Shady Larch Farm

Breagan sings

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:22:29 -0600

I am posting this here for my mother. This is an experiment in using audio mixing software on my laptop with a cheap microphone. If we figure this thing out, we may try to do some of our own recordings of hymns in four parts. This is Jim singing STB, and Breagan (age 4) singing Soprano. All glory to God! And Can It Be That I Should Gain

At rest, for now...

Sat, 8 Apr 2006 09:49:40 -0600

I scarcely believe I need to make this entry, considering the length of time since my last entry. However, with the new job, and my desire to be sure I spend as much of my time at home with my family as I can, I need to stop blogging. I'll leave the site on, and in the event I need to release some pent up blog scribing, it'll be here for me. Please let me encourage you to read I Chr. 28. David brings in all his people to make an important announcement. He will not build the temple. His son Solomon will. He encourages Solomon before the congregation. Then he proceeds to equip Solomon for this very important work by providing all of the material that will be required. This is my vision. I want my children to take my understanding of what God wants for us (some call it Christian Agrarianism), and make it for real. I can make a hobby of it, but I don't know if I'll be delivered from my previous sins (debt for education). So I want to equip my children to do it. That's what David tells Solomon: "...be strong, and do it." So I will work diligently to provide for my children a place to build on this dream. We'll work together, side-by-side, while we build it. But I suspect I'll never fully immerse myself into it because I have too much to pay back. So instead, I'll work to get my children to the point they can launch the work themselves and be free from the burdens of debt and unconformity toward Christ's mind. So my charge to my children is that of David to Solomon: "...Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work..." Amen.

Transitions

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 13:16:40 -0600

Is anybody still out there, reading this long-neglected blog? Get ready for a long post. I have a lot of pent-up things to write. It has been a long process, but also one that is like a controlled whirlwind. My family and I have relocated to the St. Louis area. We have a lot of stories of blessing to tell about how God has providentially lead us to a home, a farm, a church, and a job.

Jurisdiction

We set about to move away from Iowa at the time Iowa law requires home-schoolers to file their Competent Private Instruction Form (CPI Form). After much prayer, study of the Word, and consultation with legal and experienced advisors, we determined that signing a form indicated that we submit to the jurisdiction of the state over our children's education. We do not recognize the state's (biblical) jurisdiction over this area. So we decided to stop filing the form. We were also informed that the state has a history of finding test-cases to prove a point in court. Ours could have been such a case. With fear of state intervention, we determined to list our home for sale and move to Missouri, where the state does not (at least in blanket form) usurp the jurisdiction of parents over their children's education. It did not make sense to me to stay in Iowa where the authorities could knock on my door at any time and remove my children from my custody. I may write more about this later, but for now, you know why we decided to move.

Decision to Move

So - The house/farm is on the market. I have a job in Des Moines. We also found a fellowship of like-minded believers in Des Moines, and had been attending there since August. We considered moving to just south of the Iowa/Missouri boarder. That would be about the same distance we were currently from Des Moines. Land is fairly inexpensive in Northern Missouri, so we began looking.

Lost Job

In the meantime, the company I work for decided to eliminate my position as of November 30. So I was now free to begin looking for a job in Missouri or other states friendly to our cause. I had focused efforts in Kansas City, hoping to stay with my current employer. Nothing seemed to be going my way. I was certain the Lord wanted us to move to Missouri (or other points south) but I could not find a job. On November 30, my last official day with my company, after searching for 45 days, I had an interview in Kansas City for a position in St. Louis. My former boss had contacted his former boss and said I was a good worker, and that he should consider hiring me for an opening in St. Louis.

New Job

In the interview (this has never happened to me) I was offered the job. This was the first time I had met this man, but on my interview, and the recommendation of my former manager, he offered me the position, and agreed to pay to move us from Iowa to St. Louis. God is so GREATLY TO BE PRIASED! His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. I am so overwhelmed by His provision, I am tearing-up while I write this.

