Yes, I Am Still Here.

I'm probably about due to win the bad blogger of the year award for my negligence!  It's been a full couple of months!  Let me take a moment to fill you in on what's been happening around here...

1.  Wrapping up deer season.  Our total count at the end of the year was nearly 320 deer, more than we have done in a long time.

2.  Christmas!  The celebrations felt a little strange this year.  We are at a new church, so we weren't quite sure what to expect and ended up missing the week that they do the big Christmas program because we didn't know about it soon enough.  And at that time we were still running back and forth every day to the meat shop, so we didn't have much time to enjoy the season in our new house.  I didn't bake one single Christmas cookie.  And there was pretty much no snow.  But, Jesus was still born over 2000 years ago and we celebrated that with all our hearts, which is what really matters, right?

3.  Settling into a "normal" routine at our own house (if there is such a thing as "normal"!)  We've been rendering lots of deer tallow and I made my first attempts at tallow soap.  It looks good--still curing, so I haven't actually gotten to try it yet.

4.  Spent a night in the emergency room about two weeks ago with my heart feeling like it was going to pound right out of my chest.  To make a long story short, don't take heavy doses of echinacea and then drink multiple cups of very strong coffee in a short amount of time.  Turns out they don't do so well together.

5.  Took a trip to Ikea for curtains, bedroom storage, and the like.  Love that store!

6.  Planning lots of big projects around the house.  This weekend is a wall of bookshelves for the living room--yay!  Also planning a trip to Florida in March...double-yay!

7.  Hitting the books!  Our school pace really slowed down during deer season, so now it's time for us to step it up.  Ever hear about Charles Martel and the Battle of Tours?  Fascinating story--go and look it up!  I don't now how I got to be 31 years old and never learned about that.  This is why I love homeschooling--I keep learning new things too!

8.  Dan and I took our CPL (Concealed Pistol License) training last Saturday.  We had a wonderful instructor who gave us SO much more information than just what's covered in the typical NRA class.  Plus, I got to shoot several different handguns, which was great for me since I had never fired one before.  The instructor said I'm a natural shooter and that with some training I could do it competitively.  But I think he was just flattering me because I was the only girl in the class:-)

9.  Repairing the hole in our kitchen ceiling.  Yup, the hole.  About a month ago our son took a bath and left the water in the tub (no big deal).  Except that it turns out there was a teenie little hole in the tub...so all that water slowly leaked onto the kitchen ceiling for about 4 hours.  We had to tear out a section of drywall about 4' by 5'.  Last night Dan and I finally were able to get new drywall over the hole...

10.  Working out at 5:30 am every day.  Dan and I started Insanity last week and yes, it is insane.  We're both looking forward to losing the "extras" we acquired through the fall months!

So, things are happening around here!  We're really excited about what's to come.  I will write soon about some of that in my next post in the Agrarian Home Based Lifestyle series.  If I don't do it within the next week, someone please come and kick me.  Thanks!

New Years' Anticipation

Resolution.  Anticipation.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen! 

Ephesians 3:14-21

This year I am not making any resolutions.  According to Webster's 1828, 'to resolve' means "To fix in opinion or purpose; to determine in mind."  And you know what?  If there's one thing I've learned, it's that my opinions might be all wrong, my purpose selfish or misguided, and I know a lot less than what I thought I did.  Sounds like a setup for failure if I ever heard one!

Two Sundays ago our pastor gave a great sermon with the general idea of anticipation.  He referred to the verse above from Ephesians.  The beautiful truth is that, no matter how weak our minds or flesh, the power of Christ is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or even imagine.  In Pastor Burger's words, our lives can be transformed to the degree we are willing to be surrendered to Him.  The word anticipate literally means "to take before".  Did you know that God has plans for you this year?  Instead of resolving to accomplish some certain goal this year, I want to live in anticipation of the fulfillment of what the Lord has already planned.  Guess that sounds a lot like living by faith, doesn't it?

