Closer Than He Realized

I was reading a Washington Post article earlier today about Chuck Colson and his Centurions program. It was talking about his adultery and the Watergate scandal and subsequent prison time, his conversion to Christianity, and his life of ministry. It was not a particularly favorable article-- the author was clearly a relativist; but what really struck me were the comments (they have since been removed). They were very hostile. One in particular caught my attention. The person wrote, "Religion--the last resort of scoundrels." My initial reaction was, "What arrogance! What self-righteousness!" But after a few moments I realized that he was closer to the truth than he knew. Change "religion" to "Christianity" and "last" to "only" and you've got it. Christianity is the only resort of scoundrels. We are all scoundrels. Every other religion requires that we earn our salvation. Christians know that it is impossible. All that is needed is for us to face up to reality and humble ourselves before Elohim. Chuck Colson got that.

A Fresh Perspective

As of my last post, life has been returning to normal. Thom returned home just a few hours later than scheduled. We are recovering from our illnesses. The weather is slowly warming up. We have all of the goats outside now. Much of the garden froze, but it looks like some of it may come back. We'll have to wait and see. If not, we'll just replant and try again. We also lost a lot of chicks. Out of 100 we lost somewhere between 20-25. I can only attribute it to a bout of pneumonia due to the cold weather. As soon as Thom got home he and the boys set to work building an insulated box for them. With that and a heat lamp in the garage we've been able to keep the temperature in the 90's. It has been about 24 hours since the last one died and the remainder are all looking strong and healthy.

At times like these last couple of weeks when times are hard I tend to get overwhelmed by the darkness. It seems that things will never get better. A major focus so far this year has been the renewing of my mind. We are doing a scheduled Bible-in-a-year reading. When I read I've always had a tendency to think of the accounts in human terms. "What happened to these people? Did they do what was right or wrong? What was the result?" Then I realized that I've been thinking of it all wrong. It's not about us and our deeds. It's about God. It's a difficult habit to break, but I've been trying to think about it this way. "What is this telling me about God? Who is He? What did He do in this situation?" The same pattern of thought applies to all of life. It's not about what I'm going through. It's not about how I feel or even about my happiness. It's about God. Am I bringing Him glory in this situation? Am I honoring Him by how I'm handling this? Life is full of challenges--illnesses, failures, temptations, tough marriages, tough kids, financial troubles, ... We all struggle, each in our own way. It all comes down to this--will I honor God even in this darkness?

As I lay in bed, tossing and turning with dreams, this passage came to mind. I hope you are as encouraged as I was:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim. Everything existed through His hands, and without him, not even one thing existed of the things, which have existed. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. John 1:1-5

God has given us the truth. He has shown us what the darkness looks like from His perspective. Do we believe Him?

Chicken in the Closet, Goats in the Garage

I know that in trying to be positive in my writing I often make life here sound unrealistically perfect, so today I thought I'd give a clearer picture of "real life".

Life here has been completely upside-down this week. It's 10 degrees outside in Central Texas and we are expecting snow tonight. Thom has been traveling this week. He is scheduled to be home tonight, if he can get a flight in. It's not looking likely.

I've had an upper respiratory infection since Saturday, as have 6 of the 7 kids. Theirs is about like a bad cold, but I've had to get on steroids and antibiotics just to get out of bed. School is on hold for now until we are feeling better. My priorities are to keep us fed and the house moderately clean. We are trying to stay on top of our daily Bible reading and do a little extra reading as able. Late this week we've been able to pick up our history again, with the kids doing all of the reading aloud. I hope next week to be back on a full schedule.

January is supposed to be the best time for a garden in this area. Harvester Ants ate all of the chard and the rest is covered to keep it from freezing. I don't have high hopes, as I know several plants have frozen already, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Right now an urgent priority is to keep the animals and pipes from freezing. We had one pipe in the wall freeze, but got it thawed out by turning up the heat and opening the cabinet door. Another outside is currently wrapped and frozen and we are hoping it doesn't burst. I have no idea how to repair it if it does.

The older boys put up a tarp tent shelter for the older goats to give them shelter, which rather than getting under, they jumped on top of and tore down. So far they haven't accepted any of the shelters we've built for them. Our two little orphaned baby goats we are keeping in a corner of the garage. This is working so far. It is easier for the kids to bottle-feed them twice a day there where it is closer and warmer and we don't have to worry about the goats freezing.

