I recognize that these pieces get read through various and sundry venues. In addition to rcsprouljr.com, I post links on social media, including the Facebook I share with Lisa. You may have seen there any number of live films and reels from our farm and our cabin. My wife is in her element overseeing this work, and it is my joy to see the joy she finds in it.
A little more than a month ago we, Lisa and I, started a new youtube channel. It is called Going Homesteady, and you can find it here. While some might see such as a departure from other things we have been teaching through the ministry of Dunamis Fellowship, we see it more as an extension.
Our podcast is rightly named Jesus Changes Everything. Including us. Part of the reason for Going Homesteady is we believe first that there are great spiritual blessings than can come from, to one degree or another, going back to our garden as a means to head back toward the garden. We find working the land He has blessed us with a fertile soul for cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Such is not to suggest city folk are less spiritually mature. It is to suggest that God not only uses us where He puts us but also uses where He put us.
Second, in seeking to cultivate this land we are learning much about the unexamined presuppositions that too often shape our thinking. We are both stepping out of our comfort zone. We are finding that many of the trade-offs we make, giving up the authentic for the convenient, the organic for the constructed don’t give the return on investment we thought they did. We’re reaping blessings we weren’t even looking for.
Third, we like it. As with everything else there are plenty of thorns and thistles along the way. My brow has experienced more sweat than it has in a long time. But it’s so much fun. Watching our five -year old granddaughter munching on a tomato as she checks on the growth of the pumpkins is better than watching the latest blockbuster movie. Eating the zucchini relish that Lisa grew, harvested, made and canned is a delight I didn’t expect. (You know, because of the zucchini.)
My advice for you is two-fold. First, subscribe to our channel. Share it with your friends. Join us on our journey of organic growth. We’re not experts downloading information but students learning together. Second, take a step or two with us. Maybe you don’t have acreage to support a cow. Maybe keeping bees doesn’t meld with your allergies. But try something, a little something. If you’ve got a fireplace, don’t buy your wood, but learn to cut, split, stack and season. Try a few more meals that are not heated in the microwave but that are made with ingredients.
If nothing else, let’s learn to not merely mouth our gratitude for God in giving us this day our daily bread, but enter into that gratitude, giving joyful thanksgiving for every feast.
I have to ask. Do you have people to work and maintain your homestead or do you two do it!
Depends on what you mean. Most of the prep work we hire people for. The farming/gardening/canning is all us.
I’m enjoying your new content!
I don’t think agricultural farming is our thing. Why? Deer. Lord knows we tried, but a 10 foot chain link fence doesn’t seem cost effective and our neighbors keep us in zucchini and tomatoes all summer. We do, however, farm firewood – exclusively. It’s something we “fell into” when trees began landing in the yard after our frequent 100-year wind storms. We can cut, split, and stack like true professionals! My city slicker spouse now owns 3 chain saws and can effectively slice up any tree that decides to take a nap on the lawn. We heat the house to very toasty levels all winter. The Lord gave us fallen trees and we turned those “lemons” into lots of exercise we fondly call “Farm Gym” and heat. So many blessings!