Last month a recipe for Sour Dough pancakes caught my eye.

You have to try them.

I am not a big pancake eater.

These were not like anything I’d ever had before.

There’s a reason it says “heavenly” under the recipe in the book.

If you don’t already have a sour dough starter in your frig you’ll have to  acquire some.  There are several ways  this can happen.

A.  someone can give you some (I’d be glad to if you want…just give me something to cover postage )

B.  you can make your own…see instructions below.

As a wanna be homesteader, I think it’s fun to have some just sitting in the frig waiting to be activated, but that’s just me

Sour Dough Starter

Combine (1) tablespoon of dry yeast,

2  1/2 cups warm water,

2 teaspoons sugar (or honey)

2  1/2 cups flour

Let ferment for 5 days, stirring daily.  (store in a jar, crock, or we use a #1 plastic container..anything but metal)

The starter can be kept indefinitely in the refrigerator, although it is perhaps best to use it once a week.  If the liquid rises to the top during storage (and it does)  stir it  in again.  The starter has the consistency of thick mud.

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Sour Dough Pancakes

Heavenly  (and they really are that good)

(2-6 servings)

Night:  Mix up sour dough sponge  (2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups water and 1/2 cup starter)

Morning:  Replenish starter from this new batch.

( Since I took out 1/2 cup from the starter the night before, I add at least 1/2 cup of this new batch back to the original starter…you are feeding your starter when you add this back).

Second thing… the first time or two we made this pancake, I did mix up the sponge the night before, definitely gave the pancakes a hint of sour dough, but I was pinched for time a few weeks ago, and just made the pancake batter w/o letting it set over night.  We actually liked these better.

For every 2 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour used in the original sponge, add:

(1) egg, beaten

2T oil (corn oil)   (I DM have been substituting olive oil)

3/4 to 1 cup milk (whole canned, or instant)    (I have tried both Almond  Milk, and 1% skim)  the 1% gives the pancakes a richer finish, but they both taste great)

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 T brown sugar  (I have probably been putting in 4  to 6 T of brown sugar.  I have a sweet tooth)  You may not even want to use syrup  because of the extra brown sugar/ although I still do/ because of my sweet tooth)

Mix dough thoroughly, with egg, oil, and milk. Combine salt, soda and brown sugar, and sprinkle over batter.  Fold in gently,.  Let sit a few minutes before frying.  Make them small.

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Well, that’s it for tonight.   Had a big day helping a friend build a cattle shed.  Once I get inside a warm house, get cleaned up and something to eat, I fade pretty fast.  In a typical day, I will burn between 4500- 6000 calories @ work, which is another reason I love a hearty breakfast.

Came across this neat graphic of a grain of wheat…thought I would include it.  Just think, when you grind your own wheat, you get all of the goodies. not just the endosperm.

I  ground wheat again yesterday.  Was looking through other blogs tagged under “homesteading” and came across a hard tack recipe. It caught my eye because it called for wheat flour.  It sounded easy, so I whipped up a batch.  I ended up making 3 batches….one original, one with a little honey, and a third with a little more honey.

I have to warn you, they are hard.  that’s why the pioneers usually soaked it in their tea  before eating it.  I still have my teeth   and  just started nibbling away.   They put me in mind of those teething cookies we used to give our kids when they were little. (I always loved the taste of them)

Before I  share w/ you my recipe, I want to thank  Viggie   for her basic hard tack recipe.

Here is a copy of my notes from my 3rd attempt:

Whole wheat and honey hard tack

(3) cups of whole wheat flour

(1) cup of water

1/2 t salt

2 T oil (I used olive oil)

1/4 cup honey

Mix in a bowl,

Then I kneaded it like a ball of bread, for just a minute or two  to make sure everything was worked together.

roll it as flat as  I could (I was shooting for 1/8th inch, the thinner, the easier to eat later)

I used a lid from a canning jar to cut the hard tack:

I lightly sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil.

