Ask Your kids Questions part 2

You can find Part One here:

In reading the gospels in the New Testament, we see that questioning was something Jesus did all the time. He asked a lot of questions. We question our kids as we teach them their catechism and then when they bring us questions about life and culture, we ask them questions right back to allow them to think through the answers themselves. Questions are an awesome motivator for thinking and learning, aren't they? We don't want to just hand our kids pat answers, we want them to own the process of thinking through things Biblically.

My husband Sean and I are believers in Absolute Truth. I know this is an archaic way of thinking. I'm good with being antiquated, it just adds to my charm {wink}. Absolute truth is the belief that there is one absolute truth in life and this truth guides the way we live. Truth isn't determined by our feelings on a topic, our experiences, or our human reasoning. For example, it might seem reasonable for me to divorce Sean if I no longer *feel* love towards him. (Love is an action, not a feeling). As females, not basing our actions or reasoning on our feelings is a difficult thing as the majority of our gender is very much emotionally alive. In life, I have to remind myself constantly to not take things personally, to look at the facts of the relationship between God and I and abandon scrutinizing other people's actions and words. It's not an easy thing, I understand this ~ but if I am challenging my children to choose the harder good over the easier evil, I have to be willing to do this myself.

As a Christian family, we teach our children that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and the basis for the decisions we make in life, the standard to hold up all feelings, experiences and reasoning to. This way of life might not be popular, but I've never seen a life truly surrendered to the gospel regretfully lived.

One thing we've felt the urge to especially teach our children, with the culture around us as it is, specifically church culture, is that we do not pick and choose from the Bible the portions we like and toss the rest because they are inconvenient, uncomfortable or unpopular. Now, please graciously understand that I am not holding myself up as any pillar of excellence. I've seen folks who don't like this way of living pull up an obscure rule from the book of Exodus and say, "well, you don't do this...." as if condemning a human for not living under the law or pointing out human error is justification for abandoning Christianity or church altogether.

*Graciously* is hopefully how we are teaching our children, by example, to treat people who struggle with their relationship with Christ or fully surrendering their lives to Him. Annaliese is old enough and discerns very well when something is off that she hears or sees. She is a very compassionate child and will often remind of the people we need to be pray for and encourage in the Lord.

Jesus made a very important statement that I always point to when this topic comes up. He said that we must be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. If I read our Ella a story and tell her it is true, she will accept that. She does not question what my storytelling motives are, or if she should believe the story, nor does she wonder what other people think about the story being true and base her believing on that. She simply believes because she knows me.
This is the heart we strive to teach our children to have towards God and His words in the Bible.

96 lbs

Turns out, we are crazy strawberry picker people. We picked 91 lbs of strawberries this year.

Junking

I have a friend who loves good old junk as much, if not more than I do. Actually, I have a few friends that like old junk... which makes me ponder on what basis I am choosing my friends, haha.

Living in farm country, there are stashes of green and blue bottles all over from when the old farms would cart their trash to a hillside and dump it over, blue Ball canning jars and all. So to my girlfriend, I say, "oh, I know of a great little dump in the woods...." and she agrees to tag along. I should mention that she lives in the city. Far from trees and woods and snails. Those snails I'll come back to later as they play an integral part to our junking experience.

We drive a bit and then hike. And hike some more along an old unused country road, which just happens to be covered in four foot high grasses at the moment. And since it has been just about the spring of endless rain here, it is covered in dampness. And snails. Not a few snails here and there, oh no, but to the point that when our legs brush against the grasses they fall off by the dozen into our shoes.
Crunch. Squish. Squash.

In the middle of the tall grasses we look down and there are hundreds and hundreds of snails where ever we look. I begin trying to think of marketing schemes for escargot. And we hike on.

We made it to the little dump but the mosquitoes ate us alive, we grabbed a few bottles and high tailed it out of there, our children left to fend for themselves. Okay, not really. We found a dirt field to hike out on.

