Interrupted.

I'm so excited! I was one of the first 250 bloggers to reply to an email call to action by Jen Hatmaker about her newly edited, re-released book, Interrupted, When Jesus Interrupts Your Comfortable Christianity! Whoot!

I'm so not the type of person to be a crazy stalker or follower of a blogger, but this woman just gets it. She speaks it. Writes it. LIVES it. And is human and humble enough to know she messes it up sometimes, too.

So, I get to read an early copy of her book, Interrupted, and use it as a launching point to start discussions, conversations, and perhaps the changing of lives here on my little blog.

If you would be interested in reading this book, too, you can get 20% off the price until July 31, 2014, by using this link.

I have a feeling this will be a life-changing book.

Bring it on!

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/d

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey. - See more at: http://www.navpress.com/Interrupted-Jesus-Wrecks-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1631463535#sthash.YlSuqLyC.zjDUrenL.dpuf

The New Proverbs 31 Woman

That Proverbs 31 Woman of the Bible- boy, she's a piece of work, isn't she?

Think you've got some pretty big shoes to fill?

Ever feel like just giving up because you think you'll never measure up?

Sweet friends, click here to read my take on her and God's message to us through her.

It might change your outlook....it sure did change mine.

Keeping it All in Perspective

Well, friends, we are almost done with school for the year. ALMOST. But not quite.

Son has finished his Healthy Choices/Healthy Living class and Science. He's almost done with Math- only 5 lessons left. He has a few more History/Geography lessons left in the book. Then we will be focusing on writing for the summer for him. Prayers would be appreciated.

Daughter is done with Science, Healthy Choices/Healthy Living, Wordly Wise, Writing, Botany, and Ancient History. She's got 20 lessons or so left in her current math curriculum and will be doing another entire year of math this summer so that she can take Physics class next year.  Again, prayers would be appreciated.

So, in rereading what I wrote in the first sentence, I think I may have been lying.

In the grand timeline of childhood, we're almost done with schooling. But considering the fact that learning is life-long, education is never-ending, and my motto is that it's a wasted day if you don't learn something new, schooling is a blip. A necessary blip, but a blip nonetheless.

But it's not the main thing to focus on. Love, kindness, compassion, serving others, hard work- those are things that I really want the kids to remember and learn. I desire that they keep the Main Thing the Main Thing. 

I deeply desire that they grow to love the Lord and develop a heart to follow hard after Him and what He wants from them for their lives. He will make a way for them. He IS faithful. He IS all-powerful. He IS so worthy of all our love, adoration, praise, and worship. He IS the only one who IS.

So, yes, schooling is necessary. But it's not all there is to childhood, or teenager-hood, or adulthood, for that matter. 

Can I get an amen?!

It's All Good

We have kids!

The four-legged kind!

The cute as a button, jump like popcorn kernels, lanky, leggy kind.

Check out the video of their first time seeing grass. As my Amish friends say, "Joomba!"  It means "jump."

And do you know what that means? It means that we have to redo the inside of our barn. Oh joy.

These next few weeks will be filled with pounding posts, building stalls, putting up tin, and generally making our barn more of a safe haven for our little animals from the big, bad, wiley coyotes that live very close by.

While we're at it, we're building a bigger and better chicken run for our hens, too. For as much as I love having them forage through the property for their daily intake of bugs, worms, grubs, and so much more, I don't love them digging up the garden once it's planted or laying their eggs under the raspberry bushes. So, we have to corral them for a few months while we grow and harvest the food I'll can and preserve for our family. They'll be let back out to roam once the last of the potatoes have been dug early this fall.

I was talking with someone a few weeks ago and they had mentioned how as their kids had gotten older (mid-teen years) their farm  had gotten smaller. I thought: how nice. The older our kids get, the bigger our farmingness (<--is that a word? It is now) gets. The older they get, the more things they get interested in. Rare breed pigeons. Meat goats. Milk goats. Turkeys. Chickens. One current steer with another one coming to our farm soon. A rescue horse. Two dogs. Two children. One cat. All kinds of love I tell ya. All kinds. 



Life.is.so.good.

The Most Dangerous Word a Christian Uses

What do you think of when you think of dangerous words for Christians? Do you think of swear words? Lies? Hateful words? Spiteful words? Do you think of sentences or individual words?

Have you ever really thought about it?

What about the word JUST. Not the adjective part of 'just' that is defined as guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness; in keeping with truth or fact; true; correct; in accordance with standards or requirements; proper or right by Dictionary.com. I'm talking about the word 'just' that is defined as only or merely. 