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm not going to plan anything or set any kinds of goals.  To sit around and wait for things to happen would obviously be foolish.  But I want for my attitude to be one of surrender, not selfishness.  Watch for upcoming posts about our thoughts for our little homestead farm and some ideas we've been tossing around.  We continue to pray about where we are headed and surrender daily in faith to what the Lord would have for us, both in the small daily tasks and the "grand scheme", that we may be "filled to the measure of all the fulness of God".

I'll leave you with a song that really got to me this morning...
You Have Me by Gungor

First Snowy Day Recipes

Hello!  In honor of the first day of snow (a few days ago now!) I decided to post a few recipes.  I made both of these a few days ago, inspired by the fresh snow.  Something about cold winter days makes me want to cook things...

Snow Ice Cream
Big thank-you to Cherith (at Ebenezer Acres) for sharing this idea with us last year!  It's so easy, and the kids absolutely love it.  A first-snow "must".

1 Gallon clean snow (just fill a big bowl)
1 cup sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

2 cups milk

Stir well and serve immediately!

Now, this next recipe is not for the faint of heart.  I love experimenting with bread recipes, and this one is a winner in my book, but it might not be for everyone.  The resulting flavors are earthy and complex.  We ate it with ribs for dinner, but all the while I was thinking that this bread was crying out for a nice dark, malty beer to go with it.  In fact, with some ale and roasted rabbit or something this would be the makings of a great medieval feast.  That's the kind of bread this is.  Your kids probably won't like it very much (mine didn't!) but I thought it was delicious.  There, you've been adequately forewarned!  With that, here's the recipe.

100% Whole Wheat Herb Bread
(modified from an Herb Bread recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 1973 Edition)

1 package (or 1 T.) active dry yeast
3/4 cup milk, scalded
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. honey
2 T. butter
1 egg
2 tsp. celery seed
2 tsp. dried tarragon
1 tsp. ground thyme
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup oatmeal
3 cups whole wheat flour (I've been having excellent results with whole wheat pastry flour)

Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and a little honey.  Combine hot milk, sugar, salt, and butter, cool to lukewarm.  Mix in yeast.  Add egg, herbs, oatmeal, and 1 1/2 cups flour, beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough.  Knead on a lightly floured surface about 8 minutes.  Place in a lightly greased bowl and turn once to coat.  Cover and let rise until nearly double.  Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.  Shape into round loaf and score an "X" on the top.  Sprinkle a little flour on a flat pan (with no edges), cover and let rise again until double. 

Now here comes the fun part: place a flat baking stone in your oven and preheat them together at 400 degrees.  When your dough is risen, carefully slide it off your "peel" ( your flat pan) and onto the hot stone in the oven.  Then carefully splash 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the oven and shut the door quickly to trap the steam.  Do this once more after about five minutes.  Bake the loaf about 30-35 minutes.  Remove and let cool completely before slicing.  The steam in the oven creates a hearty thick crust, giving it that gourmet artisan bread look and taste.  It's a great little trick!  Enjoy!

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag.

This post is mainly for my family and friends...those of you who know us well and are around us regularly (although hopefully the rest of you find it interesting too...)  To be honest with you all, I have been really nervous about telling everyone about our plans for the future.  I have this feeling that everyone will think we've gone off the deep end, are turning into hermits, or that we're becoming health nuts.  I hope that by reading my latest posts you'll see where we're coming from.

I also apologize that you're all finding out about these things via facebook and my blog.  It's not that I don't want to talk to you all in person...it's just sort of a weird thing to bring up out of nowhere.  I feel like I'll be able to explain myself much better by writing it out than trying to do it in person.  As you'll see from reading my other posts, much of our plans and dreams are still developing, so for me to try to convey our feelings in conversation could end up a little muddled.  We've just been doing a lot of thinking, dreaming, and praying lately and feel we need to move in this direction, and we really want our friends and family to know where we're coming from and share your insight with us too!  So go ahead and read my two previous posts: An Agrarian Home-Based Lifestyle, Parts 1 and 2.  Preferably in that order:)  Part 3 should be on its way soon.

