nothing, just dead. She cried for an hour. But we talked and talked as we planted and I walked her through it in such a natural way. Then later, it was in the vines...again with 3 of my kids....and we were talking about the Fall, school, courses, dreams.....all very natural, no scheduled appointments and I felt so grateful for that as well.
So many moms have to go back to work as their kids get older. It was not in the plan for me to ever do that. I was a stay at home mom, forever. So how did this happen? I think the reason I feel ok about it is because I still am a stay at home mom. Nothing has changed. I'm just a stay at home mom that works here at home. My office is in the vines and my kitchen. I don't realize I'm at work because of all the steps I skipped that most moms who work go through - the new wardrobe that is needed, etc. Fortunately, I didn't have to buy anything!
It's our new reality. With a large family that is getting older, the costs seem to go up dramatically. When we go over our finances, could we cut more? I always ask my husband that. He says, sure, feed them less. We joke that if I cut out a meal a day over time, eventually I could get them down to maybe a meal a day. All that to say, no. We can't cut much more without starving them which is clearly not an option. I could go on and on about the sacrifices I already make, but it's enough to say, it was either do what we're doing or get my husband a 4th job?! He's already working A TON. It was time for me to step in.
I remember when my mom did this, too, when we were in high school. I don't remember her ever complaining. She took on two part-time jobs herself. She came home late at night. She was up early in the morning, in classrooms during the day and then at a tutoring center at night. God used that to meet our needs and I'm sure my dad was grateful. We were grateful as we saw how tiring that would have been. I am not walking a path other women haven't walked before me. I see God using me to help meet needs in my family and I see it as helping my husband see a little relief. I am sure praying God will bless our little farmer's market venture this weekend as well as our grapes this summer.
Had I gone back to the "real" workforce we are convinced I would have gone into sales of some kind. My husband wishes I sold airplanes, but alas, it's just little packs of green stuff. The fact it is something so small, and not an airplane, is kind of cool as it is more of a "little by little" approach to making some income. If we make any money on something so small, God will definitely get all the glory as it makes no sense in my eyes! This is truly going to be easy for me to do though, which is also why it doesn't feel like work. This is my IDEAL kind of job. I get to interact with people. Love that. I get to be with my kids - fanatastic. I get to be in the community - hello new friends! I get to use all my sales/personality giftings - so easy for me! And, on top of all this, I get to sell something that will actually make people healthy! Truly, if I had to make a job description for myself.....this was it. Only God can create this type of work.
Am I a little more on the tired side these days? Yes, but I sleep better! I am more fulfilled! When my husband and I go out on our own every so often, I often can't help but feel a little guilty. I always think, "We shouldn't spend money on ourselves!" But, the other night when we were up late into the night planting, we were side by side and I told him, "This is the ideal 'date night' for me." Instead of spending money, we were potentially making money. What do I love about going out with him? Just talking, just being together....we had all that, just around the kitchen table with seeds and dirt. Don't get me wrong....I'll still take a "real" date night, but that night, I was just as fulfilled, or moreso, by just being at home, doing something together for the sake of our family. I loved that.
Right now, all my kids are sleeping. I'll take my first shift in the vines during that time. See? Flexible hours! Perfect! I've already checked on the microgreens. Doing well. The grow lights are on, the trays have been watered. Then later, I'll come back in, feed a few, put out the laundry and attempt a grocery shop. Just a regular day in the life of a working mom.
Tuesday 9 July 2019
That Boy.....
When each summer starts I try not to dread injuries happening to my children. Proverbs 3:25 is my summer verse, "Do not be afraid of sudden terror..." It can ruin my day if I see them playing at a playground or on their bikes. I'll start to picture them getting hurt, what will happen, where I will go, what the injury will be, etc.....It's not a good way to live. Instead when those thoughts come to me now, I pray protection over them and I ask the Lord for His peace as there is nothing I can do really except to try to give them warnings, etc.
If one of my kids were to get injured, it would definitely be the 9 year old boy. I do kind of half-expect it every single day of his life. He is my most adventurous, my boldest, my child who is less likely to listen and obey, despite all the warnings. I have told him numerous times that there are sometimes consequences for his actions that come from God, not me. Proverbs also speaks of this repeatedly. Can't say I didn't warn him.....