For example, people who pray, Heavenly Father, we *sigh* just come before You.... Or Heavenly Father, we *sigh* just love you. Or *sigh* we just ask for you to heal Aunt Sue's hip. 

If prayers are the pathway to the Throne of Grace and we have full confidence based on the work that was done on the Cross (Hebrews 4:12-14), and we are told to pray unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17), fervently (Hebrews 5:7), with fasting (Acts 13 and 14), and with hymns (Acts 16:25), why are we putting a limit on God? We are also told to "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7).

Now, what happens when you are at a restaurant and place your order? "I'd just like a salad with dressing on the side, a sweet tea, and a dish of applesauce, please." What do you think your server will deliver to you? A double cheeseburger, fries, chocolate shake, and a pickle? No. You just asked for a salad, drink, and applesauce. Our words are to mean what they mean. Did you really mean to just order a salad hoping for a burger?

I'm going to throw something at you in a very loving way: what if we removed the word 'just' from our prayers to the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the King of King, the Almighty God. What if we took away the restriction of 'just?' What if we blew the doors of the Throne room of Grace wide open and off the hinges with our prayers without the confines of the word 'just' and really went to God with our petitions, praises, love, adoration, and worship. What if we went to our Heavenly Father and instead of using the word 'just' as a word for humility and meekness, remove it completely as a way of showing more trust, faith, reverence, and awe? Are we using it as a word of submission? Because if we are, there are far better words to use in its place: simply, humbly.

Or- and I can sense the intake of breath here- leave it out completely. *gasp*

We are TOLD to go with confidence. We are TOLD that we are accepted. We are TOLD that we are loved, chosen, wanted.  Why would we choose not to believe that? Accept that? Live in that Truth? Stand on that?

'Just' puts God in a box. A corner. Do you think Peter and John went out in Acts and kept praying 'just (only) let us help them Lord', 'just (only) give us the power to heal this one person', 'just (only) give us the strength to take on the Pharisees this time'

Or did they go out in Acts having full and total confidence that they were acting, living, breathing, dying, for HIM and had no room in their lives for the words just, only, or merely?

I'll let you make your own decisions about this. But I will ask you to take it before God in prayer. Ask Him. Seek Him. Love Him. Believe in Him. 'Just' might fade from your prayer vocabulary....

Home

What a word. What a concept. And to each person it holds different meaning.

After being gone for 16 days, I couldn't wait to be home. Drinking my own coffee. Eating my own food. In my beloved's arms. Laughing with my daughter. Seeing my own view out the windows. Sleeping in my own bed. 

For as much as I thoroughly enjoyed our time at a friend's inn in Massachusetts, I was ready to be home.

I learned a few things while I was gone. For what it's worth, I think we should all learn something new everyday. And if the something that we learn is something new about ourselves it's a bonus!

I learned that when God plucks me from my normal, everyday life and places me outside of my comfort zone that I shouldn't fight it. I'll miss the blessings He wants to give me because I'll be too busy and too focused on where I'm not instead of where I am.  On the other side of that coin, if I fight it, I won't be the blessing I should be to the people I'm serving. If I'm too focused on me, I can't focus on Him.

I learned that I can do it. Whatever it is. I can do it. I can figure out solutions to problems or situations that I probably will never encounter again. But because of my common sense, life is not really that complicated. It's complex, but not complicated. Love and grace can solve every problem out there.

I learned that there is a reason why God has had me walk down some of the paths He's chosen. His plan is so much more than anything I could have ever imagined. The pieces of the puzzle He put together have made for a very colorful, multidimensional, and multifaceted picture. If left to my own devices, I'm certain that how I would choose to put the pieces together would be rather dull, monochromatic, and flat. 

The most important thing I learned, though, is that I have to bring these truths home with me and incorporate them into my everyday life. Those lessons learned shouldn't be left behind, they should become part of who I am. And that's the best lesson of all. 

Getting Started with Esential Oils

I've been using essential oils for about a year now. I eased into it one oil at a time at the beginning.

I started with Melaluca for cuts and scratches.

I added Oregano about 4 months later when our daughter got an ear ache. A drop on a cotton ball placed over her ear and a swipe down the side of her neck with it and she was better within an hour.

Then Peppermint because I heard that it was a good bug repellent. I had started running and couldn't handle the bugs around my face in the summertime heat. I put a couple of drops in the palm of my hand with a light carrier oil and put it on the back of my neck, across my temples, and on my shoulders. Bonus: the cooling effect of peppermint in the wind! I would also drop a couple of drops in my sweet tea in the summer for a change of pace.

All of these were of the generic variety. Then a friend of mine introduced me to doTerra oils. At that point, I jumped in with both feet.

