Daily Life Archives • Page 3 of 29 • The Littlest Way

March 29, 2015 by Jenny

Daybook Online Journal: Homesteading on a Small Farm

Welcome to my weekly Sunday post, Daybook Online Journal. This is a post where I gather all the ordinary things that happen or are happening in my day to day. Things like what I’m reading or listening to…eating and cleaning and learning…These are the small moments that make up my blessed daily life; and I want to remember them. If you blog, please link up below with your Daybook Online Journal post. If you don’t have a blog, no worries, just leave your “post” in the comments. You can use my prompts or make up your own to include items important to you; mine change depending on season and circumstance.

I know, two days in a row on this whole Homesteading on a Small Farm topic. I won’t write about it all day everyday, especially when it’s July and about 250° with humidity in the shade. But for now, it’s early Spring, there are no weeds to pull and only ideals to draw up and plans to try to avoid my predictable homesteading demise come the middle of Summer.

Daybook Online Journal: Homesteading on a Small Farm

Thanking God for…
::Bernadette calling to have lunch with me on her lunch break from work
::avocados stuffed with chicken and queso
::shoe shopping with my girls
::visiting an old friend with my girls
::watching my boys and Chris move a couple of steers
::a deal made to get half a cow the end of the summer
::Chris’ excitement over running a few head of cattle here on the small farm
::talking gardening stuff with Chris
:: doing life with Chris

Praying…
I am praying for:
::my children
::my Godchildren
::mommas…this is a HARD vocation

Pondering…
There are a couple of things I’m pondering that will require their own posts. I’m also still just completely undone by Kara Tippetts book, The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard.

Listening to…
As close to nothing as possible in this house full of life. Almost everyone is asleep or off doing something quietly.

Reading…
My Bible

Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year

Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Bible Journaling…

Around the House…
It’s Holy week and I want to make it a good one. Kendra has some great suggestions as does Catholic Culture.

In the Kitchen…
I made a large pot of beans Saturday. These went into Frito Chili Pie Saturday night and will be used for refried beans throughout the week. I am so excited to try Briana’s Bullet Proof Chai. I have been missing my hot Chai since eating more Trim Healthy Mama friendly this past week and I’m not a coffee drinker. I just need some protein powder and I’ll have everything I need.

Saving Money…
Chris worked out a deal with our neighbor so he can use some of our pasture for grazing and in return we’ll get some meat for the freezer. We also now enough eggs that we can start selling some.

Captured…

Leo bringing in some eggs from the coop.

An InLinkz Link-up

March 28, 2015 by Jenny

Here and There: Homesteading on a Small Farm

This is my weekly, if I can, Here and There post. These are some of the finds I have enjoyed this past week across the world wide web. This week I’m reading, thinking and talking about Homesteading on a Small Farm. That will actually become a recurring category here at The Littlest Way, some of you may remember when I briefly blogged at Big Family Small Farm? Anyway, don’t be surprised by occasional posts detailing the littlest way of gardening, chickens, cows, canning, and such. Oh and please share your Here and There finds in the comments.

First, in addition to the Blue Highway’s version of Wondrous Love, I am completely addicted to Chelsea Moon’s Youtube channel singing hymns. Give it a listen while reading through this post.

I checked out a stack of books from the library this week. I’ve read or at least read through some of these before:

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!

I read this a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so I checked it out again. Can I just say right now, I wish I had the same enthusiasm for homesteading on a small farm in August as I do in March-May.

Back to my list of books I checked out…The Mini Farming Handbook, Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard farming and home skills for self-sufficient living, Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre. Those are just the ones I’ve gotten in. I also checked out Beef Cattle: Keeping a Small-Scale Herd for Pleasure and Profit for Chris. He is constantly scouring the internet for cattle for sale and talking to anyone we know who has cows so he can learn.

Getting off the “homesteading” topic which…I don’t really know I’m a “homesteader” by the way. I love fresh tomatoes, eggs and meat, have lots of hands to help–willing or unwilling–and the space to pursue growing and raising food. Does that make me a homesteader? I don’t seem to fit the typical homesteader I’m finding on Youtube.

