" The family meal table is a sanctuary. It is a secret place from the daily word of strife. On of the Hebrew words for "secret" is sod which comes from the word "yasad". It means to "sit down together , a talk session, an intimate friendly convesation or a serious consultation, a company of persons in close secret talks. " Families can enjoy this special time together at each evening meal.
Psalm 23:5 " You prepare a table before me in the presense of mine enemies."
Mothers we can prepare a table that is a sanctuary from the filthiness of the world. Our husband and grown children may spend their day out in the work place. More often than not they are surrounded by filthy talk, jesting, immodesty an humanistic reasoning. If they come home and turn on the TV, this conatimination of the world will only sink deeper into their spirits. But if they arrive home to a waiting table -- a table that welcomes them with good food, love, and fellowship, the filth of the day washes away. As you communicate and talk about the things of the Lord, their souls and spirits are washed clean. " ~ Nancy Campbell, The Family Meal Table & Hospitatlity Study guide, pg. 20
_______________________________________
I was blessed to grow up in a home where the family gathered each day for dinner together. It was not just a " Sunday meal" that we enjoyed once a week, but each night we would set the table and sit around as a family and share our day. I remember when I got old enough to have friends and eat at the homes of other families, I took notice that many did not eat together as a family. Kids grabbed something on their own, or families would sit in front of the TV. I didn't appreciate the family meal table when I was a child in my family home, but now years later I look back upon that time as a treasured time in my life.
In talking to my 88 yr old father about the meal table he shared that he felt very strongly that it was so important for mother & father to sit down with the children and share a meal each day. He told me that is where values are passed down and where parents can get a feel for what their children are thinking and feeling. I am grateful to my parents who in wisdom, chose to follow the "old paths" and held family dinner each day of the week.
Today, statistics show that families eat only a few days a week together.
What has happened to the family meal table?
I am currently leading a study of Nancy's book on the Family Meal table and I have been blessed to read her thoughts on this special time of day.
I have chosen to follow the tradition my parents gave me and we do eat together each night. I too agree with Nancy and my dad that it is a wonderful time . It is a sanctuary for us! It is a time to share our hearts and thoughts, and to put aside the world.
I do hope many of you are blessed with special moments around the meal table.
Today I spent a couple hours cleaning and working on the wood stove. The fire was still burning, so I did not clean the window as of yet, but you can see what was done today. The stove was all rusted from the wet moist weather we had this summer, you know, when Iowa had all that flooding. Well, I took a toothbrush and scrubbed all of the cast iron details. I also cleaned up the cast iron pot on top of the stove. After that, I took some vegetable shortening and a clean toothbrush and wiped down the entire stove. I had only intended to do the cast iron, but the splatters ended up getting onto the soapstone so I just oiled them completely down.
It looks nice, now. The oiled stone brings out it's details... with our home being so dry, the stone had almost turned... flakey white. You can notice that a bit on the top of the stove by the pot, where the oil has already seasoned into the stone... it is still a bit white. However, I am still quite pleased with the results as the stone looks better than it has in years and the cast iron is nice and black again. Along the top edge the cast iron looks a shiny brown color, but that is an error from the flash... it all looks nice and black. I was a bit concerned about getting the oil onto the stone, but it has not appeared to have altered the stone color.
Now, I need to get back down there and clean up the tiled areas. I told the girls before I put up the tree, the fire area is getting a good cleaning and a good spiffing. We need to redo the tile, you may have noticed the missing tiles in front of the stove. Hopefully that will get done next summer. It looks like the stove pipe could use a bit of oil as well! LOL... too bad my toothbrush has melted into a hard piece of plastic from doing the door of the stove... that was quite warm and melted it very quick.
Nothing special about the pictures...just things around the homestead lately :o) Enjoy!
Some of the property over the weekend. This is the back clearing where we want to build. If we don't build here, I want to put our schoolhouse up back here anyway (just to the right of that center pine tree...that's where the trail heads back to the pond.
The next is the logging road they used a few years back to get to the neighbors property...and where they come up with the 4-wheelers. The bottom of that range there is the end of our property.
Next two are of the pond, coming in from that logging road, through the trees. It's just seasonal and lately, that has meant no real water to speak of. The first year it had maybe 2 foot of water. This year, maybe the same. The 2 years in the middle, it was just about bone dry and useless with the drought. We'd like to dig it out more and shore it up to try to keep water in it. We know there's a decent aquifer running through this part of the mountain, down about 150 here at the house end of the property. Would be nice to have some water for the animals if nothing else.