Most kids when they go to bed, brush their teeth and get in their pyjamas and usually go lie down. Not him. He lives his own life, I swear. I had gone into my bedroom last night when I heard him run down the hall, slam the bathroom door shut and then wash his hands or do something at the sink. I was already frustrated because he was taking so long to obey and I always ask them to not slam doors. When he came out of the bathroom door, he was shaking and looked like he had seen a ghost. He was holding his hand and his face looked like he was in disbelief about something. I immediately knew he had done something serious and because of how he was looking I started to look for evidence. Blood was dripping all over the floor. I also knew he had been warned many, many times to not touch my oldest son's knives in his drawers, but sometimes he just can't help himself and picks them up and looks at them. I figured he had cut himself on one of those and started to lecture him on why he shouldn't do that.
But, no time for lectures, this seemed a little more serious, so we stumbled downstairs and showed RM who immediately knew something had happened that was a little more than a scratch. He also knew that this boy had not obeyed or this would not have happened. Lecture #2 started....also quickly stopped when he saw his face....
Fortunately it wasn't a big cut, but more of a deep gouge, made with a carving implement that he had picked up. (what a naughty kid) No stitches required, just a bandaid, but it was deep enough to possibly cut some kind of vein that made the blood spray everywhere. That freaked us all out as it looked like a murder scene - blood on the walls, the shelves, the floor, his arm....sprayed at all angles. Disgusting! What made this whole event so amazing was how my oldest son, destined for med school, completely took over. RM was getting visibly grey from the blood, even just talking about it made him feel woozy. I was upset because my poor son was in pain and was I couldn't make him better. But my Doctor Son stepped in and calmly took over. He was so good. He reassured my wounded son, he explained what was happening, he assessed whether or not we needed to make a midnight visit to the hospital, he put on the bandaid and kept reassessing his wound. He made sure he was breathing deeply and kept him warm as he was clearly in shock. He was knowledgable and told RM and I exactly what was probably going on in his little thumb and what we could expect and on and on......All of us felt like we were in the presence of a real doctor. The only thing I could think was, "if he doesn't get into med school, something is wrong with the system big time...."
He ended up sitting with my little boy for over an hour or two, watching a show to keep him distracted from the pain which was really bad. They are both sleeping still and I won't wake them up. I was able to go to bed knowing he was in good hands.
The moral of the story is clearly to keep knives better stored, but the other moral of the story is one my son will not soon forget. Obey. We already had told him this about a million times, but sometimes God has a better lesson up His sleeve for children that need to learn. When we reminded him last night about the danger he said he wouldn't be touching anything sharp ever again. I hate it when God disciplines severely, but I'm also grateful for His grace to my son as it could have been a very serious injury. I thank God that it was enough to teach a lesson with a quick recovery time. May my son learn from this.
If one of my kids were to get injured, it would definitely be the 9 year old boy. I do kind of half-expect it every single day of his life. He is my most adventurous, my boldest, my child who is less likely to listen and obey, despite all the warnings. I have told him numerous times that there are sometimes consequences for his actions that come from God, not me. Proverbs also speaks of this repeatedly. Can't say I didn't warn him.....
Most kids when they go to bed, brush their teeth and get in their pyjamas and usually go lie down. Not him. He lives his own life, I swear. I had gone into my bedroom last night when I heard him run down the hall, slam the bathroom door shut and then wash his hands or do something at the sink. I was already frustrated because he was taking so long to obey and I always ask them to not slam doors. When he came out of the bathroom door, he was shaking and looked like he had seen a ghost. He was holding his hand and his face looked like he was in disbelief about something. I immediately knew he had done something serious and because of how he was looking I started to look for evidence. Blood was dripping all over the floor. I also knew he had been warned many, many times to not touch my oldest son's knives in his drawers, but sometimes he just can't help himself and picks them up and looks at them. I figured he had cut himself on one of those and started to lecture him on why he shouldn't do that.
But, no time for lectures, this seemed a little more serious, so we stumbled downstairs and showed RM who immediately knew something had happened that was a little more than a scratch. He also knew that this boy had not obeyed or this would not have happened. Lecture #2 started....also quickly stopped when he saw his face....
Fortunately it wasn't a big cut, but more of a deep gouge, made with a carving implement that he had picked up. (what a naughty kid) No stitches required, just a bandaid, but it was deep enough to possibly cut some kind of vein that made the blood spray everywhere. That freaked us all out as it looked like a murder scene - blood on the walls, the shelves, the floor, his arm....sprayed at all angles. Disgusting! What made this whole event so amazing was how my oldest son, destined for med school, completely took over. RM was getting visibly grey from the blood, even just talking about it made him feel woozy. I was upset because my poor son was in pain and was I couldn't make him better. But my Doctor Son stepped in and calmly took over. He was so good. He reassured my wounded son, he explained what was happening, he assessed whether or not we needed to make a midnight visit to the hospital, he put on the bandaid and kept reassessing his wound. He made sure he was breathing deeply and kept him warm as he was clearly in shock. He was knowledgable and told RM and I exactly what was probably going on in his little thumb and what we could expect and on and on......All of us felt like we were in the presence of a real doctor. The only thing I could think was, "if he doesn't get into med school, something is wrong with the system big time...."