I read this post this week, I’m Not a Liar but Facebook Sure is.

Life is not 1 dimensional. There are always things happening simultaneously in our lives and none of the pictures we post on social media can adequately portray that.

I am reading The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard right now and it is completely.undoing.me…in a very good way. I will share a post on it soon, but right now I am marinating in her words.

Along with Kara’s book, I also read a very thought provoking post over at California to Korea, Why We Don’t Sleep Train. I left a comment for Micaela and reply struck me profoundly. In it she says, “Brilliant! It took me a long time to trust my parenting instincts. For better or worse, I was always looking “out there” to see what others were doing. When I gained some confidence, I also gained joy. Our family is happier now that I worry less about what other people are doing.”

When my children were babies, I parented by instinct. I mention in my comment I knew what I didn’t want to do, but was unsure of what I wanted to do…until I listened to my instincts. As my children have grown in to teens, I’ve listened less to my instincts and looked “out there.” I did not even realize this until Micaela’s reply to original comment. WOW! I cannot begin to tell you where that realization has taken me the last couple of days. I’ve felt confused, guilt ridden, freed and curious. It’s time I started listening to my instinct again as a momma.

That wraps up my Here and There post this weekend. I’m not even kidding when I tell you I am in full rumination mode from Kara’s book and Micaela’s comment. Take some time today to listen to yourself ok.

March 25, 2015 by Jenny

Prayer Journal: Formal Prayers

In addition to the prayers I composed for my prayer journal, I also pray various more “formal” prayers. These prayers have been around longer than me, some composed by saints and many just say what my heart desires by my words haven’t formed yet. Here are some of my favorites, along with the printable prayers to add to your own prayer journal.

Prayer Journal: Formal Prayers

In my last post introducing my prayer journal, I shared the prayers I had composed for myself, my husband and our children. In this post I’d like to share some more “formal” prayers to be added to my prayer journal. Some of these I have been praying for years, like my Morning Offering. Others are fairly new. They are such beautifully composed prayers I cannot wait until they become old favorites.

First though I want to share a couple of beautiful quotes I printed out years ago and kept in a binder full of various prayers, before I had an “official” prayer journal.

The morning meditation is the plan of battle for the entire day while the examination of conscience is the review of the ordeal of that battlefield. The enemy of the soul strives to convince us to shorten these spiritual exercises. Without them though we cannot live.
–St. Maximilian Kolbe

‘We must speak to God as a friend speaks to his friend, servant to his master; now asking some favor, now acknowledging our faults, and communicating to Him all that concerns us, our thoughts, our fears, our projects, our desires, and in all things seeking His counsel.’
–St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finally, these prayers are not meant to be a burden or a cause of stress over not saying the “right” prayers at the “right” time. These prayers are meant to be a starting point or a guide to increase and deepen our prayer life, not burden our already busy day. To quotes St. Teresa of Avila, “Jacob did not cease to be a Saint because he had to attend to his flocks.” And St. Frances of Rome, “It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping.”

Here is a link for the more formal prayers to add to your prayer journal.

Traditional Prayers

Here is a lovely book for mothers which also contains many prayers, Mother Love: A Manual for Christian Mothers, with Instructions for the Archconfraternity. And to get the rest of the original prayers I composed, please visit this post, Prayer Journal: Video and Resources.

March 22, 2015 by Jenny

Daybook Online Journal: Spring?

Thanking God for…
::green grass
::puddles which mean rain
::chickens scratching for worms
::riding Luke’s new mini bike
::watching Bridget’s first soccer game of the season
::eating better

Praying…
I am praying many, many prayers for my children and husband who are exposed to the world much more than I am. In addition to the prayers I composed for my husband and children, I also pray more “formal” prayers of the Church I will share in a future post. I am praying for all those who have asked and especially those who have not asked but need them.

Pondering…
When it comes to parenting, I knew what I didn’t want to do and what I did not want my family to look like…but that left a big, wide open expanse of possibilities. Although I am not a follower, I do try to glean the best from what I consider “success” stories of parenting. But guess what, what I see on the outside, does not reveal the depth and width of the parenting struggles made behind closed doors to get to the external result I see. All that to say, over the weekend I started asking God, “What does our family ways look like?” I can gather good ideas and inspiration, but if it’s not our family ways, it will not work in our family; it would be like cramming a round peg into a square hole.

