Vaughnshire Farm

Our 9 year old harvested his heirloom corn today.  He was very excited to finally see his hard work turn fruitful.  Even though the corn stalk is officially not producing anymore, he has plans for his corn stalks that I am sure will make a blog post one day soon.  And..No…my idea of using them for fall decorations was met was a confused look of what-a-waste-of-good-resources mom.  He has a better idea. 

Although, he did not collect a huge amount of corn, he was able to gather enough to feed us several meals with corn-on-the-cob — a favorite around here.  This was his first try at farming a crop of corn, an heirloom variety of non-GM corn that is purely organic.  He labled it “Pierce’s Vaughnshire Corn” and put it in the freezer with much anticipation of when we were going to eat it for supper. 

In other gardening news, look at the harvest the boys brought in today!  Wow!  We were all very excited! 

 Thanks for Leslie Riley over at lesriley.net for finding this gem.

Here are a few good quotes from the retired Welsh priest, Kenneth Dobson.  You can catch the rest at the link above.

“It is truly incredible that it is not a group of men but an organisation of women that has emptied our homes of women, destroyed family life and families, and glories in the fact that the all-important female species is now a second-class male,” wrote Mr Dobson, who grew up in Bargoed, in the Rhymney Valley.

“One remarkable proof of all this is to be seen in the way vast numbers of women today are dressed.

“Drab, dreary and often scruffy, the female has been driven into that most ungainly and often hideous garment - the trousers. The effect on their bearing and appearance is all too often appalling.

“Grace, charm, beauty, attractiveness and, above all, femininity have totally disappeared.”…

….”We have reached the stage where women, with all their God-given talents, are occupying themselves tapping computers in offices and shops so that they can help to provide ever more and more gadgets for their homes which they only briefly enter, and for their few children - as few as possible - to be provided with toys they seldom play with.

“Without grandmas, the whole system would collapse tomorrow!”

How true it is!  Not to disappoint anyone, but the rest of the article goes downhill with the interview with his wife and the fact that he was not able to pass on his convictions to his daughter.  But what a joy to hear a man of God proclaim the truth about the ravages of feminism!

As I have outlined before, I have been organizing my week into special days for allotted tasks like was common in generations past.  Around here, Monday is a wash and ironing tackle day, Tuesday is meal prep day, Wednesday is gardening focus, Thursday is house cleaning focus, Friday is market day… 

On Monday, our living room turns into a sight resembling something like a laundry mat or dry cleaners operation.  My goal for Monday is to get the majority of the laundry caught up and put away so that my week flows better having the big stress of mounting laundry tackled.  I usually do about 7 loads of laundry on Monday and I try to have these loads washed before noon.  I utilize a dryer and a hanging line outside to speed drying times.  The girls and I spend a good amount of time folding, putting away and ironing during that day as well.  We usually put all the folded boys clothes in a laundry basket and I have them put away their own clothes.  All other days of the week average about 4 loads with my goal being to some how shrink the laundry to a more reasonable size.  Monday is also the day that I wash Sunday clothes and hang them back up.  If my husband has to go into town for meetings or classes, I iron his shirts for that week. 

I must add that I am not perfectly organized in this department and although it sounds ideal, rest assure that all my hopes of having laundry completely washed and put away where it belongs are just that…hopes and dreams.   I can safely say that laundry is never done around here (and hasn’t been since child number 3) and that’s perfectly fine.  We have a lot of little ones and live on a farm with lots of dirt and animals.  It’s down right dirty!  The goal, however, is to manage a laundry system that addresses and meets the needs of this large family.  Sometimes, things come up on Monday that alter my schedule.  That’s ok…laundry will always be there, those other things, like fellowshipping with friends from out of town are moments in time you should take advantage of.  For me, having a dedicated day for focused laundry time helps tremendously and learning to be flexible if my dedicated day doesn’t happen is more important than dirty laundry any day.    

The Zastro’s stopped by to share a brunch with us this morning on the way home from the Operation Save America event in Birmingham, Alabama.

Paul and I met Cal Zastro many years ago in jail.  We were locked up together in the Birmingham jail in 1994 for praying on a public sidewalk.  It was a “hoot’n” time, as Cal would say, and we learned much not only about the horrid state of our Nation, one that locks Christians up in jail for praying on a public sidewalk, but learned that we had found a family in Christ. 

We were so blessed to have Cal and his children stay with us several times last year as they traveled back and forth to Mississippi engaging the city of Jackson over the last remaining abortion clinic in the state.  But during this short visit we had the wonderful privilege of meeting the lovely Mrs. Zastro!  What a treasure!