Thanksgiving weekend work on the homestead...Finally getting the holes dug out for the posts for the back porch area. Most likely, it will never make it as a porch and will be enclosed for living space...maybe that outdoor kitchen ;o) I tried to get the holes started but it's all clay...and really thick nasty stuff at that. I just can't do it. I'm a wimp. I admit it. So, as Drew was over for dinner, we put him to work with Dewey :o)
The goofy pup there is the beagles basset mutt mix we have...brains of a stuffed animal, but lovable. He chases rabbits and such all night. Pinned a coyote down in the timber last year so we could shoot it. He's a good dog...just goofy. Notice Miss Abigail's bare feet...this was the day after Thanksgiving. Sure wouldn't be out running the countryside like that back North this time of year!
Thanksgiving fixins' on the homestead...We spent all day Wednesday baking...2 pecan pies, 2 apple, 2 chocolate (that's the empty crust with the tin foil in it) and 2 9x13 pumpkin cobblers. And the yummiest yeast rolls :o) It's a mix we do up and keep in the pantry --delicious. And, yes, I'll add the recipe soon!
The full menu ended up looking like this...deep-fried turkey, a huge (h-u-g-e) smoked ham from the butcher (stupid me didn't ask about size, just got the one that looked so good...it didn't fit inside the 18qt Nesco roaster we have...had to sit cockeyed until it cooked down some and slide into the pan the right way!). Dressing, green bean casserole, baked corn, potatoes/gravy, sweet potatoes, then the list of desserts. We made honey nut crunch and ranch/dill crackers for snacking all weekend.
This was the first year our eldest wasn't at the table. He rode up with Dewey to pick up Hope's car and drive it back. He wanted it to be their first Thanksgiving, and he was frying his first turkey solo... The 20 quart mixer...yes, that's a make-do kitchen sink set up there. We pulled out the cupboard a while back. I have a very nice, new countertop sitting out in the building, but until I know for sure what we are doing (building or simply remodelling) I don't want to use it yet ;o) And, yes, those are cinder blocks under the mixer -- it sits too low to the floor for comfortable use. I know it looks rather hillbilly-ish, but it works ;o)
The meat, part 1/Day 1...still partially frozen, even after 2 days of thawing in the cooler bag. Guess that cooler bag works far better than I thought it did! We cut up most of the chunks to more suitable pieces and readied them for the canning jars.
My 3yo likes to sing along with the older girls. They like the song Emmanuel... the refrain goes like this... Rejoice, rejoice, emmanuel, shall come to .....
My little one starts the refrain... Be Joyed! Be Joyed!
Dear "anonymous" reader who left a comment on my blog about women & working out of the home......
I want to thank you for taking time to read my blog and I also wanted to let you know I left a comment in response to your comment..... please take a moment and read.
Friends, this is my personal blog.... I share here what is on my heart..... I realize not everyone is going to agree with what I share here...... that is certainly a freedom we have in this wonderful country of ours....but I do ask friends that you leave your name when you post...... I am not sure why folks post "anonymous" comments...... what not share your name? It's ironic to me that when people leave unkind comments or comments that disagree with the writer's opinions they do not have the courage to share "who" they are... why is that so?
In any case, I wanted my anonymous reader to please take a moment and read my response to their comment. For those of you who wish to read my reply left in response to a comment left in regards to my post titled: The Old Fashioned Parlor.
This is in like new condition, slight shelf wear, but look like the new set I got. I had tried to pick these up piece by piece, but ended up buying the set.
Regular Price is $6.95. I will sell for $6.50 postage paid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bear that heard Crying by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey. Paperback in good condition. Asking $5 postage paid, media mail
More to post later... however, feel free to check out my link for paperback swap on the side bar, that should take you to my bookshelf. Also I have several books on Half.com , if you want to see those books as well (106 books posted, some texts, some childrens, some craft, some that I don't even know how I got!). If you'd like to combine shipping, I'd be happy to do that and pull them off the site and ship together. Thanks for checking out my stuff!
Today I had a conversation with a friend who is not a Christian ~ this friend has tried on various occasions to persuade me to accept the teachings of their church ~~ this person knows me well and paid me the most precious and lovely compliment a believer of the Lord Jesus could ever be told...... it has made my heart sing for Joy an I just needed to share it here with you all because so many of you love my Jesus as much as I do and will understand!!
