The Homestead Way of Life

I'm Lousy at Blogging!

I just can't keep up with it.  :)

If you want to find out more about the

New Harvest Homestead newsletter

Please visit my website

You are also invited to join the NHH Yahoo email group.  The best place on the web to get answers to your homesteading questions!  :)

The sign up button is located on the sidebar to the right.

Blessings!

Lisa

Cranberries 101

HOLIDAYS ON THE HOMESTEAD!

The November/December 2007 issue of New Harvest Homestead is now available!

Here's a little taste of the great things you'll find in this issue:

THANKFUL! - NHH readers share what they are most thankful for

Cranberries 101 - A little history and interesting information about this versatile holiday fruit, plus mouth-watering cranberry recipes!

In the Holiday Homestead Kitchen - Christmas cookies and favorite pot-luck take-alongs

Whole Wheat Dough Variations - The Urban Homemaker  shares the many ways to use her whole wheat dough recipe for lots of holiday treats

Last Minute Gifts & Holiday Projects - Be ready to give from the heart with these easy-to-make gifts

And LOTS more!  Don't miss this issue.  Visit my website to find out how to subscribe - www.newharvesthomestead.com

From now until Christmas buy a two-year subscription and receive a third FREE!  See the details on my website or write to me at newharvest@gotsky.com

Christmas Blessings!

Lisa

He is Everything

Please check out the short video clip I have added to my sidebar on the right (under "Recent Entries").  My 16-year-old daughter shared this with me and I cannot put into words how much this short musical skit touched my heart.  Guy and I were in youth ministry for many years before we had our own children and we still have a great concern for the young people we know.  This presentation is very powerful and has the potential to reach young people when other methods might fail. I feel like it tells my own story as a youth.  I urge you to share it with family and friends.  Here is the link on GodTube (the Christian alternative to YouTube):

Lifehouse Everything Skit

The other reason I find this so moving is the lyrics to the song, "Everything".  These young men found the perfect words to express how I feel about the Lord Jesus.

Find me here, speak to me

I want to feel You, I need to hear You

You are the light, that is leading me

To the place where I find peace...again

You are the strength that keeps me walking

You are the hope that keeps me trusting

You are the life to my soul

You are my purpose, You are everything

And how can I stand here with You

and not be moved by You?

Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, You give me rest

You hold me in Your hands, You won't let me fall

You still my heart and You take my breath away

Would you take me in?  Would you take me deeper now?

'Cause You're all I want, You're all I need

You're everything, everything

You're all I want, You're all I need

You're everything, everything

Words & Music by Jason Wade

Canning Pumpkin and Yams

Every year about this time I like to re-visit the instructions for canning pumpkin and/or yams, since it is a question that tends to come up in the fall season when these items are plentiful. 

The latest research by Dept. of Ag experts has determined that it is not safe to puree pumpkin and/or yams for canning.  Being vegetables, both yams and pumpkins must be pressure canned.  The temperature of the food in the jar must get hot enough all the way through.  Since pureed pumpkin and yams are so dense, research has shown that even after a very long processing time, the internal temperatures do not reach safe levels for a long enough period to insure that all bacterias, molds, etc. have been killed or neutralized.  The food toward the outside of the jar would be woefully overprocessed by the time the food at the core was properly done.

But, don't despair - you can still safely can pumpkins and yams.  You just need to pack them in chunks instead of pureeing them. 

Pumpkin

Wash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut pumpkin up into hunks that will fit in your jar.  Remove the skin, cover with water and boil for two minutes.  Drain, reserving hot liquid, and pack cubes into hot jars (wide mouth pint or quart), leaving 1/2" headspace.  Bring cooking water back to a boil and fill jars, leaving 1/2" headspace.  Apply the lids and rims.  Process at 10 lbs. pressure - 55 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts.

Yams

Boil yams just long enough to get skins to slip off (about 20 minutes).  Remove skins, cut away bad spots and cut into manageable hunks lengthwise.  Pack hot into hot jars (reheat them if necessary after handling) leaving 1" of headspace.  Add boiling water, leaving 1" of headspace.  Apply lids and rims.  Process at 10 lbs. pressure - 65 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts.