My wife  picked up a Misto spray  hand pump  that we use now instead of the aerosol cans:

Bake @ 325 for  for 1 hour.  I flipped them over @ 30 minutes as per the original recipe.

Let me know if you decide to make a batch and what you think. DM

Why you ask?

Well, in case you haven’t already figured it out,  I’m a wanna be modern “homesteader”

Last year about this time while I was waiting for my wife @  Wal-Mart this  article in Mother Earth news caught my eye:

Floriani Red Flint Grain Corn: The Perfect Staple Crop for Every Homestead

Here’s a portion of the article : ” Cornmeal is a culinary world in itself: cornbread, muffins, pancakes, waffles, polenta, grits, scrapple, cornmeal crusts for fried chicken or vegetable fritters, and, if you boil whole kernels with culinary lime, you enter the world of hominy, hominy grits, and Mexican tortillas and tamales. Yet it’s ironic that despite 88 million acres of corn growing in the United States (the estimate for 2010), there are few choices of grain corn in the grocery store. Cornmeal is such a commodity product that it’s rarely fresh in stores, packages don’t tell you which corn variety was ground to make it, and it’s nearly impossible to buy whole kernels for grinding…..

So I thought to myself,  I need to grow some of that!

Well, I wasn’t the only one who read that article because by the time I tried to get some Florian Red, it was all sold out.

Not to be deterred,  I tracked down another variety of Heirloom corn, with many of the same benefits.  Mandan Bride .  If it was good enough for the Mandan Indian tribes, then it’s good enough for me.  I ordered 1 pound of seed, and ended up with 47 pounds shelled corn yesterday.  (found out the hard way, raccoons also love Mandan Bride when it’s in the milk stage (must taste like sweet corn to them)

In our attic several years ago, our kids several dozen antique seed corn drying hooks which came in handy this Fall when  it came time to save the seed for next year:

2011 crop hanging on antique corn dryers

I’ve been looking @ all those ears of corn that needed shelling  the past couple of months and kept thinking, boy, that is going to be a lot of corn to shell by hand….started looking on-line for a hand corn sheller.  You can find them on e-bay or new @   Pleasant Hill grain.  On a lark I called our local antique mall…sure enough, Jan had one hanging on the wall, already mounted to a box for $65.00 .  I told her I’d be in on Saturday…Here it is:

Our new (Old) Black Hawk corn sheller

close up  end view of the sheller

Me dropping the ear of corn into the sheller yesterday.

One ear of corn would shell out in about 5 seconds. 

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Corn dodgers were very popular among the first settlers to Iowa.  A  typical meal in 1839 would consist of ham, eggs, corn dodgers and coffee…we’re talking morning, noon and supper.

Once in a while when I’m feeling “historical” I’ll make this meal.

Here’s  a recipe for corn dodgers:

“Mix with cold water into a soft dough one quart of southern corn meal, sifted, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of butter or lard, melted.  Mold into oval cakes with the hands and bake in a very hot oven, in a well greased pan.  To be eaten hot.  The crust should be brown.”

Last year about this time I wrote a piece about Three Sisters Gardens.   Take a minute to check out that post.  I don’t want to bore you and repeat myself.  This is a follow-up  story to that original post…this time I have seeds for sale so you too can try your hand @ your own heirloom garden.  Here are the seeds you’ll get from me:
Black Futsu
(Cucurbita moschata)  The black fruit will turn a rich chestnut color in storage. Flesh is golden color and has the rich taste of hazelnuts. Fruits are 3-8 lbs. each and vines give huge yields. Good insect resistance.

You’ll also get:

Mandan Bride Indian Corn.  It is an heirloom variety of corn planted, by, you guessed it… the Mandan Indians of Minnesota and North Dakota.  quoting now :

Beautiful variegated coloration, including some striped kernels. Grown as a meal corn and today principally used as an ornamental. (although we planted it for making corn meal)

Ears are 6-8″ long on 6′ stalks. 85-90 days.