Listening to…
Veronica is humming and I’m listening to Chelsea Moon Hymn Project, Vol. 2

Reading…
My Bible

Divine Intimacy

Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Bible Journaling…
Instead of journaling in My Bible the other day, I used a notebook to journal this verse that stood out in my daily devotional,
Divine Intimacy. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Around the House…
I cleaned on my bedroom some more this week. I have been encouraged by others who are purging the unnecessary this Lent so I went back through, this time seriously looking at my books. I cleared out around a dozen, although Anna came and took an Herb book because she wanted to keep it. I’m sure there are more I could get rid of but this is a good start. I also have another bag of clothes to giveaway from Leo and I.

In the Kitchen…
I am already feeling better since I’ve been eating better this week and I do think dairy is a problem for me. I am trying hard to wrap my mind around no cheese for a time. Cheese is my go to quick protein. On another note, I made a delicious Cauliflower Hash the other night–dairy and gluten free and THM-S.

Captured…

Chris riding Luke’s new minibike

An InLinkz Link-up

March 21, 2015 by Jenny

Here and There: Prayer, Chickens and Truth

This is my weekly, if I can, Here and There posts. These are some of the finds I have enjoyed this past week across the world wide web. And what do you think about that title? Should cover about everything in life huh? Share your finds in the comments.

Here and There: Prayer, Chickens and Truth

Now this was an interesting read, What it’s Like to Go Without Complaining For a Month. Doesn’t it seem like complaining is contagious? Consider what happens in your house when one person starts…they all join in eventually it seems people start to complain about the complaining!

When we complain, our brains release stress hormones that harm neural connections in areas used for problem solving and other cognitive functions. This also happens when we listen to someone else moan and groan. “It’s as bad as secondhand smoke,” Gordon says. “It’s secondhand complaining.”

I loved this post, Dear Facebook, it’s Time to Let You Go.

But it also got worse. I started to find that I would not only get annoyed by some of the more offensive posts, but also those who tried to come between us–namely the two little people who kept calling me “Mommy.” They wanted my full attention, but so did you, always luring me in with a picture of an old high school friend or a post I just had to read right then and there. You’d sweep me off my feet and were so much more exciting at times than the cleaning and cooking that was in front of me. You always had such new and fresh ideas to share with me, and I started to realize that I wanted to be with you more, at times, than where I actually was. We were just spending too much time together.

Connie Rossini has some of the best posts about prayer and this one, Mental Prayer for Adolescents, is another one. She also has a new book coming out soon, A Spiritual Growth Plan for Your Choleric Child. A couple of my children (as well as myself) are choleric so I’m looking forward to her insight.

I appreciated this post on The Real Cost of Fresh Backyard Eggs. I do not have the mathematical and analytically accurate brain the author does so I appreciated her cost breakdown…and now I know.

I revisited an older post from Elizabeth Foss, What I’m Never Going to Tell You. I never tire of gleaning nuggets of wisdom from Elizabeth and her ways. And I’m there, each day brings me closer to the fact that these souls I have spent almost every waking moment with, will be ready to go out on their own and make their own way…and all I can do is pray through the fear. I pray through the fear that hopefully I’ve done enough, while not doing too much and that it will all turn out…I’m not sure what word to use here? Good? According to His perfect Will?

So I don’t leave you with promises that all will be rosy if you just work hard enough at it. I only leave you with the promise of His grace in the hard moments, the moments that you are sure you’ve failed at the one thing you’ve worked hardest at your whole life. I leave you this morning with words of hope for mothers in anguish:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.
James 1:2-5

Speaking of Facebook, The Littlest Way has a Facebook page. If you follow that page, you will already know I cannot get enough of this song, Wonderous Love by Blue Highway.

When I’m not listening to it, which is rare, I’m listening to Chelsea Moon sing her version of What Wondrous Love Is This?. I actually like her version of all the old hymns she sings.

What did you read or listen to this week that you shared? Tell me about it in the comments.