You are welcome to write to me with any questions.  Be sure to check out my website and request your free introductory issue of my newsletter - New Harvest Homestead!

Lisa

The Signs of Autumn

Wow - can you believe it's already October?  It truly seems like yesterday I was putting in the garden and praying for the summer harvest to come.  And, it surely did!  We were abundantly blessed with green beans, tomatoes, spinach, peas - glory to God - what a wonderful gardening season this was.  Now, as I look out over our acreage I can see the corn stalks beginning to brown, the green beans are putting out the last few precious flowers and the orange of my pie pumpkins stand out against the dying vines.  The evening air is crisp, my hens are moulting - all the signs that we are well into autumn.

But, I love this changing of the seasons.  I turn my eyes from the outdoor activities to the warmth of home.  I am planning on my first quilting project over the coming months.  A simple rag quilt inspired by one of my NHH readers.  We must decide on what we will be making for Christmas gifts and get started on that.  The kids are looking forward to the first rainy days so they can have hot chocolate in the morning before they begin their schoolwork.  Our apple trees didn't fare so well this year - it seems like each year one type of fruit tree just "takes the year off" and this year it was the apples.  However, my July bearing Lodi produced loads of apples, most of which I sliced and froze for winter pies.  Here is my favorite apple pie recipe (it came in 5th out of 13 entries in our local apple pie contest one year!):

Lisa's Apple Pie

One pie crust (recipe follows)

8 cups sliced apples (Lodi, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, etc.)

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 to 1/2 cup light honey

Salt

Mix together flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Add sliced apples and toss until apples are coated with flour mixture.  Put apple mixture into crust.  Drizzle honey over the apples and shake a little salt over all.

Crumb topping:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick) cut into chunks

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Process above ingredients together in a food processor (or blend with pastry blender) until crumbly.  Sprinkle over the top of pie apple mixture.  Bake 45 to 50 minutes.  If crumb topping starts to brown too much, cover it with foil during the last 10 or 20 minutes of baking.

Easy Pie Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into chunks

Put all ingredients into a food processor and begin to process.  Add 1 TBS. cold water at a time until the dough forms a ball on top of the processor blade.  Place dough on a lightly floured bread board and form into a ball.  Roll out.  Start from the middle and roll out into every direction, working clockwise, until you have a nice circle.  Roll dough up on to your roller and hold over greased pie plate.  Unroll over the pie plate, press in and trim.  Keep it in the fridge until you are ready to fill it.

We Finally Have High Speed!!

I have been so neglectful of this blog for so long.  It was just too time consuming with my old SSSLLOOOWWW dial-up connection.  But, we now have satellite internet.  YAY!  I will try to add to my blog on a regular basis again.  For the time being, please visits my website:

www.newharvesthomestead.com

...for an update on the current September/October issue of New Harvest Homestead!  It's a GREAT issue!  How to find  and buy rural land, handcrafted soap, homemade Christmas gifts, crock-pot recipes and harvest feasts, plus tons more!  I'll be back soon!

Blessings,

Lisa

Phone Seminar Tomorrow (3-15)

Date: Thursday, March15, 2007

Time: 9:00 PM EST (8:00 CST, 7:00MST, 6:00 PST) Adjust for your time zone!

Dial In Number: 1-620-782-8800

Participant Code: 754073

If you have never participated in a phone seminar before, here is how it works:

1. Dial in the phone number above to the seminar. (You pay only for the phone call.)
2. Key in the seminar access code.
3. Introduce yourself, it you wish
4. Bring a notebook to take notes, a cup of tea, and have your questions ready.
5. Don't worry about background noise, we will mute that out!

Please be sure to mark your calendar, tell your friends, post the information in your newsgroups, set your timer if necessary and join us Thursday!

I hope to *meet* a lot of you there!