St. Louis Bound

So we began looking in the St. Louis area. Have you been here before? This is a HUGE city! The sprawl of the beast is amazing. The price of land is atrocious. Some places were $33,000 per acre for less-than-desirable grazing land. Plus, we have not sold our farm in Iowa. So we decided to look for a rental situation we could use as a temporary measure.

A New Home

After 45 days, we finally stumbled across a farm that had been purchased by investors. It was listed as 5 acres, and indicated the tenant must have equipment to take care of that much lawn. When we toured the place, we found out it was a 95 acre farm, which was being leased for the hay. We said we wanted to rent the house and cut the hay, and we wondered if we could have a few cattle on a pasture that had good fence on the property.

New Farm

After negotiating, the landlords were thrilled to have a "farmer" renting the place and taking care of all 95 acres. This is not a fully-functioning farm setup like we had in Iowa. There is only one barn, and no other outbuildings. The house is small (only 2 bedrooms). But we leased the house for a monthly rent, leased 10 acres of pasture for an annual rent, and are share-cropping the rest of the hay! Once again, the Lord's provision is awe-inspiring.

New Church

While we were looking for land to rent in St. Louis, we decided to find a church to attend on the Sunday of our visit. We went to the NCFIC website at VisionForum.org and looked at the listings. We chose the most compatible listing and made a call. We were invited to meet with them in an office building on the south side of the city. This church turns out to be Reformation Christian Assembly. I had met one of its elders at the 2004 Uniting Church and Family conference! We had only spoken briefly then, but after just a short time together, we felt as though we had known each other for a lifetime! We are planning to covenant with this fellowship at our next meeting. God had provided, in the space of just a few weeks, a job, a church, a home, and a farm. Amazing love, how can it be?

More Transitions

So, this weekend we are traveling back to Iowa to pick up the hay equipment that the movers would not bring. Our cattle have remained at Shady Larch Farm, which is a blessing, because we had put up over a thousand bales of hay to make it through the winter. A young man, who is a good neighbor-friend of ours, was willing to regularly feed our cattle in exchange for some extra hay and oats that I had. So the Lord is also providing for our cattle while we wait for our farm in Iowa to sell.

Business

We are working on setting up our business and preparing for the busy summer that is coming very quickly. We have settled on Pilgrims' Acres as our new farm name. Shady Larch Farm was very specific to our farm in Iowa. The new farm name should be portable - which also reflects our status as the Elect in this world.

Blessing

I'm excited about the future, and prayerfully seeking the Lord's continuing work in my family and me. I truly hope the Lord has shown His Grace and Mercy on you in this past year, and that you are seeking to glorify Him in your life.

St. Louis Bound

Fri, 2 Dec 2005 18:08:59 -0600

Well, I told you there were going to be changes. Here is the first step. We're moving to the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Don't get your dander up. We're not going to live in the city. My new job is in the city. We're still looking for someplace to set up our new farm. That leads me to this: Shady Larch Farm is for sale. If you are interested, please see this listing. Here is a picture of the house when we bought it. No one had lived here for 15-20 years! We did all the work ourselves, except the siding. New roof, addition, windows, doors, plumbing, wiring, insulation, drywall, floors (except the original maple floor in the living room, which we refinished), and much more. If anyone has advice about the St. Louis area, we'd sure appreciate it! (I'm referring to a good place to buy land.) We're not interested in all the wonderful city ammenities... I'll keep you posted as we progress.

X-mas, or not?