Never a dull moment with the Hagarty's. Next time we'll wait till the grass is cut and it hasn't been raining and I'll tote along some bug head nets.

Run!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Hebrews 12:1-3a

Dispelling Myths of Homemaking

A few years ago I came across an article bemoaning the job of homemaking. I don’t recall the source because I certainly didn’t bookmark it {big smile}. The author would have convinced me to negate homemaking as a career if I wasn’t already a homemaker and hadn’t experienced the truth and fineness of homemaking first hand. I believe these myths are worth airing out in the open once again...

You can read the rest of my article on homemaking myths here, at Raising Homemakers.

Ask your kids questions

This morning one of our children made a theological statement, obviously overheard and repeated, that caused me to stop and pause and think, "hmmm...wonder where he heard that?" When our kids pipe up with something that I know they didn't hear in our home (!) or ask a question that makes every nerve in my body stand on end ~ I do everything within my power not to freak out. I want our home to be the safe place for questions and answers and so, there aren't any topics which are off limits here.

We were in the van on our way to the library this morning when said child stated such and such, the statement not so much the issue as the question behind it ~ of whether or not there is an absolute truth or whether we can meld our beliefs with the Bible, though they be contrary to one another.

I like to have my kids think out things for themselves and so I ask them a lot of questions, because I know they will be asked tougher questions than the ones I ask them, and I want them ready to give an answer whenever they're asked and by whomever is curious or challenging them.

Here are some of the questions I asked them:

1.) Is there absolute truth? Absolute truth being defined as something is unarguably, undeniably true, for sure and certain.

2.) Is there danger in believing in personal truth?

3.) Is it wise to look to our minds/human reason/intelligence to determine whether the Bible is true?

4.)Why do we look to the Bible to determine how we view and understand the world?

5.) Why is the way we treat people who don't believe in absolute truth so very important?

I'd love to hear your answers, if you've a moment to share in the comments. Our younger kids were tossing me more and more questions left and right as we discussed this and our older two, especially were great at thinking things through. I'll share some of the answers we came up with next.

Vulnerability

I've made myself vulnerable and I'd like an award now, please and thank you. {big smile}

Perhaps you can't relate but you see, I'm a thick skinned sort of girl and while seemingly I shed things like water off a duck's back, more sinks in than I realize. My husband tells me all the time, asks me all the time ~ to talk to him. (Can you believe this?) I know women who would beg for this, plead for this, give up an arm for this. But it is true. My husband, though human and faulted, is pretty awesome.

I took a baby step a few months ago and joined a book study online with a few gals (and one fellow, I think) I knew only from their blogs and with complete strangers I will probably never meet this side of heaven. Safety in anonymity, I thought. I had a place to bare my faults and struggles in an atmosphere full of grace and encouragement. The book study was on the book Equipped to Love by Norm Wakefield, which should be considered classic Christian literature and necessary reading for everyone; I cannot say enough good about this book. Buy it off of half.com and read it. It will open your eyes and convict your heart and open up pathways for God to work wonders of wonders in your heart.

At my husband's urging, I've also been working at building myself real community with other Christian women and I've been so blessed, over and above blessed, to get to know a few different women heart to heart, over tea and babies playing and weeding the garden and purging of our daughter's room of *stuff* together in 90 degree heat and I feel blessed. I am blessed. Though I say "I'm doing the building" it has no doubt been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit as some of us are not even from the same church fellowship. They are awesome women who love the Lord, and the funny part to me is really we are all very different from each other, the common bond being the unity in Christ, and *perhaps* also a genuine appreciation for distressed furniture, tea and handcrafts, and rearranging the rooms in our homes. Last night I typed out a plea for tea to an older (older being lightly stated as she is still quite youthful and lovely) Christian woman I know as there are personal struggles I deal with every day for which I need her counsel. I clicked "send" and gulped and sent more vulnerability out into the world.