Lisa

Small Blessings

     I had a hankering for my favorite quiche today.  I experimented a bit and finally came up with a recipe that resembles the quiche I have always loved from Marie Callendar's restaurant.  It's a fairly straightforward spinach quiche, but in the last five minutes of baking I garnish the top with more cheese, diced tomatoes, bacon crumbles and green onion.  Mmmm....

     After I had gotten my pie in the oven, however,  I found to my dismay that I did not have any green onion.  I began to picture my quiche with only bacon and tomato on top - not nearly so yummy or pleasing to the eye.  And, then a thought occurred to me.  Every spring, the riverbank near our home becomes lush with wild green onions.  They are the sweetest, most delicate green onion I have ever tasted.  A couple of years ago, my neighbor, who has riverfront property, dug up a bucketful for me from the riverbank just outside her back gate.  I dug a hole in an out-of-the-way corner of our yard and plunked them in.  Now, each year, those delicious onions come back.  Would they be there in mid-February?  I stepped out the door and took the short walk to my onion "patch"...and there they were, fresh and flourishing.  My heart just leapt with joy!  I grabbed a handful and walked back to the house, praising the Lord all the way.

     This may seem a small thing to some, but I think it is in the small blessings that we most often meet our Lord.  I wonder at the idea that the Christian life is a series of ups and downs, from mountaintop to valley and then mountaintop again.  In my experience, it is more like a steady, upward climb.  It never really gets "easy", but there is blessed refreshment along the way, and times of rest and respite with our Savior.  If we would know Him better, we must learn to find Him where He dwells - not in the fire, or the earthquake, or the storm, but in the small things, even in the finding of a patch of green, spring onions.

Here is my recipe for quiche:

1 pie crust, unbaked (Write to me if you would like my recipe for easy homemade pie crust)

1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach

2 cups shredded cheese - 1 cup Swiss and one cup Colby/Jack

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

2 or 3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup diced green onion

1 can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

pinch of nutmeg

Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess water.  Place the spinach in your prepared pie crust.  Add the one cup of Swiss cheese on top of that.  Combine the evaporated milk, eggs, salt and nutmeg with a whisk and pour over the spinach and Swiss cheese.  Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 30 minutes.  After the 30 minutes, take the quiche out and top with one cup Colby Jack cheese, onion, tomatoes and bacon.  Put back in oven for another five minutes.  Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Autumn Revisited

I used up the last of the apples I had stored in the shed today.  I keep my "live storage" crops in a shed on the northeast corner of our property.  It is under a big Pepperwood tree and shady and cool all of the time.   I kept the apples in a large covered bucket.  Since they tend to like the damp air, I didn't need to do much more to preserve them.   I put them through the juicer and we all enjoyed that sweet, fresh cider.  What a treat in the midst of winter!

I have metal trash cans, lined with plastic trash bags in there.  In some I keep my bags of wheat berries, rolled oats, rice and other such sundries.  I stored the pumpkin and potatoes we picked at the u-pick farm in one.  They kept beautifully.  I cooked up the pumpkins for pie, which was delicious.  I brought in a few potatoes for dinner while I was at it.

I can't explain why it is so nourishing to my soul to walk out to my little "storehouse" and come back in the kitchen with fresh produce for my family, but I know these are the Lord's ways, the way He meant for us to interact with His creation, and so it is very good.  I hope you will see that these are not difficult things to accomplish, no matter where you live. 

Blessings!

Lisa

A REAL Family Christmas Letter

I received this through another list I am on and I thought it was just awesome.  It was written by Lisa Cauble, formerly Lisa Welchel of "Facts of Life" T.V. show fame.  We need more of this kind of transparency with one another.  God bless her for her courage!

"Cauble Family 2006 Christmas Letter

     Dear friends,

     Is it just me? Am I simply incredibly small and insecure, or do you sometimes want to throw up after reading certain family Christmas letters too? I mean, isn't this the time of year when we are supposed to be sending good tidings of great joy? After reading a litany of child prodigy feats and perfect family success stories, I often feel like pond scum. Oh, and by the way, "Merry Christmas."

