New Friends

Mr. and Mrs. Howard

What a pleasure to finally meet Jim Bob and Amy Howard and their family during our trip to the south. We thoroughly enjoyed the rousing discussions we shared round the table. Newly having moved to a rural setting, this family is very excited about the blessings of an agrarian lifestyle. They are excited to learn the joys of agrarianism, plus "growing" their own little people in the Lord and His blessings. From attending classes on building log homes and starting their own garden, to purposefully building community in their area and organizing conferences, this family joyfully serves Christ's kingdom one hundred and ten percent.

Their children were all so sweet and articulate. The eldest son in particular was quite enthusiastic about our singing. He requested us to sing a round of the "Lodel" song from A Journey Home--and joined in quite deftly! He had learned it from watching the DVD over and over again. : )

Howards, we hope we shall see you all again soon!


The Ravages of the Savages : ) We squished a lot of people round this table.


The Howard family

Sisters in Christ

What fun it was to see the Burton girls on our trip to the south just a few weeks ago. These dear girls are faithful correspondents with all our ladies. Their sweet spirit of helping their father and mother gives a wonderful testimony of God's work in their life.

Prairie Muffin Lessons

The boys decided we needed some lessons in self defense and surprised us yesterday evening with an impromptu "class". Since we are wannabe prairie muffins, we readily agreed.


"Ok, I'll try to hit the target this time". (Notice the summer garden in the background : )


Nathan coaching Beth on her stance.


A lesson in using the bead was needful.


Ben and Sarah get in on the action.


The little boys thought it was funny to see the big girls shooting a pump action 20 gauge. Many thanks to all our brothers for this fun and helpful lesson. : )

The Dress of War

If someone told you to sketch a portrait in your minds eye, could you? It's not hard to do. How about a Muslim woman, shrouded in thick black veils? Now picture a "alluring" woman out to have a good time on the town. But this is harder: can you picture a Christian woman? It is easy to identify a policeman, soldier, fireman, and even sometimes a politician, but shouldn't we be able to point out a Christian maiden just as simply?

The "uniform" of a godly woman is not strictly defined, nor do I believe should it ever be. 1 Timothy 2:9b-10 declares, ". . . That the woman adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for woman professing godliness with good works."

1 Peter 3:3-4 states, "Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hear, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel--rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."

Modesty and femininity are twin virtues easily forgotten in today's culture. We are called to adorn ourselves, not wear paper bags. And not with things that draw attention, but always in modest apparel. Sure you can dress as a Muslim and be "modest" or adorn yourself as a women of the world and be "feminine", yet both modes are only counterfeits. Only the Christian girl can truly fulfill those qualities listed in Scripture.

Now, don't get me wrong. I do not believe it is inherently sinful or wicked for a woman to wear pants. However, our culture today has a deplorable lack of ladies who give a biblical picture of modest femininity. I feel privileged to take part in the battle for godly womanhood by the way I dress. It is the dress of war: the war against feminism, a twisted view of woman, and a war for victorious maidenhood, proclaiming the Crown Rights of King Jesus. We are making His reign manifest in our lives.

One day several years ago, my little sister and I were shopping at a local thrift store in California. As we walked through the racks and racks of second hand clothes I lamented the sad fact that we couldn't even find used modest clothing, let alone feminine garments. We kept hunting, hoping against hope that our perseverance in this thrift shop would pay off. But then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young man watching my sister and I. He was dressed all in black with mussed hair and a very pale face. He kept looking at us and I started feeling uncomfortable. I gradually steered my younger sister and I towards another corner of the store, but the young man followed us intently. I started walking faster, and then--

"Uh--excuse me Ma'am." (Editor: Remember, this is in California. No one ever calls you "ma'am") "Uh . . . Do you usually dress like that?" he said, nodding to me.

I glanced down at my simple light brown dress and gulped. "Uh, yes . . . I guess so."

"Well, thank you. It's very elegant." You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Living in California, it was a rare occurrence when you saw a lady in a dress, skirt, jumper or the like. If per chance, you did see one, you could almost guarantee that she was a Christian home-schooler. The antithesis is so stark in the west it is wonderful. It is very easy to "stick out", yet always in a good way for Christ's glory and kingdom.

Now that we are in the Midwest it's not quite so easy. You can't just put on a dress and have people constantly ask "Are you a Christian?", "What country are you from?", "Can I take your picture?", thank you profusely "for dressing modestly", open doors for you, or pay you myriads of compliments. A wide cross section of Midwestern ladies wear modest and feminine clothing (or a at least in greater abundance when compared to their left coast counterparts). However, even if wearing a dress does not make you stand out in the Midwest, we discovered one thing that does.

