Here lately the idea of blogging has taken the form of a few short snippits akin to the twitter realm. I am toying with the idea of merging with my other blog and trying to meld my reformed leanings with my agrarian bent...Radical thoughts me thinks...
Hopefully soon there will be something worth reading.
Finally got high speed but now realize that my 6 year old E-machine is NOT going to get better with another defrag and revamp of the registry.Sorry E-machine,but I really tried to paint your product as the frugal choice in my mind.
I will be looking at a new system within the next 2 months and maybe I will be able to get at least 5 words typed per minute.
Seriously.
This machine is the worst product I have ever owned. Loads of wasted time and money trying to upgrade.
I finally figured out that it will not matter as long as that 2nd string vowel is still on the tower.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Coming Soon
It has been quite some time since we have bothered updating. This has not been because of a lack of interest or desire, but rather ability. Since moving to these parts we have been pretty isolated. This is one of the great things about living in a 'holler of West Virginia. Life really does move a little slower here.
Even so, we are glad to say that by the end of the month, we will have a high speed connection that will finally enable us to begin doing a little update on the blog. It has been an amazing journey since coming here and I can't wait to share some of the things that God has done in our lives. Be prepared to be amazed.
Until then...
Even so, we are glad to say that by the end of the month, we will have a high speed connection that will finally enable us to begin doing a little update on the blog. It has been an amazing journey since coming here and I can't wait to share some of the things that God has done in our lives. Be prepared to be amazed.
Until then...
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What a year!
It has been a long time since I have had either the time or ability to do something as frivolous as blog about my little dreams of getting to the country. It still will be a while before I am able to do any serious catch up since there is nothing but dial-up in this part of the world. Still, I hope that I will find the time and inclination soon. For now it will have to suffice to say that we are alive and well in the wilds of our new land. If there is still such a thing as a modernized society with all the neat gadgets like electricity and computers around next month, I may try and play catch up....
Looking forward to sharing how God took a family of TEN with ZERO income and moved them out of the city and into a bountiful estate by His grace and our earnest prayer. I encourage those of you still on the fence about the how and when to get out of Babylon to PRAY. Really. Don't just think about it, but pour out your heart's desire to the Lord for His mercy in helping you get as far away from the coming crisis as possible.
For my confused and confessional friends, please do not think I am suggesting giving up our mission to proclaim the gospel in all the world. I am not. I am saying that you should wisely consider getting your family safe from the influence of the world system and then teach them how to evangelize like they are in the days of Noah, with an Ark ready to be used of God for the protection of His children. The plain fact is Preterism is just wrong and Futurism is just as bad, but the absolute greatest danger to the Church right now is the Post-Mill fallacy that is abounding in Protestantism.
So much for the diatribe. See you soon, Lord willing.
Looking forward to sharing how God took a family of TEN with ZERO income and moved them out of the city and into a bountiful estate by His grace and our earnest prayer. I encourage those of you still on the fence about the how and when to get out of Babylon to PRAY. Really. Don't just think about it, but pour out your heart's desire to the Lord for His mercy in helping you get as far away from the coming crisis as possible.
For my confused and confessional friends, please do not think I am suggesting giving up our mission to proclaim the gospel in all the world. I am not. I am saying that you should wisely consider getting your family safe from the influence of the world system and then teach them how to evangelize like they are in the days of Noah, with an Ark ready to be used of God for the protection of His children. The plain fact is Preterism is just wrong and Futurism is just as bad, but the absolute greatest danger to the Church right now is the Post-Mill fallacy that is abounding in Protestantism.
So much for the diatribe. See you soon, Lord willing.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Country Roads, Take me home!
After many months of questionable preparation and self-doubt, we have finally decided that West Virginia is going to be our new home.
In actuality, we decided some months ago but with all the excitement in our daily lives I simply had no time for something like blogging about my move. Now things are different. We are excited!
And we are leaving very soon.
July 5th is the day when we will roll up the rugs on the old homestead and pack the wagon down Florida Hill-billy style for the long trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains and seemingly back in time a hundred years, to the still very Wild and Beautiful mountains of West Virginia!