Here’s a couple of photos I took when it was tasseling:

And finally :

Hidatsa  shield bean seeds:

Here’s a little background information on the  Hidatsa shield beans:

“The North Dakota the Hidatsa Indians grew this pole type drying bean in their corn fields.   The Indians planted the corn first, once it was a few inches in height, they planted the hidatsa beans at the base of each corn stalks.  Normally 3-4 hidatsa seeds per corn stalk.  Then they planted squash….the corn gives the beans something to grow on.  The hidatsa beans fix nitrogen at the base of the corn,… And last but not least the large squash leaves take over the ground crowding out the weeds and shading the ground as well saving precious moisture.  

You’ll get enough seeds to do a 10 by 10 garden plot….all for $9.95 which includes postage.

Drop me a note and we’ll go from there. DM

I spent quite a bit of time trying to track down a source.  You can get it on line, but the shipping will kill you.

For the uninitiated, wheat comes in different varieties.  Spring, Winter, Hard, Soft, Organic…etc/ etc.  Hard Red Winter Wheat is the preferred wheat for baking bread.     You may already know this, but much of the “bread” you and I buy in the grocery stores is really not that good for you.   I still eat it when I’m crunched for time, but as  the Dr told my mom 25 years ago, white bread (especially) becomes a dough ball in your intestines as your body processes it, and is a great way to set yourself up for colon cancer.  Your body needs roughage,  and bread made from real wheat is not only packed with natural nutrients, but also includes the hull of the wheat berry, which helps keep your bowels healthy and cleaned out.  Hope I’m not grossing you out, but since colon cancer runs in our family, I took a mental note and try to stay away from too many dough balls

So yesterday, after I sold the 14 bushels of wheat, I needed to restock,  took a road trip and picked up another 10 bushel.

If you’re thinking to yourself, how in the world can I fit bread making into my already full schedule???

Two words…

Bread Machine.

You program them  just like your coffee pot.  It takes just a minute to dump the ingredients into the hatch,   punch the buttons and bingo.  Home made bread, for a fraction of the cost.

On a related note, I’d been toying around with the idea of making our own oatmeal, but found out the hard way, regular oats are not what  you use (unless you have a way to “de-hull” the oats)   (I don’t)

Steve told me several months ago, I needed to find a source of hull-less oats.  Well yesterday when I picked up the wheat from Karen, she mentioned she’d found a supplier for hull-less oats so.I ordered 6 bushel,..way more than we’ll ever use in a year.  Earlier this week I’d placed an order for 10 pounds of hull-less oats from Johnny’s seeds.  (I am planning on growing a test plot this Spring.

By the time they calculated shipping it was about $50.00.   Remember what I said about looking for wheat? same goes for hull-less oats., leave me a comment and we can talk.

My mom and dad both got to experience part of the depression first hand.  Mom remembers eating pigeon and fish to supplement the food grown in their large garden.  Today, many of us (myself included) does not have a clue when it comes to canning and preserving food.  What the heck would we do if we were suddenly faced with another depression?

Don’t kid yourself and think it could never happen again.

The United states has experienced several economic depressions and panics over the course of our history…did you know that?

Me neither

And we are on the fast track toward another one.

I’m 50 yrs old.  I can guarantee you, if I live to the ripe old age of my grandfather, something is going to pop.  Can’t tell you when or how, but @ some point, the doo- doo has got to hit the fan.

Feel free to disagree.

And by the way, I am one of the most optimistic people I know so this isn’t flowing out of some gloom and doom nay-sayer

Check out this website for an eye opening read on the economic history of the US

So,  here’s how my mind works….

If the average grocery store only a  couple of  days supply of food on it’s shelves, and 95% of our food is trucked in from 1000 miles (or more)   imagine the panic @ our local Fareway grocery store if we had  another stock market crash.   At that point, it will be too late.

