Homesteading Updates

This is what everyone has been looking for...our homesteading updates...

My back problem started on the way home from our visit to our new friends at the intentional community we visited. The last time my back blew out was the day before we were to close on the property in Holmes County, so this seemed like it might be an indication that this was not the path we should choose. We're still open to God's leading in moving so far, but also in trying to find His will closer by too.

We still long for one of our friends from the homeschool group, or church, or even the readers that have contacted us previous to express a true motivation to move ahead with a local intentional Christian community. It's hard to not see the direction our country is moving in, and the daily destruction of the Constitution, economy and the move to end time scenarios (new currency for example). Call me an alarmist if you must, but when the time comes and there are food, energy shortages and rationing, you will know that those who ran for the hills now were right. I don't want to be in the situation of knowing and then being stuck and looking back with an "I should have...." Please, If you feel this way too, are a 912-er, etc, PLEASE email because we found a wonderful property!

We have looked at a few properties that we are considering. The one that is the most attractive has a lot split so we could share it with 2-5 other families if the interest is there. It's still in central Ohio, but far enough out that crime and other factors shouldn't be an issue. The property that we are looking at getting into already has a shop ready for the MAN's business.

(The business is one of the reasons we feel lead to stay in Ohio rather than move out of state. We are currently booked out by about 5 weeks and have also been lead to expand the business into LOG FURNITURE. You'll be hearing more about this soon. We've had requests and now we are working to follow up on an opportunity that seems to be God-lead. )

The property has a house that is a bit less to be desired, but is livable for awhile until we could put something else up. It has plenty of room for animals and gardens. It's close enough in that I could commute to work as long as needed. It really is a beautiful piece of God's earth!

The other one we considered, ended up only miles away from the first. It is also a contender as it has many of the things needed for our business...shop, right on a major road. Amish neighbors with a sawmill (this one is hard to pass up!) and this one was fenced. The house is...ok...well liveable but not very nice, and unfortunately it could only support one family and is landlocked, so it doesn't lend for encouraging others to join us in an intentional community. It's also on only 1/3 of the land of the other property.

We've been wanting to get this house here put up for sale, but I've got so much STUFF that needs dealt with that we haven't gotten to that point. We are now considering putting the house up for auction, like the Amish do, to just get the sale over with!

New baby chickens are slated to hatch in about 20 days, then we have about 18 weeks before the roosters crow so there are some time limits--grin! We are looking at adding rabbits even while we are still in the suburbs. The first animal once we get to the farm, I think, is going to be a Nigerian Dwarf Goat, followed quickly by a Dexter Cow. And even more chickens. I want to be wherever we are going by May 1st as that is planting time. God will dictate the timeline, and now with the added complication of my spinal issues, we really are relying on His Grace.

So, feel free to email or comment! I'll try to do a better job at updating, but sitting is difficult with the nerve pain-thus the reason I haven't been posting all along.

Thank you for your patience!

Here is the post you've been waiting on....

Our trip. It was a wonderful trip! We left on Wednesday morning, after a stop to the library to pick up a few books. I wish I had taken a picture of BOY before we left. The van was packed with two beds to be delivered, and the boy was all smooshed in his seat with bed rails popping through all over.

The wind was pretty fierce most of the way there. We made a stop off in St. Louis to deliver the first bed, and the BOY now has a friend in the state of Missouri. He makes friends so easily. After the quick stop there, it was onward.

We arrived to our destination at about 12:30 am. About 14 hours after we had started. We followed our host to his home and met his lovely wife and 3 out of 4 of his sleepy kids. After talking for about an hour, we were given their bed. How hospitable is that?!? I was ready to crash! At that point I had been up about 30 hours with the exception of about an hour nap going through Branson, MO.

