Nancy emailed me over the weekend to thank us for the pork we sold them. She also sent me a beautiful picture of her first creation. See below. She had told me that she struggles so much with the smell of pork, and I knew that her order would put our pork to the test. I was a little hesitant to ask her this, but I wrote back and asked what she thought of the smell. Her response was, “It didn’t smell at all. Very grateful for that.” I asked if I could share this and she said, “Yes.” I also shared it with the family and it sure made us feel good. Moving them around so frequently has so many benefits, and the clean smell of the meat is just one of them. We love when you reach out to us with your recipes, pictures, compliments, and thank yous. We seriously have the best job!

Conventional laundry detergents contain sudsy chemicals that are created to leave a good smelling film on our clothes, but they also create a buildup in our washers that produce a breeding ground for toxic mold and bacteria. There are so many other toxic chemicals in our laundry detergents today that are known to cause cancer, environmental damage, skin conditions, organ damage, and more that I can’t believe that some of them are still on the market. When I was struggling the most with my chemical allergy, and I would receive hand-me-downs, it would take me 7 rounds of washing and hanging clothes outside before I could wear it or put it on one of my kids without severe coughing. It took at least 6 months when we received furniture from a home that used these products before I could tolerate it. I was very thankful for these things, but at times wondered if it was worth the suffering. When I bought a used, modern washing machine, with an extra rinse for people with sensitivity to laundry soap, (just by chance) I had to laugh because I knew from experience that those extra rinses didn’t do much good. It’s a waste of water, because those chemicals don’t come out easily! You may be thinking, well she just has an “allergy,” and while I believed that at the time, I have to say that after my research and change in lifestyle, I don’t agree with that anymore. I believe that my exposure to toxins in the past, along with my nutrient deficient, highly processed diet that I ate, and was addicted to, simply overwhelmed my body to the point that I couldn’t handle any more chemicals. As I have healed my gut, I have noticed a significant improvement when I am exposed to them, but I still have some work to do.

            I was surprised to hear earlier this week that nobody has written on our latest big project. What? Really?

But that’s fine. Now I get to write about it.   

Dear Friends and Family,

            I hope that this year has been filled with much joy for all of you. 2021 has gone so fast for me, but there is still so much to write about that I feel squished for room! As always, I want to give you all a glimpse at the family, but I can only hope that I get everyone’s name spelled right and their ages correct!     

“Corporations owning life. Scientists taking DNA out of plants and putting it into animals, or vice versa. Shooting electron cannons into genes to split off or insert strange chromosomes. Pigs without stress genes. Pollen wafting across fields, sterilizing neighbors’ crops. Folk, this aint normal.”

This quote was taken from Joel Salatin’s book Folks this aint normal. I highly recommend this book. You will learn a lot! What are your thoughts on this quote? We love to hear from you!

The number one priority in my household cleaning routine is to make sure the bathrooms are clean. We are a big family, and we spend a lot of time at home, so our bathrooms need to be cleaned every day. I used to hate cleaning the bathrooms, and I think it was because I didn’t have a good routine, and I hated using those toxic cleaners. I was convinced that I had to use them, or we would be very sick. Since we have changed our diet and got the toxins out of our cleaners, the opposite happened. We don’t get sick as often. Praise the Lord! Where we used to get the stomach flu at least twice (usually more) times a year, we sometimes have years that we don’t get it at all. Even with little ones. We may even have a few people get it, and everyone else is fine. I never use antibacterial anything like I used to do!

Our pigs get really spoiled with a variety of food and this makes a really flavorful meat. Asher is giving them 5 gallons of black walnuts. We foraged over 100 gallons from Larry and Barbs’ pasture and they will get most of them. They were recently moved off their pasture and into this area where they are finding potatoes we missed, sweet corn, and a few plants. We are feeding hay from our own supply, extra milk from our cows, corn from our neighbor , and plenty of kelp and real salt. Everything that is fed is raised at least organic. We truly appreciate the support and encouragement we have received with these truly pastured, beyond organic hogs. If you would like to get on our waiting list for 2023 let us know and we would be happy to add you at no cost.

I approached Alena this morning with an idea that has been on my heart for Wisdom Wednesday. My goal was to caution the reader that there are a lot of missionaries out there that may be doing more harm than good, and many that are living a very lavish lifestyle off of donations from hard working people, We talked about the story of Amy Carmichael and she retold the story so well that I asked her to write this for me. Thanks Alena!!

Are We Truly Serving Christ?

The sight of the four missionaries traveling up the mountain was one that couldn’t easily be forgotten. They traveled at the head of the procession in sedan chairs—chairs with long poles that were carried on the shoulders of servants. Behind them came the rest of the servants carrying all of the missionaries’ “necessary” supplies in heavy trunks and boxes that held things such as badminton rackets and nets and folding chairs. But these missionaries were being quite conservative in what they were bringing. Other missionaries they passed on the road were hauling objects as heavy as pianos and iron bathtubs.

It took thirty-six servants to get the four missionaries up the mountain. And why were they traveling? Because the city lower down was too hot, and so, the missionaries were heading to the mountains where it would be cooler and they could rest.

When Amy Carmichael arrived in India during the late 1800s, and witnessed how the missionaries around her acted, she was horrified. If questioned, each of the missionaries would have been quick to say that they loved the native people and that the reason they were in India was to show them the way to salvation through Christ. But that was not an impression a person could gather merely from watching them.