We had a wonderful time!

Part of the joy of having the eldership teaching this weekend was having the Steve Breagy family stay in our home.  As always it is refreshing and encouraging to sit down and break bread with like minded Christian families.  Steve and his “co-conspirator” Dan Horn are expecting to be set in soon as elders in their home church, Hope Baptist Church. 

Our families had a great time together.  Steve and I made use of some quite time in the late evening to discuss key issues of the day.  The children had a good time of fellowship and hymn singing Sunday morning as we prepared for the Lord’s Day.

 It was a joy to met his wife Kristina, and the children God has blessed them with.

We have had a wonderful stream of visitors here at Vaughnshire (check out the Front Porch), however, I am gearing up to post a series about organizing the week.  Hopefully, some helpful insight into weekly home management organization along with the reality of how things are really run.  I don’t know about you, but my ideals and reality are sometimes extreme comparisons.

We had a wonderful visit with the Breagy and Horn families from Wakefield, North Carolina.  Saturday night we had a great supper gathering at the Draper home!  Mrs. Draper grilled up some very tasty chicken will all the yummy sides.  On Sunday, Mr. Horn and Mr. Breagy shared from the word of God about Biblical eldership during a full and abundant Lord’s day filled with preaching and teaching, food and fellowship.  It was a wonderful visit! 

After service, Mrs. Zeth and I enjoyed talking with Mrs. Horn and Mrs. Breagy.  How wonderful it is to meet likeminded believers and enjoy rich fellowship and encouragement!  I enjoyed talking to these godly women who exhibited such beautiful femininity and Godly womanhood.  In a culture that is so antagonistic to these ideas, it was very refreshing!

One of our sons listened in on conversations with the men.  I am so grateful that God gives us the opportunities to surround our children with Godly men who fear the Lord and hate evil. 

This came across the e-mail wire recently and I thought it worth a read.  We want to be part of reforming a culture that has gone astray from the way of Christ, but we must be careful that we are calling for obedience to the Word of God, not our own pet causes or ideas.  Here are a few quotes from the short piece.  I would recommend the entire article found here:

http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=2741

“You and I are not asked to change other people. Only God can do that. What we can do, by God’s grace, is to change ourselves to conform to His Word and calling. This means seeing the need to change in ourselves, rather than in others, and leaving the reformation of others to God through the ministry of His Word.

Today, of course, this is unpopular. The common idea of a noble person, statesman, or religious figure is of a man who, by legislation and police power, with tax funds works day and night to change others, never himself…..

We have no right to ask people to conform to our will and ideas. We do have the responsibility to summon them to conform to God’s Word and calling. God Himself conforms us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29), and requires us through St. Paul to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). By His sovereign grace, He makes us “conformable” unto the death of His Son (Phil. 3:10). So that we die to our self-righteousness and our ideas of reforming the world, and are instead alive to the righteousness of God in Christ, and are conformed to His Word….”

First bites of summer watermelon…

Growing fast into a young maiden…my right hand assistant…

Brother and sister togetherness…so sweet…

It is with great joy that we gather and eat the beginning harvest from our fields.  While our produce isn’t anything overwhelming, it is providing us with food that we greatly enjoy on a deeper level than ever before.  First, because home grown organic vegetables taste and smell absolutely wonderful and, secondly, because it is the reward of the labor and work of our own hands.  Plates of sliced cucumbers, pans of squash casseroles, pots of steamed zucchini and cups of fresh salsa from our peppers…

We are currently picking beans, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, okra and a variety of peppers.  It is a wonderful thing to eat the fruits of your own labor, but even better, the fruits of family labor.

Through it all, the most important thing is that we are learning to revisit the old paths and give thanks to our Creator for the abundance He pours out on us, seen not only in our fields, but a constant reminder of His grace in our lives.

I was listening to the prayers of my 11 year old yesterday as he thanked the Lord for providing us with fresh milk to put on our table from our cow and for the food we are able to pick out of our garden.  I was reminded that not only am I being changed through our life here on the farm, but my children are forever being changed and learning that life isn’t about the latest fashion, TV show or keeping up with the material possessions of the next family.  It makes me smile with I hear them  giving thanks to God for things like rain, milk, beans and a cool home to come into after working out in the hot sun.  How easily forgotten these blessings are in a world that no longer values or appreciates the seemingly simple things in life.  In reality, these “simple things”, like water, sunshine, food and shelter are gifts from our Father in Heaven, not to be taken for taken for granted.

My husband recently read and discussed this chapter of Scripture with us during our family worship time;  Psalm 104.

Psalm 104:13-15  “He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.  He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.”