     Perhaps it is a knee-jerk reaction, but I decided to write this year's family Christmas letter from slightly below the surface of the pond. Although my whole family is onboard with this idea, it is probably only fair that I begin with me and my "accomplishments" in 2006.

     For starters, I gained ten more pounds this year and went up two pant sizes. The bathroom scales hadn't seen those high digits since my third trimesters. The publishing company I'm currently signed with sold to a publisher that turned me down two years ago and they still don't want me. My last book way undersold projections and is probably available at your local bookstore on the clearance table.

     This year, Steve finally decided we could no longer ignore the financial woes associated with the fact that we both stink at handling money. We got all of our back taxes cleared up, and we are ready to tackle the debt we got into when we couldn't get enough women to attend our MomTime Getaway events back in 2003. This living on a budget is for the birds.

     Tucker fell in love for the first time and, subsequently, experienced his first broken heart. After six months, he is still recovering from the break-up. On a happier note, he finally completed his geometry curriculum. It took him a year-and-a-half, but I'm sure all those theorems will come in handy in the life of a musician.

     Haven is no longer part of the student ministry worship team at church. She was replaced this year by a drummer with fancier fills. She received a "D" on her first English Lit essay, complete with notes from the teacher like, "Don't use such lame sources" and "Did you even read the book?"

     We are thrilled to report that after three years, Clancy finally made a friend here in Texas. She played "Juliet" in her homeschool academy's school play last year, only to earn a bit part in this year's production. After playing the bass guitar for three years in the junior high worship band, she's a bit bummed about the fact that she's not yet good enough to play on the high school worship team.

     Donut, our family dog, no longer has the run of the house. She has been relegated to a pen in the kitchen with a doggie door to the backyard. After failing two obedience schools, we resigned ourselves to the fact that she just wasn't going to get this whole house-training thing down. As soon as we get this whole budget-training thing down, we'll replace all the carpet in the house.

     Now, don't you feel better? Merry Christmas! In my opinion, this letter more accurately reflects the spirit of Christmas. No, stay with me here a minute, I'm serious. Why did Jesus come to earth in the first place? Because we desperately need a Savior! We are fat, yet so empty. We owe a debt we cannot pay. We are not good enough in our own strength. He came to heal the brokenhearted. He calls us friend. He came to set free those of us who are bound because of the mess we've made of our lives.

     We aren't the first ones to celebrate Christmas as primarily the birth of the King of kings, conveniently skipping the whole "Suffering Servant" role of the promised Messiah. Yes, Jesus will reign and rule forever, but the "good news of great joy" that the angel declared to the shepherds on the very first Christmas was that a Savior was born. I need that Messiah this year!

     How about you? Have you, like me, been tempted to believe that we will be better witnesses for Jesus in our Christmas letters if we are living victoriously, reigning over our circumstances, and ruling with authority, as befits a child of the King? If that is where you have lived this year, then praise God, you have enjoyed an early taste of heaven.

     If, on the other hand, you have lost or failed or died or cried or experienced any other symptom of humanity, then celebrate Christmas with me this year. The birth of the baby Jesus, God in human form. Our High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. The King who wore a crown of thorns. We have eternity to reign with the King of kings. Today I need a Savior. That is the reason He was born. This is why we can celebrate no matter what kind of year we've had.

     Christmas blessings,



     Steve, Lisa, Tucker, Haven, Clancy and Donut Cauble"

Long Time, No Blog

It's obvious that I haven't been here in awhile!  I am sorry to all of you who have enjoyed (somewhat) regular posts from me in the past.  I have had some real trouble with my internet server.  We are still on dial-up, and the internet is becoming a very unfriendly place for those of us stuck on landline connections. I am praying we can raise the funds to purchase the equipment for a satellite connection. 

To that end, I am having a Christmas Special for New Harvest Homestead!  Anyone who purchases a two-year subscription for $24.00 will receive a third year FREE!  Or you can give a gift subscription to a friend for FREE!

I would love to be able to do all the things I want to do online, but it takes too much of my time right now, and I wouldn't be much of a homestead woman if I spent all of my time online.   