One of my girlfriends and I talked a bit last night about our issues with distrust or dislike for women. Admittedly pretty horrible since we are of the species. I am much more comfortable, as a rule, when in a large group of people, to congregate towards my husband and listen in on real and hearty discourse. Give me a good meaty conversation about politics or religion, parenting, the importance of building a Christian home in our nation, or the working of God in our lives and I'm satisfied. I've never been good at making chit-chat.

So while I've made myself a bit more vulnerable sharing with thousands of random, but I'm sure lovely, strangers ~ please join me in taking a step towards trust. And community. I know you may have been brutally hurt by gossip, abandonment, or weary of shallowness ~ but that is not the best of our gender. I can tell you that there are genuine women out there who love the Lord and are humble enough to share their struggles and victories and walk life in community with you. This is my prayer for you tonight.

Hannah

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Buddy Blocks Puzzle Review

I am always on the look out for activities, not mindless ones, as those are plentifully found, but educational and entertaining ones for our Chase (3). Timberdoodle sent us a Buddy Blocks Puzzle, which consist of a wooden box and four block pieces. Each side of each block is a puzzle piece of an animal.
Timberdoodle also sent along their Toddler core curriculum guide, which I'll admit the very name of gives me the willies. I'm definitely not a pro-curricula homeschooler as the very idea of a set curricula bores me, having endured/survived years of Abeka in my youth. I was happy to see it consisted of enjoyable games and activity suggestions to use with a toddler and a listing of what Timberdoodle has to offer - this fun block game being one of its offerings.

Chase love that this was just for him and enjoyed finding each part to each animal. We were able to look on the side of the box to see what each animal looked like and Chase had fun making the animal noises.

This is just the sort of activity I would buy for him to do during his blanket time in the morning while the kids work on their math activities.

Timberdoodle's literature states: "Since helping parents teach their kids is our goal, it also makes sense to start with the little ones. We aren't ever going to be advocating for forced baby geniuses and hours spent at a desk from the time your child can sit. Instead, we want parents and their little ones to get a taste for the joy of learning early, in the natural environment of daily life. In that attempt, we have assembled the best tools we can find into kits for your wee one. In our opinion the best toys are not just toys, but are the safest, sturdiest, most educational tools, you can find, with the final test being whether they are still actually fun for you and your little one."

Timberdoodle has great catalogs, which my kids love to look over, circling their favorite things. You can also follow along with Timberdoodle on Facebook, as well as me - Cultivating Home!

Fine Print: Timberdoodle sent me this product

and I was under no obligation to give a positive review for it.

Fishing

Quiet summer evenings spent picnicking by the lake, marshmallows toasted over dimming coals with perfectly groomed sticks, casting out over blue waters toward end of day and bites on the line for everyone, toes slid over the smooth stone bottom of the lake, pages of a good meaty book open beside me and baby on a quilt in the fading sun, the healing beauty of nature, the captivating scenery of the upstate New York rolling hills and farms on the ride home, windows open to the breeze and then stopping, by a little place that still makes homemade ice cream - raspberry swirl for all.

Woodsman's Pal for Homesteading (and a great Father's Day gift)

Here on our little Cultivating Home homestead, we've been having a busy spring. With the acquisition of a tractor and the ability to plow and furrow the earth, we've expanded the size of our veggie gardens to four times what we've had in our raised beds in previous years. Can anyone say, "hello, weeding"?

Sean's prepared all the gardens and took over the potato planting while I tackled the remainder of the planting and daily morning and evening water and weeding. This afternoon Sean is sharpening his chain saw, getting ready to work on our winter wood, but more on that later.

We have a few trees (junk trees Sean calls them) taking up space and light in the yard from the garden and fruit trees. We aren't keen on just cutting down trees for no reason and have planted an additional 23 trees plus shrubs on our homestead this spring alone.

Sean had read about girdling trees as a method of drying trees out before cutting them down, and this is the method we've been using.