He ended up sitting with my little boy for over an hour or two, watching a show to keep him distracted from the pain which was really bad. They are both sleeping still and I won't wake them up. I was able to go to bed knowing he was in good hands.
The moral of the story is clearly to keep knives better stored, but the other moral of the story is one my son will not soon forget. Obey. We already had told him this about a million times, but sometimes God has a better lesson up His sleeve for children that need to learn. When we reminded him last night about the danger he said he wouldn't be touching anything sharp ever again. I hate it when God disciplines severely, but I'm also grateful for His grace to my son as it could have been a very serious injury. I thank God that it was enough to teach a lesson with a quick recovery time. May my son learn from this.
Monday 8 July 2019
Weed Relief, A New Dynasty, More than 8 Hours in the Day....Created for Work
As I said before, we've definitely been drowning in vines,or I should say, weeds, at least up until recently. The problem was the weeds were literally taking over. I was worried about this and would ask RM about it regularly, but he kept assuring me that once the grape hoe he had purchased last year got fixed and on his tractor all would be ok. The problem with that was the alleged "fix" was no small project. It ended up being a waaaay bigger deal than he realized. In the olden days, I would have gotten stressed and taken on RM's stress as I thought it was admirable to be stressed together! Strange thinking, clearly. Now, I just go through each day with my thoughts being mainly concerned with feeding kids and keeping them in clean clothes in a sort of clean home. I figured if I was supposed to be stressed about the weeds RM would tell me.
As the weeds got higher and higher, he kept working and working on this grape hoe. The main reason for the delay was that he had to design a 250 lb (iron? steel? I have no idea...something heavy) attachment that would fit on to the bottom of the tractor. The grape hoe would then attach to that and away we would go! But it was not that simple to attach something so heavy in such an awkward place. Not only did he have to design it, get it all welded up, and then attach it to the tractor, but after that he had to learn all about hydraulics because he then had to make the grape hoe's hydraulics function properly. Oh my goodness. It was such an ordeal. I never paid any attention really except to see him all the time under the tractor, beside the tractor, swearing at the tractor, thinking in the car about the tractor.....and then recovering from the muscle soreness given to him by the tractor. Poor guy!
He was getting very discouraged and was about to give up. This was taking too long and the weeds were getting too high. He asked our neighbour to hoe the vines. But then, amazingly, after reworking every single hose, redrilling, replacing, reattaching......he got the thing to work! It was truly a miracle, to us at least! It was at this point I finally asked him to explain how he went about this and he explained every step to me. I was in awe of all the work he had done. So much effort that no one will ever know. But it was worth it. He cancelled the neighbour coming over and he went out and hoed our own vines for the first time by machine, no more hand hoeing like last year. It was such a great day! Our vines now actually look like real vines!
I asked him later, "What do other farmers do if they aren't engineers and don't know how to design tractor attachments?!!!!!" "They pay a lot of money to get someone to do it for them," was his answer. So in a way, it is a blessing and a curse that he knows how to do everything. On the one hand, it will be how we make money and save money by not paying someone to do all the work he does. And then, on the other hand, it means a lot more work for him, but in a strange way, he does kind of like the work. He just wishes that he could do it full time and not have to do a full time job outside of the house which makes for all this extra work at night, on weekends, or on holiday time. Maybe one day.
In the meantime I read in a devotional book this morning that our burdens and tasks are God's way of preparing us for heaven. So we should gladly take our burdens and be joyful for how God is using them in our lives.
This week will mark the beginning of another crazy adventure we are on. We have kitten dynasties and now we are attempting to have a microgreen dynasty. What is a microgreen? They are those cute little sprouts that you see on the top of entrees at fancy restaurants. They are usually pea shoots or some other kind of mini-vegetable. They are sold in tiny little clamshell containers or large trays and people love them! So we decided, in the name of always looking for additional ways to provide for our family, to pay for trips to Africa, to pay down debt, to give meaningful work to our children, to keep us off the streets, we started a microgreen business.....this past weekend. Just like that. Bought the seeds. Bought the soil. Bought the trays and the shelving and the lights. And then planted like crazy, because, as we like to say, there are more than 8 hours in the day.