If you aren't a subscriber, please write to me at NewHarv@aol.com to ask for your free introductory issue.  The November/December 2006 issue is just packed with wonderful craft ideas, recipes, inspiration and encouragement!  I know you'll love it!

Have a very blessed Christmas,

Lisa

The Gentle Touch of Autumn

     From the window in front of my desk, I can see my two youngest girls swaying happily on our swingset.  The maple tree behind them is in full fall regalia, all ablaze in yellows and reds.  Leaves swirl and flutter about them as they carry on with their game, unmindful of the dance above their heads.

     We had a rainfall yesterday.  Typical of this time of year, it was not a pounding torrent, but a gentle shower that cleaned the dust out of the air and softened the earth.  In its wake are the billowing clouds now hanging in the western sunset, filling the sky with color -  that indescribable autumn blue, bathed in yellows, pinks and oranges.

     What is it about this season that so fills my heart?  All of creation seems to be bursting forth in colorful abundance.  Like a marathon runner who sprints that last mile, the garden seems to have doubled in her efforts to produce her bounty before the cold comes.  The zucchini, which had been waning in the heat of late summer is now alive again with blossoms and little green vegetables.  The tomatoes are reddening at a breakneck pace.  After the refreshment of the rain, the cosmos and purple coneflowers almost shine with brilliant hues.

     My fall planting of lettuce and carrots is coming along nicely, ready to provide that blessed taste of freshness in the midst of winter's drear.  The birds are beginning to gather in greater numbers around our feeder.  The little spotted Towhee returned a couple of days ago after making himself scarce during the summer.  How extraordinary that the sighting of this small creature could bring such a burst of joy to my heart.  The ways of the Lord are rich and profound and so deeply, deeply satisfying.

     It is no wonder to me that the Lord God commanded His people to celebrate three great feasts during this season of plenty - trumpets, atonement and tabernacles.  Trumpets is the time of new beginnings, a new year on the Jewish calendar.  Hearts are examined and sins confessed and cast away.  After that is the day of atonement, when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to bring that perfect lamb for a sacrifice to cleanse the people of their sins.  And then, Tabernacles - a joyous harvest celebration.  This feast symbolizes the day when the Lord of the Harvest will gather His own and "tabernacle" or dwell with them.  A thought too awesome for my mind to fully comprehend.

     I suppose this is what so touches my spirit.  Autumn is a foretaste, a shadow of the inexpressible blessing of that future day when we shall see our Savior face to face and be filled to all the fullness of His joy.  If I cannot find adequate words to worthily express the beauty I see here and now on the earth, can you imagine what it will be like to look upon Him who is the very Source and Sustainer of all this glory?

     To all of this I can only say - Come, Lord Jesus.  Maranatha!

THIS WAS HARD!

You are all so funny!  Who says the country life is boring?! 

Wow, I had such a hard time deciding.  But, I have to admit, one of the very first comments is the one that got me.

Drum Roll, please.....

HisIrishGem - Rebecca Shearer won with the line:

If your "idea of entertainment" is coercing your husband to touch the Hot wire fence to see if it's working....You are a Homestead woman

I just got an instant mental picture on that one!  Our poor husbands...they are always the ones who have to do the tough stuff, aren't they.  Like, "Honey, I think this cheese has gone bad, will you please taste it and tell me?"  You know, that kind of stuff.

Anyway, Rebecca has won a complementary one year subscription to my newsletter - New Harvest Homestead - and a pretty wheat sheaf grown right here!  Congratulations, Rebecca!

And, speaking of the newsletter - my September/October issue just came out!  Come visit my website - NewHarvestHomestead.com - for more details and a free introductory issue!

Thank you to all you great ladies who participated in my little contest!  What a great bunch you are!

Lisa

You MIGHT be a Homestead Woman

Back in May, I shared some thoughts upon reaching my 25th wedding anniversary.  What I didn't share was a little story about our big night out on the town to celebrate.

Guy and I don't go out much, and when we do it's not likely to be anything fancy - the local chinese or mexican restaurant, usually.  However, on our anniversary every year, we splurge and go to one of the nicest restaurants in Humboldt County. 