I use the Lavender to help me sleep each night and use it an effective but bite and burn soother.
I drink the Lemon oil or the Grapefruit oil in my water everyday. I put the Citrus Bliss on my wrists and the back of my neck as a little pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon.

But my all-time favorite, hands down, is the OnGuard. I use that in so many things. When I had my four wisdom teeth extracted, I swished with OnGuard in my water. I put it in a spray bottle with Shaklee's Basic H to clean my kitchen. When I feel a cold coming on, I put three drops of it along with Oregano and Lemon in a capsule and knock that junk out. But my absolute favorite way to use it? In my tea. I make a cup of tea and put one drop of OnGuard in it. The clove, orange, and cinnamon flavors are the perfect addition to the hot tea. It's simply delicious. It's the perfect wintertime treat. It's also delicious in a blueberry smoothie with spinach, yogurt, a frozen banana, and raw honey.

Get creative with oils. You will be pleasantly surprised with what they can do.

If I had to live with only 5 oils for the rest of my life it would be Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, OnGuard, and Oregano. 

I can't imagine my life without them.

The ways that I can use them, both separately and in combination with each other, can help just about any common issue my family has.

What about you? Have you ever tried them?  What are your favorite oils?

Life. Interrupted.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 NIV

This is the only verse that kept coming to mind when the email came that my dear friend needed my help at her inn in Lenox, MA for three weeks. My life was planned. My family had things on the calendar. Our daughter's goats were almost ready to give birth. We have a school schedule to finish. Co-op to attend. Bible studies to go to. Weekly piano lessons. Baby chicks to start. Our son's baby turkeys for 4H were in a box in the kitchen. (we have a tendency to put poultry in our kitchen. Doesn't everyone?)

But that email...I needed to drop everything and be there, or here, as the case may be, for my friend. She needed me. And I love her. End of story. 

So, in the end, our daughter decided to stay home and keep watch over the livestock on our farm as well as keeping the house running for my husband. Our son and I piled into the car and drove 12 hours, 1/5 of the way across the US to be here. For 18 days. Where God wants us. Where He determined our steps to go long before I ever wrote a single event on my calendar.

And you know what, I don't want to be anywhere else. I would rather be inside the will of God and outside my comfort zone than outside the will of God and inside my comfort zone.

I'll be rather quiet for the next few weeks, but I'll be back to my regularly scheduled life soon enough. And I won't regret my time spent here serving the Lord and my dear friend. Outside of my comfort zone.

In the end, it's all good....

Catch you all on the flip side.

 

 

And while I'm here, this is my workout routine. It's easily doable in my room, doesn't take a lot of space, and is comfortable to do on my yoga mat (which I brought along!)

Chickens and Memories

We have raised chickens before as the meat/egg breeds. Those were a lot of work, but fun. You get the eggs for two years, but then comes the butchering part. The processing of them would fall to me, and I just didn't want to do it anymore. It's a lot of work for a little bit of meat. 

Then we got started in broilers for meat and realized that pound for pound, week for week, feed for feed, the broilers were worth more to us than the layers were, meat-wise.

We have raised different breeds of chickens for many years and decided two winters ago to get Golden Comet chicks. This was a new breed for us. I’ve heard many people will only raise Golden Comets for eggs due to their consistent egg laying, feed-to-egg ratio, docile nature, and their final slight size.

I got the call from my post office that our day-old chicks were waiting for me. We got them home and settled in their box near the woodstove. 

Aren't they cute!?

They spent some time with us in the house near the woodstove for heat, but by the end of March, it was warm enough, reliably, to put them in the chicken coop. By that time, of course, the kids had grown attached to them. The chickens had become pets. They had become friends. Never mind that their life-plan was to lay us eggs, eat our kitchen scraps, and scratch our garden looking for grubs until that fateful day when they would say goodbye to this world and venture to that Great Big Chicken Run in the sky.

However, one chicken in particular, decided she liked the ‘human life’ a little too much. She would join us in the wood pile, right at our feet scratching for grubs, hopping up and sitting on the kids’ laps while they ran the handle for the log splitter, riding on the rack of the four-wheeler as we moved the wood into the woodshed…she was always around us. My husband, who would be running the chainsaw, would have to stop what he was doing to pick her up and set her down on a log that would be crawling with bugs, worms, and grubs.  Our family became so attached to her, that we named her “Fri-hen-d.” 

Yes, this chicken is in our house. 