The plan is to start selling (if they all grow well....so far so good) at the farmer's market this weekend. It's just a few hours every Saturday morning, and then perhaps to other restaurants or on the street. We're all kind of excited about this as we have other things up our sleeves to eventually sell as well that we make on the farm, crafty things, etc. It should be fun!
Why can't we just be normal people? One lady asked my husband once, "Can't you just be an engineer?" No. He can't. I can't either. There is something in us that drives us to do more. We are driven by necessity as we have a lot of mouths to feed. We are driven by Scripture that tells us to use our time wisely. We're driven by the the study on diligence we did years ago. We also are always reminded of the story of Elisha who asked the widow who was in debt and was being threatened that her sons would be taken from her, "What do you have?" She had oil. We have land and a large family and a really unusual husband/dad who can do so many things. Knowing we are in one of the most ideal places in Canada to grow things like vines, we grow vines. Knowing we are in a very touristy area that loves healthy food, we grow microgreens. And, of course, there's always hay. Knowing we have lots of people to help us, we use our kids and amazingly enough, they buy into it! Most of the time anyway....
The widow and her sons still had to fight for their freedom from debt. God didn't just magically pour the oil into containers. They had to go around and get the containers and fill them and as they moved forward in faith, God provided the miracle. This is what we are doing, too. We are moving forward completely in faith as we have NEVER DONE ANY OF THESE THINGS BEFORE!!!! We are trusting God will bless our little farm and all the crazy things we are doing. What is my role in all of this? Well, the usual things, keep kids fed and watered. Somehow keep the house in some semblance of order and then my biggest role is to be the cheerleader/co-visionary and help RM carry out all these bizarre plans and dreams we have.
But I really do love it. In RM's planning, he designed the vines with "trails". We can walk through our vine trails and enjoy the scenery, the birds singing, just being together outside. It can be magical. Our kids ride their bikes through the trails and I take friends on walks when they come over. It's hard not to buy into it when you are surrounded by nature and all of God's creation. I would almost feel badly if we weren't using our land this way or even our kids! We are all created to work (in fact, I have a book on our shelf called Created to Work!").
To prove this even more, in the animal kingdom, they are also created by God and we are to take dominion over them. At Marineland, they've been told recently they are no longer supposed to use the animals as "entertainment", instead on as "educational". What my son is noticing is that now that they are no longer allowed to do all the tricks and other behaviours they've been trained to do, they are now showing more aggressive behaviours. This is because they LOVE working, they love entertaining, they love to do what they've been taught to do, but this has been taken away from the animals. It is the same in human beings. If they are not doing what they are created to do, they get bored and develop bad behaviours. The more we give our kids to do, the more they rise to the challenge and the more fulfilled they are. They are on their devices less, outside more, and sleep way better, too. All in all, I love what I'm seeing in them.
My day is planned for me - I'll be in the vines for sure, taping, weeding, etc. I have a boatload of laundry to fold and deliver, meals to make....I think I wrote this once, "I never wake up wondering what I should do each day...." Today will be no different, but I'm good with that. In Canada, you wait soooooooo long for the warm weather. It's here now and I don't want to miss one minute of it.
As the weeds got higher and higher, he kept working and working on this grape hoe. The main reason for the delay was that he had to design a 250 lb (iron? steel? I have no idea...something heavy) attachment that would fit on to the bottom of the tractor. The grape hoe would then attach to that and away we would go! But it was not that simple to attach something so heavy in such an awkward place. Not only did he have to design it, get it all welded up, and then attach it to the tractor, but after that he had to learn all about hydraulics because he then had to make the grape hoe's hydraulics function properly. Oh my goodness. It was such an ordeal. I never paid any attention really except to see him all the time under the tractor, beside the tractor, swearing at the tractor, thinking in the car about the tractor.....and then recovering from the muscle soreness given to him by the tractor. Poor guy!
He was getting very discouraged and was about to give up. This was taking too long and the weeds were getting too high. He asked our neighbour to hoe the vines. But then, amazingly, after reworking every single hose, redrilling, replacing, reattaching......he got the thing to work! It was truly a miracle, to us at least! It was at this point I finally asked him to explain how he went about this and he explained every step to me. I was in awe of all the work he had done. So much effort that no one will ever know. But it was worth it. He cancelled the neighbour coming over and he went out and hoed our own vines for the first time by machine, no more hand hoeing like last year. It was such a great day! Our vines now actually look like real vines!
