Freedom

When you begin the process of Recognizing God in everything, then the appearances of evil will diminish, until they fade entirely out of the picture.

When God wants to teach me something I find that in the beginning, he gives me a little glimpse of what my future will look like if I apply the teaching to my life. The first one I remember was at my first renewal weekend with RICM. While I was praying ,I got this fleeting glimpse of what life is like without fear. That glimpse of what could be gave me hope and led me on a journey of finding that place and dwelling in it. That was years ago and I find that I live in that reality now most days.

The quote at the top of the page was recently the Facebook status of a cherished friend. The moment he posted it, God spoke to me. “That's where we're going” I felt as if he were saying. And I began to see ,almost like the rolling of script, all of the other times he spoken this to me and I wasn't listening.

For a long time now, I've been speaking a lot of power into the devils work. “Oh, look what Satan is doing, Satan is doing blah blah, that's Satan...he's trying to blah blah”...feeling powerless under the weight of it all. At a time, coming to believe that I would never reach the destiny that God has created for me because I could not continue to walk through the attacks of Satan in my life.

When you begin the process of Recognizing God in everything, then the appearances of evil will diminish, until they fade entirely out of the picture.

The day I first read that...and since the corresponding essay...I have been on a journey to see and speak out only what God is doing ..walking into my destiny with my eyes fixed on the Father.

It was last night when my oldest son was involved in a very serious car accident, which he emerged from completely unscathed, that another facebook friend posted. ...”I don't like the attacks that are coming on your family lately.”

And much to my delight I realized...I never even noticed. I had to search my facebook history to see the posts about the accident, multiple illnesses sweeping through out household....I honestly never saw Satan in any of it . With my eyes fixed on Him I have only seen the goodness of what He has done. Who the Son sets free is free indeed!

Parallel Lives

It was early morning, late June, when I picked up the box of little curious turkeys from the post office. Poking their heads out of the box in delight; trying to get a look or maybe a taste of my cell phone. It was the same week I first poked my nose in the door of The Abbey Church. From the first day I nurtured the turkeys; probably more than you should nuture something you plan to eat. I fed them, kept them warm, and delighted in their ways. A little flock they were, and I buried the weak and help to develop the strong.


Having never lived a parallel life to a turkey, it wasn't until today that I realized the metaphor. The Abbey has nurtured me, fed me, kept me warm. Helped me to cut off the weak and see and develop the strong. They have delighted in me and shown me that my Father too delights in me. They have given me new wings and brought me to a place where I can fulfull my destiny.


As I carve this turkey today and it finds its purpose, how appropriate that I receive communion and become a full member of The Abbey Church. I have come home.

A wise man once said "If it ain't done, don't eat it!" Lord continue to prepare us for the feast.

Dig Deeper

After much anticipation and unfortunate timing of heavy rains, I began to dig my sweet potato crop last week. Much to my suspicion, and with heartbreak, I discovered the crop to be full of large cracks and not near the quality I needed to sell it at the farmer's market. Always wanting to see the blessing even in the negative things, I let my dream of bringing those large baskets full of sweet deliciousness to market go, and got excited about having ugly, but tasty, sweet potatoes for my family all winter. I left the harvest in the ground to deal with at a later time.

This morning I revisited the sweet potato patch. With more rain forecasted came a sense or urgency to get them out of the dirt. As I began to dig along the surface it was if I felt God saying "Dig a little deeper." As I plunged the pitchfork into the rich earth I began to find potato after potato...some were smooth and perfect, some rough and ugly..but I uncovered so much more than I had expected.

If you have reached a point in your life where you feel as if you have uncovered all of that God has for you, I urge you to revisit your dreams, "Dig a little deeper". The harvest is larger than you ever imagined.

Joel 3:13
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get down and tread the grapes, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow.

Putting Okra By

Gluten Free Fried Okra (with directions for freezing)

Ingredients:

Freshly Picked Okra
Potato Starch (Not Potato Flour)
Organic Corn Meal
Eggs
Sea Salt
Oil For Frying

Step 1:

Cut the stems and tails off of the okra and put them in your compost pile.
Cut the okra into 1/2" pieces.




Step 2:

Beat 3 eggs in a medium sized bowl.
Remember I am a measure free cook and put on your creativity hat.
Blend 1/2 potato starch and 1/2 organic corn meal in a larger bowl.
How much? About 1/3 of the bowl.
Add a little salt to the dry mix. You can always add more later.



