Trying 7 Ventures, yes, 8 - Learning Who We Are and Embracing It

I recently listened to a sermon on Ecclesiastes 11 that I had missed because we were away.  Often you listen to a sermon and feel conviction and know there is much to change in your life.  That's a good thing and the power of God's Word.  However, once in a while, the sermon can also serve to encourage you and help keep you on your path.  It can reaffirm the choices you've made and encourage you.  That's what this sermon did for me.  

RM and I have done a lot of crazy things in our life and sometimes it's a little much even for me, so I can see why people might have a few opinions on us.  But Ecclesiastes made me feel like maybe we aren't as nuts as we feel sometimes.  In fact, some of the things we've done might just be Biblical! 

Here's the first two verses in NIV:

Ship your grain across the sea;
    after many days you may receive a return.
2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
    you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

Now ESV:

Cast your bread upon the waters,
    for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

I'll explain a little more later why I love these verses, but first I have to explain what I have come to realize.  I'm very influenced by certain books.  For example, the book by Dave Ramsey on debt, The Total Money Makeover.  His book was all about killing debt.  It was one of the main reasons I started this blog.  Basically all debt is bad.  And it is, mostly.  There are times when it can be used to grow your money, too, when done wisely.  He recommended all the ways to get rid of debt.  But he doesn't take into account there are different ways to do this.  We don't all have the same approach to life.  His book is written for the one type of person, a Mr. Steady type, who needs it all written out with steps and rules.  The danger of his book is that he isn't married to my husband.  My problem is that once I read that book, if we didn't do everything Ramsey said, I figured we were doing it all wrong.

As we keep going along in life, I'm realizing just how differently we're doing things.  Ramsey's book is still really good and I still highly recommend it for everyone, but it's also a vanilla approach to life.  Had we listened to everything he wrote, we wouldn't have done any of the things we've done as they didn't follow the "rules".

Back to Ecclesiastes 11.  Solomon's (most assume he's the author) advice is to try a bunch of things, "cast your bread upon the waters....give a portion to seven, or even eight....ship your grain across the sea...invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight...."  I'm married to someone who doesn't like to do things like everyone else.  I tease people who are married to Mr. Steadys because I know that their life must be so much more calm than mine, but what I realized recently when I say that is that I am a Mrs. Steady, a least a little.  My life is a whirlwind.  Yes, every day is an adventure - literally - but books like Dave Ramsey's can ruin it for me.  I end up coveting the "normal" person's life instead of enjoying my own.  I long for a husband who follows the rules so I can check off the boxes!  But my husband takes his book and throws it across the room!  He sees good in it - for a normal, no-risking taking kind of person.  Why can't he just follow the rules!!!  BUT, 27 years of marriage later, I'm slowly, just now, starting to figure him out.  I'm starting to figure out our marriage!  And it's more like Eccesiastes 11, way less than Ramsey's way.

We've made "wealth" by trying "7 ventures, yes, 8", or how about "20 ventures, yes, 30" or more!  Some of it has been accidental, others on purpose, all in God's providence.  We've loved real estate and have bought and sold a few times, always doing well with that.  That's one major way we've moved forward.  We've done multiple side hustles, including buying and selling on ebay, never knowing what will succeed and what won't, as chapter 11 goes on to say, "Sow your seed in the morning,

    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well."

We've worked for others, getting paid for odd jobs early on in our marriage.  We've worked for other employers, started our own engineering business, back to working for others by being at the college.  We've built and sold a house.  We've done farming, selling meat as well as hay and then moved into grapes.  We've sold vegetables and did a market garden.  We most recently started up a winery and then the stained glass business and store.  This winter will start the AirBnB business, Lord willing.  It is a way more exciting life, though it adds a level of uncertainty, which I'll call "faith" and stress, but it has allowed us to buy land and lots of it.  If we needed to sell we would be able to sell it for a good price as we're in such a good location by God's grace.  My Mr. Steady friends and my Mrs. Steady friends can't breathe after they hear what we're doing and I have to admit it's hard at times for me, too,  because, just like the verse says, "you do not know which will succeed".  I wish we knew the future, though I know we don't really want to.  I wish we knew that all we did would succeed, but we don't.  So we just keep trying things.  We are having such a hayday with the stained glass classes we can't believe it.  So those seem to be succeeding the most right now.  Our winery took off at the end of the summer last year.  This year we will be able to start months earlier so we hope to have even more success this spring and summer along with movies on the shed and other events, again, Lord willing.  All this to say, had we done it the way Ramsey says, we would have perhaps been debt-free, but we would have lived a life that went contrary to how we are wired.  

I told RM yesterday, "You have to write a book that explains the pros and cons of Dave Ramsey's book".  He needs to write a book that takes all the books and all the financial philosophies and puts them in one place.  He needs to write a book for wives married to people like him.  I read a book on marriage that really helped me understand my husband years ago, but it didn't have a financial element to it.  So, in the back of my mind, I've always kind of thought, he's doing it wrong.  And, because of that, there's been a tension because I secretly wished he'd do it the way Ramsey had said!  I've had to just keep trusting the process, trusting my husband, trusting God and the way He's made my husband.  And, I've had to learn who I am!  I love taking risks, but as I've gotten older, I get a little more cautious.  All the things I've done have taught me so much about my fears and how to manage them so I'm not living in a state of fear all the time.  I've also learned the power of two people working together.  Apart, we could never have achieved what we've achieved, to God be the glory.  I would NEVER have done any of these things on my own, but because we're together, we do it and we get stronger in our marriage as a result.  What a mystery marriage is!

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

Those verses speak of taking your "talents" and burying them in the sand.  That is way safer and way less risk.  I love burying my talents.  But that is wrong.  We're supposed to invest and bring back more talents.  These verses speak of standing around and doing nothing because it might be too risky.  I will say, we have planted despite how risky it may appear, no standing around watching clouds and wind.  Again to God be the glory - my husband moves forward even though the world thinks he's nuts.  And, though it isn't flowing quite like a waterfall, we're seeing the reaping slowly but surely and we praise God for His goodness to us.  We still cannot say what will succeed for sure or not, but we keep sowing "morning till night" and we are trusting God to fulfill these promises.  When you read them backwards, which I love to do, it says when you plant you will reap.  We plant a lot.  

So, as I heard the sermon on these verses, though there were many applications, I heard God encouraging me.  He was telling me "Your husband isn't nuts.  You aren't crazy.  Keep doing what you're doing.  You'll reap."  I felt so encouraged as I listened to these words.  Ramsey's approach is fine and I still kind of wish we had followed his program to the letter of the law, but I'm also glad we didn't.

Humility...the Lessons and Blessings

Another amazing weekend in the books.  I think most of my Monday posts start like that.  I've written about this before, but I've been praying for my house for a long time as it is deteriorating.   I don't really remember praying about my furniture, however.  It was in rough shape, too, but I just figured we would get newer stuff when we somehow magically renovated the house.  It was given to us by a neighbour a few years ago.  It was starting to show wear and tear then, and, thanks to certain children who refuse to stop using our furniture like a trampoline, it got soooo bad that we literally bought duct tape that matched the colour of the couch, as well as patches off of amazon, anything to repair the horrible tears that were getting worse and worse.  I tried covering the open seams with blankets, pillows....you name it.  It never worked.  People would sit on them and kids would start pulling out the stuffing.  Then along came a miracle.....AS USUAL!

This is where the story gets embarrassing.  My parents offered up their basically brand new couches (compared to our's they looked brand new).  They were moving and they didn't need them in their new space, too big.  I said, "No thanks".  In my mind, they were the wrong size, wrong colour, wrong shape.  Our space was small and I couldn't picture two large couches in my house.  The couches we had that were in such rough shape were also big and I think I had hoped for something smaller to replace them or something more who-knows-what. I just kept saying no.  But I had this bad feeling in the back of my head especially when I looked at my horrible couches.  I just kept thinking, "Who do I think I am? What's my problem?"  That is when I officially starting praying, literally, about the couches and asking God what I was supposed to do as it was obvious I was being a fool to turn down such a great offer.  I'm convinced Satan had blinded me.

