Vaughnshire Farm

I can’t say that I have spent all my time playing with my new little boy.  He has given us our fair share of sleepless nights and fussy times.  There have been lots of diaper changes and walking the floor.  He’s a serious boy, but will occasionally crack a smile or let out a big happy sigh.  He has brought so much joy to our family.  Here at 4 weeks, we are still enjoying his cuteness.  I love it and am trying to soak in every moment as a sweet victory for newborn days pass so quickly!

I was recently informed by our 3 year old daughter, “My baby is better than your baby because my baby doesn’t cry all the time like yours.” 

What do abortion, women voting, the industrial food chain, and our knowledge based economy have in common?  They are leading factors in the decline of the American birth rates.  This is one small piece of the puzzle highlighted in “Demographics and the Culture War” an article written By Stanley Kurtz and published in the Hoover Institutions’s Policy Review, which I first saw mentioned here.

The article summerizes four books that speak to the issue of the declining birth rates around the world: The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It, by Phillip Longman; Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape Our Future, by Ben Wattenberg; The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know About America’s Economic Future, by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns; and Running On Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It, by Peter G. Peterson.

There are many aspects of this article to consider and reading the full piece is highly recommended.  I have pulled the section on social life which speaks to our move away from an agrarian foundation coupled with our rejection of God’s plan in regards to the roles of men and women.

Why does modern social life translate into the lower birth rates that spark all those wider implications? Urbanization is one major factor. In a traditional agricultural society, children are put to work early. They also inherit family land, using its fruits to care for aging parents. In a modern urban economy, on the other hand, children represent a tremendous expense, and one increasingly unlikely to be returned to parents in the form of wealth or care. With the growth of a consumer economy, potential parents are increasingly presented with a zero-sum choice between children and more consumer goods and services for themselves.

Along with urbanization, the other important factor depressing world fertility is the movement of women into the workforce - and the technological changes that have made that movement possible. By the time many professional women have completed their educations, their prime childbearing years have passed. Thus, a woman’s educational level is the best predictor of how many children she will have. As Wattenberg shows, worldwide, the correlation between falling female illiteracy and falling female fertility is nearly exact. And as work increasingly becomes an option for women, having a child means not only heavy new expenses, but also the loss of income that a mother might otherwise have gained through work.

Technological change also stands behind the movement of women into the workforce. In a modern, knowledge-based economy, women suffer no physical disadvantage. The ability of women to work in turn depends upon the capacity of modern contraception, along with abortion, to control fertility efficiently. The sheer breadth and rapidity of world fertility decline implies that contraceptive technology has been a necessary condition of the change. Before fertility could be reliably controlled through medical technology, marriage and accompanying strictures against out-of-wedlock births were the key check on a society’s birth rate. Economic decline meant delayed marriage, and thus lower fertility. But contraceptive technology now makes it possible to efficiently control fertility within marriage. This turns motherhood into a choice. And what demographic decline truly shows is that when childbearing has become a matter of sheer choice, it has become less frequent.

The movement of population from tightly knit rural communities into cities, along with contraception, abortion, and the related entry of women into the workforce, explain many of the core cultural changes of the postmodern world. Secularism, individualism, and feminism are tied to a social system that discourages fertility. If a low-fertility world is unsustainable, then these cultural trends may be unsustainable as well. Alternatively, if these cultural trends cannot be modified or counterbalanced, human population appears on course to shrink ever more swiftly.

The character examples in Proverbs 31 are so far above reproach, it is hard to figure out how a woman’s job as keeper of her home and assistant to her husband are anywhere considered substandard or ho-hum?

However, it really is only in believing anti-Biblical thought that one can conjure up the idea that Godly womanhood and glorious motherhood are liken to some repressive, unintelligent, low existence.  According to Scripture, it is just the opposite.  Yet many women, including Christian women, have foolishly believed the snide, negative comments about ”home makers being barefoot, pregnant and chained to the stove”.  So they shun the glorious role God gave to women and believe that being barren and fruitless and chained to a grey cubical (or a job) 50 hours a week is the liberated and educated choice.  