Step 3:

Fill the egg bowl with okra just so you can mix it without pieces falling out.
Mix it with your hands coating all the okra with the egg.
If the okra is coated and there is still egg pooled in the bottom of the bowl, get a larger bowl and keep adding okra until there is no egg remaining in the bottom of the bowl and all okra is coated with egg. In the picture the egg is pooling so more okra needs to be added.


Step 4:

Add the wet okra to the bowl of dry ingredients.
Mix with your hands until all okra is coated.
If you have extra flour in the bottom of the bowl you can use it for the next batch.
The coated okra should not be gooey. It should look coated in powder, not wet. If it's gooey, add some more potato starch until it looks dry.


Step 5:

Deep fry the okra.
If you are going to freeze it, remove it from the pan just after the crust hardens.
If you want to eat it now, cook it until it starts to get a little brown.

Step 6 (for freezing):

Drain the okra on a plate lined with paper towels or a paper sack works well too.
Once it is cool enough to handle, spread it out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place it in the freezer.



Step 7(for freezing):

After the individual pieces are frozen, place it in a freezer bag.
Fry it to lightly brown when you are ready to eat it.

Friday Night Football Gluten Free Style

I tend to be somewhat of a measure free cook and am constantly asked about recipes. I am going to do my best, but I also need you to find a little creativity deep down inside of you and meet me halfway. In our small town, Friday Night means football and football means junk food, doesn't it? It's hard to find easy to prepare gluten free snacks so I designed these Kolaches or sausage balls for busy nights where summer is fleeting and fall is on it's way.

Ingredients List:
Gluten Free Bisquick
Milk
Eggs
Butter
Precooked Gluten Free Sausage Of Your Choice
Shredded Cheese

Mix the Bisquick following the box directions for biscuits. (I use butter instead of shortening because shortening is the devil so whatever you like) Add a gigantic handfull of grated cheese to the dough. I use a large serving spoon to place the dough on the pan. Stick little chopped up pieces of sausage in the dough ball after you place it on the pan. Use more sausage than you think you need. Cook at 400 degrees until it checks done with a fork. Serve with raw local honey!

Dead Turkey Mama

Dedicated to Hurricane Butch...
We are raising our first turkeys this year. After our great success raising chickens, I wasn't put off by the the tales of turkeys drowing in the rain, being susceptible to illness and the like. I originially placed an order for 20 turkeys. But, since our Cuckoo Maran hens decided to start their own breeding program, our pens were approaching what I would not consider a cruelty free situation, so I reduced the order to 10 turkeys. I was suprised when I opened the box to find the most adorable little creatures. They pecked my phone as I tried to snap pictures of their curious faces. They didn't seem particularly stupid, just way to curious for their own good. Unfortunately, with each passing week, we have had a passing turkey.
The first 3 died as chicks (poults actually). The last one was big enough to eat, which something did after we buried him in the compost pile.

To Kill A Chicken

It took years before I could even wrap my mind around eating an animal that I knew and loved. Would I really be able to eat it? Would it taste funny? How would the kids handle it? Would they be upset, devastated for life? Our youngest daugter, Mette, has a deep passion for animals..kissing each chick as she removes them from the delivery box and lovingly showing them where to get food and water. Her first experience with death was a small kitten she found dead in the yard. I held her sobbing body for almost 3 hours before she finally drifted off to sleep. I was certain her little heart was too tender for meat animals. The guilt of eating factory farmed animals began to wear on me. Not certain of which repulsed me more, the treatment of the animals or the filth they are raised in, I told myself to get over it and if I was ever going to find success in this homesteading dream I would have to raise meat or become a vegetarian. I ordered the first broiler chicks. I explained to the children that these chickens were meat chickens and if they didn't want to help care for them, I would not require it. I was not quite sure that Mette understood my lecture as I watched her welcome each chick with a kiss as she had all of the others. When the day arrived for the chickens to be butchered, Mette insisted that she be allowed to go with them to the processing plant. Forcing my own fears on her, I refused. The only tears shed were those of disappointment that she was not allowed to go. Not once did she say she didn't want them to die or that she felt sorry for them in any way. She helped bag them up and place them in the freezer when they came back. Four years later it is not odd for her to come in the house holding one upside down by it's feet...."Look Mama! We got a dead one!" Kids are stronger than we give them credit for.

Sustainable Me

I am a wife and mother of 6 living in a smallish town in Texas. I am blogging at the urging of my friends who seem to enjoy my gluten free cooking pictures and homesteading adventures. I live with my family on about 3 acres, give or take, and we share our land with numerous chickens, ducks, turkeys, cats, dogs and a donkey. Our ultimate goal is to live debt free and be self sustaining. We aren't there yet, but I hope you enjoy following our progress and all the randomness along the way.