You need to understand, though, that this is Humboldt County, after all.  You wear your jeans everywhere, even out to a fancy restaurant.  So, I didn't get all gussied up, except for putting on a clean shirt.  I was still wearing my leather Rockports that I live in every day, my only other pairs of shoes being my sandals for summer and my Muck boots. 

While waiting in the driveway for Guy to pull the car out, I happened to glance down at my shoes for some unknown reason.  I noticed that there was a fair amount of chicken poop oozing up the side of one shoe.  Seeing that I was about to dine at one of the finer establishments in town, do you think I ran inside and changed my shoes?  No sirree Bob!  I stepped onto the grass, did the traditional "get the poop off your shoes" dance, and off we went!

This thought occurred to me as we were driving:  If you go to the finest restaurant in your area with chicken poop on your shoes (now say this in your best Jeff Foxworthy drawl) you MIGHT be a homestead woman!

And, I had a brilliant idea!  Hold a contest for the best "You Might Be a Homestead Woman" one-liner!  The best one-liner will win a one-year subscription to my newsletter, New Harvest Homestead, plus a pretty wheat sheaf for your fall/harvest decorating (see picture below).  If you are already a subscriber, I will send you a pretty handmade cross necklace AND the wheat sheaf.

Here's a couple I thought of, just to get you thinking:

If you tell your husband that all you really want for your 25th anniversary is a truckload of compost for the garden - you MIGHT be a homestead woman!

If your definition of a "night out with the girls" is sleeping in the goat barn waiting for a birth - you MIGHT be a homestead woman!

The winner will be judged totally and subjectively by my family!  Whichever one makes us laugh the hardest will win!  (My blog, my rules)  :)

So, sharpen those wits and let's make this a really fun time!  Can't wait to hear your zingers!

Lisa

It's Not About the Money

     I love receiving emails and notes from subscribers to New Harvest Homestead.  Sometimes, when I send my newsletter out into cyber space, it feels a little like my words have disappeared into the vastness of the universe.  So, it is always such a blessing to have the sweet words of my readers come back to me.

     A subject that has come up again and again in many letters is the topic of financial woes.  I probably hear that more than anything else.  And, I'm glad that many have shared their trials with me because I can pray for them and think about ways the newsletter can be a resource for them.  Believe me when I tell you that we have made our share of mistakes and missteps in this area, along with the times that financial troubles hit for no apparent reason.

     While I don't always have an answer for the specific problem someone may be facing, I do have an insight that the Lord has given me in this area.  Some of you who receive the newsletter will recall that I talked about how I listen to an audio Bible as I am falling asleep every night.  A while back, I was listening to the gospel of Matthew for many nights.  For some reason, the story in Chapter 17, verses 24-27 kept jumping out at me.

     In this story, Jesus and His disciples are in Capernaum.  A tax-collector approached Peter and pressed him about whether or not Jesus paid the two drachma tax required of all Jewish males over 20 years of age.  I can just picture Peter's face going white as a sheet, because HE certainly didn't have the two drachmas on him.  He quickly mutters, "Yes", and then runs to his Master for help.

     When Peter enters the house, before he can even get a word out, Jesus asks him a question.  "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?"  This shows us that Jesus knew the need even before Peter could express it.

     Lesson #1:  God knows your need already.  He is keenly aware of everything going on in your life.

     Now, I'm sure this stopped Peter in his tracks.  Jesus masterfully turned the situation around so that Peter's mind was no longer on the immediate problem at hand, but rather focused on deeper issues of truth.  It became a teachable moment.  This tax was collected for the maintenance of the temple.  What Jesus was showing Peter here was that, since the temple is His Father's House, as the Son of God, Jesus should have been exempt from this particular tax.  One can only hope that as Peter wrapped his brain around this awesome declaration of Sonship by Jesus, he became quite a bit less concerned about whether or not the Lord could manage to handle the trivial issue of coming up with a couple of coins.

     Lesson #2:  This is God we are talking about.  Is anything too hard for Him?