Sean used our Woodman's Pal from Protoolindustries.net to clear out the weeds and growth around the tree he is removing. The Woodsman's Pal has a curved knife hook that pulls anything out and is nice because it catches right around the weeds and small trees at their base. It worked great for this!

We've used it to cut out a lot of unwanted wild grape vines at the back of our property too. The Woodsman's Pal is a great homesteading tool because it has a long sharp edge and then the curved hooded edge on the opposite side. Sean has really enjoyed using it. A few months ago he pointed it out to me online as an item he thought would be useful. I think it will also be handy come butchering time this Autumn.

Since "Made in America" is very important to us, and so very, very important to our nations survival, I appreciate that it is made just a few hours away from our home.

It is 16 1/2 inches long (Sean found himself wishing it were slightly longer) and has a beautiful hardwood handle. We have the Woodsman's Pal Classic and I noticed the Military version has a leather grip, which I'm guessing would have a better grip - not as sleek and smooth as the hardwood. The hardwood handle is easy and comfortable to hold, however. The blade is carbon steel and keeps it's edge, which means you won't be running to sharpen it each time you use it. Sean has used his chainsaw file to sharpen the curved edge.

The mama in me also likes that the Woodman's Pal comes with a sheath that it cannot slip out of. It has heavy duty snaps and velcro holding it in place.

I was excited to get this post up before Father's Day because I know a lot of our readers are homesteading families or country families like us. I think this is a great investment and would also make a great Father's Day gift for husband's who love the outdoors. Good tools are worth their weight in gold.

Fine Print: Pro Tool Industries sent me the Woodsman's pal to review. Our use and review of this product was not influenced in any way and I was under no obligation to give a positive review. If you have a product you would like to see reviewed on Cultivating Home, you can contact us at the link at the top of the page.

Summer Heat Sewing

Temps creeping up into the nineties has proven useful for providing me afternoons out of the gardens and at the sewing machine. if you'll recall, a while ago I was pondering what sort of new sewing machine to purchase. I ended up deciding on a Janome and am so happy with it. It is a speedy and powerful machine.

Here are a few fun projects I've been working on:

A sundress for Addie from vintage butterfly cotton from my stash.



Skirt for little Addie made from a vintage linen I picked up several years ago at a flea market in Germany for about a euro.

And finally, a sweet little embroidered vintage pillowcase made into a sundress for our Ella.

Men's dress shirt to Woman's blouse (a sort of tutorial)

One of my husband's dress shirts had a few small stains but I really liked the cotton it was made from. Not wanting to toss it, this afternoon I did a quickie refurb to it, so I can wear it myself. Start to finish in under an hour while Addie napped.

First I put the shirt on my dress form and cut away the collar. Alternately, you could do these steps without a dress form, but using a dress form makes things much easier.

Cut away the collar right above one of the buttons, so there is still room to button after you add the ruffle.
Next, I inside-outed the shirt and put it back on the dress form and pinned in two darts, one on either side of the back.

Right side it out and check for evenness in your dart making.

Next, put on the shirt and mark where you'd like your sleeves cut. I wanted 3/4 gathered sleeves and so I cut right at my elbow.

Inside out your shirt again and pin two darts down each front side, checking carefully to make sure they are even. The shirt pocket got caught up in one of my darts, which I knew it would, but I like the look it has. You could remove any front pockets beforehand by pulling out the stitches.

With the sleeve portions that you cut off, cut evenly into 2 inch wide strips and sew each strip end to end, making a long rectangular strip. Gather stitch down the middle of it and pull it carefully into even gathers. This piece is your ruffle for around the neckline. No need to hem it or the neckline. Pin it into place.




Sew it into place.

I decided to sew elastic into my sleeves to gather them, since the idea here was to make a men's shirt as feminine as possible. I folded under each sleeve edge 1/4 inch and sewed 1/8 inch elastic the length of my bicep around the inside sleeve.

I love, love this finished project.