Cheekuns and more…

Well now, things sure have been full on since I last wrote. I keep meaning to sit down and organise my thoughts on here but life has a tendency of taking over at times.

Most recently hubby has made the decision to get his Contractor's License and start up his own Construction business. It's not quite off the ground just yet but he's taking care of all the necessary steps to get it going. He and our oldest son (just turned 18 ugh feeling OLD here) will be taking a Hempcrete course next month making them the only ones certified in our state (that we know of) to actually build these amazing Eco-friendly homes!

Because things with the business are underway and have changed our plans a bit, I've decided to get back into one of my all time loves - chicken raising! It was always the best stress reliever I ever had. I've always loved animals and even though we don't live on as rural a property as we would like, it's still very doable! I've been busy these past few weeks locating breeders of those that I'm after and so far I'm finding what I want. I'm so excited :) My all time favourite breed on the planet is the Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (see picture below). This breed is currently still under development in the US as not many have been able to breed to the correct colours of red and blue but rather a gold and blue. The breed is certainly even further behind here in Australia but a handful of dedicated breeders have been determined to make it happen and I'm thrilled to join them.

A Beautiful BLRW Hen credit:Pinterest

A handsome BLRW Rooster credit: Pinterest

I'll also be raising Gold Laced and Silver Laced Wyandottes along with French Wheaton Marans, Araucanas (can we say Olive Eggers lol) and Blue Black Splash Orpingtons. Hubby and I are drawing up plans for the breeders coop…might as well exploit him while I can. This will be my first time raising poultry in Australia but I figure if I can get eggs year round in Alaska…then anything's possible.

Homeschooling is going rather well. We were recently approved for another year and I'm looking forward to what the kids have in store for us. A few weeks ago for "science" Ben figured out he could cause anything to smoke holding a magnifying glass over it. I was a bit concerned for a while after he made his sister's boot smoke…with her foot still in it! We have some fun museum trips planned and hoping to get up with a local archery club to enrol my minions in. Should be interesting.

Hubby and I have been learning a bit here and there about Druidry, implementing the practices when and where we can. We talked with our kids about it and they were all excited to learn more. We've especially focused a bit on Celtic myths and legends the past few months, as it seemed rather fitting. Due to bad weather and feeling rather sluggish we missed out on the big Yule bonfire a local pagan group had organised. Hopefully we won't miss the next one. I've really enjoyed the people we've gotten to meet and finding out they're really just like us, searching for more answers and following their own hearts and instincts. 

The weather here has been insane lately! We've had nothing but rain and some pretty impressive thunderstorms over the past few weeks. I like it but I miss being out in the garden and telling the kids to go play outside. But at least everyone with a rainwater tank is all topped up. We've noticed everyone around us has been sick lately too but other than a few days of feeling runned down (probably from fighting it off whatever it was we were exposed to) we've been relatively unscathed. I chalk it up to our use of Essential Oils. I was only introduced to them back in September but we love them, they work so well and we've been able to chuck all the old over the counter toxic crap out. I'm really pushing them with our youngest son Liam to help with detoxing the heavy metals out of his system, I use them on everyone but he's the only one with any real issues. I've noticed more alertness and awareness from him and his speech has even improved more. His encopresis has lessened as well, so he's even feeling better about himself which is such a joy to see. I only use dōTERRA Essential Oils as they are the main ones labeled safe for internal consumption (shameless plug time…to learn more check out my website Essentially Organic or pop on over to my Facebook page)  

We've also started a family wide low carb Paleo lifestyle change  (I just hate the word diet). I gotta admit it does feel good but it's a struggle to cook so differently than I usually do. I know it will take some adjusting but we'll get there.

That's all I have for the moment.

  

I Confess

I've been at such a cross roads lately when it comes to Religion and Spirituality. I was raised Christian all my life but not with a set in stone doctrine. My Mother is Southern Baptist my Father is Methodist and my Husband was a non-practicing Episcopal. My parents even sent me to a Fundamental Baptist school which I thought was extremist at best…girls had to wear frumpy skirts and according to my Bible/Science teacher, if you weren't Baptist you were going straight to hell. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, Fire and Brimstone all the way baby. Bible class was more like debate class for me and I'm sure he hated seeing my smiling face everyday.