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:49:33 -0600

Chad Degenhart has a wonderful story that helps take away the heart-felt pains we have when we consider that as Christians we should not be celebrating (sactifying) a day other than the Lord's Day, because it reveals just how absurd and error-filled our observance of the tradition really is. I have been agonizing and (some would say) terrorizing my friends and family by telling them all about how X-mas is both pagan and uncalled for. They are as perplexed as Grandma and Robbie in Chad's story. Many of my Christian friends say, “What do you mean Christians shouldn’t celebrate X-mas? Why wouldn’t you want to celebrate Jesus’ birthday?” Some even get a puzzled look like Robbie and just can’t imagine the blasphemy. One thing that people don’t seem to get is that not celebrating X-mas (or Easter) is a breaking of the yoke of bondage that Christ promised. When we point to Romans 14, they say, “See! We can celebrate any day we wish!” What they fail to realize is the context. Jewish Christians were still practicing the ceremonial appointments concerning meats and days. Matthew Henry says, “This, which had been bred in the bone with them, could hardly be got out of the flesh, even after they turned Christians; especially with some of them, who were not easily weaned from what they had long been wedded to. They were not well instructed touching the canceling of the ceremonial law by the death of Christ, and therefore retained the ceremonial institutions, and practiced them accordingly; while other Christians that understood themselves better and knew their Christian liberty, made no such difference.” The Christian who points to Romans 14 as their license to celebrate Christmas misunderstands completely. They are the weaker brother, which is not a commendation from Paul! And in the context of the day, they are not being transformed from one godly practice to another. The original practice was never God-given in the first place. In Mark 7:9b, Jesus said “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” We all need to read Mark 7 and apply the “How is this me?” technique.

Quick post

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:12:54 -0600

Hello all, long time no post. Thanks for stopping by and looking around. I hope you will notice I have linked two more agrarian blogs. Please stop by and see TNFarmgirl and Sugar Mountain Farm (they got snow up there!). We're still working out some transitional details. The Lord has been good to us, and we are rejoicing in His provision. Thanks to all the agrarian bloggers out there. It's a big job to keep your posts up to date and fresh. I appreciate it. Over on Northern Farmer's blog, he comments on debt. Amen to that! We are forced to be at the beck and call of the lender. Never any flexibility. We're bailing out of debt as fast as we can, but the water ran in a lot faster than we can bail it out. Best advice: no debt. Not ever. We are awaiting the scrumptious pastured pork to be done curing and we'll be enjoying ham for Thanksgiving. Our pastures are about done, so the hay is waiting for consumption by our 13 head of cattle. It'll be time to move the layers up to the farmstead from the pasture soon. Boy it gets dark early now! I'll check in again soon. You all take care, and God bless you and yours!

Where has the summer gone?

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:42:03 -0600

I have been busy. I'm sorry I didn't follow my fellow agrarian bloggers and let you know I was too busy to blog. There will be some changes I'll let you all know about coming up during the winter. Your prayers are coveted for wisdom in our decision making process. I'm going to continue the silence until I get some things worked out. God willing, I shall return!

Links!

Wed, 3 Aug 2005 15:36:36 -0600

I finally figured out how to add links to the left side of my page. Thanks to the many other bloggers who have linked to my blog. I am humbled. I'm also glad I got rid of the "default" links that were there. I wasn't encouraging you to "find a date" on some website on purpose!

Gold Nugget Wisdom - Marketing the Dream

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 08:59:52 -0600

I heard a bit of wisdom while at a trade show last week. A gentleman told me he met a fellow that was making a white-collar living selling his farm products. The gentleman said he couldn't get his little farm to pay, and wondered how this fellow could be making such a good living from it. "Well," the fellow said, "You have a job off the farm, right?" "Yes," replied the gentleman. "Well I don't," came the retort. "As long as you have something to fall back on, you won't do the marketing required to make your farm successful!" Golden nugget! Now, do I have the courage to bail out of corporate America and make this farm pay? We'll see. I may not have a choice! Layoffs loom.

Chicks arrive

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 08:55:28 -0600

Chicks have arrived at SLF. These little birds will be around 6 pound in just eight weeks! They grow so fast.

Our butcher date is September 21. If you want to place an order, just visit the Shady Larch Farm website and use our order form on the brochure.

This will be our first expansion of the broiler operation. We have enough orders on hand to run another pen through the field. That means we're up to two!

Salatin is right about our customers. We don't want satisfied customers. We want customers who are our best evangelists!