     Having declared Himself exempt from the temple tax, Jesus then goes on to explain to Peter that He has no interest in causing a scandal, and therefore Peter was to go cast a line in the sea, take the first fish he caught and when he opened its mouth he would find a stater - enough money to pay the tax both for Peter and Jesus.

     Lesson #3:  It's not about the money.  If you are having financial difficulties, it is because there are lessons the Lord desires to teach you through them.  If He can make money come out of a fish's mouth, don't you think He could drop a bag of money on your front porch tomorrow? 

     It's not about the money - it's about YOU and what He wants to do in your soul.  He wants you to get a grip on the bigger picture; He wants to correct errors you have made; He wants you to trust Him and rest in Him;  He wants you to be still and know that He is God.  Believe that He loves you and has your very best interests at heart, and then let Him teach, lead and work all things together for your good.

     We have been through incredibly rough times financially.   Just those kind of trials where one doesn't know how it can all possibly work out.  But, this I DO know - we have never gone hungry; we have never been without a roof over our heads; we have never been without clothes on our backs.  I know those are the kinds of things women worry about, but probably as you look back over your life, you can honestly say your worst fears have never come to pass.  The Lord has been faithful.  So, why doubt Him now?

     Remember the coin in the fish's mouth.  It's not about money - it's about what He wants to teach you today.  Be still and listen to Him.

You Can Trust the Man that Died for You

Dwelling in Midian

     A friend called me because she was concerned that I was becoming somewhat of a “hermit”, as she put it.  At first I was taken aback by her blunt remark.  She wasn’t joking.  Now, I am the last person on earth who wants to argue with anyone about anything – I get a knot in my stomach!  I amazed myself, though, my quickly replying, “Yes, this is my Midian.  The Lord has brought me to this place.”

     And, no sooner were those words out of my mouth that I had that “deep in the spirit” sense of knowing that it was the truth – the glorious, life-giving, soul-nourishing truth.  My place was at home.  It was by the design of God that I should give of myself to my family and my homestead.  This is the way it should be and would be until my children were older.   As I started to look upon my days as a “sojourn in Midian”, I began to have an entirely different attitude toward everything.

From the July/August 2006 issue of the New Harvest Homestead newsletter.  Don't miss this issue!  Some of the topics include recipes for unusual and delectable jams, jellies, marmalades and homemade pectin, tips to turn your washin' day into a joy, mid-summer planting and garage sale wisdom!

Visit my website at www.newharvesthomestead.com to request a free sample issue!

Lisa

AN INVITATION!!

Master Plowman

This is from the Streams in the Desert devotional - I loved this one!

Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?" (Isa. 28:24).

One day in early summer I walked past a beautiful meadow. The grass was as soft and thick and fine as an immense green Oriental rug. In one corner stood a fine old tree, a sanctuary for numberless wild birds; the crisp, sweet air was full of their happy songs. Two cows lay in the shade, the very picture of content.

Down by the roadside the saucy dandelion mingled his gold with the royal purple of the wild violet.

I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes, and thinking in my soul that God never made a fairer spot than my lovely meadow.

The next day I passed that way again, and lo! the hand of the despoiler had been there. A plowman and his great plow, now standing idle in the furrow, had in a day wrought a terrible havoc. Instead of the green grass there was turned up to view the ugly, bare, brown earth; instead of the singing birds there were only a few hens industriously scratching for worms. Gone were the dandelion and the pretty violet. I said in my grief, "How could any one spoil a thing so fair?"

Then my eyes were opened by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision, a vision of a field of ripe corn ready for the harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden stalks in the autumn sun; I could almost hear the music of the wind as it would sweep across the golden tassels. And before I was aware, the brown earth took on a splendor it had not had the day before.

Oh, that we might always catch the vision of an abundant harvest, when the great Master Plowman comes, as He often does, and furrows through our very souls, uprooting and turning under that which we thought most fair, and leaving for our tortured gaze only the bare and the unbeautiful. --Selected

Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh the deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop. --Samuel Rutherford