Near to the inlet of the fertile Ohio Valley is where we are headed. However, being a man destitute of all of the means and ways of this world's fortune, we will be stopping a bit short of that rich, loamy land long known for it's tendency to triple even the most haphazard labors of it's blessed inhabitants. Instead, our little caravan of pilgrims will end our trek while still within the Gilpin-Upshur laden range of the Allegheny foot-hills, where man's best efforts to yield his daily bread are most assuredly, by the sweat of his brow!
The locals call the sloping mountain-side of slip soil that I am stopping upon a holler', but being ever the romantic optimist, I prefer to describe it as a hamlet-on-high! It is nearly 11 acres nestled between two peaks of a very long and expansive ridge. The road of sorts, that leads up to the entrance of my property was at one time the access point where mule driven well-men climbed to the ridge top to travel along an odd shaped, winding path in the forest heights in order to reach the various wells of natural gas that still dot the area. Of the several times that we have gone there to prepare our little cabin, most afforded motorized entry to the actual living site. A few occasions where too wet and slippery, and resulted in a rather long and steep walk to get to the shelter among the trees where our beds are housed! This is something that we hope to correct in time, but is perfectly in keeping with the one, most prevalent difference between the aforementioned Valley of ease, and our given plot of life's toil...MUD! If there is one thing that we know about our new life, it is the sure and certain fact that we will never again have to worry about sand getting tracked onto the carpet. In fact, we are glad to announce that the whole expense of carpeting is another thing that we will be able to fore-go in our new domicile.
What an adventure!
I will be updating as often as possible once we get there, via the local Public Library computer since we are 100% off-grid and about 10 country miles from town and I expect that gas will still cost money. We will be working tirelessly to get a water catchment system up and running, along with finishing the Atlas Ram Pump which I plan to build. As you can imagine, water is pretty important, even in West Virginia ;), and we have none coming to the property by the "normal" venues. My long term goal is to have a deep well drilled and attach a solar outfit, coupled with a 10,000 gallon cistern which will gravity feed the property just like a water tower used to do in towns across the country. This runs between $4-$7k from what we have gathered in our research. Research is about the only part we have gathered....I am still disabled and show no improvement from all the latest medical wisdom that I have received this past 12 months. I had a period where it seemed that the spinal injections and my inversion table seemed to be working, so being a father of a large family I figured that, if these things were working, I should be too! That lasted about a week and I ended up pushing around my old rolling walker, and making nightly visits to the local E.R. because of the pain. End result...another disc herniation and a few new neurological twitches that I have learned to deal with. Lesson learned: Degenerative Disc disease is a part of me. I am learning a new argument for my quiver-full theology! Large families are very practical, AND are always mentioned as a blessing of God! No complaints here. We are amazed at the goodness of God in supplying this estate to us! Until we get the well system, we plan to make use of the Ram pump by utilizing the huge seasonal spring volume on the property. It is enough to provide 100% of our needs when things are wet. We have figured out a few ways to deal with the changing locations of the wet-weather springs and to "trap" the run-off into a few main areas for use. This will involve a week, or two with a ditch-witch trenching machine and a few hundred feet of concrete in places, but is still doable for around $1200 we figure. I got the idea while driving through beautiful Virginia along the Interstate. They really do a better job of managing the water run-off by the roads there, and I noticed that they did this by installing long sections of concrete lined ditches right down the side of the mountains! The idea is to find several areas where a lateral ditch is cut that will catch the whole mountainside at the foot of each landing, and then cutting in several main branches for the water to escape, thus forming a man-made drainage system that can easily be converged at some points to provide a usable flow of several gallons per minute, and VOILA! You now have enough water to pressure a Ram-pump for cistern storage. I have walked the land and drawn the plans. This is a very achievable system and I can't wait to be able to start. All in the Lord's time and provision. One thing that I have learned, is that God delights in answering prayer. I can't wait to see how He answers these!
What an adventure!
God has blessed in so many ways and through so many people as we prepare for this new chapter in our pilgrimage here below. We look forward to the next few years of learning new skills and developing a fuller Christian understanding of the agrarian lifestyle.