I was at my daughter's place (so weird to write that!) with my other daughter who is only 14 and I told them my situation how I was being offered the couches, but I didn't want the couches, but we needed the couches....my young 14 year old said, "Mom!  You're being too picky!"  and my older daughter said, "Take the couches!"  I immediately texted my husband and said, "We're taking the couches."  I knew they were right.  It was finally clear in my mind that I had been seeing things through the wrong eyes.  I had something in my head (don't know where it came from) and I had them pictured in my house not fitting.  I think I was picturing their living room space in my space.  I quickly called my mom, hoping beyond hope that they hadn't sold them or gotten rid of them yet.  Thank God they hadn't.  That would have been really bad.  They still had them and they went the extra mile and worked the whole moving day thing to have the couches delivered to our house so we didn't even have to get them.  That was HUGE.

This is where it gets very strange and another sign that Satan was trying to blind my eyes. When the couches got in our house, they looked like totally different couches.  They looked smaller!  I had pictured huge couches.  They weren't.  They were also dark brown, just like the ones we had thrown out.  I had thought the whoooooole time that they were navy.  Why?!  I have been at my parents house for 39 years.  Why did I think that?  Do I have no colour memory?  How weird is that?  At first they didn't quite seem to suit the space which I had been worried about, but then I did a quick furniture do-over and I reconfigured the whole space and it all came together in such a great way.  Everyone thinks it looks so good.  And they all look at me with, "I can't believe you almost didn't take the couches" look.  Yes.  I'm a dummy.  Like I said, so embarrassing.  We aren't the Kardashians.  And maybe it comes down to pride and being willing to accept people's generosity.  That can be humbling and quite frankly, I hate being humbled and in a position of humility on a fairly regular basis.  But, God loves that.  He works in a place of humility.  He can't deal with proud people.  I am so grateful for my children who called me out on it.  I'm so grateful for patient parents who probably shook their heads a thousand times as I said, no, no no.....I'm grateful to God who then blesses those who are humbled and turns the couches from blue to brown and from big to small (well, that's what it seems like!) and made my family room new AGAIN.

Our kitchen has also been deteriorating.  Cupboards are falling off.  Drawers are stuck.  The sink got cracked a few years ago.  The faucet is broken.  Countertops.....getting worse by the day.  But, I'm learning the humility lesson.  No place for pride anymore.  We'd been looking for a new sink on and off for weeks if not months.  Nothing was turning up that was a good price and that would fit.  But then yesterday there was a perfect one really close, so off RM went and picked it up.  It was perfect.  So we quickly pulled out the old one and then we saw how bad the surrounding cupboards and countertops really were.  They were literally falling apart, so we ripped those out and then we ended up taking out the rat-destroyed, non-functioning dishwasher/glorified dish rack, and realized we had kind of overdone it.  How would we put in a sink without a cupboard or counter to support it?  In came the plywood.  I didn't care.  I'm a newly humbled person....bring on the plywood countertop.  So we placed the sink in the middle of the plywood and now I have a working sink!!!!  I love it!  There are no cupboards below it so it looks a little rough, but we half-hope we'll get the amazing HGTV news soon!  If we don't we will figure it.  I know it's not forever.

We've been looking at our house with "people coming over for the first time" eyes because my son's girlfriend-to-be is coming over this weekend.  We wanted her to come see a quaint farmhouse, not a dumpy house.  Well, in one weekend it went from ripped couches and broken sink to new couches and new sink and almost entirely decorated for Christmas....beautiful lights and vine decorations everywhere....so cozy.  I picture her coming over and really loving our place.

So, a weekend of life lessons.  The power of humility over pride was the game changer.  I thought I was being humble, ironically, by saying no to new couches and living with my old ones.  But that's being a martyr actually.  Which, is actually pride.  Oh, the irony.  I was so close to missing out on blessing. That's where I truly see the miracle of God's patience, slow to anger, full of compassion towards me, abounding in love.  The blessing of children and our relationship which allowed them to speak into my life!!!  What if I hadn't had them in my life?  I'm so grateful for their wisdom at 14 and 24 years old!!!  Seeing how God miraculously took care of my old couches gives me hope for all things in my old house.  He knows our situation and I can confidently sit back and trust Him.

A Big Family Week and Thoughts on the Concept of "Finished"

This will go down as a big week in our family history.  Last night we celebrated my sister's book launch at an amazing restaurant in downtown Oakville.  Incredible.  It was so special to hear her journey, see all the people who showed up to celebrate her, listen to my cousin and his daughter perform their amazing musical talents and then just to enjoy reconnecting with people - which happens to be my personal favourite thing in life.  

The whole time I was thinking, "in two days my parents' life and my brother and his wife's life is about to change".  After 39 years of living in the same house, they are moving out.  Not quite into the new house, but into my sister's as their place isn't quite ready, but in a couple weeks they'll be officially into another home much closer to us, just 17 minutes away.  I can't imagine how tough this has been on them, packing up their life after being in one place for so long, but they've done it and are still doing it and it'll all be moved out on Saturday once and for all.

It's a much smaller space they're moving into, but you know, it kind of makes sense to pare down, but it'll probably take some getting used to.  How wonderful it'll be to have them near by along with my brother and his wife and they're adorable little family.  I still can't believe it's happening.  Praying it will all somehow come together and that God will guide the process so that things will go smoothly.

Meanwhile.....life on the winery has slowed to a standstill with customers, except when it doesn't.  Over the course of the summer we made some great connections with customers and they loved our wine.  On the weekend with a snowstorm on the way last week, 3 different couples came by around the same time, for a glass of wine and then a couple purchases.  But they didn't take one bottle home, they would buy a case, or half a case.  I couldn't believe it.  The snow was coming down hard, but they drove over anyway, because two of them were local - once was from Windsor - they were determined to come.  The best thing about locals is that they're local!  They buy from us because they like supporting local businesses and they like our wine.  It is quite something.  I was in shock.

Knowing we had an outdoor winery, we knew we had to come up with an indoor experience.  RM nailed it when he decided to put a stained glass class together.  We now have over 60 students who are signed up and ready to enjoy making stained glass classes....even into January now.  Those classes are now filling up as well.  We are in shock.  We honestly can't believe it.  God is so good and He's being so faithful, even when we are so faithless.  I am always in shock when I can buy groceries and that I have been buying groceries since June with no paycheque.  I was able to pick up coats for my boys.  I just can't believe it.  We hoped for this.  We prayed for this, but we never knew what it would look like.  So amazing.

Then, because life can't be funnier, my husband did another funny thing.  He applied to be on a TV show called "Farmhouse Facelift".  Our house is falling apart.  There's no denying that.  Every day it gets worse.  We have to do something, but what?  I had seen this on Facebook a couple years ago, but we were too busy to apply.  Now, we're busy, but we're desperate, so we applied!  He filmed our whole house in the messy state that it was....I was embarrassed, but oh well.  Maybe it'll get us sympathy. I wish we had heard the same day, but we didn't and maybe we never will orrrrrrrr, maybe we will?!  If we do hear, I'll follow over dead.  It isn't free even though it looks that way.  You have to come up with a HUGE sum of money, but we're so desperate that we're willing to do whatever it takes to come up with that money.  What we like is that they will design, bring in the trades, and have it all done in a certain amount of time.  We can't do that on our own.  They won't do the whole house, though our whole house needs to be done, but they'll do the main areas and then hopefully, by some miracle, we'll eventually be able to do the rest.  We are a work in progress, what can I say?  All I know is I don't know how much longer we can go with the house the way it is.....it is in rough shape.  Praying, all the time.....