Other things of note...P90X is still underway!  I've lost about 6-7 lbs. so far, but the most notable thing for me is that I now have triceps!  The diet side has been a little rough...but tomorrow is another day, right?  A bunch of ladies at my church have committed to cutting out sugar until Thanksgiving, and I think I'm going to join them.  I'm generally a believer in moderation, but with the glut of Halloween candy still lying around, I really have to go all or nothing...

Courser Deer Processing is booming.  So far we have taken in 95 deer--well ahead of where we were last year.  And I love having a business where our kids can really participate.  They're learning to work hard, relate well with customers, save money, and to be careful with sharp objects:-)  Not to mention that seeing three generations of Courser boys working together makes my heart feel happy.

Have a great day everyone!

An Agrarian Home-Based Lifestyle, Part 2: Our History.

Otherwise titled: How the Heck We Came Up With This Crazy Idea!

Honestly, I have been seriously dragging my feet on this post.  I'm finding it really hard to put into words exactly how we have arrived at this point...hopefully I can put something together here that makes at least a little sense and gives you a general idea of where we're coming from!

Neither Dan nor I are farmers.  Neither of us grew up on a true farm (although Dan's family had something of a hobby farm...chickens, horses, a few pigs and a dairy cow for a time).  And certainly neither of us dreamed several years ago that we would be looking at earning a living from "the land".  I graduated from college with a degree in music ministry, and Dan is a mechanical engineer.  So how in the world did we get to where we are now?  In short, I think God has just wired us this way.  We both seem to have a natural bent to do things differently.

I suppose this journey really began shortly after we got married.  We gave birth to our first child just a little over a year after our wedding...a little earlier than what we had "planned".  Since we got married the summer before my senior year of college, this meant I never had the opportunity to go into the "real world" (haha) and get a job in my own field.  Instead, I graduated from college and gave birth to our son three months later.  At the time it was a bit of a shock.  I always knew I wanted to stay home with my children--I was tremendously blessed to have been raised by a mom who was home--but I hadn't expected that phase of life to arrive quite so soon!  However, in hindsight, I see what a blessing this was.  I never had to deal with the feeling of "leaving" a career or getting involved in a job that would be difficult to step away from.  I went directly from pouring my energy into school to directing my efforts to my home and family.  Just under two years later, we welcomed son #2 into the world (again sooner than "planned"!) and we began to give some thought to our childrens' education.  After considerable research and prayer, we decided we wanted to homeschool our kids.  I probably put in enough study hours researching education, homeschool materials, learning styles, etc. to equal another college major.  We knew it was a huge decision and not something we wanted to take lightly.

Throughout this process I came across several books that were truly life-changing.  The first is a wonder of a little book called The Mother At Home by John S. C. Abbott.  Yes, it's old-fashioned.  Yes, it flies in the face of "modern" ideas of womanhood.  And it totally transformed my outlook on being a mom.  Prior to this point, I viewed my role as stay-at-home motherhood as the "right thing" to do; the "broccoli" of life.  You know, the things you do because they're good for you but you really can't wait for the dessert you see coming later (like having "my" job, "my" time, "my" body back, etc.)  The Lord used this book to soften my heart to motherhood as a noble, fulfilling, and absolutely necessary job.  For the first time, I allowed myself to be content being "just" a mom...by the way ladies, watch yourselves when you respond to that question, "So what do you do?"  Don't treat your job like it is inferior or some sort of drudgery: sigh..."Oh, I "just" stay home with the kids..."  I've caught myself replying this way and it's complete bunk!  There's no "just" about it!  Your job is important, necessary, imperative, world-changing, kingdom-building...you get the idea.  Here's the other conversation I have frequently that is another opportunity to share the joy of motherhood.  It usually goes something like this, and typically occurs either in the grocery store or at church:

Stranger: "Whoa, four boys, huh?"
Me: "Yup!"
Stranger: "Wow, they sure must keep you busy.  Never a quiet moment for you, right?"  (Did you ever think about how this must make the kids feel?  I mean they're standing right there.  Can you imagine if someone said something like that about your husband while he's standing right next to you?)
Me:  Here is where we get the chance to take a stand--however small--for the huge blessing of motherhood.  I usually try to respond with something like, "Yes, we're busy, but these boys work really hard!" or, "I sure am glad I have all these helpers!"  Hopefully even a little thing like that might begin to change that person's perspective on children and parenting, and it encourages the kids at the same time.