This person told me that " born again Christians like me and another Christian they know were content with Jesus and not looking for any thing else" ....... oh dear reader -- can I just tell you how my heart lept for JOY when this friend shared this with me????
Oh that I would always be content with my Jesus..... oh that I would always have such closeness to Him that I would never feel the need for "religion" or "other teachings" outside of what He has given us in His word...... oh, how that made my heart sing!
One of my favorite songs is Shout to the Lord by Hillspring ........
My Jesus, My Savior,..... Lord there is none like you...... all of my days, I want to praise.... the wonders of your mighty hand....
My Jesus, My comfort.... tower of refuge and strength....let every breathe, all that I am.. never cease to worship YOU.......
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing... power and majesty praise to the King......
The mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of YOUR name ....
I sing for joy at the work of your hands, forever I'll love you forever I'll stand....
nothing compares to the promise I have in YOU.........
First off -- Ron & Jo...if you visit and read this, do email me! We've been worried about how you both are doing!
The computer went down again. Apparently, the first computer geek didn't do any sort of system diagnostics and simply wasted 3 days or so re0installing my modem driver.
Well, it went down on me again, 2 weeks ago now. Not that it didn't make for a quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving, and we did get many things accomplished, but still....
This time, I went to the original geek I had planned on using last time. They did a full system whatever and ran several diagnostics. They think the main issue I was having is that my BIOS system was rather outdated. There were 5 newer updates than I had, and they don't simply install with the regular system update stuff this thing does on it's own every so often. He updated me that way, installed another antivirus program then downloaded a new modem driver and viola...we have internet again.
And life picks up with hectic busy-ness, of course.
Just to note: If you sent me an email over the past couple of weeks and haven't heard from me...don't expect to. Just email me again. I had a million emails in my inbox and they are all being deleted as I write here. Please, email again if you need me!
I have all 300# of meat in the freezer...well, minus the 50# of stewing chunks sitting in the kitchen waiting its turn in the canner. My pressure seems a bit off today -- it's taking forever to get up to pressure for some reason. But, it's all cut up, the packing juice blend prepared and jars scalded and waiting.
I am going to get very tired of looking at meat, I can tell that already, and it's just Day 1 of a long line of days to come! We may well turn vegetarian for a couple months once it's all said and done!
We have, aside from meat meat and more meat in the works here, fencing outside we are dealing with. Seems we are being over-run with wayward hunters. We knew they had been around the property, but they have found several signs of them running 4-wheelers clear up to the back of my barn! They are using our deer stands, running their dogs all over and apparently using our private property as their own personal hunting grounds.
That will come to a stop this week. We are getting the signs up so we are more properly POSTED everywhere, and I am setting up some wire along the back access where we know for a fact they are coming and going. If they damage a 4-wheeler with a slightly hidden barb wire fence, serves them right. It will be well inside the perimeter of my property line, where they don't belong. That and some bird shot peppering their hunting expedition should do the trick.
Before anyone takes issue to our methods here, we have a very good idea as to who the culprits are, and they know we don't want hunters here. They know we have young children who enjoy our property, and as they hunt with high powered rifles, they are definitely not welcome here. My own dogs stay on our property, and they are being annoyed with the constant traffic as well. I don't need the aggravation, or the worry of my children being shot while playing on their own land.
To give you some idea of the genius we are dealing with out here, this group was shooting targets last year in their own cleared plot just down from our line. It's their property, I have no concern there whatsoever. It's a free country.
However, they use high powered, long range shot guns/rifles whatever you call them. Where they were shooting from/at, in virtually every direction on the compas, they had nothing but timber land. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of acres going out in every direction. Nothing in line for miles and then some.
Every direction, that is, but they one they chose to shoot in. They set up just the other side of the creek and were shooting directly toward my house. Literally peppering my roof with their shot. Branches and leaves were falling after every shot. Genius, pure genius. In any other direction, they would have had nothing but trees for miles and miles, yet they picked the direction that went through my property straight to my house and animals....and children.
Running a 4-wheeler across a low-lying wire fence is going to be the least of their concerns if we actually catch them on the property hunting, instead of their leftovers and signs.
We also have a lengthy sewing list, as usual. And school work to catch back up on. We are having reading issues it seems. I need to determine where my cut-off needs to be. There is a point where not reading well is a problem, and I think we might be there. I know we took more time with our first reader learning, but I've 3 in the works now and they simply aren't coming along very quicky. I know, homeschooling certainly affords my time in that respect, no hard-lined schedules to adhere to and all, but still...we have been at this enough now there should be a bit more progress I think. Time to re-evaluate The Plan here.
