Since we are getting our eggs right this week, I believe this story couldn’t have come at a better time. This is Smokey and he is the sweetest, most loving cat I have ever met (a little too friendly if you ask me). Many of you have probably met him when you came to pick up orders, and I must confess that I was a little embarrassed by him. You see he’s looked pretty rough for several years, and it didn’t seem to matter what we fed him. We even quit feeding junky cat food about a year ago to all of our cats/dogs and started feeding food from our farm (that’s a story for another time). Anyways, I almost didn’t recognize him a few days ago when I was in the barn finishing up the milking. Aiden was with me, and I asked where that cat came from and he said, “That’s Smokey.” I instantly said, “What has he been getting into, he looks so much better?” All the supplements for the animals came to my mind first. Aiden said, “I don’t know, I have been giving him the extra eggs I find under the trailer for the last two weeks.” While Smokey still won’t win a beauty contest, I must say that his mattery eyes and dried out looking hair coat have improved significantly! It was a great reminder to me to continue to use food as medicine, and that how our food is raised and prepared is more important than what we actually eat. I believe that chickens on pasture produce eggs that are so much more nutritious than confined birds because of the vitamins and minerals in the grass. Remember this, grass equals more vitamins and minerals. Do you have a story to share? We love to hear from you!

“The key is how we think, Brown says. In the industrial agricultural model, all thoughts are focused on killing things. But that mindset was also killing diversity, soil, and profit, Brown realized. Now he channels his creative thinking toward how he can get more life on the land—more plants, animals, and beneficial insects. “The greatest roadblock to solving a problem,” Brown says, “is the human mind.”

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”

― Stephen Covey

Cory suggested the following Proverb today.

“Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”

Proverb 16:20

According to my outline, I am scheduled to do, Practice Forgiveness, for week 17 , but I believe I would be a hypocrite if I did this today. Yesterday we were bombarded with aerial sprayers and this morning I’m really struggling. Most of my kids were way out in the pasture when I saw the second airplane of the day spraying in the distance, and because I knew by the wind direction that chemicals were headed right in their direction, I quickly handed the baby off to my oldest daughter and ran out to the van in my socks and drove as close as I could to them. I yelled to get in the van, but all the kids figured it would take way longer to get over the barbed wire fence, so they did a quick tightening of the fence so the animals wouldn’t escape and ran back to the house.

Later in the day, I was enjoying a leisurely walk with my young children (we had just picked fresh vegetables from the garden quite a way from our house) and we were headed back to the house when I smelled chemicals. The wind direction had changed and now it was out of the east. I didn’t see anyone spraying (it’s impossible to see anything past the protective tree line to the east), but we ran for the house, as I yelled for everyone to get inside. We all worked diligently to close up the windows, and later we had to shut the bathroom door, because the exhaust fan must have been letting in the chemicals and our school room started to smell as well. I gave everyone some bladderwrack in hopes that it might help. I couldn’t help but hear this voice that I have heard from many people in this area. It goes something like this, “Well you know so and so was exposed to that chemical and everyone believes that’s why that person got cancer and died.” Sadly, this exposure to chemicals has happened to us multiple times over the years (especially at our old place). The more I have learned about proper nutrition and healing stories, the less I fear cancer, but I still don’t like our family being exposed to chemicals. After the air had cleared, I gave all the animals extra kelp for detox.

This morning I was out watering our fruit trees, and as I was approaching our bee hives, I was thinking about the natural beekeeper that I wrote about in yesterday’s blog post here (the one that never got compensated for his loss of $50,000 in hives). I had emailed him yesterday morning to be sure that I had my facts right and he shared that yesterday someone had sprayed soybeans that were in bloom again. Thankfully he got some video this time.

As I got closer to our hive, I noticed several dead/dying bees on the ground and on the bottom of the hive. All these emotions hit me and almost paralyzed me with anger. I can’t say for sure that the chemicals caused this loss of bees, but it sure makes me wonder. I collected some of the dead bees and I’m praying about what to do. I have dealt with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the EPA enough to know that it’s a circus show trying to get them to do anything about these problems. There’s way too much connection with the chemical companies to provide any real justice.

I write this post knowing that people may not want to support our business, since it’s possible that some of the chemical may have made its way onto our property, but I would rather lose business and be poor than to lie or not speak truth. I have given my word to be transparent in all we do, and I will trust the Lord to provide all of our needs. I am very picky about what we eat, and I still choose my own food over anyone else’s any day. We are doing everything in our power to protect our land and animals, and will continue to fight this battle. I’m just not sure what to do right now. I have been fasting and praying today and the Lord is good as always. He is softening and getting my heart right again, and I feel very led to share this story. Hopefully I can share Week 17, Practice Forgiveness, for better health with you next Tuesday. Be encouraged my friend even through the struggles, God is good and He will make things right. We can trust in that.

Cory and I visited a natural beekeeper in Nebraska about a month ago. During our conversation the wife told me how hard it was to keep their bees alive because of all the spraying. They both said they had once lost $50,000 in one day because an aerial sprayer sprayed insecticide on a bean field that was in bloom and killed all their bees. I was so thankful to be sitting down, because that came as a big shock to me. My heart still aches for them every time I think of that family. With the spraying picking up in our area again, I’m praying and thinking of them even more often.

I asked these natural beekeepers if they received compensation for the loss and the wife explained in a kind, gentle voice (way more kind than I could have been) that they had visited an attorney who was also a beekeeper and he told them there wasn’t much they could do. There was an investigation through a government program, and because it was so slow, by the time the testing was complete to determine if the bees had died from chemicals, it came back negative. They were scared to do anything more because they feared that somehow, they could lose more bees. These were some of the kindest, most generous, hospitable people I have ever met, and I’m sharing this story to bring more light to this issue. I am praying for a blessing upon this humble family and for protection of their bees, because it’s so hard for justice to be served when our government is so corrupt.

The herb Calendula that is used in our salve is antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial. The flowers contain high amounts of antioxidants and the leaves contain lutein and beta carotene. Unfortunately, the plant has not been studied thoroughly for other nutrients. Despite all these benefits, some caution needs to be expressed. Calendula is so healing that it can seal up a wound too quickly and trap bacteria in the wound. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about bacteria being present in the salve itself, because our salve does not contain any water, and it’s impossible for bacteria and mold to grow without water. The problem arises because there could be bacteria present in or around the wound where the salve is applied.