The next morning was cold outside, so I stayed snuggled in the house (for the most part) holding the new baby of the house. I love holding new babies!!! My Man put up the bunkbed he brought for the host's kids. The kids loved it and all 4 played like monkeys on it. His beds are so sturdy! It was great to see first hand kids enjoying the fruits of Man's labor! The Man and our Host did chores and ran errands and talked. Our hostess and I talked. The kids all got along beautifully and played. Inside, outside, all over. They went out to look at the new baby goat that was born just hours before we arrived. It was a really nice day of getting to know one another. My hostess and I took a hike up to the top part of the property and I got to see the baby goat and the adult male goats that looked as though they were wearing toupees! Then when the Dads got back the whole gang of us hiked the whole property (or at least the perimeter). We hiked right at sunset. What a beautiful area. And would you know it, I forgot my camera! What a great blogger/scrapbooker am I??? We returned back to enjoy pizza and more fellowship. And another night with our new friends.

The second day dawned much warmer than the day before. The Man and I went off to hike the property again and to talk over what we had each learned so far and our thoughts and leanings towards pursuing moving here. There were some concerned and some thoughts. But still lots to figure out and pray about before a decision can be made. After hiking a bit, we cleaned up the kids and headed out for a potluck at another of the family's house. There are 5 families interested currently. Our host is the founder, then the "C" family, and then the "R" family, then us, and also a man who has had a vision for this for many years and has a website. His wife was not able to make it to the potluck. Neither was the husband in the "C" family. "C"'s wife and kids were there for a short time and were lovely people, I would love to get to know better. They have a teenage daughter that just glows. Her eyes show what a wonderful young lady she is. Then another daughter who is also sweet and a son that is our BOY's age. He and Boy got off to a rough start, and finish. BOY is a bit "city"fied and has had a mom that has told him as long as he's been alive to "don't get dirty." The family that had the potluck was the "R" family. Very sweet with two beautiful little girls. After eating the guys got down to talking about logistics and the ladies sat in the comfortable living room by the wood stove and also got to know one another. The guys spoke long into the night. We finally left at 12:30 am, after being there for almost 10 hours. We crashed again at our host's house. Early (8am) we left for Ohio.

On the way home, we did make a stop in St. Louis, this time at the Arch. It was COLD! We took pictures and checked it out, but it sure didn't take long...then we were on the road again for home. I drove for the last 6 hours. The drive home was spent in thought and prayer and bursts of talking and comparing ideas. We haven't yet come to a conclusion, except that our host has a wonderful opportunity, and a generous heart. He has the equipment and the drive to get everything going right now. We are still praying that we could do something right here in Ohio. Since returning, God has really blessed our business and we have quite a few orders to take care of. We've been contacted by a few people locally that are interested in Intentional Christian Community here in Ohio.

It was a wonderful trip. It was eye opening and educational. Even if we don't join up with this particular community, it spurred us closer and gave us more thoughts and answers on how to get this done. I can't even imagine that God might be using us to be the visionaries for such a community here in Ohio, but He doesn't call the equipped~He equips the called. So...with trepidation we go on looking and listening for God's will. Man and I both feel like time is very short. That with the economic uncertainty and the energy situation, that we need to make a decision and get going with our plan. We pray we are following God's plan for us, but know that even if we have mis-discerned His will, that He will catch us when we fall. So many times in the past few years we've gone ahead with what we thought was our calling only to be stopped at the last minute. Each time was difficult and sometimes devastating. But in hindsight, which is 20/20 we can clearly see where we prayed God's will and asked that if it were not so that the door would be firmly closed. He loves His children and will protect us.

So, we have not given up on community, and have an even clearer picture of what it can and should be. We are open to moving, but also open to staying in Ohio. We want to continue to talk with the people here in Ohio that are truly interested in being in a God centered community of like minded believers.