Anyways...this is going somewhere, I promise!  Throughout these years we were living over two hours away from both of our families and Dan was serving as a youth pastor at a small rural church in southern Michigan.  (How he went from engineer to youth pastor is another whole story.)  After serving in that church for about seven years we decided it was time for Dan to get back into the engineering field.  Being a youth pastor was a remarkable learning experience for Dan and our whole family, but it was clear that his spiritual gifts were not quite lining up with that role, and we had a deepening desire to serve in a capacity more geared towards family ministry than youth.  So we started praying about what direction to take next.  Then 2008 happened.  The automotive industry went south practically overnight and took most of Michigan's engineering jobs down with it.  But, we still felt that God was calling us to move on, so Dan cautiously informed our church's leaders that he was going to start looking for engineering positions.  Dan sent an application to the company where he had worked right out of college, and much to our amazement, they called him in for an interview.  Within two weeks of making the decision to start job hunting, he had an offer!  He even got the same office he'd had 8 years earlier.

Around the same time, we were listening to a lecture series from Vision Forum called "Entrepreneurial Bootcamp".  Included in the series was a lecture about running a successful agrarian-based home business by a guy named Joel Salatin.  Dan listened to it first and was all excited about Salatin's ideas and lifestyle.  My reaction at the time was sort of a lukewarm, "Hm, that's interesting I guess."  Then about a year later I got around to watching Food, Inc., the documentary about where our store-bought food comes from, and there was "that guy", Joel Salatin!  Fascinated by his passion for his land (and food!), I started casually reading a little about the approach of his farm. 

Now, fast-forward a year or two.  We gave birth to boy #4, moved back to our hometown, started ramping up the deer processing business, and got a great deal on our house with 20 acres.  Once again we started dreaming about the direction our family needed to go.  I've always loved things like canning, freezing, bread-making, etc., so naturally I started thinking about how to use our property in those ways.  Dan spends about two hours on the road every day driving to and from work and is away from home about 12 house of the day.  It became increasingly clear to us that we all desired for Dan to be able to stay home so that we could all work together.  What really sort of "sealed the deal" for us was our 10th anniversary trip to Staunton, Virginia.  We planned our anniversary there because we really wanted to visit Joel Salatin's farm, Polyface.  I know, I know.  Real romantic, a trip to a farm, right?  Actually Staunton is an awesome town--we would highly recommend it!  And we were both impressed with how the farm runs, the natural, land-improving techniques, and most of all the attitude of families being able to work together at a livelihood that allows them to make the world a better, healthier place.  It felt right to us.  We bought a few of their books at the farm, including the title, You Can Farm by Joel Salatin.  Odd as it may sound, this was another life-changer for me. And you know what chapter really did it for me?  The chapter on soil improvement.  I was amazed by God's design for the earth; its complexity and natural fertility. The potential for productivity (and in turn providing high-quality food for a nutrient-starved world) was something of a revelation.  Right about now you're probably all thinking I've totally lost it.  Gone off the deep end.  Maybe so, but I can also honestly say that I've never felt such hope, promise, and excitement for the future of our family and the impact we could have on our community.  Some might call us crazy, but it sure is a great place to be.

As you can see, God has orchestrated quite a journey for us.  He blessed us with children before I had a chance to have my heart divided with a career, He molded my character to turn my heart towards my home, gave Dan and I a common vision, provided a job when the economy went down the drain, and provided us with a house, land, and a hearty dose of inspiration just when we needed it.  In the end it is our desire that this story would be about Him, not us.  It is by His grace and mercy alone that we are where we are today.  Truly as we are told in Colossians 3:23-24,

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

I apologize (sort of) for the length of this post.  Really, I could say so much more!  Like how my mom taught me to love cooking meals for the family and how to bake from scratch, or the impact the time spent with my Grandma (probably the sweetest, gentlest person I've ever known) had on my childhood, or the blessing of having a Dad who cared about being home and spending time with his kids.  I could write volumes about all these things, but then this would turn into a personal memoir!  I hope I've been able to give you at least an idea of where we're coming from.  We welcome your comments and ideas!  