The so-called liberated feminist believes the same lie the serpent told Eve in the garden –the humanistic lie that you shall be as a god, deciding for yourself what is good and evil. Beware of the serpent’s beguiling lies and know that when we follow down that destructive path and believe the lies of this feminized culture, it is the road to hell: pain, misery, death and destruction.

When we look at the view that God has of women, we see a completely different picture than what the raging feminist have been painting for the last 150 years. 

( I would highly encourage you to read Jennie Chancey’s article entitled, You Don’t Know Feminism.)

In Proverbs, we see the examples of a woman who was well-educated, industrious, hospitable. We see ultimate security and real love in marriage. We see true prosperity and eternal value. She is highly productive and skillful. She is bold, respected, honored and her husband is known in high places because of her character. She serves and entertains. She is eloquent, prepared and has long term vision and foresight.  She cares for children and those in need.  This woman isn’t measured by what a pagan culture says is acceptable, she is measured and valued in the eyes of her Creator God!  Her home isn’t stagnant edifice of a pile of decaying sticks, but is a thriving, economically vital, bustling place of industry. (see Proverbs 31:10-31)

While the average woman may not be a flaming feminist after the ilk of Linda Hirshman, the culture has set the standard for what and who women should be and the majority of women have been infected by feminist thought whether they know it or not!  As Christian women, our standard isn’t what culture dictates — it comes directly from Scripture — and in our culture our standard, as Christians,  is extremely opposite of current societal norms. 

Sometimes discussing your beliefs and passions in public can be fun and encouraging.  Other times it can be frustrating and even disheartening.  Then there are times like this, where it is just plain confusing!  We recently saw a link to Beth’s article on Gender specific education from a self proclaim reluctant feminist; Lara.

What is confusing about Lara is she claims to be a Christian and says the Bible is her favorite book, “above all else“.  The confusing part is how someone who reads the Bible can claim that feminism is a good thing and even countenance it as a philosophy.  After reading through her category on feminism, I believe there may be many people in this same position of trying to reconcile the Bible with feminism.  It is to that I wish to offer a few thoughts.

First, I’ve noticed the line of reasoning usually does not start with the Bible, it starts with emotional ploys, such as; look at all the good feminism has done - after all women can vote now.  Or, what about all those women who are oppressed by wicked men.  Let’s be very candid and allow me to speak like a man here if I can.  Those statements are red herrings typical of the women’s rights women of the Planned Parenthood ilk.  They throw out some emotion filled statement about women being raped and being forced to have a baby to cover up the truth of the murder of the baby. 

The statement makes an assumption of a good while ignoring the evil that must take place for the so called good.

In the case of women voting, they had the right to vote in many states here in America long before so called suffrage.  In order to exercise that right they had to be the head of a household and a landowner.  The same requirements for men to vote.  Now this was not consistence across all states, but it was at least the starting place for most of the laws prior to suffrage.  The Biblical principle is if the woman is part of the man’s household he represents his family and is responsible for what his family does.  Bible Reference:

And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father’s house in her youth; And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

And if she had at all a husband, when she vowed, or uttered aught out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.  But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

And if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath; And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall forgive her. Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity. These are the statutes, which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father’s house.   (Num 30:1-16)

So what “good” did we gain when women received the right to vote?  Instead of a woman being in subjection to her husband, trusting and helping him in his responsibilities to lead the family and make decisions, including who would best represent the family in the civic realm, we have the woman now with the civic “freedom” to counter her husband’s wishes and actually nullify his wishes for the family.  Let’s distinguish between a civic freedom and a Biblical command here as well.  Just because a law is passed does not make it morally right.  Reference the abortion laws for instance.

Bible Reference:

The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.  (Tit 2:3-5)

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array. But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.  (1Ti 2:9-15)

One has to ask this question, how serious is blasphemy?  If Titus 2 was the only Scripture in the Bible that addressed this issue would this be enough to overthrow the ideology of feminism?