We are NOT a cult. Wouldn't you love to let your kids out to play and know that each adult they encounter is "safe" and has the same belief system that you do? Yes, it may be true that "It takes a village to raise a child...." I've seen my current village and I want NOTHING to do with it raising my child. In an ICC, you could have that village of believers that will help raise your children without undermining you! Wouldn't it be wonderful to not only be able to go to your neighbor for a cup of sugar when you run out, but also to ask for prayer?! How about being able to count on your community to help you with "barn raisings" and "work frolics"? Have you ever looked out your front window and been surrounded by people, yet are so lonely you could cry? Are you tired of putting on a "happy face" and a "good show" for the neighbors? Or have you gotten tired of them "keeping up with the Jones?" Do you feel like you have community the 2 hours, 2-3 times a week that you are at church, yet as soon as you walk out the door, your community is scattered to the wind not to be heard from until the next time you are "scheduled" to be at church?

I know I have. And I would rather have a Christian community surrounding me, not just emotionally, but physically. And if that isn't possible, then just give me some land that I can have my chickens and gardens and maybe a cow or two.

I've gotten a few emails from the blog of folks who are interested in forming a community here in Ohio, if you are a "lurker" but are seriously interested, please let me know. We would like to start a dialog with you and your family and see what God can put together in the next weeks. Again, we don't think we have much time, so time is of the essence. Experience or not!

Intentional Christian Community

This is an email that MAN recently sent out to our homeschool group about Intentional Communities....

"Have you ever wondered if you could ever life like the Amish? If you're like me certain aspects of it are appealing. Not everything, of course, but then not everything in our modern life is all that appealing. Ok, so I wouldn't adopt Amish doctrine and I'm not talking about an isolationist cult but a Christian community of caring, loving, serving, like-minded folks who still are hungry for more of what the Lord has for us
and to be obedient to the Great Commission. The new term is Intentional Christian Community.

I've mentioned this once before briefly and since then Rea and I have done a little research into the subject. We even traveled to a small one community in eastern Ohio and met with folks for a day. Each community would certainly have its own unique characteristics and this one was on the wane and had little land left to develop.

The idea is simple and mostly self-sufficient and debt-free living depending on technology as available and focusing on developing the simple skills of farming, construction, and home-making. Members have the choice and are encouraged to attend their own church or attend "simple church" or housechurch as some of you have heard of.

Recently a start-up community contacted me through a network of interested folks. We have been having a wonderful time of online and phone fellowship and discussing the development of this community. We haven't decided to join yet as there are lots of details to work out and to determine our compatability.

In the next few weeks we will be traveling to meet with the founder and 3 or 4 other
families who are planning to start developing the land this year. 150 acres are
already purchased and somewhat developed. There is more land nearby and they are also looking at an additional 60 acres with some infrastructure, pasture, and
timber.

Interestingly the founder and I have both attended a log home builder's school in Washington state. Neither of us had any prior knowlege of this. He has weighed
the benefits and low cost of building log homes from scratch and is leaning toward a compressed adobe (rammed earth) type construction. It's cheap, available, fast, uses on-site resources (dirt) has superior insulation properties, and needs no mortar. Details and videos areavailable online at http://www.adobemachine.com/ .

The whole idea appeals to me considering the times we live in. There are huge uncertainties facing all of us (especially Christians) who want to preserve our faith for future generations. Economic upheaval, energy, food, climate, political. Know this, that if you don't know what might hit you, then you won't be prepared when it does. I believe that the time to prepare is now while our government is still able to keep things afloat for a little longer.

If any of you are interested I will add you to my email list and try to keep you informed of our progress. I won't be using GBHEF for this purpose so you will have to let me know your email address to keep informed.

Thanks for your time. God keep you and
bless you."

Like he mentioned, we have been to visit a community that was about an hour and a half away from our current home. We are going out to meet the founder and his family (and the other families) of this new community. It's further away than we had planned for ourselves, but if it's God's calling then that is where we will go. We are also open to the idea that maybe this is a fact mission to start our own right here with the families that we already know and love, near our current church. We are in deep prayer as this will affect our family in a BIG way. But as I've said before, we have a BIG God! We have some very large hurtles that stand in our way, but if it is His will....

Please pray with us that we would be able to discern what we are being lead to do, and to be bold and brave with whatever the outcome is. And that the fears that we both have would be calmed and questions answered.