Yesterday we picked up 100 hatchling chicks that were ordered before the onset of cold weather. We're keeping them in the bedroom closet under a heat lamp until we can let out the baby goats and move them to the garage. One of them was weak and died by the time we got home and two more died overnight. I think they were trampled by the others. The rest of them seem to be doing well, although parts of the house are beginning to sound and smell like a barnyard...

Butchering

Saturday we went to a friend's home to help with butchering and to learn.

This rooster is awaiting judgement.

Matthew is teaching Thomas how to cut the jugular. This method is more humane for the chicken than decapitation and results in a more tender meat as the bird is more relaxed.

Next the bird is scalded in 150 degrees for 30 seconds to loosen the feathers.

The next step is to pluck the feathers. Zoe and I liked this part. The feathers were soft and came out easily.

Then the feet are cut off and the insides are removed. Lauren did a lot of this work. After this, it is cleaned and processed as desired.

Ducks are processed similarly, except that the feathers are plucked without scalding, then it is dunked in hot water with wax and the wax/feathers are peeled. In just a few hours we butchered 9 chickens, 4 ducks, and a rabbit.

Matthew is demonstrating how to butcher a rabbit (Thomas killed this one).  Butchering this guy only took a few minutes.

Saturday evening meal: Rabbit with a Tomato-Wine Sauce.

We learned so much that day and feel confident about butchering poultry. This rabbit dish looks good, but turned out to be overcooked and rubbery. We were warned that it cooks very quickly and overcooked it anyway. Oops. (That's OK, Thomas and Pierce ended up eating the whole thing anyway.)

Our Field Trip to a Local Mohair Ranch

Thursday morning I took the kids on a field trip. Every time someone in town learned that Lauren had Angora goats, the first thing they would say is something like, "Oh have you heard of Mrs. S... ? She raises and breeds prize Angora goats. She's a really nice lady. You need to meet her." So yesterday I finally got around to giving her a call. She is currently shearing and was happy to have us spend the morning with her. So off we went bright and early to Kai Ranch.

We had difficulty finding her place. the roads were not really marked, but we knew we were close when we ran out of pavement. I was half-way expecting a nice sign, fancy barn, etc. but it was just an ordinary field with hand-made fences and old barns. We were greeted with a smile while Mrs. S did her morning feeding and showed us around. While she trimmed hooves and sheared two of the goats, we had a chance to get to know each other, share goat stories and learn. She told us stories of getting started, of losing goats to predators, of Pyranees guard dogs, of keeping the fleece free of sand burrs and many other things. Then she took us to her studio to show us where she spins and dyes the fiber and creates her fiber art. A few of the things that she taught us are that it is easier to lead a goat by the hair on its neck than his horns, that it saves time to skirt (pick through) the fleece just before shearing rather than afterwards and that it is easier to first corrall the goats and then pull out the ones that are needed. We learned so much from her and are so thankful for her graciousness in having us.

The Right to Own Property?

Given your explanation of Fascism above, how does that differ from our system in the US where we have property taxes that must be paid to retain ownership of our land? Where regulations on the work place policies must be maintained or the govt will seize the business?

Correct me if I am wrong but under that explanation we actually do not own our property, we only maintain title, for what that is worth.

Your Thoughts?
Benjamin Keisler


Thanks for your comments Benjamin. I believe that you are exactly right. We never fully own property (land, businesses, etc) due to taxation and regulation. Not only that, but as long as the "death tax" is in effect,  eventually all property will come under ownership of the State.


According to the 5th amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


Today, property is being seized through the "death tax", through eminent domain, through regulations--none of which involve due process or just compensation.

For a more thorough treatment of this subject, click on the link below:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb111/hb111-34.pdf
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/seizure-fever-the-war-on-property-rights/

Here are more links to articles documenting government seizure of private property:
http://www.fff.org/freedom/1093c.asp
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/press/Background-Morningland-Estrella.pdf
http://saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18578

"No other rights are safe where property is not safe." -- Daniel Webster

Canoeing

Lauren and Anne enjoying a leisurely paddle

Yesterday we went to Bastrop State Park with our new friends, Vaughn and Mary and their six lovely kids. We had a picnic and went canoeing.  After getting used to the canoes, there were races and games. The boys were stronger, but the older girls surprised us with their skill and control. We all enjoyed good conversation and a relaxing day outdoors.

The girls took the moms for a ride; such serious faces!