What I read in Scripture all the time is the word "finished"..."Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished."  From the beginning of Scripture you see that there's the start of creation and then the end.  He didn't leave the earth half-done.  Solomon didn't leave the temple half-done.   Some of Jesus final words, "It is finished" even reflect the fact He had a job to do and He completed it entirely, on a much larger and more significant scale, of course, compared to a dumb renovation.   I believe we have this ache in our hearts when something gets started and not completed because we're wired to complete things.  Yet, I know we live in a fallen world, and maybe that's the problem.  Maybe this side of heaven we won't get to see things "complete" the way I long for and I accept that.  I just know that God creates us with these desires and so I thank God for how he's wired me and I humbly ask God to help us and our sick house that is rapidly deteriorating.  In the meantime, I continue to steward the the mess and chaos, knowing in the big picture it doesn't really matter.  I have shelter, food and clothing - we're good.

Dedicated to Dedicating

Today I'm letting my 16 year old "sleep in"....until 7:30.  Normally, he's been getting up at 5:30 each morning.  I get up at 5 (or earlier if it's a co-op day), just so I can get my coffee in and reading.  A couple of weeks ago we started a new habit - going to the gym.  I've been working out at home for years since we stopped going to the Y in Oakville 3 kids ago.  Since then it has never been a possibility.  The older boys all got memberships and I just couldn't see how I could fit it into my day or the cost,  but now I've made it a priority and we're trusting God to provide as I attempt good health!  It's also been a fun way to hang out with J every morning.

The gym is really close, but it's enough time to hang out for a few minutes there and back as I drive him to school afterwards as well.  Teen boys are challenging enough, and he's already not much of a talker, so I have to really work at it.  I'm grateful for this unique time in our lives.

We continue to marvel at how God has provided for us as the weather has turned colder.  October was amazing weather and we saw regular customers almost daily.  November was ok for a bit, but then slowed right down.  However, RM came up with a plan by doing these stained glass classes and they are a hit.  The one-day classes for Christmas ornaments filled up almost right away and the other classes get daily sign ups.  This brings immediate income and also potentially more as each customer potentially buys wine from us when they come.  I'm praying one or more of the customers will also consider using us as their corporate wine gift this Christmas.

Last night RM said he never would have imagined that he'd be making money from stained glass, yet there he is.  So amazing.  Such an answer to prayer.  Also, when it got colder, we were both wondering how we'd get people to come by and suddenly the hay sales started up again.  What hay?  Hay from 2 summers ago that we couldn't sell!  What if we'd sold it then?  We had been worried that it wasn't going to sell and that we'd get stuck with all this hay, but now, of course, we see how God knew we would need that hay to be available for sale right now.  So when the wine sales went down, the hay sales miraculously went up!  It's been amazing to watch how food keeps going in the fridge and how there's money to pay for it without a cheque from the college.  We still can't believe it.

Nearly every night we watch Airstream renovation videos.  I find them very boring, but my husband eats them up.  My 16 year old who initially didn't seem interested starting watching them, too, and now I'm praying this project will give him new skills.

I keep reading through 2 Chronicles.  It follows our whole life story.  David helped his son prepare for the temple building, got all the supplies, rejoiced at the willingness of the people and had a bit of a pre-grand opening celebration.  After he died, Solomon called everyone together, worshiped in preparation of the build, asked for wisdom, started up some businesses, got some skilled men and the building was complete in 3 chapters.  Then, he, too, had a Grand Opening/Dedication celebration.  I had never noticed these verses before because I had never had a Grand Opening, but now I'm noticing because of the place in our lives.  Solomon then gathered his assembly, which I always read as "his family", the Israelites, and he had a worship time, of "praise and thanksgiving to the Lord" saying, "for he is good. for his steadfast love endures forever".  And the "house, the house of the Lord (I really love that it is included what kind of house) was filled with a cloud, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God".  This is my prayer.  I just want the glory of the Lord to fill our house, our property, our businesses and that it'll be obvious to everyone - like a cloud.  We've actually had fog here recently so thick you can't see a few feet in front of you.  That's what I'm talking about.

Then Solomon kept going and stood on a platform he had built.  He "spread out his hands" and "then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly and spread out his hands towards heaven" and prayed a prayer of dedication, speaking of who God is, "God of Israel".  He says, maybe to remind those listening, "there is no God like you, in heaven or earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart....."  Isn't that what we feel, too?  We say out loud, "You are the God who keeps His promises to us, showing constant steadfast love."  He adds this condition, "if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me."  So, what could I do, except respond the same way?

I only have the 3 youngest with me now at home - SO WEIRD - I said to them, "Let's do the same thing!"  I'm sure my kids had a core memory made that day.  We all got on our knees, spread out our hands towards heaven and then we all prayed a prayer of dedication, dedicating our lives, ourselves, our businesses, the winery, the stained glass, the AirBnBs, the farm, our homeschool, everything.  It was actually kind of special.  Our arms were sore afterwards, even though we only prayed for a couple minutes.  How did Solomon pray for a whole chapter!

We chatted last night about it and decided we should probably do that again with the whole family, having a prayer of dedication for all these things, but really we are doing this every day.

I'm still marveling at all that God is doing in our kids' lives.  My son, who waited so long for a job, is now loving his new job working as a tech in the eye surgeon's clinic.  After years of working in the winter in a wetsuit in the water with whales in below zero weather, he's sooooooo happy to be warm, talking with senior citizens, taking their eye measurements, just loving his life.  He got another mark back yesterday on a different exam and he scored in the highest quartile, so he has a better chance at med school this year.....but we won't hold our breath just yet.  He'll hear in January if he gets an interview.  It's coming up!  I'm just grateful he's finally getting a break after struggling so much.  

We also have comic relief back in our life with two cats in our home.  They chase each other all day and we laugh and laugh.  One is getting neutered today so he won't be laughing much today, but it is a funny life.

The winery still demands our time and it is getting cold - so much still left to do and I feel like spring is around the corner!  Time won't slow down!

Parents and brother/sister-in-law are moving very soon out our way - it's just such a busy time!  But so fun and fulfilling.  Thanking God for his steadfast love to us.

Solomon - the Epic Entrepreneur

Two days ago, our first trailer, meaning more are coming, pulled into our driveway.  It's big!  31 ft.!  Last night we had an Airstream Marathon where we watched multiple videos of the transformation of several online just to give the kids a vision of victory.  We want them to see that we aren't the only ones out there who do stuff like this.  We watched one family in particular that even started their own Airstream renovation business, so who knows where this will go.

Normally we have a mild freak out where we think to ourselves "what have we done?"  followed by more panic, dread, fear and all those awful feelings that make you feel crazy, but this time we were mostly excited and wishing we could start right away.  We have no time to waste.  Winter is coming, although yesterday was 21 degrees which was almost hot, like a summer day.  So if winter is going to be mild like that, we might just get it done sooner than we think.  It looks like the second one will arrive this week sometime and then we're going to get started soon after that.  We really want to have multiple sites on the farm, all facing the sunset which is amazing here.  I often wished we had lived on the opposite side of the road as you can have a view of the lake, but now I'm so glad we're on this side.

We often call our ideas "crazy", but this week my husband said, "We have to stop saying that" and he's right.  We are now saying that our ideas are God-given and they are.  I was reading this week in 2 Chronicles chapter one about Solomon.  1 Chronicles ended with David dying, full of days, which sounded so positive even though the last half of his life had so much misery.  It gave me the sense that even with the misery, God had redeemed his bad choices, his trouble with his children and turned it for good in the end.  There were also Grand Opening celebrations as they anticipated the start of the building of the temple.  Then chapter one starts with Solomon as the new king.  Instead of going right into building he goes right into worship.  He gathers his assembly and it says he goes intentionally to worship God as his first act of worship.  He extravagantly sacrifices 1000 burnt offerings.  One commentary says that he does this to show how rich he is but to also show how much he wants to show everyone that it all comes from God.  The next scene is where God says to him in the night, "What do you want?"  Instead of asking for wealth or long life, he famously asks for wisdom.  This response pleases God and he is given wisdom as well as much wealth, fame and much  more.  I think everyone assumes that he automatically got money deposited in his account, but the next scene seems to reveal how it came about and this is where I was so excited and encouraged by what I read, the morning the Airstream was arriving.

This next scene then starts talking about all the things Solomon starts doing and, to me anyway, they sound a lot like entrepreneurial businesses.  He starts dealing with chariots and horsemen, silver and gold, as well as cedar.  He then starts importing horses from Egypt where his "horse traders" would "buy them from Kue for a price".  This was where I started getting excited as I read these verses.  Solomon was acting unusally clever and taking initiative in his businesses.  It went on...."They imported a chariot from Egypt....and a horse....."  So now he's importing horses and chariots - so interesting....Next it says, "Likewise - meaning, in addition to all these other things he was doing he also did this - through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria." So cool - so he had a horse and chariot import/export business.  This just means so many other things.  He, therefore, must have had a horse breeding business as well as a chariot manufacturing business and all the trades involved with that.  And these would have been very important for war, so all the kings would have needed them.  He was a genius!  Or was he.....maybe this is the very way God answered his prayers, by giving Solomon these amazing answers to prayer, these amazing ideas.  Instead of dumping money in his account he gave him ideas!  Wisdom!  So exciting.  This is why we are no longer saying to each other or anyone else for that matter, "we're crazy".  No, we're not.  We're just thanking God for the ideas he gives us, the ability to carry out the ideas, the resources we have, the access to land.  God has placed us exactly where He wants us and we're just thanking God every day for placing us between Hittite kings and Syrian kings who will buy our horses and chariots that we are now making, such as Airstreams, wine, stained glass, etc.  Even yesterday, we prayed that we would have many wine sales, yet the income we made yesterday came from stained glass sales.  We did sell wine as it was a beautiful day, but we sold more in glass, equipment, and course related sales than we did in wine.  That was another genius idea RM had when he started the courses.  He had the foresight to realize his students would need tools and equipment, so he set up a "store" in the studio and unbelievably people buy from him because they are right there and he can direct them to what they need instead of them going to a different supplier.  It was "genius" except he can't take the credit - the ideas all come from God.  This is why we are going to church today again - to worship and sacrifice our 1000 burnt offerings, to thank Him for what he's doing in our lives.  We're just so excited.   

I'm fairly certain God showed me these verses for a reason on Friday.  If I had read them a year ago I don't think I would have been impacted by them in the same way.  It was so neat to read them "by coincidence" on the day the trailer was pulling in.  I think, ultimately, this was how Solomon was made wealthy, through work, through his visioning, through multiple businesses and, of course, all these ideas were from God.  Amazing.

Grand Opening Success and Now More Schemes

What a grand Grand Opening!  We sold out all the tickets we had and it turned into an absolutely perfect sunny day.  My sisters saved the day with helping out with bb'qing and serving food and we managed to feed 100 people without skipping a beat.  I think it came together just beautifully.  I think my favourite part was the last minute "merch" that came in.  We waaaaay overspent to have that happen, but we thought it was worth it.  Every member of the family got a hoodie and it looked awesome.  I loved seeing every kid from the youngest to the oldest walking around with their Urban Tractor Farm hoodie.  Having everyone involved and having their friends involved was amazing.  It was a blessed time.

You would think we'd sit back and go, "Ahhhhhh, finally a break!"  But, no. We're already scheming.  We have to!  The grand opening was great, but it wasn't free.  We had to pay for the musician and all the food and even though people bought wine, it wasn't enough to feed the family for very long.  So, after much thought and much input from multiple sources of people, we decided to move forward into our newest venture - starting up an AirBnB on site. Or two.  

Yesterday, we made the first investment and bought an  Airstream trailer.  These are super cool vintage trailers from the 60s that are the hottest thing right now  Everyone is buying them and redoing them in super cool modern styles.  They also double as tiny homes and resell at incredible prices.  We are also doing this as a way to host my daughter and her husband when they come over, or as a way to possibly host grandparents one day or even just extra guests who need a place to stay sometimes.  Either way, if we get it done in time, we should be up and running by spring if all goes as planned.  Depending on how fast it goes, we could ultimately have two or three if we do well with our first trailer, which is arriving ON FRIDAY!  It's already gutted, so that'll save us some time, but there's still lots of hard work ahead.

We got a really good deal on this trailer and we can't wait to get started.  We're going to document the process so that we can get the hype working for us.  The hope is that it'll be fully booked all spring and summer.  So fun!  It'll feel like we're making money in our sleep, literally, while people stay on the property.  We just have to keep at it.  There's no slowing down.  The difference before this was that we were doing all this scheming but somehow still had to manage meetings, phone calls, on-site work, etc. Now, we just work for us, so it's still a lot of work, but there's this underlying feeling of freedom.  So hard to explain, but we just love it.

It's forcing our hand again.  We have a shed full of stuff we want to get rid of so that we have a place to store the trailer.  Now, ugh, we have to clean out the shed.  This is no garden shed for lawn mowers.  This is a HUGE building full of things we've stored for years including vans, cars, riding mowers, etc.  Most of that is gone now, but we still have lots of stuff in it.  So here we go again on the ultimate clean up.  I really think our life is reality tv worthy sometimes.  It's hard to keep up with all that's going on.  People just shake their heads, but they don't know what it's like to feed a large family and keep a farm running.  

We had quite a few people from the Toronto area recently at the winery.  They came from the exact area we used to live when we were first married in a condo in downtown Mississauga.  They wondered how in the world we went from condo living to a 47 acre farm.  So I told them our story in a few brief minutes.  In their minds, we were living the dream.  I have to always let that sink in because I look around always see what "isn't done" instead of what "is done".  This is what we've had to do - we've had to prioritize things that make us an income.  This has put all renovations on the house indoors on hold.  That remains to be a challenge for me.  But I get it.  So when I hear we're living the dream, in a funny way that helps me.  All that to say, hopefully things like the trailer will bring the necessary income to not only feed the family, but to start up the renos again that have been on hold for what seems like years!

In great news - our son finally got a job at the eye doctor's clinic.  This is a dream job as he's working with a world class surgeon, assessing his patients and being alongside him in his work.  I'm so happy for him.  I can't wait to hear the back story of how they decided to hire him.  I'm sure it's going to be great.  Of all the jobs he applied to, this one was the one we all hoped for, so I'm praising God.

We also had a week off school this past week.  I needed that so badly to help set up for the Grand Opening, but also just to clean up the house that has been neglected since the farming season started.  I went through all the bedrooms yesterday and we finally got on top of those.  The main floor has been mostly cleaned up.  Laundry has been behind, so not doing so great on that, but hopefully getting on top of that, too.  Today is my final day for all that.  I could have used two weeks off, but oh well, back to the grind now....

My Whole House is Outside - and the significance of Grand Openings

I have a friend who recently moved away.  She was my go-to friend if I needed help decorating for an event or for ideas if I was hosting a shower....I could call her and she would show up and the place would turn into the coolest looking space.  But then she moved.  Why would she do that and leave me on my own???  

Now we're hosting this Grand Opening.  So funny.  Still can't believe we're doing this.  I wanted to buy all sorts of decorations.  I wanted to make it super "Grand Opening-y", but I wasn't sure how.  I wasn't sure how to do that cheaply and yet make it super cool.  I wanted my friend to help me.  But she moved.  So then, as I thought and thought about it, I don't know if I prayed about it, all of a sudden these ideas kept popping in to my head.  It was as if my friend was telling me what to do!  I ignored them at first.  They were crazy thoughts and each thought seemed impossible.  Too much work.  I could never get everyone on board, but then I finally decided to just see if I could pull it off and I went for it.

In my head, I kept hearing, "Take it all outside".  First thing I thought of were the tables.  That would be cool.  Then, the chairs for the tables.  Ok....and then I heard, the leather chairs, all  of our single-seat upholstered chairs.  Next, all the vine balls and trees throughout the entire house.  Oh, and all the crates, candle holders, and anything that looked farm-y like our window frames and antiques laying around.  I would also need a dozen hay bales and pumpkins.  That wouldn't be a problem.  My husband bought 100 pumpkins a few weeks ago, so we had lots of those.

Then, I went to work.  I had all the kids go get all those crazy things and bring them to me outside and then I just started running around the farm, decorating every nook and corner creating "vignettes" of farm life.  It is hard to decorate the outdoors!  In a house you have a small enclosed space with defined walls and ceilings, but the outdoors?  How do you decorate the outdoors?!  But, I'm convinced God used that voice in my head and directed me on how to do it.  And I cannot say it enough - it looks amazing!!!!  Instead of walls to lean things against, I used giant hay bales in our maze or the farm gate.  Instead of area rugs, I used grass and I positioned all our soft chairs in a cozy seating arrangement for the seniors coming tomorrow.  Instead of lighting, I used the sky and place dall our tables (I didn't know we had so many) and made it like a restaurant, but instead of a couple feet apart there's lots of distance so my "restaurant" is soooo spacious and yet still so inviting!

I wanted people who had been here many times to see that it wasn't our regular space.  I wanted it to look like it wasn't Dollar Store decorations, though I have balloons from there still coming.  I wanted it to look like you had come to my house, but instead of coming in, you would be outside.  Well, the irony is, that it is my house, just OUTSIDE!  It is amazing.  I don't know how it all came together, but I give all the glory to God who somehow placed it in my head to think like my friend.  

We had Harvest Host people come last night while I was in the middle of setting it all up.  The couple just loved it.  As she started to see what I was doing she just went on and on telling me how amazing the atmosphere was, or as my kids say, "she loved the vibe".  I love the vibe!  And it was free!  I just had to move my indoors outdoors!  The only problem now is that my house looks awful now inside and the dust bunnies have now shown themselves.  I guess it was time for a good dusting anyway.  And, sadly, everything will have to go back in as rain is coming next week.  The other amazing thing is that no rain is in the forecast, so I was able to put it all out knowing it wouldn't rain all over the upholstered chairs.  I'm just so happy.

I've said this before, but I just see how God loves me when He speaks my language.  I know decorations don't matter, or do they?  Isn't it a way God helped me?  Isn't it a way that God reminded me of my friendship with this special lady?  I think so.  I didn't have to hire someone - I wanted to!  I didn't have to get a special events planner.  I wanted to!  It doesn't look Dollar Store-y - it looks amazing!  I always wish my husband would give me everything I want, like an unlimited decorating budget, but when he doesn't, oddly, I find myself forced to stretch, forced to grow and then, the amazing thing that happens is that I find I have abilities and skills I didn't know I had!  

Grand Openings are for the birds.  They're hard.  Starting new businesses. Also - for the birds.  Yet, the whole experience keeps opening new doors, keeps stretching us way beyond what we thought we could do and it keeps showing us we can do more than we ever thought.  By God's grace, we are more capable than we give ourselves credit for and, also by God's grace, He keeps supplying our every need, even decorating ideas.

Do I want to host a Grand Opening every weekend?  No.  I don't.  But what I like about it is that it shakes things up a bit.  I get super bored keeping my furniture the same way all the time.  I had actually just finished rearranging things in our home just last week.  I do that all the time, so this is just rearranging furniture again, but on a whole other scale.  My kids complained, at least a couple of them, the whole time.  It was like pulling teeth, but then when it was all done, I think they liked it.  So, maybe I'm a little crazy, but it could just be that they appreciate that part of their mom.  One said, "Whose parents do this?  Whose parents start wineries?  Whose parents take all their furniture outside?"  I have to admit, I don't know.  Just us, I guess.  Sorry!

But, as I spoke with our guests yesterday, they were super encouraging as they heard our story and it was fun to retell it as I do almost every time we have someone come by.  And each time I tell it, I marvel at our new freedom.  We wake up each day pinching ourselves that we can make an income off our farm.  It goes back to the sound of "marching in the trees".  We were told to quit when we heard that sound.  And, as I walked around the farm that day praying "should we quit?"  I felt the breeze in my face and I looked around the land, felt the land under my feet and I thought to myself - this is the sound of marching in the trees - we have land in Niagara!  We can make the land work for us!  I didn't know how, but I knew we could figure it out.  And, one thing people keep saying as they come to our farm is, "you're going to be ok, you'll do fine, you've got this" and I'm starting to believe them.  I think we'll make it!

Grand Openings don't sound Biblical, yet they are in Scripture!  King David wanted a Grand Opening.  He wanted to be the guy who built a house for God, but he wasn't allowed.  It was going to be his son instead.  But he thought to himself, "Ok, I can't build the house, but I'll do everything in my power to help my son build it".  He brought every single thing he could think of so his son would be prepared. He also asked everyone who was willing and able to offer their skills and freewill offerings.  Everyone did.  Everyone helped.  Everyone used their skills.  Then, when everyone had brought their gifts and saw all that had been accomplished, they all sat back and rejoiced.  1 Chronicles 29 says, "Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly."

David then praises and thanks God because he knows where everything comes from and who should get the glory, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you....O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own."  Only God, he's saying.  Only God.  Yet, God uses people and, in our case, our family.  The kids have literally used their skills and their time - freely.  We don't pay our kids.  We speak of an inheritance, but we don't pay them.  We do a lot of bribing with Mcdonald's and ice-cream or gas and coffee money, but no one gets an hourly wage.  So, we say, along with David, "and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you."  Freely is the key word here.  Joyously?  Not always, but they are willing and they see the big picture.  I'm so grateful for that.

Today our official "merch" should arrive.  We will be celebrating with its arrival as it means something.  We're official.  And we will give thanks.  David offered sacrifices on the altars.  We won't be offering any animal sacrifices, except bbq'd sausages, but we'll be thanking God for sure.  And that is why I think the Grand Opening is so significant.  We're celebrating God's goodness to us.  We're celebrating the work of our family.  We're  celebrating all the preparations that went in to getting us this far.  David got it.  Verse 22 puts it this way, "And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness."  That's exactly what Saturday will mean for us.  We will eat and drink with great gladness and it'll be so fun.  

Favourite Day Ever - the power of family

Yesterday has to go down as one of my favourite days ever.  First, back story. We often do this to ourselves - we create an impossible deadline and then we have to scramble to meet it.  This Grand Opening is a perfect example of impossible deadline.  Not enough time.  Not enough resources.  Too much to do.  Oh well, let's do it anyway.  Sure, why not.  Hey kids, we just booked a Grand Opening date.  All in?  Uh, what?!  But, Lord bless them, they're all in.  

One of the many things we had to do was get the bottom of the barn cleaned up.  I wish I could explain the bottom of the barn.  We are super amazing at moving junk around on our farm.  That's how we clean up.  We take it from one building and just put it in another because that's sometimes faster than removing it right away.  So bad.  When we cleaned out the building for the wine cellar we moved it to the other side of the shop.  Then, when we wanted to clean out the shop for the stained glass studio, we moved it to the bottom of the barn.  Now, we are cleaning out the bottom of the barn, we have no where to put it!  So we've forced our hand which is why it was my favourite day ever.  We were finally getting rid of stuff that I've wanted to get rid of FOREVER.  It's not quite done, but it's way better than it was before.  And the BEST part was we did it all together.  It was an eternal moment for me all day long.  I couldn't have been happier. I felt like I was in a dream.  As upset as my son is who still doesn't have a job, I was so grateful to have him home.  We're still praying for the miracle job, it hasn't happened yet.  My other son and daughter are on reading week.  That is another miracle from this week. We didn't plan that when we booked the event.  We should have planned it around that, but by God's grace we were given that miracle.  In fact, I'm even on reading week this week from my "school".  So all of us were down there getting black lung from all the dust, but I was totally loving it.  My husband was home since he has no job, my 3 oldest sons, my daughter and myself (the little guys were laying on couches sick with colds, sadly) and we were killing it in the barn.  The music was blaring, stuff was moving out of there and it was getting better and better by the minute.  It was like it used to be when the kids were young.  We all had a goal in mind and together we were getting it done.  It felt so good.  So, a favourite day because the property was getting cleaned up and also because we were accomplishing so much, having a fun time and it was as a family.  I was just thanking God all day.