To be clear this has nothing to do with how smart or capable a woman is and it has everything to do with God’s order for society. Lara, is a PhD student so I’m fairly certain God blessed her with an articulate tongue and a quick wit, as evidenced in her writings. I happen to think my wife is brilliant. God has given her the ability to think and to write and to be a blessing to those around her. These gifting are not lost because she submits to her husband, rather they are enhanced.

No the issue here is not the intelligence and skill of the woman or the ability of the man for that matter, it is about God’s created order for society.  God created mankind.  God has spoken in His Word about how we are to relate to one another. 

Bible Reference:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
(Gen 1:27)

… but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  (Gen 2:20-24)

What we gained when women won the right to vote, was not freedom for women, but the destruction of the biblical family and God’s created order.  A woman was not created to stand alone any more than a man was.  God created each of us distinct to complement one another and to bring glory to Him.  We are equal in value before God, but very different in the functions and roles we are called to fulfill in this world.  The man’s role is to lead his family.  The woman’s role is to support her husband and be his helpmate in the work God calls him to.

I don’t think most Christians, women or men, realize how inundated we are by the philosophies of this world and the social humanism that came with the industrial revolution.  We like to pick our own small little piece of the battle and we miss the bigger picture as described in the summery of this post.  As to the socialist humanistic education system, I don’t think it is helpful for men or women.  Why would we go to the God hating Darwinist to ask them to teach us about God’s world?

The Bible is more than a good book with some suggestions, it is the source book for the law we live by and the grace that is our eternal hope.  It is the only sure rule we can hang our eternal lives upon.  All other philosophies will fail, but the Word of God will not return void.

I put together a sort of list a little while ago breaking down possible kitchen tasks for young daughters according to age.  Training our daughters in the arts of homemaking from a young age will yield great blessings in her life as well as, at the same time, adding much blessing to the home.

In the younger years (ages 3 to 5) -  When you are cooking and baking, allow your younger children to sit and watch you.  Let them pour and stir.  Verbally talking through the process of what is happening is very important as the child looks on in amazement at the mixing of the wet and dry ingredients swirling in the bowl.  Talking over their heads about cups, teaspoons, half and whole, liquid and dry, sweet and sour is not too advanced for their little minds.  At the ages of 3 to 5 years old, young girls can begin to contribute to the cooking and baking processes through completing tasks such as:

• Mashing bananas for banana bread, mixing ingredients while you prepare the next step, greasing pans for baking and cooking, shelling peas and shucking corn, picking food out of the garden
• Putting child bowls and sippy cups away, learning how to wash dishes by hand, drying dishes and know where things go, retrieving things from the pantry, refrigerator and freezer
• Opens packages for you — tea bags, pasta bags as well as learns how to use clips, twisty ties and zip lock bags. 
• Learns how to put soap in the dishwasher and how to shut it and turn it on when loaded.
• Learns how to put away groceries with your help or with a sibling.

The 6 and 7 year old years are really a transition and rapid growth year for us.  All of the sudden this young girl is doing more and more.  Some ideas might be: 

• Learns how to make tea.
• Learns how to make a fruit salad for breakfast.
• Makes juice from frozen concentrate. 
• Learns how to make a batch of cookies and in general learns how to read a simple recipe and follow its directions.
• Can  wash a sink full of dishes and knows where everything goes even if she still needs help putting some things away.  Operates the dishwasher properly. 
• Can wipe down cabinets and appliances when needed.  As well as can sweep and mop.  Teaching thoroughness and perseverance and what a complete job looks like is very important at this stage when they are learning how to do a lot of things.  Completion of tasks should be an important focus.
• Peel potatoes and carrots as well as cut and slice other fruits and vegetables.
• Makes sandwiches. 
• Makes peanut butter crackers, celery/cream cheese snacks.
• If you use mixes, she can put together mixes and bake them. 
• She knows how to set the timer on the stove and/or microwave. 
• She learns how to set a table. 
• Starts to use the stove more and more:  Can flip pancakes, make grilled cheese sandwiches, make waffles. 
• Responsible for growing a pot of herbs for use in the kitchen and learning how to use them as well as gardening skills and responsibilities.
• Continues to stand by her mother’s side and learn cooking tips, do’s and don’ts. 