I am not calling it "Christian Agrarianism" anymore because this title has become a stumbling block for some of my brothers, but I will still say that we are consciously and joyfully seeking a life of simplicity and one with an agricultural basis as part of our understanding of living an obedient Christian life in this current time. Not that some wealthy, city dwelling brethren may not be able to properly prepare for the next 20 years where he is, I am just saying that for a financially destitute individual like myself, it seems that the wisest path for me, is to develop a comfort with sustenance living now, rather than having it forced upon me after years of soft living and fattening up on the Food stamp system. I have had that most of my life and will be well prepared if American Socialism pulls-one-out-of-the-hat and we all get free EVERYTHING over the next 20 years. I will need little survival training to figure out how to choose a PIN number and load up the grocery cart with frozen Chinese food and potato chips! BUT, if things don't exactly turn out that way, and the next few years begin to look like the facts of today indicate instead of like the Information Bureau, ( News Agencies), suggest, I will have absolutely zero real knowledge of how to survive even a few months without the current system of industrialized food and travel unless I start preparing now.
God has forced the preparation upon me by bringing me into poverty. I praise the God who has always cared for me.It will be exciting to see what He does in our lives over this next year.
May we be found faithful. In lean times, or richness.
What an adventure!
In actuality, we decided some months ago but with all the excitement in our daily lives I simply had no time for something like blogging about my move. Now things are different. We are excited!
And we are leaving very soon.
July 5th is the day when we will roll up the rugs on the old homestead and pack the wagon down Florida Hill-billy style for the long trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains and seemingly back in time a hundred years, to the still very Wild and Beautiful mountains of West Virginia!
Near to the inlet of the fertile Ohio Valley is where we are headed. However, being a man destitute of all of the means and ways of this world's fortune, we will be stopping a bit short of that rich, loamy land long known for it's tendency to triple even the most haphazard labors of it's blessed inhabitants. Instead, our little caravan of pilgrims will end our trek while still within the Gilpin-Upshur laden range of the Allegheny foot-hills, where man's best efforts to yield his daily bread are most assuredly, by the sweat of his brow!
The locals call the sloping mountain-side of slip soil that I am stopping upon a holler', but being ever the romantic optimist, I prefer to describe it as a hamlet-on-high! It is nearly 11 acres nestled between two peaks of a very long and expansive ridge. The road of sorts, that leads up to the entrance of my property was at one time the access point where mule driven well-men climbed to the ridge top to travel along an odd shaped, winding path in the forest heights in order to reach the various wells of natural gas that still dot the area. Of the several times that we have gone there to prepare our little cabin, most afforded motorized entry to the actual living site. A few occasions where too wet and slippery, and resulted in a rather long and steep walk to get to the shelter among the trees where our beds are housed! This is something that we hope to correct in time, but is perfectly in keeping with the one, most prevalent difference between the aforementioned Valley of ease, and our given plot of life's toil...MUD! If there is one thing that we know about our new life, it is the sure and certain fact that we will never again have to worry about sand getting tracked onto the carpet. In fact, we are glad to announce that the whole expense of carpeting is another thing that we will be able to fore-go in our new domicile.
What an adventure!