As to the olders, Jennifer finished a decent amount while gone with Dewey the past couple weeks. And Johanna, well, she has her own agenda. She is set on graduating when she turns 15 years old...about 2 years or so from now. She blew right through one grade level already and is just about finished with the next set of math, language and science I bought a couple weeks ago. She definitely needs some more indepth work to keep her coccupied. She easily completes 4 or more lessons a day. Like I said, a girl with her own agenda.
I have a Christmas gift...yes, I know what I said about Christmas and all, but this is different, sort of. I came across a bargain and couldn't pass it up. Dewey said birthday and Christmas gift and I jumped on it! (my birthday is Christmas Eve...I tend to get those 'combined' gifts quite often!). I have a 20 quart Welbilt Varimixer sitting in my kitchen :o) It's huge. It's sitting on the floor right now -- there's no way my counters, besides being far too tall, would accommodate this machine. I'll have to build some sort of stand for it, but for now, it's just sitting there, waiting to be used. We will start selling bread and such soon, and much easier.
The man we bought it from buys out various businesses and such and resells the equipment. He thinks he knows of a commercial oven and stove and is checking on that for me. Dewey wasn't really in the mood to drag along with me to pick it up, but he wanted to check it out first. Well, he has found his new dream shopping warehouse now. This man has virtually everything. If he doesn't have it and doesn't know where to find it, you simply don't need it. He has all sorts of building materials and so on. Dewey enjoyed his trip more than I did I think!
I will get some pictures up this week, but today, the meat is calling!
Wow, December is already blowing in...literally here in Oklahoma. The wind is really howling today and the bitter windchills are keeping us all snuggled up in our warm sweaters and jackets.
We no longer have to wonder wether this baby will be a November or December baby....He better be a December baby! LoL. My due date is less than a week away, and amazingly, I feel no closer to going into labor than I did a week ago...in fact, I think I feel farther away because last week I was having a lot more contractions than I've been having the last several days. I just keep reminding myself that this baby will be here in God's time, and not Sara time.
This morning I've already taken the van to the car repair place. So for the next several days or weeks, we are without a vehicle. As I've said before, I'm thankful my parents live only a couple of blocks away, and are available whenever we may need them. I went on Saturday and stocked up on groceries for the week, and shouldn't need to go again until at least Thursday, which is my usual shopping day. I'll have to go to the midwife this week, and my mom will be taking me to that. And my dad will be taking my husband to work every morning and my mom will be picking him up in the afternoon. So with the exception of going to the store once this week, and the midwife once, we'll be home all week, which I am very thankful for. I so enjoy time at home, especially when the weather is cold out.
Other plans, here at home this week are to work on Christmas presents for everyone, do some holiday baking, do some fun crafts with the kids, and finish up the rest of schoolwork needing done before we take off the rest of the year, and also to reclaim my once cleaned home to what it was before the holiday. Not that it is anywhere near as bad as it was, but when hubby is home, everything gets much more relaxed around here, plus we spent the weekend putting up Christmas decorations, and I need to finish that up and pack the boxes away. I ofcourse have laundry to do, towels today, and sheets, and whatever else I can get do to keep us busy. I'm off for now, as I speak my kids are off playing *gasp* together. And it seems they are actually getting along for the moment. I may have to take a picture! Have a blessed day!
After church last night, we went over to my son's house to spend the night.
I figured that my dad could use a little break!
The funny thing is, he has been having a blast.
My dad has really enjoyed having the kids around.
He was actually upset when I told him that we would be spending the night at Matt's.
Matt's wife, Heather really has the Christmas spirit. The entire place is lit up with festive lights - inside and out! It's beautiful.
On top of that, we got to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas. Yeah!
You can't get any better than that.
We snacked on a variety of crackers and drank hot cocoa.
I called my husband and son in Alaska to tell them goodnight and to say our goodnight prayer. (Well, my good night prayer - their supper time prayer I guess. There is four hours difference.)
It was a nice night.
How was your Sunday?
Oh yeah, I am extending our Thanksgiving sale.
When you buy one of our books, just email me with your choice of a second book free!
Don't you just love FREE?!?
Have a great Monday!
When you buy one book, email me and I will send you your choice of a second book for FREE!
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk