Doubling our size

Posted on by under Urban connect
Aman, Ephraim, Silas, Yosef and Peter

Aman, Ephraim, Silas, Yosef and Peter

Yesterday marked another first. Three young men arrived with Mat’s dad to spend the week with us. So far they’ve learned to shoot a bow and arrow, begun construction on a chicken brooder, eaten lots of food, played board games, and collected sap from the maple trees. Tonight we will bring them to a country church youth group.

I am blessed to have in-laws so caring as mine. They sent food along, which has made this new task seem not so daunting. I am encouraged by my husband who has not left me alone with all the house work and a sickly little baby, but has asked the boys to help with cleanup and even stepped in himself. I am challenged by my little ones who continually need discipline, yet energized when my oldest does an extra job without being asked and my middle wants to help me make monster cookies.

I have a major headache after a night with little sleep, please pray for me as I am challenged to feed 8 rather than 4. Please also remember my mom this week as she starts radiation for some cancer spots that aren’t going away. Please pray for safety and rest and a blessed time for the young men who visit us this week.

Country Life

Posted on by under Farm, Musings

Spring is coming

As I sit here listening to Lecrae, I wonder how country life will change me, my children, my relationships, my church, etc. We’ve officially been in this rural community for seventeen days. What a change from the center of Minneapolis. Certainly it has changed my family life already. We don’t have to rush off somewhere nearly as often. The nearest town is fifteen minutes away, twenty if we hit a deer. We sit down at the table for breakfast and don’t get up until devotions are done. That has been a blessed change in our lives. I’ve read posts, heard sermons, even have given my own testimony to the importance of devotions, yet often forget and let them get pushed out of our busy lives. I am reminded again to the importance of this task. I am easily angry and irritable, I grew up with this problem and it continues in my heart to this day. What a difference I see when we get into the word. I find myself enjoying more, praising more, being patient and thankful more. Don’t wait until you get out of the chaos of life to make devotions central to your life. Here’s what we’ve been going through this Easter week: Let Your Kingdom Come – Preparing your hearts for the King A post from Pastor Sam at Bethlehem.

He is risen!

Posted on by under Creation

He is risen! What a glorious proclamation. HE IS RISEN! We can say with confidence that our sins have been properly dealt with through Jesus’ death on the cross AND Jesus has conquered death for us. He is the living God. The wages of sin are death. Jesus did receive those wages on our behalf, but He is the living God and death could not hang on to His life. So now through Jesus we have new life as well.
For us in the temperate Northern Hemisphere this great truth is magnified by God’s creation. At this time of year the death of Winter is being replaced by the new life of Spring. Just today (the Saturday before Easter) I heard the laughing and leaping waters of the beaver dam set free from their icy blanket, I saw tender shoots of green rising up out of the brown mat of last year’s growth, I smelled the freshness of life coming back into the newly thawed soil, I tasted the sweet running sap of the freshly awakened maple trees, and I felt the moist air of spring overtake the dry and parched air of winter. Every year I feel a sublime undercurrent of excitement both within myself and from others as this life springs forth. Don’t miss the truth about God that he has woven into His creation. Just as He has designed the new life of spring to come out of the deadness of winter, so also He has designed our new life in Christ to come out of the deadness of our sins. Isn’t this exciting? Isn’t this amazing?
For me, there once was a disconnect between enjoying God and enjoying His creation. I didn’t realize that my enjoyment of His creation could heighten my enjoyment of God. But that is exactly what God has intended His creation to do. To bring Him glory through its entirety. From the smallest sub-atomic particle to the greatest galaxy if we pay attention and look close enough everything points to our Creator. So now when I experience the joy of the new life of spring, I make the connection that this is a reminder of what God has done for you and me spiritually (Check out Ephesians 2). So go ahead and get excited about spring, and let it be an avenue for you to get excited about your great Savior who has brought you new life!

Easter Week

Posted on by under Musings

Here is one great reason to love homeschooling…
This week we were able to stop for a few days and talk about Jesus. We focused on Easter and what it really is. Silas, at two, even got in on the action. We did a magnet page that states, “He is Risen!” What understanding little ones have. A few times a day I hear, “Jesus died on the cross for our sins” in his little voice. With Peter, who will be seven next week, we went a bit more in depth. We read Luke 19 and talked about what he discussed at Sunday School. He had a great question and so we went on to Psalm 22. To have such depth of scripture in a school day is a blessing. To have a boy that comprehends these truths and has a thirst for them is beyond a blessing. What a great reminder to me of the task before me. My little ones are a beautiful ministry to enjoy and pour my heart into. I love my job.

Check out our Easter garden made with wheat berries.
P1070320
Hopefully it will sprout by Easter Sunday!

Easter preschool printables from confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Easter devotion from passionatehomemaking.com

I love Family Life’s resurrection eggs, but if you want to be frugal, here’s a link to make something similar: Homemade Resurrection Eggs.

Maple Syrup Time

Posted on by under Farm, Maple Syrup
Mathew driving to cut firewood for maple syrup production

Mathew driving to cut firewood for maple syrup production

Sap is here. It has been a long winter, but it is warm enough and our tree sap started running today. The days must be warm with the nights getting below freezing still. Mat went out again today to check our maple trees and to tap a few more. He took along some materials to cut firewood for our boiler.

When I hear something over and over sometimes I just accept it without understanding. Mat cut nearly a cord of wood. Today I was finally given understanding of what a cord is. It is 4 ft by 4 ft by 8 ft of cut wood. A maple syrup evaporator can make 25 gallons of maple syrup out of one cord of wood. We’ll see how much we get with our homemade evaporator.

We’re excited for the sap to flow. Please pray we have the endurance to keep up when we have more sap than we can handle.

My first post

Posted on by under Musings

Welcome to our blog! Whether we’re talking about agriculture and God’s marvelous creation, sharing recipes or pictures, or just speaking our lives, we hope you enjoy following what’s happening at Righteous Oaks Farm. We would love to hear from you. We want to know what you want to hear about, questions you have, you ideas and comments, etc.