Bee's Guest House

[Beekissed]

He didn't learn anything from the experience.....I had him out shoveling manure until after dark. He does everything under heavy protest...fortunately I am getting a bit deaf in my old age!

He will be shoveling manure each day until the manure is done or he learns a lesson.....I'm willing to bet I will run out of manure before he learns. He is, after all, a male...

UTC....soooooooo funny!!!! Let me know if you find out???

Gals, I'm slipping into the rocking chair on the porch of the guest house to tell you a tale. Today a light went on! Yeah, I know....the porch light's on but nobody's home.....

No, I finally read The Purpose Driven Life...actually, I'm still reading it. If you haven't gotten a chance to read it, do it. If you've read it and it didn't affect your life, read it again!

WOW! NOW I know why I've been obsessed with this lifestyle for the past several years. I had begun to think I was just experiencing the family curse of being mentally...well...let's just say that obsession runs in the family...

I think God has given me a desire in this direction for a reason...I think it is supposed to be my ministry. Not my security or a way to make some extra money or even to save money....I think I'm supposed to grow food for others and to teach others to grow food, save money, learn to live simply.

Does that make sense? It finally does to me and what a weight off my shoulders!!!! I didn't know why I had become so obsessed with this lifestyle...sure it's fun, sure it saves me money. But I'm usually a very laid back kind of person who enjoys lazy days, good books and good company. I still enjoy these things but now my reading material is usually something to do with learning more about this kind of living...go figure!

I'm excited to know that I can do something I love and I can do it to glorify God and to help others. I never thought of it that way but I am so glad that it's not just for my own amusement!

 

[MorelCabin]

I have read the purpose driven life, excellent book, but it was a while back, should read it again! So glad you are seeing God's plan for your life Bee, follow it! He always has the best roads mapped out for us if we take the time to listen! Lord Bless You Bee!

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you! You don't know how much I wish some of you gals lived closer to me. After I read the part about fellowship and how important it is, I kept wishing for like-minded folks with which to worship and fellowship.

But then, the book also says that God provides us these little hurdles so that we can learn. I just kind of shy away from fellowship with the women in my church because we have absolutely nothing in common....except God. That should be enough, don't you think? I'm just scared of rejection, I guess. :/

Gotta surrender and obey God's wishes, huh? But I still wish you were my neighbor ladies!!!

So....I don't sound nutty about the ministry? I think I caught the Bat rolling her eyes when I told her...not sure.....

 

[Occamstazer]

I come from a pretty different belief background and I still don't think you sound nutty!

I'm the same way with the girls at the church where I go, we just don't have much in common, and I get kinda lonely for someone else who laughs in the face of chicken poop.

I admire your grace and courage, and I think you're 100% right that it is a message. Josh said something very similar about our lives just the other day. He noted that we've made some decisions about life directions, and things have gotten...well, not easier, but things are happening, falling together, flowing naturally. It seems like when we make decisions that are right, the universe goes, "yes! I knew you'd listen if I dropped enough hints!"

 

[Javamama]

Bee, you make perfect sense to me I often feel alone in this life, but I continue to hope that God is preparing me to be useful.

 

[lorihadams]

I definitely know how you feel....even though I am moving to a farm I am living in between 2 relatives that are definitely "keeping up with the Joneses" kinda people. My BIL's fiance was raised on a dairy farm but wants nothing to do with any of it and with much trepidation in her voice asked me last week "all the animals will be in their own areas right??? Like, in fences and stuff???"

Yup! I wish some of you guys lived closer......

 

[Beekissed]

I am soooooo glad for all your support on this....I was afraid that folks would look at me, say, "Uh-uh....." and walk away thinking, "Oooookaaaaayyyyyy........"

I just think it's what I was supposed to be doing but I just didn't realize it~until now. And it feels so right! And scary....folks around these parts aren't like you all...they aren't really searching for a way to live more economically or more healthy. They seem very content with waste and debt....I'm hoping to find the few who are not.

I took the first step today..... I contacted the local food bank, which is extremely small and only operates one day a week. The lady is my neighbor and she said someone else at one of the local churches was wanting to see if the church would let folks can food in their kitchen!

She also said that the local library may let me use their meeting room in which to give a seminar and outline what I want to teach to interested persons.