It’s nuts @ those places whenever there’s any hint of a winter storm.

Remember the concerns leading up to Y2K?   Yea, I remember buying some bulk rice and beans…just in case.

When my brother -in- law  got wind of it, he mocked me to my face, in front of several family members.

Ended up, it was a false alarm, didn’t need to tap into my bean reserves      If I had to do it over again I most definitely would.

To me it’s no different than the $900 insurance I pay on our home  every year.   You hope you don’t  have to collect, but you’d be a fool to be uninsured.

If you’re just skimming this post, take a minute and at least read this link.    Living the dream. DM

I remember thinking, what a senseless waste of life.

I no longer have a desire to hunt (for sport)  but I still  love meat, and if it came down to feeding my family I would have no problem shooting that cute little squirrel in the head with a 22, cooking him up into a tasty little dish…rolled in flour,  salt and peppered…

The deer…

One of the life skills I’ve been hankering to learn lately is  how to butcher a beef.  We used to butcher chickens growing up, so I can suck it up and gut an animal.   Can’t say I would like to do it for a living   ..but I do know where most of the food I eat comes from and no, chocolate milk does not come from brown cows. 

I  made an  attempt @ butchering a  free range pig last year (see this post )

But a beef, I hadn’t quite figured out how to pull that one off…..until two weeks ago.

Tuesday morning on the way to work, out of the corner of my eye I spot a pair of deer antlers.  There in the grass was a 175 pound 6 point buck.

(this is kind of what I saw, not quite as big, and mine looked like it was dead)

I was mostly interested in his antlers… figured it had probably been hit by a car.

I  turned the truck around, pulled  alongside and  realizing the deer  was still alive.   When I got out of the truck, the deer  tried to hop away,  only made it  30 feet because both of its  front legs were shattered. It would have been inhumane to just leave him there to suffer so I call the sheriff, gave them my location,  told  them I’d be waiting.

(All the while I hadn’t made up my mind on whether to keep it or give it away.)

Sheriff showed up 10 minutes later, has me sign a deer tag,  (free) puts the deer down then has to  leave on another call.  My truck was full of scaffolding for the next job so I didn’t have room for the deer.  I called Leo, (my co-worker)  , told him  why I was running late and asked if we could  use his truck to haul the deer to the job site and I would take it from there.  Not a problem.   After a few more phone calls my neighbor Paul offers to skin and gut it, with the invitation to come over after work when he would instruct me in the fine art of de-boning a deer.  (It works a whole lot better to skin and gut them while they are still warm, I would have liked to been a part of that process to, but could not justify taking off from work )

On deer  most of the meat is on the two rear quarters..we remove the meat from the bones with some very sharp butcher knives.  I took our son John along..didn’t want to pass up this teaching opportunity.   Less than an hour later,  I’m heading home with 30 pounds of venison   wrapped in two garbage bags, with the instructions of putting it in the freezer until it’s time to process.  In hindsight I would have divided the meat into at least 2 chunks so I wouldn’t have had to deal with it all at once.

The beef…

Talking with  Jim  on the job the next day, I mentioned my interest in butchering.  The deer butchering experience had lit a fire in me.  Just so happens he and another farmer do butcher their own beef. Sometimes a perfectly healthy animal will break a leg, and unless the farmer can get it to the locker (good luck with that)  legally he has no choice but to shoot it and throw it away.  Well, as providence would have it, that next night, Jim  gets a call from someone. Seems a 1200 pound heifer had slipped on the ice and could no longer walk and I found myself @ an old fashioned butchering party.

…to be continued

One morning, bright and early, they hitched up the ox to the loaded cart and started on the long journey.  The son figured that if they walked faster, kept going all day and night, they’d make the market by early the next morning.  So he kept prodding the ox with a stick, urging the beast to get a move on.

“Take it easy, son,” said the old man. “You’ll last longer.”