Will we get it all done in time?  I sure hope so!  Only a few days left and lots still to do.....

The Numbers Speak!

This past weekend was record-breaking - still can't believe it!  I can't believe people pull up, get out of their cars as if they are at a winery or something, walk over and expect a tasting or a glass of wine.  I can't believe they want to come.  I can't believe they enjoy our wine.  I can't believe they've heard of us or that they've seen or read reviews about us.  I can't believe they chose to come to our winery.  It is mind-boggling!  

We ran the numbers last night and discovered what we had thought, that over time since we opened at the trailer in July, we have definitely seen the visitor numbers go up, the sales go up, the interest go up.  In July we had a few on the weekend and then we'd be closed during the week, but then after a few weeks of that and great weather, we thought, why not just keep it open all week and see if people come in?  Well, they did.  Slowly, but surely, a trickle of people, one here, two there, would pop in.  Then in August there were more, but still there were a few days when no one would show up if it was cold and rainy. By September we had people for sure every weekend and then by October, every weekend was steady and we almost always had people all through the week.  What we DIDN'T expect was to see that FIVE TIMES the number of sales had occurred since we started!!!  That's a 500% increase!  We were so amazed and thanking God for His goodness and faithfulness to us.

The stained glass classes have been great and people are enjoying them.  Sales for the Grand Opening are amazingly happening and we expect to have a great day.  We're now looking into having and Air BnB (or two) going by next Spring on the property.  And maybe even a food truck!  So, lots is happening and all because RM quit his job.  It's so wonderful to have the freedom to do all these things.  We HAVE to do all these things.  We CAN'T NOT do all these things.  We are paying our bills, but we have so many repairs and things on our current house that need to be done that we need to make more in order to get those things done, so we have to keep coming up with crazy ideas.  And, amazingly, we have an endless amount of crazy ideas.  Our poor children.

I have to wake them up because today we have to clean out the bottom of the barn....so much to do!!!!

A Snapshot of Life

Over the years I've started many posts with this phrase, "What a week!"  I think having so many people in the family is why that phrase gets used so much.  We have 9 living here now and those 9 lives represent a LOT of life.  That's not even including my daughter and her husband's life and now baby to come!  With my older son alone, who has been looking for a job for months now, we have been praying, watching, waiting and seeking jobs alongside him.  He's gone through the depths of discouragement where he literally says, "I hate my life" to moments of hope where he gets an encouraging tip or meets a person who prays for him.  I have to admit, though I am his biggest cheerleader, I've also had moments where I ask God, "Why? Why aren't you helping him?"  But there's always this thought in the back of my mind, "Thank me.  Thank me for even what you don't know."  So, by faith, I always stop and try to thank God for his unemployment.  Then I've seen almost right away all the ways he has helped me or my husband and all the ways we couldn't have accomplished what we needed to do if he hadn't been around during the harvest season as he's so strong and he's helped my husband so much.  

He could have had a job this summer, but he quit to write the MCAT for the THIRD TIME. Writing it once would have killed most people, but three times he's written it now.  He tried to have a job and study the first summer, but that made him very sick because of the stress, so the last two summers he's studied full time and then written it.  He went back to work last year after the MCAT, but this time he knew he had to quit working at Marineland and get more experience in the medical field in order to get in to med school.  He's applied to over 40 positions.  It just makes no sense, but again, there's this nagging feeling that maybe just maybe God is purposely testing him, keeping him humble, always trying to show him He has something better than we could ask or imagine and that He's ON PURPOSE keeping his resume from the eyes of certain employers so that he doesn't get the jobs he's applied to.  

Finally this week he had an interview at an ophthalmologist's office.  Tomorrow he'll get his final interview where he meets the surgeon.  This job is ideal.  My son is pinching himself if it works out.  First of all it's close.  That matters these days with gas prices.  Also, it's in a doctor's office where he would be alongside a highly respected doctor in Canada who is one of a couple doctors who performs certain surgeries.  This doctor apparently is amazing to work for, loves to train and mentor his employees and is just a good guy it seems.  My son came back from his first interview and was so excited about the opportunities this job would give him.  The techs who interviewed him said this guy will get him into med school.  Well, we'll see about that, but it sure gave him hope!  They were fascinated by my son's experience in Africa alongside a doctor who did eye surgeries in the bush.  Looking back, of course, you can see how God prepared my son for a job like this.  I just love how you never know why you do certain things and then you see later how they all come together.  So, we'll hopefully know tomorrow if he gets this job.  I'm already praising God, but I have to wait for official word.

That same son, in the name of getting volunteer experience, has started coaching basketball at a local church.  This is hilarious as he's not a basketball player, but because he's 6 ft. tall and the kids he's coaching are 8, he appears to be an expert.  There were no spots for my 12 year old son as they had no programs for his age, but miraculously, they said, "Just bring him!  He can help coach!" What?!  I couldn't believe it.  He now goes in with my older son each week and helps "coach".  This is also truly hilarious as he's no expert, but this is the BEST thing for him, getting him out, helping younger kids, giving him responsibility.  I just love how God has my kids in the palm of his hand and is literally guiding them each day and putting things in front of them I could NEVER have planned.

Back to job hunting and that full day....My other son, who is 16, got a job on the same day as my older son's interview.  He's also been looking for work.  We don't like sending our kids to "regular" jobs.  There are certain environments that are so toxic and dangerous.  We also love sending our kids together, which isn't always easy.  But this time, it worked out really well.  My older daughter works at a bakery/cafe where she works for a Christian family who run a business together.  My daughter has been watching how they do things and has been very impressed with their success.  I kept saying, "Could J work there, too?"  Well, now it has worked out.  My son was interviewed last week and then they asked him to come in tomorrow and possibly Saturday.  Again, looking back, it's amazing to see how my son was prepared.  At camp this summer we volunteered in the kitchen together and he prepared all sorts of food alongside me.  If he had had his way, he NEVER would have gone and he was so socially anxious that he HATED his first few days there, but I saw it as a spiritual battle that had to be won, so I persisted in the darkest of times and by God's grace, we made it through and my son thrived.  That experience is what got him the job I'm convinced as he learned to work under someone else's direction not just mine.  And, the best part is, he will be with his sister, working together at times, driving in together, maybe even being trained by her.  I look up at heaven and just say, "Thank you!"

That's just two kids.  I'm telling you, I could go on and on...

RM and I see God's hand in just about every person who comes to our trailer.  We had a discouraging day a couple days ago, the first day in weeks where we didn't get anyone coming by to buy wine.  But that same day we sold our Pilot, the vehicle that had been sitting on the property for nearly 3 years just taking up space.  Out of the blue my husband saw on Instagram an ad saying "We'll buy your junk cars".  He applied online and the next thing you know someone was here buying it for more than we'd ever been offered before.  It'll be picked up today or tomorrow and we already have the cash.  We feel like we are slowly, with God's amazing help, getting the clutter off the property.  It feels like we are going from one broken down space to another and making it great.  The stained glass studio is an example.  I never thought I'd see the day that that was done.  It's a whole new space!  The shed where the truck was parked is going to be great, too, and that's where the winery making equipment will ultimately go.  It's all happening so fast.

At the end of the day, we still try to sit around and debrief.  We always say, "Come and sit for 5 minutes please", but it always turns into an hour long discussion.  This week it's been all about the Grand Opening.  Our kids shake their heads at what we take on, but this week another lady came by and I always ask where the people come from.  She said she used to live around the corner and then mentioned the name of a local winery.  That winery is beautiful and super successful and I couldn't understand why she would have left it and moved away!  But she said, "Oh, I didn't live there when it looked like what it looks like now.  I was only a teen.  If I'd only known what I could've had!"  That really hit me.  We talk about selling every day.  Sometimes seriously as it's so much work to live here.  Sometimes in jest as we just want a vacation.  But then I picture my kids driving by when they're 40 and seeing what someone else managed to do with our farm, rebuilding it, making it beautiful and I don't want them to drive by and say, "That's our farm?  That beautiful place was where we used to live?  I had no idea it could look like that! I wish we'd never left."  So, we asked them yesterday to once again, hang in there.  We have a vision of victory!  We are doing everything we can to make it beautiful and it is coming along, it's taking time, but it's happening.  