Next post in the series: Our Basic Plan (or, "How in God's Green Earth Do You Think You Can Pull This Off?")

Dan takes a peek inside the mobile hen house at Polyface.

Joel Salatin demonstrates the ease of moving the pastured broiler pens during our "Lunatic Tour".

Some of the first "fruits" of our new property: wild grape jelly!  So delicious, and I didn't even have to plant or weed a single thing!

An Agrarian Home-Based Lifestyle, Part 1: Our Vision

Ok folks, today begins my first "series" of blog posts!  How many parts to this series?  Who knows...until I feel like I've said enough, I guess!  Forgive me if it sounds a little bit like I'm thinking out loud throughout this series...because I am.  We are just beginning to shape our "dream"; our vision for what we want our family life and livelihood to look like.  It seems clear to us that God has brought many factors together into one place for us lately, and I'm going to take a little time to explain it to you.  Hopefully we here at Domestic Reformation will understand ourselves better in the process, too.

I'll keep this pretty basic today since future posts in the series will cover many aspects in greater depth, but let me begin by laying out our overall vision by defining some things (thanks to Merriam-Webster online!)...

agrarian: of or relating to fields or lands or their tenure.  Yup.  You heard me right.  We actually intend to "make a living off our land".  Well, mostly...more about that in a minute.  We've been blessed with 20 acres, about two-thirds of which is open land.  The rest is brushy undergrowth, young-ish forest, and our yard.   Is it possible to earn enough cash off 20 acres to live comfortably?  We believe it is.

home: one's place of residence.  Our dream is that our whole family--Dan included--will be able to work together here at our own home--our own "place of residence".  Around here we find that we get exponentially more accomplished in a day when we're all working together than when we are split off in our separate ways all day.  There's a kind of synergy that occurs when we're all working together, and it's way more fun than being apart all day.  Our family actually likes to be together!  Will it always be sunshine and roses?  Of course not!  But it's not a bad goal:)

Let me be clear: a "home-based business" does not mean we intend to become hermits or social recluses.  However, it does mean spending more time actually at home.  Less running, fewer last-minute trips to the store, better planning, more intentional time spent with friends and family.  As I mentioned above, we plan to "live off of" our 20 acres, but we will continue with Courser Deer Processing, which I suppose, being a service-based business, can't really be considered living off our land.  Currently we run this business at a different location, but our goal is to move it here for next season.  Being away from our own home so much is taking a toll on us already, and this year's hunting season is just getting started!

lifestyle: the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture.  I hesitate to call this merely a home-based "business" because it is about more than just money for us.  It's a way of life, and a way of life that is radically different than most folks.  Our dream is to have a lifestyle that not only "pays the bills", but is more rewarding, more fulfilling, more healthy, and more whole than what "normal" American culture has to offer.  And, we hope it's contagious.  We hope that when others see what we're doing they, too, might be inspired to slow down and smell the proverbial flowers...literally.


Our intent is not in any way to sound condescending or "holy-er than thou".  Right now we are in the dreaming, visioning phase where anything can happen.  It's probably something of a honeymoon phase.  Hard days will come when we wonder what in the world we've gotten ourselves into.  But for now I hope maybe you can all dream with us a little bit as the series develops, and maybe even help us shape our vision of what's to come!

Next post: the "History" of our vision (or, "How the Heck Did We Come Up With This Wacky Idea?")  No promises as to when that post is coming.  After all, it's deer season.  I'm sure you'll all be waiting with bated breath though, right?

A few shots from the south side of the property at sunrise.

Isn't it beautiful?  We are so blessed!

Courser Deer Processing!

The season is officially underway...deer season, that is!  Courser Deer Processing is up and running.  We took in 8 deer just today--we've had a promising start so far!  If you'd like more information, you can find us on facebook.  Happy hunting everyone!