Patience makes Perfect...

My mother has always been quick to remind me that since birth I have been impatient.  I was premature by about 3 weeks, and my life has moved at a quick pace since then.  For example, I got my learner's permit the day I turned 15, my driver's license the day I turned 16 and so now every few years I get to celebrate my birthday at the DMV; which is not nearly so exciting when you get older.  After that I headed off to college, got married to the love of my life at age 19, and subsequently graduated college a semester early because I took 21 and 24 credit hours in some semesters.  

My mother happens to be right about another thing: the older I get, the quicker time flies by.  I find myself wanting to slow down to enjoy the little things in life more, but not being able to halt this break-neck headlong rush into the future. For example I haven't posted since last summer! My apologies.  It is not because or an out of words to say, I simply ran out of time.

Now that I have started to teach classes at Sutton General Store in Granville, TN, one of the most valuable lessons I am trying to teach (and at the same time continue to learn myself) is the art of patience.  The premeditated act of slowing oneself down.  It is really amazing how iris the simplest things, and the most manual of activities that help you achieve this.  For instance, taking TIME to knead a ball of dough, giving it TIME to fully rise (twice!), and to bake at the appropriate temperature; all of this TIME invested in the bread makes it that much more delicious.  Not only is it delicious because it has been baked correctly, but you have had an opportunity for the magic of anticipation.

The same concept goes for making soap.  There is a lot of time involved in making soap.  Most of the time you are not actively participating in the process but it isn't until 3 weeks after the initial creation of the soap that you are able to enjoy the use of it.  A garden could take months of attentive nurturing before you ever get to enjoy the literal fruits of your labor. And try rushing a garden...it does not work too well.

We are not made to rush either.  Do you ever feel like your head is going to overflow with the list of things you have to do today or this week?  I do.  Do you ever realize that you left the grocery store without getting the milk, when that is the one thing you came for anyway? I do.  Nature is not designed to run at such a break-neck pace.  Everything has a season and everything happens in its' season.  As I have grown older I have grown much more respect for not "pushing" the seasons along. I am not looking for what's next with a rabid anxiousness that if I don't get there right away I will fall behind.  I do look forward to the coming events in life, but not in such a way as to drown out my present with the pursuit of my future.

It is when we look at the little things: the chickens drinking out of the bird bath, or the mouse nest in the wood pile, or the chortling song of Sandhill Cranes flying overhead, that we can truly accept TIME for what it is.  It is not an obstacle to get around, but it is a gift to be savored.  All good things take time.  There are no real shortcuts to quality.  And for those of you, who like me, have spent a large portion of your life combating time, good things also take patience.

Patience has been a particular challenge, (one I still struggle through), but it has also been the most rewarding of pursuits.  I really encourage you to look for those little things that take patience to find and to truly see because patience makes perfect.

A Light in the Attic...

We are now in the process of shedding some light in our old farm house attic.  Attic really is a shabby word for the two "rooms"  that compose our upstairs; yet with only a pocket stair case and being poorly finished it is hard to call it an honest room.  Not for long! 

Since February I have been concocting this delightful plan to renovate the upstairs and turn it into my secret hideaway.  As you can see below, It consists of old wood board walls, ramshackle windows and in one of the two rooms....layers of hideous wall paper.

It was terrifying and amazing to see what all came out from behind the layers of paper.  I will say after only 2 layers of hideous wall paper, some of the layers beneath were surprisingly colorful, ornate and graceful.  The very top layer was a putrid sea foam green painted thick cardboard like wallpaper.  There was also a small patch of paper that was avocado green and goldenrod yellow small print roses on this layer.  Beneath these layers though was an array of lovely cream and silver and blue papers.

There were also bits of newspaper crammed into the small cracks between some of the boards...(to see the front porch through the walls reinforces to fact that these spaces are not yet true rooms!) 

Tomorrow we should scrape off the final pieces of the odious wall paper and then I shall paint.  Stay tuned...

Till Next Time,
Sister Sarah

That Man of Mine...

I am truly blessed when it comes to the men in my life.  They are courageous, funny and smart.  Other skills vary from computer genius to life of the party to renaissance man.  I happen to be married to the renaissance man.  He is always working to improve our humble abode.  You can see his latest endeavors below. 

We have an amazing neighbor, which is a rare thing these days; unfortunately he may be moving soon.  My husband has always lived by the policy "a good fence makes a good neighbor" so we prepared for whomever may end up s our neighbor by making a simple cedar line fence.  I am one who thinks fences are un-welcoming, but even I am glad to have the fence. 

His other project is even more useful...he made an arch out of a cedar branch for our bird feeders.  We have some very silly birds that inhabit our front yard.  The wren (above) and her mate spend the majority of the day chiding each other, and then decide that last years dead hanging geranium plant is the best place to set aside their differences in the hopes of some sleep.  Sound like any couple you know? 