I will be updating as often as possible once we get there, via the local Public Library computer since we are 100% off-grid and about 10 country miles from town and I expect that gas will still cost money. We will be working tirelessly to get a water catchment system up and running, along with finishing the Atlas Ram Pump which I plan to build. As you can imagine, water is pretty important, even in West Virginia ;), and we have none coming to the property by the "normal" venues. My long term goal is to have a deep well drilled and attach a solar outfit, coupled with a 10,000 gallon cistern which will gravity feed the property just like a water tower used to do in towns across the country. This runs between $4-$7k from what we have gathered in our research. Research is about the only part we have gathered....I am still disabled and show no improvement from all the latest medical wisdom that I have received this past 12 months. I had a period where it seemed that the spinal injections and my inversion table seemed to be working, so being a father of a large family I figured that, if these things were working, I should be too! That lasted about a week and I ended up pushing around my old rolling walker, and making nightly visits to the local E.R. because of the pain. End result...another disc herniation and a few new neurological twitches that I have learned to deal with. Lesson learned: Degenerative Disc disease is a part of me. I am learning a new argument for my quiver-full theology! Large families are very practical, AND are always mentioned as a blessing of God! No complaints here. We are amazed at the goodness of God in supplying this estate to us! Until we get the well system, we plan to make use of the Ram pump by utilizing the huge seasonal spring volume on the property. It is enough to provide 100% of our needs when things are wet. We have figured out a few ways to deal with the changing locations of the wet-weather springs and to "trap" the run-off into a few main areas for use. This will involve a week, or two with a ditch-witch trenching machine and a few hundred feet of concrete in places, but is still doable for around $1200 we figure. I got the idea while driving through beautiful Virginia along the Interstate. They really do a better job of managing the water run-off by the roads there, and I noticed that they did this by installing long sections of concrete lined ditches right down the side of the mountains! The idea is to find several areas where a lateral ditch is cut that will catch the whole mountainside at the foot of each landing, and then cutting in several main branches for the water to escape, thus forming a man-made drainage system that can easily be converged at some points to provide a usable flow of several gallons per minute, and VOILA! You now have enough water to pressure a Ram-pump for cistern storage. I have walked the land and drawn the plans. This is a very achievable system and I can't wait to be able to start. All in the Lord's time and provision. One thing that I have learned, is that God delights in answering prayer. I can't wait to see how He answers these!
What an adventure!
God has blessed in so many ways and through so many people as we prepare for this new chapter in our pilgrimage here below. We look forward to the next few years of learning new skills and developing a fuller Christian understanding of the agrarian lifestyle.
I am not calling it "Christian Agrarianism" anymore because this title has become a stumbling block for some of my brothers, but I will still say that we are consciously and joyfully seeking a life of simplicity and one with an agricultural basis as part of our understanding of living an obedient Christian life in this current time. Not that some wealthy, city dwelling brethren may not be able to properly prepare for the next 20 years where he is, I am just saying that for a financially destitute individual like myself, it seems that the wisest path for me, is to develop a comfort with sustenance living now, rather than having it forced upon me after years of soft living and fattening up on the Food stamp system. I have had that most of my life and will be well prepared if American Socialism pulls-one-out-of-the-hat and we all get free EVERYTHING over the next 20 years. I will need little survival training to figure out how to choose a PIN number and load up the grocery cart with frozen Chinese food and potato chips! BUT, if things don't exactly turn out that way, and the next few years begin to look like the facts of today indicate instead of like the Information Bureau, ( News Agencies), suggest, I will have absolutely zero real knowledge of how to survive even a few months without the current system of industrialized food and travel unless I start preparing now.
God has forced the preparation upon me by bringing me into poverty. I praise the God who has always cared for me.It will be exciting to see what He does in our lives over this next year.
May we be found faithful. In lean times, or richness.
What an adventure!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Been a while
Glad to be home from the hospital for the moment. Look forward to catching up while there is still a grid around...
Seems like the Lord is being very gracious with all the warning shots lately.
Hope to update soon on the West Virginia happenings and some related news.
Seems like the Lord is being very gracious with all the warning shots lately.
Hope to update soon on the West Virginia happenings and some related news.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 16th,2009
As some of you know I have gone through a series of spinal injections in recent months that has left me in fairly bad condition. Lately, the bad effects have started wearing off and I have even wondered if the shots might actually be doing some good. But, as each day brings the same thing i am more convinced than ever that these injections have permanently damaged some new areas of my nerve centers in some way. Still, they say that the vast majority are greatly helped by these procedures and that I am one of those 'few' that 'do not respond well'.
For me it has been a nightmare of paralysis and pain in the lower portion of my body. Thankfully, i have regained use of my left leg but the weakness is pronounced and the p-a-i-n is bad stuff. Several nights were spent in local emergency rooms getting sedated that I might rest some. The last few days have been a needed break in the cycle and I am very thankful to the Lord that I am still able to think and remain free of the constant influence of narcotics. This has been a serious concern as I have entered into official training as a ministerial candidate within denomination. I continue to seek God's will in these matters and have filed for S.S.D.I. as a result of being out of work for almost 2 years now. it is not the best situation and I certainly tend to rant against abusive watse of programs like S.S. but I have little choice at this time. I am seeking to keep my family afloat and our nearly $16,000 mortgage from defaulting. actually, this is my Pastor's motgage and that is all the more reason i want to fight and save his property. His land was paid for and free until I was hurt and he bought a mobile home for my family to move into. The guy has paid my lights as well, every single month since my injury. Well, except for the blessing I received last year from the Piper family which kept us afloat for over 6 months!