Hubby and I have tried most Christian denominations out there, from Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Assemblies of God, LDS and even non-Denominational, all to no avail.

As I got older I always had lots of questions which no one could seem to answer. Like why is the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament portrayed so differently? In the OT he seems like a rather vengeful wrathful God at times, demanding sacrifice and even polygamy. In the NT it  seemed that since Jesus paid the ultimate price there was no longer a need for sacrificing and it's all about the love and understanding. I didn't understand why there were so many different denominations. Or why so many people have been killed in the name of God than anything else. I especially didn't understand why some books (from the same ancient scrolls) made it into the Bible but others didn't. Why God gave us so many instincts yet we are supposed to ignore them and feel guilt over them. I still felt drawn to Christianity but hated the judgement most Christians passed on to others, even other Christians… unfortunately I'm even guilty of it myself. I like to think I've grown since then.

But I don't know if my draw to Christianity is purely based on the fact that it is all I've ever known or if it is guilt that if I stray it meant I'm evil and going to Hell. My husband, kids and I all went through the year long process of RCIA within the Catholic church to convert. The reason we chose Catholicism was because we wanted to go back to the original Christian religion. I would have never admitted it before but I had so many struggles with it. I was always "taught" that the Bible is infallible and the Word of God, that our creation took 6 days and it's all very literal. Finding out that   Catholics do not take all of the Bible literally (just some of it, again why it's so confusing) was a lot for me to take in. That they believe some of the stories are meant as a moral lesson for us to learn from than actual facts. They also believe in Evolution and do not necessarily believe in a river of Fire known as Hell, at least not the same way other religions think of it. The Protestant in me really struggled with this but I kept it all to myself. Our children were Baptised at Easter and Confirmed 5 months later, even our 7 year old who had no idea what any of it was really all about went through Confirmation as we were encouraged to go forth with it anyway. My kids were never happy to go to church and this bothered me immensely. My husband and I were also not allowed to take part in the Eucharist, as he is awaiting an annulment for his first marriage. I was really hoping that the void I have always felt would finally be filled…but it hasn't. So it all made me wonder, everyone says their version of the Christian religion is right! But what if it's all been highly exaggerated, even the Bible contradicts itself at times.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in God, without a doubt, but Christianity has only been around for 2,000 years (roughly) and man has been around a lot longer than that (be it thousands or millions yadda yadda). Why did a new religion get to come along and just slaughter the Old Ways. There were some very peaceful religions before Christianity but ever since, it seemed anything not Christian was dubbed as the Occult and Evil.

So I'm taking this year - maybe longer, for a very personal journey. I want to connect with God but I feel it should be more spiritual. To me it feels like Religion = Church = a Business, whereas God is Spiritual, loving, peaceful, and non judgemental. I firmly believe we have a loving Creator who filled us with his love, with instincts, and a basic knowledge and desire to know him. I want to develop that so much more. I want to learn all about and explore how my Ancestors worshipped our Creator.

I can't excuse the fact that I don't feel close to God when I go to Church, I know some people truly do and I think that is wonderful and beautiful for them, but why can't I get that same feeling? Is there something wrong with me? I have never felt closer to God than when I'm walking in the woods or sitting by a stream with my feet in the cool water and feeling the moss under my fingers. God didn't build churches for us to worship him in. He created this beautiful world we are slowly destroying and when I'm in it, really in it, I feel him, I feel a connection and I feel at peace.

I finally confessed all of this to my husband the other day, who astonished me by agreeing 100% with me. I had dreaded telling him my feelings for weeks now. Fearing he'd resent this religious roller coaster I've been on over the years. But he had secretly been feeling the same way and we've shared many late night talks about it all. He wants to walk this journey with me as does our younger daughter and oldest son, we haven't shared it with the rest as of yet, as we didn't want to confuse them.

I know some will see it as we are turning away from God, but it's really quite the opposite, we don't feel near to him now so how can we turn away? In reality we are seeking him out even more.

Who knows maybe we'll end up back in those four walls that some believe is the only way to worship, maybe I'll end up in a hippy commune somewhere (just kidding) but I have a feeling my beautiful family and I will be walking a much more Natural path.

Blessings & Love