She had an idea about starting a gleaning program, in which you can put local gardeners and farmers in touch with those who need the food and let the people glean right off the gardens.

I like the idea of that and I also want to add a little more to it....I want to teach people how to garden in small spaces, how to raise a chicken flock for food, how to barter and repurpose items that would otherwise be thrown away, how to butcher/process and how to preserve.

I'm not an expert but I can show folks how to do all that on the cheap and using what you have, not what you can buy.

I think this will all tie in well with my book!

I come from a pretty different belief background and I still don't think you sound nutty!

I'm the same way with the girls at the church where I go, we just don't have much in common, and I get kinda lonely for someone else who laughs in the face of chicken poop.
I admire your grace and courage, and I think you're 100% right that it is a message. Josh said something very similar about our lives just the other day. He noted that we've made some decisions about life directions, and things have gotten...well, not easier, but things are happening, falling together, flowing naturally. It seems like when we make decisions that are right, the universe goes, "yes! I knew you'd listen if I dropped enough hints!"

That is exactly how I feel!!!! Man, it feels good to know other folks experience the same thoughts and feelings....sometimes I feel so alone in this.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

I just think it's what I was supposed to be doing but I just didn't realize it~until now. And it feels so right! And scary....folks around these parts aren't like you all...they aren't really searching for a way to live more economically or more healthy. They seem very content with waste and debt....I'm hoping to find the few who are not.

Wow.

 

[Beekissed]

UTC, not only do they seem content to be this way, it almost seems as if this is a status symbol for them. Spending money, having a lot of debt and complaining about poor health is pretty much standard op around here.

One lady in my office has a very large farm that was inherited down through several generations. It's beautiful and has the original log cabin home and buildings on it, in great shape. It also has a large old farm house that is more modern...maybe built in the 40s or 50s but updated to modern usage. Barns and fence all established.

They moved in a double wide!!! They have some cattle on the place but they complain that they are losing money with their "farming" and they never put in a garden. Both husband and wife work as much as possible off the farm to pay their bills but I get the impression that this working is barely covering the debt. They heat with electric.

This is repeated all over this county.... most of these farms are inherited and very large. This means no mortgage payment and only taxes to keep up....many people do not live in the original farm houses but do build a modern ranch style house next to it or move in a double wide. They heat with fuel oil or electric here...some have an outdoor wood furnace but not as many as you would expect.

I can't even imagine having this kind of head start on life and going ahead and getting neck deep in debt. But they do and they are all in a mad scramble to pay for their new homes and vehicles, cell phones and satellite TV, fuel and food bills.

Some even claim that they can't afford to eat their own beef! Go figure!

They are not a bit interested in growing their food supply or learning to live economically....I think they feel this would make folks think they are poor, which seems to be something they are becoming so they won't look like they are. It boggles the mind!

 

[Farmfresh]

Your are not crazy. I think your ideas are GREAT! As a matter of a fact I share many of your ministry ideas. I have felt for a while now that part of what I am supposed to do in the old mean world is to teach and share what I know with those that want to learn.

When I first set up my website a couple of years back, I started thinking about all of the people that had asked me questions about how I live and the things that I do. At first I thought that only city people were so out of touch with where their food comes from and what you really need to live a contented life. Now, sadly, I realize that the whole world is totally out of touch!

So on my website I try to have LOTS of information for the bare beginner. Articles like "How to plant a tomato", "How to raise a chick" and "How to make applesauce" are just some of my attempts to minister to a world completely out of touch with their food and the simple things that most of us take completely for granted.

I would love to host more articles on the very basic, basics of gardening and animal care, but frankly I just don't seem to have the time to write them. (Maybe others would like to contribute to this goal of mine? I have little to offer in return, but the warm fuzzy feeling that you might be helping a raw beginner to learn a thing or two.) I am trying to stick to the simplest of subjects, since it is amazing how many people out there have no idea about such things as how a chicken comes out of an egg (or how that egg gets fertilized for that matter).

I can't help but feel that teaching a person how to plant a tomato may actually change the way they think about food from now on. We have GOT to re-educate the population. We cannot remain dependent on huge mega corps to provide our food, blindly trusting that THEY know what is "good for us". In this day and age people NEED the power (and the savings) that growing and preserving their own food gives them. Heck people don't even know how to COOK anymore!

OK done now.