Just continue to pray that God will help the SS process a fast one as healing seems unlikely at the moment.
We are not wanting to complain alot as there are too many pro's out there doing that now. Rather, we hope to convey our trust in the Lord and our gratefulness for the mercy we have been shown. Most any one else would have been sent to a homeless shelter a long time ago. We even had some one buy us an 8 month supply of toilet paper about 7 months ago! It is amazing what you become thankful for in hard times!
I think many more of us will have to learn this in the coming days as our judgement continues nationally. We will pray for one another and fulfill the law of Christ.
For me it has been a nightmare of paralysis and pain in the lower portion of my body. Thankfully, i have regained use of my left leg but the weakness is pronounced and the p-a-i-n is bad stuff. Several nights were spent in local emergency rooms getting sedated that I might rest some. The last few days have been a needed break in the cycle and I am very thankful to the Lord that I am still able to think and remain free of the constant influence of narcotics. This has been a serious concern as I have entered into official training as a ministerial candidate within denomination. I continue to seek God's will in these matters and have filed for S.S.D.I. as a result of being out of work for almost 2 years now. it is not the best situation and I certainly tend to rant against abusive watse of programs like S.S. but I have little choice at this time. I am seeking to keep my family afloat and our nearly $16,000 mortgage from defaulting. actually, this is my Pastor's motgage and that is all the more reason i want to fight and save his property. His land was paid for and free until I was hurt and he bought a mobile home for my family to move into. The guy has paid my lights as well, every single month since my injury. Well, except for the blessing I received last year from the Piper family which kept us afloat for over 6 months!
Just continue to pray that God will help the SS process a fast one as healing seems unlikely at the moment.
We are not wanting to complain alot as there are too many pro's out there doing that now. Rather, we hope to convey our trust in the Lord and our gratefulness for the mercy we have been shown. Most any one else would have been sent to a homeless shelter a long time ago. We even had some one buy us an 8 month supply of toilet paper about 7 months ago! It is amazing what you become thankful for in hard times!
I think many more of us will have to learn this in the coming days as our judgement continues nationally. We will pray for one another and fulfill the law of Christ.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Time flies when your busy
Well, today we are packing for our return trip to WV and I still haven't posted the first trip! I guess I'm a pretty unreliable read, but I will try and get better when we return.
I plan on doing some study on blogging to learn a bit more about it, so hopefully it will have been worth the wait.
Also, please continue to pray for my health situation. The doctors are now leaning away from surgery and have recommended full disability. As you can well imagine, this doesn't exactly fit into my worldview. While many of my countrymen would be thrilled at the idea of getting a disability check from the govt. I am not one of them. Here we stand on the very end of the Empire, and they are trying to encourage me to sign on for a bigger role in the pillaging of my fellow man before they finish their song!
I am hoping that a modest adjustment can be made that will allow me to live and work on our land without the need for drugs. And without the governments involvement with any part of my existence. Please pray with me about these things as you have opportunity.
Many thanks, and see you in a few weeks.
I plan on doing some study on blogging to learn a bit more about it, so hopefully it will have been worth the wait.
Also, please continue to pray for my health situation. The doctors are now leaning away from surgery and have recommended full disability. As you can well imagine, this doesn't exactly fit into my worldview. While many of my countrymen would be thrilled at the idea of getting a disability check from the govt. I am not one of them. Here we stand on the very end of the Empire, and they are trying to encourage me to sign on for a bigger role in the pillaging of my fellow man before they finish their song!
I am hoping that a modest adjustment can be made that will allow me to live and work on our land without the need for drugs. And without the governments involvement with any part of my existence. Please pray with me about these things as you have opportunity.
Many thanks, and see you in a few weeks.
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