So much to do before our Grand opening, so we will be scrambling, but we had to make a date.  We had to force ourselves, otherwise it never would have happened.  I'm curious how it will all come together, but when I see what God has already done, I'm sure He'll be in this, too!

Gathering up Supplies for the Future Generations

I'm sitting here this morning wondering who we are and how this all happened.  I have created several events online in just the last two days - stained glass classes and then hay mazes - and I'm just about to created another one for our grand opening at the end of the month.  It's incredible - I don't even recognize us!  

My husband gave me a tour of his new "stained glass studio".  It's starting to look really good!  In addition to teaching courses now, he's always selling all the supplies, tools, glass, etc.  When he went to go pick up the glass with one of my sons a couple weeks ago, my son said to him, "Uh, did you just start another business?"  "Yaaaa?"  And that's literally what happens around here nearly weekly, or so it seems.  We didn't sit there thinking, "Should we start another business?"  It just kind of happened.  We needed the teaching income from the stained glass and, well, you can't just teach stained glass and hope the students know where to get the glass and tools, so suddenly we were selling all of that, too.  Turns out, it's been a lifelong dream of my husband.  He's been doing stained glass since he was in his 20s and has always wanted to have his own stained glass studio.  How cool that he's able to do that now!  This is the thing I'm noticing about his retirement - he's trying to pack into a short time what he's always wanted to do his entire life!  That might explain why we're so busy.  I know you can't live in regret, but it kind of makes me wish we'd figured this out a little sooner.  When you look back with hindsight, it was always fear-driven, in a way, that motivated us to get "regular work".  And, we didn't know where to start, even though he's had these skills as long as I've known him.  I was never the entrepreneurial type, but he was.  It's a funny thing to be married to someone so long and just be figuring him out and myself out only now.  I wonder what would have happened if we'd discovered these things about ourselves earlier on.  Just as an aside - people always say don't get married young because you don't know who you are when you're so young and you'll drift apart.  But I say, when you marry who God planned for you, then you figure each other out as you get older and you become one as you get older.  I'm really loving this whole marriage thing.  I wouldn't be who I am today without him and he wouldn't be either.  I think that other way of thinking is hogwash (love that word) and is entirely worldly thinking.

Meanwhile, I have overwhelmed kids - by us, by school, by lack of work (one needs a job BADLY).  As I read in 1 Chronicles yesterday, I was immediately struck by how David longed to be the one to build a temple for the Lord, but God said "no", it'll be your son.  So, David, in his fatherliness said to himself, "Ok, if it can't be me, then I'm going to prepare everything I can for my son so that when he's ready he'll have a better head start".  Well, ok, not in those exact words, but pretty close.  That kind of describes how I feel.  I want to be the one who experiences success in my lifetime, but it's starting to look like it won't be me, maybe it'll be the next generation.  We are running out of life to be as successful as I'd hoped.  However, maybe we're just the ones to set up the next generation.  RM's parents moved to Canada so that their children would have more opportunities and "success" than they did in Europe.  In so many ways, that's exactly what they've done.  Each generation stands on the shoulders of those before.

When David finally gets the gold, silver, bronze, cedar and iron all ready for him in quantities so large that they can't be measured, he then charges Solomon with amazing words, "Arise and work!"  And then later, "Arise and go build!"  It's as if he's saying, "Ok, I did the background work for you, now it's your turn to finish up...."  I love that he didn't leave him like a rich teen who doesn't have to do anything.  No, he says, Go, do it.  The rest is up to you.  So that's what I read to the kids yesterday.  I told them, "I know school is hard - one child is really suffering in his science classes and wants to quit - but you can't!  Arise and work!"   So I was encouraged and I tried to give them the pep talk of a lifetime (which I do just about every day).  If Solomon was told to go and do it, so can you.  But you have to ARISE - get up!  Move forward!  My job as a parent is to gather the supplies, which, Lord help me, I feel like I'm doing.  I tell my husband almost daily that this would be WAY EASIER if I didn't have to homeschool my children, and oh, also homeschool 9 others (not including their parents) on a daily and weekly basis.  But, that's not changing any time soon.  So we press on, trying so hard not to complain.

It's Thansksgiving weekend this weekend.  Back in the olden days, this would have been a relaxing wonderful weekend sitting around a table, eating great food and enjoying family.  Now, I'll be running around like a mad woman, stuffing food in my family's face and scrambling to pull off a dinner while entertaining my entire town.  What a different time.  I'm still thankful.  It's still fun for me.  In the last two days alone I've met people I never would have met from our town and we are making really cool connections in our community that we would have never made.  I'm feeling very connected to the community for the first time and I'm really loving that.  There's a cost for sure and I'm praying God will use us for His glory.  There's a big picture I haven't quite seen yet, but I'm praying our farm, our family, will draw people to Him somehow.  

It's only been three months since this went nuts.  Three months since RM quit his job and there's no looking back.  Every day we feel like we are hunting and gathering for our food and in so many ways we are.  The first month or two there was only a few cars on the weekend.  But now there are people every single day.  We are seeing regular people and they are slowly, unknowingly helping feed our family and get what we need to pay our bills.  Every time someone pulls up we shake our heads in awe.  Then when they purchase, we shake our heads again - unbelievable.  So there are lots of reasons to be thankful.  Hopefully, it'll be our way of gathering up gold, silver, iron, cedar and bronze for our children.

Harvest Hosts

Right now, on our property, we have two camper vans parked by our hay maze.  Two couples (and a little baby) have driven across the US, on their way to the east coast and are currently staying the night on our farm.  We've never met them before and probably won't ever again, but from what we can tell they are the nicest people!  We recently signed up to become Harvest Hosts and this is what happens when you do!

By becoming a Harvest Host you have people come and camp on your property for usually just a night entirely for free - except there's a catch - Harvest Hosts are typically farms or wineries and the deal is they have to buy from you whatever you are selling.  We sell wine, so last night, they bought wine!  We've had just three couples come so far, but as of yesterday two more have booked.  We want to do an Air Bnb one day, too, so this is kind of like that, just that we don't have to provided anything for them, not even a bathroom.  They have to be self-contained.  I have to say I love this soooooo much.  It is soooooo fun for me meeting new people literally every day.  I am having my best life.

We are absolutely in awe of how we are being sustained daily, literally our daily bread.  We continue to sell hay and that has been a miracle in itself.  This past weekend was record sales.  People just keep driving by and stopping.  People are wondering who in the world, what in the world, is going on.  It is just so funny to me who drops by and over and over again the feedback is amazing.  Even if we get a retail space one day, the trailer is a keeper.  People just love it.

Stained glass classes are slowly filling up, it's amazing.  We still need many more students, but it's a good start.  We are trusting for more.  So, this living by faith thing is hard, but so incredible at the same time.

Back Online - Fall 2022

It's been literally months since I sat down to write.  The wedding has come and gone and I have since found out even more exciting news that we are going to be grandparents!  The summer was so full and there was no time to write.  All the working laptops belonged to my older children and I didn't want to use them so I took a break.  Sadly, I missed so many stories - so many - of God's faithfulness.  But some of them are written in journals, all over the place, so not all forgotten.  Even this laptop is an answer to prayer as I had prayed for one, never really thinking one would just show up one day, but it did.  My Dad went to get one of his old ones cleaned up for me to get me through for the time being, but instead his computer guy convinced him I needed a new one and one thing led to another and here I am on a refurbished/new computer - literally my first computer of my own - in my whole life, lol.  All my other computers belonged to someone else, so this one is pretty special and I really consider it a gift directly from the Lord.