She also received a blue zip tie on her left leg so that when it came time to butcher the chickens, we wouldn’t accidentally butcher her. (This foray into the kitchen is what prompted to blue zip tie- so it's not on her in this photo)

She lives the good life now- when she hears the back door open, she runs up on the deck hoping that we will be hand-feeding her something tasty. When it snows, or is too cold outside, she comes up to the back door and will peck on the door asking for admittance. Once, we took pity on her and brought her in and warmed her up by the woodstove. She plopped herself right down in the warmth and sat there for a while.  She comes when she’s called- like a dog does. 

Our family has enjoyed her antics and will allow her to be free and safe from The Ax.  The memories she has given our children will live on long after she’s gone. My husband and I are in the process of creating for our kids their ‘Good Ole Days.’ These are the days and times that the kids will look back on and remember with fondness.  Besides, what more can a mom ask for but memories to cherish close to her heart when the kids have grown up, and those same memories that they can take with them to pass along to their children. One day, they will be sitting around the table at a Thanksgiving dinner after their dad and I pass on, and they’ll say, ‘Remember that chicken we had when we were kids that mom and dad let us bring in to the house? What was her name again?’ And they’ll regale their families with stories of Fri-hen-d and growing up on a farm. And their memories will be tinged with gold and warmth and love. 

Naming a Blog

This might fall into the "*Just in Case You Wanted to Know but are Afraid to Ask" category.

I think it's almost as momentous a decision as naming a child. Almost. Try to consolidate the composition of your life's symphony into 3 to 5 words. That are available as a domain name. That don't accidentally spell something inappropriate when typed with no spaces (example: Como Depot. I saw this the other day and laughed out loud. When you type that all together without spaces it's comodepot. Comode Pot. <-- That's what I was meaning about the accidental inappropriateness...). Tough stuff, I tell ya.

One must take into consideration all that one loves and likes. Where one wants to go and where one has been. What one believes and what one doesn't believe. How one perceives the world and through what Lens. How spiritual one lives or doesn't. How helpful does one want to be or doesn't. How motivating does one want to be or doesn't.

Or maybe not so much. The title of my blog actually came to me by way of my husband. "Our" song is an oldie, but a goodie, Forever in Blue Jeans by Neil Diamond. He sang it to me while we were dating. He sang it to me at our wedding.  And after nearly 19 years together, if it comes up on Pandora or iTunes we'll tune the kids out and turn the music up. And sing it to each other. (*We're Neil Diamond fans, by the way. Just file that under the same category as mentioned above.)

Have you ever paid attention to the words?

Money talks
But it can't sing and dance
And it can't walk
And long as I can have you
Here with me, I'd much rather be
Forever in blue jeans, babe

And if you pardon me
I'd like to say
We'll do okay
Forever in blue jeans, babe
And long as I can have you
Here with me I'd much rather be
Forever in blue jeans, babe  

*"Forever in Blue Jeans" is a song by Neil Diamond which was co-written with his guitarist Richard Bennett.

The fact that my husband and I didn't build our marriage around money, careers, or the things of this world that are currently passing away has been an incredible blessing to both of us. And to our kids.

The "Homemaking" part of the name seems fairly self-explanatory. :)  

I am so happy to be married to this man and I know that we'll be okay, forever in blue jeans.  

So there you have it. Naming a child, naming a blog- it's all the same. I'm totally kidding. Naming a child is more difficult. 

Naming our first born was almost comical. We didn't officially know what gender we were having, but my motherly instinct 'knew' the child I was carrying was a girl. We never talked about boy names. It just wasn't a boy. So, we agreed, or I thought we had agreed, on a name that was a combination of our two grandmother's names. Ellie (it was a variation on my grandmother's maiden name, Ellis) and Rose (his grandmother's name). Ellie Rose. Beautiful. Simple. Innocent. Meaningful. We referred to the bump as Ellie. We talked about when Ellie would arrive. The baby was Ellie. (Please don't ask me what would have happened if the baby had been a boy. We don't talk about it.)

Our baby is born, yes, a girl, laid on my chest, tears are being shed, love is being expressed in words and touches, and the nurse comes over and asks, "What name goes on her birth certificate?" I look at the nurse with such joy that can never be contained and reply, "Ellie Rose."

My beloved looks at me with that same joy that can never be contained and puts his hand on my shoulder (<--I took this as a sign of solidarity.) and says, "Honey, I hate that name."

So. Naming. It's a challenge. We officially didn't name our first born child until about an hour before we left the hospital. ALL of her papers, name band, everything, say either "Baby Girl" or "Princess." 

By the way, God totally nailed the naming of our children. We jumped the gun and tried to name them in our own strength. But trust me, their God-chosen names are so completely perfect for them that I can't imagine ever thinking that we could have done a better job.