I know it is hard to make a relationship work...there is a reason that they call it work.  Even though my renaissance man and I have had our hard times, the deep rooted and underlying commitment to one another and respect for one another eventually drowns out the intermittent "chiding" of our day to day lives. 

I know that sometimes we confuse Christianity as a "religion", but in reality it too is a relationship.  Many times in the Old Testament, God punished the Israelites for forgetting about Him.  We need to remember to work not only on our earthly relationships, but our eternal one also.  How are your relationships doing?

The description of this blog is "A Source for Simple Living"...  the simplest, best, most fulfilling way to live is in a relationship with God through Christ Jesus.  He is the Source.

Till Next Time,

Sarah

Keeper of the Forest...

Where we live there aren't many large, old trees.  As a matter of fact, we live near at least 3 different lumber mills.  That's all fine and good, but it really makes finding a huge tree special.  One of my friends showed us a mammoth.  It towered over all the other trees in the forest, even though the top had fallen out of it years ago. 

Unfortunately for this tree, some of our spring storms proved too powerful and a huge limb fell out of it.  For scale, my husband is pictured sitting on the fallen limb.  It was so big, you could not even wrap your arms around it...or your legs.  The limb alone was larger than all the other trees in the area.  You see the small hole in the tree at the bottom of the picture?  In real life that hole is large enough for a full grown man to slide into.  The tree is totally hollow, making it the perfect place for all sorts of critters to live. 

It was so neat to find such a massive tree.  It makes me wonder what it had seen go by through the years?  Farms, I am sure, maybe even the first settlers in the area?  It also makes me wonder what preserved this one tree when its peers were logged out?  I suppose that is one of my favorite things about trees...they keep growing for years.  Shouldn't we do the same?  Not necessarily in height and girth, but should we not grow from the experiences of our life.  Some will leave us with scars, like the hole in the tree; but the beautiful thing is we can use those scars for good.  The tree was a home for wildlife because of its scars.  What can you do to keep growing in spite of your scars?

Till Next Time,

Sarah

The Bread of Life...

Man cannot live on bread alone....but in my house we like to try.  I love bread; it is a true weakness of mine. Sweet breads, savory breads... You name it, I'll eat it.  I grew up in a house where healthy eating was just a part of life, but my husband grew up in a house where down home country cooking was the norm.  For instance, I like skim milk... he likes whole milk...so now we buy 2%.  When I married him, I could cook the meals I grew up with, but not much else.  Since then, he has helped me re-learn how to cook, and now I am able to unashamedly use butter rather than Pam.  It is all about moderation and balance.  Move a lot, eat a little.  In the hopes of furthering my cooking/baking skills I decided to under take something that my wonderful mother could never quite master...baking yeast breads.  I started out with something small...dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls, and then I decided to take on loaves...and why not start with my favorite bread.. Sourdough Bread!  YUMM.  Twelve days ago I began to sour the starter, and yesterday, I successfully made two beautiful loaves of sourdough bread. 

As I said before, I love bread, and I eat it every day.  There are so many things we need to do daily to keep a balanced life.  I struggle finding the time for everything.  Between my job, and house work; trying to eat right and exercise; reading the Word and investing quality time in relationships - often something doesn't make the cut.  You have to really evaluate your priorities.  Some of those things you simply have to do to exist, like work and cleanliness.  Others you can put off for a time, but in the end they are just as essential to existing as bread, like exercise and eating right.  The last category may be different for every individual, but it is no less important; investing in those relationships, both with individuals and with God provides the fulfillment and satisfaction we all crave in our life. 

So, I ask myself...can we really exist without these things all working together in balance to become the bread of life?  How do we find that balance?

Till Next Time,
Sarah

Strictly for the Chickens...

One of my favorite pass times is bird watching.  In this case, I am watching my small flock of yard birds.  "Rooster" my rooster was rescued from an imminent appearance on one of my friend's dinner table, and his harem of 5 hens came from my in laws.

When I was first offered "Rooster" back during the Christmas season, we had only an old dog pen in our yard.  Our sweet Bassador Pugsley was evicted from his rarely used abode (he sleeps on the couch in the house most of the time), and the pen was renovated to make room for the winged ones. 

After determining the location of the would be chicken coop and pen, it was time to build.  Now, I have helped occasionally with some woodworking projects and I was convinced that it would be a simple project.  We would use wood that came from a half-way fallen down shack behind our house, and other materials would not be hard to come by.  After a very interesting battle tearing down the old shed, only a handful of boards were salvaged, but most of the tin was still usable.  I ran to the hardware store to acquire the remaining supplies.  The next day was dreary and yucky, but I was able to get my 4 corner posts in the ground....they don't need to be square and level right??  Needless to say, I am not the budding woodworker I had hoped I was.  My handy husband came to my rescue, and now, not only does the chicken coop have a better roof than our house, it is also more square and level than our house.  (I will tell the full story of our 93 year old house on another post soon.) 

So you can see, what was once for a dog, and then a project for my husband and and I is now Strictly for the Chickens...

Till Next Time,

Sarah