We are now full swing into running the winery.  Our last day at the college was June 30, so not even 3 months officially.  I can't even believe how people love coming out to visit us.  We have fairly decent steady customers all throughout the week, even returning regulars.  We book events now and have had a runners club come out and now a family reunion this October.  We have hosted birthday events and we even had our first limo come out this weekend where a group of 11 cousins came to the farm, enjoyed a tasting, walked the property and got a classic photo on the tractor.  

I said to RM when we first were planning the trailer conversion, "No one will come"...so little faith...but they are coming.  In fact, they LOVE coming.  They CHOOSE to come.  They enjoy being outside, with the animals, seeing the views....the feedback we've gotten has been fantastic.  The trailer is their favourite and is very "instagrammable".  It's been so fun for me - I could chat all day...and some days I do.  Just this past week alone I think I convinced a young couple to get married, another retired couple to start an AirBnB and the list goes on and on....the funniest conversations happen at the trailer.

But one top of that, I'm convinced God brings just the right people to our trailer.  Every time someone comes, they give us another good idea.  We had basically decided we were going to shut down the trailer over the winter, but one couple immediately said, "Don't do it!  Keep it open!  Just have little fire pits all over the place..."  So that's what we're going to do.  We currently have a hay maze for the month of October, but then we're going to switch into skating and fire pits, so we think we'll be busy through the winter, too.  We also hope to do cross country skiing and even a little tobogganing hill, why not?  Everyone who comes and hears our story always leaves saying, "You are going to do great!"

Starting in October we are hoping for stained glass class sign ups where RM will teach stained glass as well.  Our ideas are endless.  

Meanwhile we are getting grapes in each week and the wine making process is in full swing.  Our own grapes need to be picked and that has to happen fast now.  So we're having fun, we're busy, and we have no chains from the college.  That has to be the best part.  We love the freedom.  We aren't on easy street by any means, but we are making ends meet and there is food on the table and even that shocks us - something about "daily bread" comes to mind....God is supplying.

We made a drastic last minute decision to put our 5th into a couple of courses at the local Christian High School - who knows how that is being paid for - another daily bread situation for sure.  He's loving it and I'm loving it.  Not necessarily for every kid in the family, but it was a good situation for him because he suffered so badly from Covid lockdowns and it would have harmed him to keep him home.  I'm still involved with Classical Conversations and have my younger 3 involved - loving it and now I'm also teaching which helps pay for the tuition.  Gives our kids some community and it's also a closer location.

We are days away from a new niece and that will be amazing as my brother and his wife will be moving this way soon after her delivery as well as my parents, so we are on pins and needles for that.  The best part is this little baby will have a best friend cousin with my daughter's baby...it's just soooooo amazing, I can't even believe it.

The goodness of God is all around me and so today, it's wonderful to be able to record it again as I know there will come a time where I need to reread it when I'm tempted to forget.

A Sign Over My Head and Heading to Cali

I must have a sign over my head.  I'm guessing it reads something like this, "Come talk to me if you have kids or if you want to talk about being a mom or if you want to talk about homeschooling or if you want to talk about anything related to any of those things because I love talking about those things."  It just keeps happening to me and I love it soooo much!

This past weekend I was at a ladies' conference at our church.  At the end of one of the talks a young mom came up to me and smiled and because I thought I should know her I smiled back like we were long lost friends and asked, "Remind me how I know you?"  and she said, "You don't!"  She went on to explain how she had heard me speak at the homeschool conference and how it had encouraged her, which is great, because that was the name of the talk, and so we had a great conversation and are planning to connect after the wedding.  The next day, same thing, this time a mom I did know, but I didn't know she had been at the conference.  We, also had a great conversation and she will also come over after the wedding.  Then the next day, I was at church and another mom came over to me.  This time I just assumed she had heard me at the conference, but she hadn't as she just has small children and she introduced herself and said her name and then said, "I know you don't know me but would you be interested in getting together to talk about motherhood?"  I laughed out loud, "Of course!"  I told her, "I must have a sign above my head that says how I love talking about those things."  She had just read a book about being a productive mom and how you need to seek out the older moms in the church and talk to them.  Jen Wilkin had also said that at the conference how we need to be church moms, not just rely on her for our teaching.  This is something I've always thought so was so glad she had said that.  I want to be a church mom and not because I have it all together, but because I remember what it was like when I was younger and looking for wisdom.  No one was offering, I had to seek it out, so I want to make that available to other moms who might be struggling.  

Then yesterday I was on a hike with the co-op I'm involved with and I suddenly saw a mom I had met at a park literally a year ago today.  I couldn't believe how I was running into her again.  When I had met her a year ago I had been out with my two youngest boys at a lake and she and I just starting chatting as she had a little girl.  Who knows how, but the subject of homeschooling came up, probably because she couldn't understand how I could be out with my boys in the middle of the day.  She had always wondered about homeschooling, but wasn't sure about it and had lots of questions.  After that we exchanged information, but didn't really connect much.  When I saw her yesterday I was shocked to find out she was now homeschooling!  Apparently after our chat it gave her the courage to go for it!  You just never know how you'll impact someone without even realizing it!  We talked some more yesterday and she found out about the Classical Conversations co-op I'm in and well, the rest is history - she's ready to sign up!  So funny.  

You know you are doing what you should be doing when weeks like this one happen.  It is so fun for me to chat with other moms.  Nothing could feel more meaningful or fulfilling than that.  It makes all those years with the young children worth it as I can share some of my experiences with these other moms.  I saw another young mom with 4 children under 5 or 6 yesterday and I felt tired just watching her.  I wanted to tell her to keep going, to hang in there, to not worry, that she'll make it....if I could do that full-time I would.  I often pray that God will use me and that He'll give me opportunities, but then I forget I've prayed that and then days like these happen and later that day I'll just sit back in awe of what God has just orchestrated that I could never have done.  So amazing.

We are now only 10 days away from the big day.  What a test for me as I wait for the last minute stuff to be done.  So hard for me to trust and keep my mouth shut.  All of it is on my husband's shoulders.  I can do laundry and meal planning but not much else as everything else requires him to be involved.  I can pray and that's about it.

Meanwhile, in other completely unrelated events.....my son just found out he's going to California! He submitted a video of all his crazy flips and twists on the trampoline and he got in!  I CANNOT BELIEVE IT and neither can he.  He is completely self-taught and has never attended a gymnastics class in his life.  He has never been to an editing class either and somehow learned how to put all that together to make the great video.  I'm so impressed.  As Providence would have it, my husband and mother-in-law needed to go out west to California anyway to see his uncle, so it all works out and now that my husband is retired, he can basically do whatever he wants, so off he'll go with my son to the two-day competition in San Diego and then hang out with his uncle for a few days, maybe even check out a few sights while he's out there.  How cool is that?!  He's so excited.  We all are as my son has had a rough go with covid and has felt down a lot with the isolation and lack of friendships during that really critical time of his life.  Yet, he used the trampoline to get him outside nearly every day and he started connecting with another friend nearby who is also going to the competition.  Then he started working out with his brother and he had determined to overcome his weaknesses.  As we prayed and prayed for this young man, God was faithful.  He stuck with Bible quizzing, even though it wasn't "cool".  He memorized more than anyone on the team, this included all of Romans and James this past year.  He forced himself to make friends at the last quiz meet, even though that is very difficult for him.  He stayed faithful with the animals on the farm.  This is such a testimony to the power of prayer.  At the last quiz meet he got an award called "perfect day" and it really was.  Perfect day meant he didn't get a single answer wrong all day and got the highest marks you can get.  Only 3 out of 100 were awarded that award that day.  So great for him and reminds him how his diligence was rewarded.  He got in on the Friday, same day as the quiz meet and won the award the next day, so I would definitely call it a "Perfect Day/Weekend"!  All of us were praying for that miracle and I'm just so grateful to God for allowing him that blessing.  The only thing that could make it better would be if I could go, but alas, that is not in the works.  Again, I write all this down because it is soooooo great to look back and read these stories later.  I just love how God met my son right where he is at - flipping and quizzing.  I've always said, God speaks to us in our language.  I hope my son will always remember this.