“But if we get to market ahead of the others,, we’ll have a better chance of getting good prices.”  argued the son.

No reply.  Dad just pulled his hat down over his eyes and fell asleep on the seat.  Itchy and irritated, the young man kept goading the ox to walk faster.  His stubborn pace refused to change.

Four hours and four miles down the road, they came to a little house.  The father woke up , smiled, and said.” Here’s your uncle’s place.  Let’s stop in and say hello.”

“But we’ve lost an hour already,” complained the hotshot.

“Then a few more minutes won’t matter.  My brother and I live so close, yet we see each other so seldom, “the father answered slowly.

The boy fidgeted and fumed while the two old men laughed and talked away almost an hour.  On the move again, the man took his turn leading the ox.  As they approached a fork in the road, the father led the ox to the right.

“The left is the shorter way,” said the son.

“I know it,” replied the old man, “but this way is so much prettier.”

“Have you no respect for time?” the young man asked impatiently.

“Oh, I respect it very much!  That’s why I like to used it to look at beauty and enjoy each moment to the fullest.”

The winding path let through graceful meadows, wildflowers, and along a rippling stream- all of which the young man missed as he churned within, preoccupied and boiling with anxiety.  He didn’t even notice how lovely the sunset was that day.

Twilight found them in what looked like a huge, colorful garden.  The old man breathed in the aroma, listened to the bubbling brook, and pulled the ox to a halt.  “Let’s sleep here,” he sighed.

“This is the last trip I’m taking with you,” snapped the son.  “You’re more interested in watching sunsets and smelling flowers than in making money!”

“Why, that’s the nicest thing you’ve said in a long time,” smiled the dad.  A couple of minutes later he was snoring – as his son glared back at the stars.  The night dragged slowly, the son was restless.

Before sunrise the young man hurriedly shook his father awake.  They hitched up and went on.  About a mile down the road they happened upon another farmer – a total stranger – trying to pull his cart out of the ditch.

“Let’s give him a hand,” whispered the old man.

“And loose more time?” the boy exploded.

“Relax, son … you might be in a ditch sometime yourself.  We need to help others in need – don’t forget that.”  The boy looked away in anger.

It was almost eight o’clock that morning by the time the other cart was back on the road.  Suddenly, a great flash split the sky.  What sounded like thunder followed, Beyond the hills, the sky grew dark.

“Looks like a big rain in the city,” said the old man.

“If we had hurried, we’d be almost sold out by now,” grumbled his son.

“Take it easy…you’ll last longer.  And you’ll enjoy life so much more,”  counseled the kind old gentleman.

It was late afternoon by the time they got to the hill overlooking the city.  They stopped and stared down at it for a long, long time.  Neither of them said a word.  Finally, the young man put his hand on his father’s shoulder and said,” I see what you mean,Dad.”

They turned their cart around and began to roll slowly away from what had once been the city of Hiroshima.

Taken from the book Come Before Winter by Charles Swindoll

And me, well, here’s my story…
When I was 16 I remember thinking, if I didn’t get a handle on the shyness that controlled my life, I was going to turn out just like Lowell Smock who worked for my dad. Lowell was a nice, hard working, single dude in his mid 30′s.
I wanted to date. There was this girl in my homeroom (M)  that I secretly had a crush on. Problem was, “M” sat with all the popular kids in the back of the room and I sat in the front row. I  nervously chewed on my pencil every morning. The moment the bell would ring I was out the door.
I felt trapped between two large black jaws of a vice. A life of singleness on the one hand and the raw, crippling fear and shyness on the other. So I decided to attempt the impossible….
I tried to look up “M’s”phone number. It wasn’t listed. There was a woman listed with the same last name, so I decided to give her a call..maybe she could put me in touch with M. I spent 3 days working up the courage to make the call. Wrote out my pitch  on a piece of paper.Still remember the fear I felt as I dialed the number. My fingers were literally shaking. A woman answered the phone. Wonder of wonders, it was M’s mom. Could I speak with M I asked?  10 seconds laterM was on the other end of the phone. I stammered out my r r r rrequest to possibly go to a movie together?? After a moment’s pause, M  said OK. wow/ wow/ I could not believe my good fortune…. Picked her up Saturday night, went to the local movie theater. MASH was playing. Some of my classmates spotted us and made a couple of comments….After the movie, I took M home and dropped her off. I had an awesome time. Problem was, now what? I did not have a clue.
Next Monday M slid up behind me in the lunch line  (wink wink)