A young girl of 8 to 10 years old is able to really cook some food and be a viable asset to the kitchen workplace.  Not only have the early responsibilities matured her, but she is building on those early skills and transferring her knowledge of past kitchen failures into productive learning experiences that have launched her abilities farther than most grown women today.  Here is a taste of what you may be able to expect: 

• Has the knowledge and skills to cook a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, pancakes and sliced fruit.  She may add tea cups and a teapot of herbal tea to the breakfast table often and finds much enjoyment as she expresses her creativity in how she decorates the table, folds napkins, arranges flower vases and centerpieces.
• She also can make a variety of other breakfast type foods:  cooks sausage patties, makes waffles, toasts bagels, cooks oatmeal (not instant either), cooks grits, cheese omelets, french toast, fruit salads, smoothies, coffee.
• Can cook lunch and some supper dishes:  pasta, a variety of grilled sandwiches, make salads and dressings, bake potatoes,  mashed potatoes, prepares frozen and canned veggies by heating them properly. 
• Other cooking skills like boiling a whole chicken and frying hamburger. 
• She follows more complicated recipes and is learning all sorts of tips and tricks to becoming a good cook. 
• Can thoroughly clean the kitchen.
• Knows how to operate the appliances in the kitchen safely.
• Knows how to write a meal plan and plan a grocery shopping trip around items needed.  Is learning and mastering price comparisons, learning couponing and how to buy certain foods. 
• Learning the art of bread-making mastering several skills in making dough, pie crusts, quick breads like muffins and loafs using items such as bananas, berries, dates, nuts etc in quick breads.  Sour dough bread instruction is a great way to start a girl this age into learning bread skills and regularly making bread for her family.   
• Well versed in creating appetizers for church functions, parties, hospitality:  makes deviled eggs, chip dips and salsas, dressings and veggies, crackers and sliced cheese trays.
• Well versed in making desserts:  follows recipes to make brownies, cookies, bars.
• She is in the kitchen more often by herself as well as still standing by your side being taught how to take her cooking basic skills and advancing those into actually creatively cooking casseroles, soups, meat dishes, gravies and more complicated meals as she grows in the coming years. 
• For those who live on a farm, a girl’s responsibilities are even more.  If she has access to raw milk:  she can take over the milk responsibilities in the kitchen.  She can filter the milk, ready the milk for cold storage and thoroughly clean the milking pans and filters for the next milking.  She can be put to the task of making butter for her family and learns how to use the other byproducts of raw milk — buttermilk, cream and even the sour milk.  She can be responsible for collecting and cleaning eggs from her chickens and growing items in the garden.  She may not be able to milk a cow, but she is old enough to care for and milk dairy goats. 

One of the many things I love about home schooling my children is that I am able to spend the majority of my time pouring my life into them.   Like all mothers, of course, there are times when I feel spent and in need of refueling.  My husband is so great to remind me of the important aspects of life and not to get bogged down in the mire of frivolous trifles such as toy trails left all over the house by the 2 year old.  Stepping back a few steps and evaluating reality is helpful in regrouping. 

Pouring your life into your children is something the Lord commands of Christian parents.  Deuteronomy 6 is pretty clear on how and why we pour our lives into our children and what we are to pour into them. 

For our daughters, I love the freedom that home education provides me to completely train and educate them in all the aspects of Godly womanhood and femininity.  Like I mentioned before, my daughter and I have household notebooks in which we regulary use to do lots of planning for our home.  Since I am a believer in the live and learn approach to schooling, this household notebook has provided not only an outlet for creative writing, artistic expression, planning and other viable real-life skills, but has more importantly been very useful in handing over little pieces of responsibility that in turn produce a young lady that gains maturity through the process of being handed such responsibilities.  

Shelley Noonan hit the nail right on the head when she states in her article Queen in a Home of Her Own: 

For most of us, the years of 12-18 are the years we begin to purposefully train our daughters in the domestic arts.  But, if we would look at women of the past, a case could easily be made for our daughters to learn much before this time and be capable of running our home by the age 12…..This very idea runs counter to the popular thinking of today that tends to prolong childhood and delay adulthood responsibilities. 

I agree.  Teaching our daughters the how to’s of homemaking starting around the age of 12 is way too late.  We should use the formative years of a young girl’s life, under the age of 12, to take advantage of all the opportunities of home making training.  So practically, what are some of those age appropriate tasks we can expect from our young girls?  And what exactly do you mean when you say young? 

First of all, by young, I mean very young.  I, too, once thought of my children as too little and incapable of most things that now I regularly require of them.  The problem is that many mothers do not readily accept that learning curve phase as one they are willing to deal with;  the mess, the time involved, the imperfection, the repetition and well…”it is just easier to do it myself!” 

Instead of introducing daughters into the arts of cooking at the age of 12, I advocate introducing them into these arts at 3, 4  and 5 years old and by the ages of 6, 7, 8 and 9 they should be actually cooking and producing in the kitchen.  Not perfectly, but well on their way to expanding their knowledge and skills well beyond packaged cookie mix.  By the ages of 8 and 9, it is not unreasonable to regularly taste and smell the wonderful creations coming out of the kitchen and realizing that you didn’t lift a finger to help the cook at her work this time.  And by the age of 12…well, she should be well versed in the kitchen not only in ability but a growing knowledge that only improves with age.  That comes with years of pouring into her starting when she is 3 years old and continuing a consistent training during those most formative years!

I am continually reminding myself that it isn’t just about training in skill, but capturing her heart and attitude during these formative years are the most important! 

To answer the above question on practical tasks we can expect to teach our young girls and at what age?  Stay tuned for some ideas…

On New Year’s day, we created this years 2008 cover page for each of our notebooks using old country home type magazines we found at the paper recycling place.  We cut out pictures and words and had a grand time crafting, arranging, and gluing our book covers with meaningful home inspiring pictures and words.  

I have had a household notebook for a while.  Several months back, we created an assistant’s notebook for my 8 1/2 year old daughter.  She helps me with meal planning and, in fact, has completely taken over doing all the meal planning for our breakfast meal.  We created a worksheet in Word and printed out several copies, hole punched them and put them in her “Kitchen” section of her notebook so she can plan breakfast meals. 

Inside her notebook, she is putting things like:

• Most used recipes for quick reference
• Meal plan calendar with grocery lists for breakfast needs
• Schedule of the week
• “To Do”  and “How To” lists
• Her home schooling to do check off list
• Her home business ideas that she writes down as she gets new ideas
• A list of educational homemaking milestones that I would like to have her master by the year end. (For example:  Teach her how to cook a roast using the pressure cooker)

Encouraging and helping our daughters create a household notebook is just one of many ways to start actively training them in the practical “how to’s” of home management.  She is actively engaged in furthering the vision of the home even in small tasks like planning breakfast.  As she grows, her tasks will become greater as she handles more responsibility around the home.

I recently read an article entitled Queen in a Home of Her Own by Shelley Noonan (which I found off a link from Noblewomanhood) which I thought was a great overview of how we mother’s can lead and inspire our daughters in fruitful aspirations of home life.  I especially enjoyed her simple formula for encouraging maturity in our daughters in which she states:

I have discovered a simple formula that will give your daughters godly maturity.  It is very simple.  Responsibility = Maturity.  Early responsibility = increased maturity.  Minimizing responsibility = irresponsibility. 

How true!  Especially in a me-centered culture such as the one in which we live where children are indulged, left to their own vices and regularly ill attended by weak parental authority or oversight, it is vitally important for me as a mother to constantly lift up that standard before my daughters of what exactly a Godly woman looks like.  Early training and early responsibility with purposeful instruction is necessary to raising a daughter that understands the importance of the role God gave her.  I often fall short and am so thankful that God keeps giving me additional opportunities on a daily basis, throughout the day, to be that Godly womanly representative to my little girls. 

We recently watched the moving film The Monstrous Regiment of Women.   WOW!   It was a very shocking and sobering look at the monster of feminism and the destruction that follows in its wake.  Many reviews have already been written regarding the film, but we would add that you must see this film!  The Gunn family did an amazing job.  The film is well researched and covers a variety of topics showing just how monstrous this regiment of feminists is……from birth control, planned parenthood, the horrific abortion industry to daycare, the military, politics and education; feminism has infected and infested our lives to the core.  As Christians, it is imperative that we recognize this beast for what it is.  We defeat it by returning to the Biblical pattern of family life and standing up for the standards found in God’s Word. 

The section on the abortion industry is beyond words.  It shows how horrific the industry is with footage of an actual abortion and the incredible interview by Carol Everett, now a God-fearing Christian, who is working to help women instead of hurt them like she once did running abortion mills.  She tells the real truth about planned parenthood’s agenda and gives insider information that is shocking to say the least.  The brief yet brutal section which shows the truth about abortion is not the “safe, humane, simple, medical procedure” the feminist before says it is.  It shows the clear, non compromising truth the feminists have been lying about for years. 

We especially enjoyed the historical foundation laid with the story of John Knox, the Scottish Reformer who not only stood against anti-biblical thinking in his day, but staunchly opposed the monstrous regiment of women in his day and exposed them for what they were! 

If you are interested in ordering the film, click here. 

You might also want to check out the DVD Heartstringsproduced by home schoolers HueMoore.  It is an excellent family film with the added bonus of having a packed full bonus section on the DVD.  Heartstrings is appropriate for all ages. 

As we have been making a huge transition this year in regards to living on a farm, I have had to make huge adjustments in how I grocery shop. 

I wrote a concise book on how to save a ton of money on groceries using simple tips and tricks that will dramatically reduce your grocery bill, however, that is dependant on you living in an area where stores and coupons are available!  It can be done!  We were a family of 9 and I was spending anywhere from $300 to $400 a month on all of our groceries and household supplies and most of the spending was focused on building a massive pantry stockpile. 

However, move an hour or two away from normal stores and your life changes dramatically!  Jim’s Food Market just isn’t the same as a chain grocery store like Publix.  While I have been able to do a few small deals at some of the smaller grocery markets– using their sales combined with coupons; my rate of massive stockpiling and grocery savings has changed dramatically!  The majority of my grocery savings and stockpiling now comes in new forms. 

My milk, cream, buttermilk and butter come from our cow.  I have not figured up the actual expenses of keeping a family cow, but we do know that the benefits of having fresh raw milk outweigh the alternatives.  I know it is difficult to get raw milk when you live in an area that is not rural.  I struggled with wanting to switch completely to raw dairy products years before I was able to.  Some things you just have to deal with until a better resource is found.  We know of many places where you can get fresh cow or goat milk and that would require a commitment and a drive for those closer to city life. 

Our meat completely comes off the farm or other friend’s farms.  We have completely switched over to grass fed or pastured raised meats and with that comes either the expense of buying quality meat or the work involved in raising your own meat.  That was also a gradual switch that took lots of patience on my part.  We started out with raising our own chickens and grew from there.  Our boys raised 237 lbs of pork and we paid about 62 cents a pound for it.  That is a whole lot cheaper than anything in the grocery store and the meat is far superior in quality, health and flavor.  However, we also just paid over $4 a pound for grass fed beef.  While this wasn’t “cheap” by any means, the health and quality of the food is beyond comparison to any grain fed beef.  Plus, we had the added benefit of supporting our local farmer friends.  Next years beef is wandering in the pasture so we will eventually save even more money by raising our own beef. 

While I do not buy all organic fruits and vegetables, I have found that living in a rural area provides an easier outlet for buying in bulk.   Large families need to buy in 50 lb bags, bushels and gallons.  Thinking large and planning long range goals for pantry storage will affect how you spend your money.  Several times late summer and throughout the fall, I bought apples by the bushel or brought home a bushel of potatoes.  This year I hope to take advantage of those seasonal bushel finds like peaches in the summer and apples in the fall, so that I can put up dried fruits, jams, sauces and freezer fruit.  Amazingly, we use a lot of food and will continue to use even more as the children grow. 

While I would love to grow most of our fruits and vegetables, that area has been a difficult thing to accomplish.  One thing is for sure, large families do benefit greatly from being able to produce at least a portion of their food themselves.  To have to buy every single food item…be it meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, grains etc… it becomes a huge expense as the family grows.  It isn’t cheap to feed a family with 10 or more members and as they grow into young adults and their appetites grow drastically.  Add the fact that young men need to be exerting lots of energy in productive work, and their appetite demands a lot of food! 

For a homemaker of many children to manage and provide the food necessary for her growing family, evaluating quantities, prices, storage availability and rate of usage is a necessary part of the job.  The hard part is adjusting your budget to be flexible enough to be able to buy 1/2 a cow one month or scheduling your life to raise a 25 or 50 meat birds.  Buying organic oats in bulk or organic corn meal is much cheaper than the smaller quantities at store prices, however, finding that chunk of money to output on several 25 lb or 50 lb bags of food at one time might be difficult at first.  I like to use the end of the year as my evaluation time. 

50 lbs of oats separated out in gallon size bags for easier storage

Other evaluation checks I have on my list:

• Evaluated grains and quantity needed- cornmeal, prairie gold, oatmeal, rice.  What is the total cost on 25 and 50 lb bags of each.  When should I purchase these items? 
• Find source for purchasing a gallon or more of honey at a time.
• Plan month to buy/raise meat chickens, pig, sheep, calf, turkey. 
• Evaluate egg production and make necessary adjustments to enable us to have a plenteous supply of eggs. 
• Evaluate the garden areas and plan for a more intensive garden because last years plantings were not near enough to sustain us through multiple meals. 
• Buy seasonal and plan on canning and freezing. 

As for grocery shopping with coupons?  I look for deals on paper products like paper plates, toilet paper, paper towels as well as things like ziplock type baggies, trash bags, laundry soap, razors, toothbrushes, diapers and wipes.  Sometimes, making a trip to Costco is the best option we have for things like laundry soap, dish soap, trash bags and a few other things.   I haven’t been able to beat their prices on the large number 10 cans.   I like to have extra food on hand in storage for emergency. Razors and toothbrushes are always cheap or free with coupons and/or rebates at pharmacy type stores like Walgreens, CVS or Rite-Aid.  Diapers, I usually buy twice a year in bulk at around .10 cents or less a diaper from a grocery store sale or Target using coupons and sales.  It pays to learn which stores to buy what from.  The trick in living rural is to gage your pantry and household stockpile so that you are not running out of necessary items and having to buy them always out of need at the local expensive Jim’s Market

It seems that we continue to be derelict in our blogging duties.  We have had a month (or two) of intense business travel and our family dynamic has changed as well.  As such I thought it might be appropriate to post explaining why that has impacted our blogging time.

God in his infinite wisdom and benevolent grace has chosen to bless us with another child!  We are overwhelmed at His kindness toward us.  We recognize the truth of his word that says, children are a blessing from God and we readily accept this blessing and the responsibility to raise this child along with his or her 7 siblings in the nurture and admonition of our Lord.

At the same time, we recognize that all blessings are not easy in our flesh and Beth does work through the beginning of each pregnancy with much morning sickness.  This would account for the deficit of posts lately as she nourishes the new baby and the rest of us try to do our part as we earn a living and attempt to keep some order in the house.

We are home from the business travel for a short season and hope to catch the blog up with all the exciting things God has done here at vaughnshire and what the coming year may hold.  For now, please rejoice with us over this great news and consider God’s sovereign plan among the nations as he grants to those that love him the blessing of a children.

Gen 17:15-16  And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.  And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

 Gen 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

Psa 127:1-5  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.