I asked him later, "What do other farmers do if they aren't engineers and don't know how to design tractor attachments?!!!!!" "They pay a lot of money to get someone to do it for them," was his answer. So in a way, it is a blessing and a curse that he knows how to do everything. On the one hand, it will be how we make money and save money by not paying someone to do all the work he does. And then, on the other hand, it means a lot more work for him, but in a strange way, he does kind of like the work. He just wishes that he could do it full time and not have to do a full time job outside of the house which makes for all this extra work at night, on weekends, or on holiday time. Maybe one day.
In the meantime I read in a devotional book this morning that our burdens and tasks are God's way of preparing us for heaven. So we should gladly take our burdens and be joyful for how God is using them in our lives.
This week will mark the beginning of another crazy adventure we are on. We have kitten dynasties and now we are attempting to have a microgreen dynasty. What is a microgreen? They are those cute little sprouts that you see on the top of entrees at fancy restaurants. They are usually pea shoots or some other kind of mini-vegetable. They are sold in tiny little clamshell containers or large trays and people love them! So we decided, in the name of always looking for additional ways to provide for our family, to pay for trips to Africa, to pay down debt, to give meaningful work to our children, to keep us off the streets, we started a microgreen business.....this past weekend. Just like that. Bought the seeds. Bought the soil. Bought the trays and the shelving and the lights. And then planted like crazy, because, as we like to say, there are more than 8 hours in the day.
The plan is to start selling (if they all grow well....so far so good) at the farmer's market this weekend. It's just a few hours every Saturday morning, and then perhaps to other restaurants or on the street. We're all kind of excited about this as we have other things up our sleeves to eventually sell as well that we make on the farm, crafty things, etc. It should be fun!
Why can't we just be normal people? One lady asked my husband once, "Can't you just be an engineer?" No. He can't. I can't either. There is something in us that drives us to do more. We are driven by necessity as we have a lot of mouths to feed. We are driven by Scripture that tells us to use our time wisely. We're driven by the the study on diligence we did years ago. We also are always reminded of the story of Elisha who asked the widow who was in debt and was being threatened that her sons would be taken from her, "What do you have?" She had oil. We have land and a large family and a really unusual husband/dad who can do so many things. Knowing we are in one of the most ideal places in Canada to grow things like vines, we grow vines. Knowing we are in a very touristy area that loves healthy food, we grow microgreens. And, of course, there's always hay. Knowing we have lots of people to help us, we use our kids and amazingly enough, they buy into it! Most of the time anyway....
The widow and her sons still had to fight for their freedom from debt. God didn't just magically pour the oil into containers. They had to go around and get the containers and fill them and as they moved forward in faith, God provided the miracle. This is what we are doing, too. We are moving forward completely in faith as we have NEVER DONE ANY OF THESE THINGS BEFORE!!!! We are trusting God will bless our little farm and all the crazy things we are doing. What is my role in all of this? Well, the usual things, keep kids fed and watered. Somehow keep the house in some semblance of order and then my biggest role is to be the cheerleader/co-visionary and help RM carry out all these bizarre plans and dreams we have.
But I really do love it. In RM's planning, he designed the vines with "trails". We can walk through our vine trails and enjoy the scenery, the birds singing, just being together outside. It can be magical. Our kids ride their bikes through the trails and I take friends on walks when they come over. It's hard not to buy into it when you are surrounded by nature and all of God's creation. I would almost feel badly if we weren't using our land this way or even our kids! We are all created to work (in fact, I have a book on our shelf called Created to Work!").
To prove this even more, in the animal kingdom, they are also created by God and we are to take dominion over them. At Marineland, they've been told recently they are no longer supposed to use the animals as "entertainment", instead on as "educational". What my son is noticing is that now that they are no longer allowed to do all the tricks and other behaviours they've been trained to do, they are now showing more aggressive behaviours. This is because they LOVE working, they love entertaining, they love to do what they've been taught to do, but this has been taken away from the animals. It is the same in human beings. If they are not doing what they are created to do, they get bored and develop bad behaviours. The more we give our kids to do, the more they rise to the challenge and the more fulfilled they are. They are on their devices less, outside more, and sleep way better, too. All in all, I love what I'm seeing in them.
My day is planned for me - I'll be in the vines for sure, taping, weeding, etc. I have a boatload of laundry to fold and deliver, meals to make....I think I wrote this once, "I never wake up wondering what I should do each day...." Today will be no different, but I'm good with that. In Canada, you wait soooooooo long for the warm weather. It's here now and I don't want to miss one minute of it.
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