For the life of me, I did not know what to say.

A wave of panic washed over me.  I glanced at her, excused myself and headed out the door. No explanation, Nothing. We didn’t talk again for 5 years.
The next 4 years of my life were pretty quiet . I did go out on several dates after high school. The legal age was 18 back then, so I would fortify myself with some liquid courage. I tried every trick I could imagine to meet women.  I asked my female cousins to set me up with their friends. Went on double dates, etc.    I got to a place where I was tired of the mind games….In a moment of desperation, I cried out to God. I was NOT a religious person. Didn’t think I had a spiritual bone in my body. Heck, I wasn’t even sure that there really was a “god” All I knew was I was sick and tired of the “dating game” and the fear that controlled my life.
Four weeks later, I bumped into M.   She’d went away to college, but came home after a semester. She was working as a waitress in a local pizza joint. I was hanging out with my buddy Chuck that night. After M waited on our table, Chuck says to me, “If you don’t ask her out, I will.” (He knew about my earlier panic attack back in the day)
So I did ask her out again….and the rest is history….

  At the beginning of 2007, I returned to America after a decade of aid and conservation work in Africa and Latin America.  It was a rough homecoming.  More than simple culture shock.  I felt increasingly disillusioned.  Though many of my projects abroad were successful, reducing poverty and protecting local rainforests, a destructive global system hammered at the broader picture….

       I landed in New York City and began asking myself a daunting question:  How could humanity transition to gentler, more responsible ways of living by replacing attachment to things with deeper relationships to people, nature and self?

      Fortunately, I stumbled upon someone with some clues:  Dr Jackie Benton.  The first time I met this slight, sixty-year-old physican, she was stroking a honeybee’s wings in front of her twelve foot by twelve foot, off the grid home on No Name Creek in North Carolina.  She struck me as someone who had achieved self-mastery in these confusing times, but discovering how she’d done this would prove to be a riddle intricately connected to the house itself.

      At once poet and scientist, Jackie slowly revealed to me a philosophy that is neither purely secular nor purely spiritual.  People call her a “wisdomkeeper.” A Native American term for women elders who ignite deeper questions in us…..

      Over the course of eighteen months I exchanged letters with Jackie and visited her community several times.  But most significantly – and frankly , it still feels astonishing to me – I came to live, alone for forty days, in her tiny house in the spring of 2007.  This book tells the story of what happened there.l  I didn’t plan to live 12 by 12 and I certainly didn’t plan to write about it.  But as I told friends about Jackie and and her biofuel- brewing, organic-farming neighbors, about the striking setting of the No Name Creek wildlands, and about the profound changes the experience wrung out of me, they overwhelmingly encouraged me to share the tale.  So here it is, presented as a loose chronology of my time in the 12 by 12… 

Taken from the Preface of Twelve by Twelve by William Powers

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I (DM) got Twelve By Twelve in the mailbox  today.  Ordered it off Amazon  and dove into it as soon as I finished eating supper.

Wife and I have both felt the urge to simplify and declutter again  of late.

Last week I was struck by amount of clutter in our kitchen.

On a lark I suggested we move  every piece of furniture out  except for the kitchen trestle  table and a small antique wooden dresser.

My wife humored me on this one and once the last item was out of the room, the kitchen had a whole new feel. .  It’s hard to explain.    All I know is clutter has a way of choking something in me.  ( I say that as I’m sitting in this office surrounded by” stuff.”

Long story short.  I can’t tell you the number of times people have commented  on how relaxed  and nurtured they felt when they’ve made a visit to our  place. Surrounded by 80 apple trees, a few chickens,  two old barns,  and some raised garden beds, it is nurturing.

We’ve kicked  around with the idea of renting out our B and B suite to creative types  (or anyone for that matter) who need a break.

What do you think? 

What’s a week of peace and quiet worth?

As always, thanks for reading my “stuff”  let me know if you have  any suggestions. Thanks!  DM

Category F 5 :  Incredible tornado (261 to 318 mph)  Incredible damage.  Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distance to disintegrate ; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 yards;  trees debarked; incredible phenomena will occur.

My point is – it is not a lack of faith to have a basement in our area.  It is common sense.

If you live in Northern Minnesota, you’d better be prepared to get snowed in and make do without electricity once in a while.  or be willing to suffer the consequences.

If you live in the coastal areas of Florida, while you may not have to contend with blizzards, you probably know how to prepare for a hurricane..right?  My point is there is no contradiction between preparing for storms and having faith.

With the current instability in the world today, it’s not surprising I’ve been wrestling with questions of faith, fear and personal responsibility.  This morning it hit me.  We as a family have spent the last 30 years learning how to walk by faith in such areas as:

Family planning

Finances (saving vs spending and giving)

Provision for the future (how much food to have in the cupboards)

Personal protection (whether or not to own a gun)

Work

Housing

Vehicles

So, for what it’s worth, here are some random thought on having faith and being prepared:

#1  If my personal security is in my money, my job, my brains, my gun, the people I know, even the country I live in..then I am just kidding myself.

#2  A wise man once said, “A wise man sees danger and makes provision, a foolish person walks naively into danger and wonders later what happened.”  Proverbs

#3  When I encounter an area of life that has got me distressed .  I will ask myself this question: ” If the worst case scenario did happen. would I be OK with that?  Is there anything I can do to make provision so that it wouldn’t happen?  ( I will then think through my options, my current situation and do what I can)

For example:  Let’s say I’m  wrestling whether or not to use birth control.  I pretend for a moment we won’t.  I’ll just “trust” God for his provision.  Am I willing to have 8 or 9 children (or more) and live with the consequences of that decision?  (foot note: please don’t make a negative comment here on large families or take us down the bunny trail of family planning…I will delete it.. I’m just using this an example)

Unless I have a very good paying job, practically speaking, I’m probably going to struggle financially….that’s just a fact if I chose to have a large family

#4  Read Matthew chapter  25:1-13 from the bible for some thoughts on personal provision and decide which group of 5 you would like to be associated with.

#5  Too many people today live their lives from week to week, check to check.  In most cases, that is not faith that is stupidity.  For years we as a family did just that.  until I was challenged with the goal of getting one month, then two months, then three months ahead with our budget.  I can’t tell you the difference that has made in the stress level of our home going into winter.  My income didn’t change, how we managed our money did.  If you want to know more,. drop me a note and I would be glad to talk with you about this one on one via e-mail.

#6  Even in the animal kingdom (ants, bees, squirrels, bears, mice) all make provisions for the lean months.  Me thinketh they are smarter than some humans.

#7  It is better to be prepared and not have to use it, than need it and not have it to use.  That has many applications.

#8  I believe we live in a broken world.  I’m an optimist with a good dose of reality.  Because we live in a fallen world, it is not a lack of faith to lock your doors at night.  Feel free to do otherwise

#9  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Still makes sense to me.

#10  To use a word picture, I see the uncertainty in the world today like a major change in the weather pattern.  You personally may have never had to have to deal with an F5 tornado before now, but now you might.  Balls in your court.

Picture of a lion looking into the storm.

Final footnote – the analogy of preparing for a storm comes from my wife.