Walk into any Stuff-mart in town, sit on a convenient bench and watch the women go by. Will you see a joyful smile or gentle laugh escape their lips? Perhaps. But more likely it will be drudging housewives, immodestly dressed teens, overburdened working moms and prim, proper, tight-lipped spinsters, some even in dresses. If California had various states of dress and undress, at least the ladies smiled.

Recently, I heard the story of a girl. The breezy cultural communication of the west had not changed with her recent move to a small Midwestern town. One day she waltzed into a office building asking a question of the lady behind the counter. Smiling thank you, she walked back towards the door. The office lady remarked to her co-worker in whispered tones, "Isn't that girl so sweet? She seems so happy. She must not be from 'round here."

Wow. To think the day would come when a smiling joyful heart was a rarity.

What an amazing banner we carry: to be modest, feminine, joyful woman of God. We are representing Christ to a world of God haters and subverters. I don't think of myself as dressing every day in the battle dress of war. But that is what we are called to do--proclaim the antithesis inwardly and outwardly. By our gentle joyful heart and dress we proclaim Christ's work in our life. And by their dark or frivolous dress they proclaim their own autonomy. Let's show the world an exuberant and victorious picture of godly womanhood. The lines are drawn. Now that's a war worth fighting for.

Other interesting articles from . . .
Mrs. Vaughn
Botkin Sisters and friends
Mrs. Chancey and friends

Importance of the Written Word

"The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, is culture, and its history; before long the community will forget what it is, and what it was."

- Milan Hubl

In reflecting on our visit with Mr. Sprinkle, I found this quote from Third Time Around by George Grant, quite insightful.

We are wrapping up our visit to the South. It has been a good time to be all together as a family and we have had a multiplicity of adventures. We look forward to returning to home sweet home in just a few more days.

From the Field: Sprinkle Publications

One of the highlights of our trip was the planned drive to visit Lloyd Sprinkle of Sprinkle Publications. This godly man has served as a pastor at one church for over 40 years and faithfully feeds his flock from the Scriptures.



On the side, Mr. Sprinkle republishes old books. Tragically, some of the best theological and historical books can only be found used in dusty old shops (not necessarily a bad thing). But it can be very difficult to locate them and then prohibitive in cost for the average person to purchase them. Other republishing companies construct their books in such a way that unfortunately, they will fall apart with moderate use.

Mr. Sprinkle's vision is to republish these vital books with an eye to have them last generations. To that end, he makes sure that the quality and content of the publishing is top notch. Anyone who owns one of his signatured, smythe sewn, hardcover volumes, knows what I mean.



Sprinkle Publications did not start out as a purposeful business venture. Mr. Sprinkle, living in the Shenandoah Valley, was close to many old libraries of the Southern guard. As these estates were liquidated, many of the books found their way into books stores near his town. His love for the South encouraged his purchasing of many books, one being R. L. Dabney's book on Stonewall Jackson. As fellow pastors around the country heard that he had a couple volumes of this title, they would contact him and ask for him to locate a copy for them. This happened many times over the course of the years.

Finally one pastor asked him for 12 copies. "You do know the last copies I found were around $45?!" [Editor: In the 1970's, this was a bundle] "Yes," the pastor replied, "I'd like 3 right now and I'll pick up the others as soon as you can find them." This started Mr. Sprinkle's wheels turning and was the impetus for the publishing of his first book, Stonewall Jackson: Life and Military Campaigns by Robert Louis Dabney.



Lloyd Sprinkle pulls extensively from his personal library of 15,000 books in considering various volumes for re-publication. He is very careful to not destroy the original in the process but has them carefully rebound for future generations.



One of Mr. Sprinkles special books is Dabney's own copy of Dabney's book on Stonewall. What a treasure. He picked it up for a nominal fee years ago. The store did not know what they had.



One of our favorite parts of visiting Mr. Sprinkle is hearing him tell us stories. A patriarch of the faith, he has wise perspectives on life, history, and Christ's kingdom.



Another treasure was recently given as a gift to Mr. Sprinkle--a 1636 2nd edition of the Bible printed in London. The hand drawn decorations on each page are meticulous and the old English words of Scripture sound strange to our ears now, but hearken back to the saints of old. What a heritage we have as we consider those who have gone before us. It is a sober reminder of the weight of God's glory we are called to pass on to the generations to come.



We are thankful for the time Mr. Sprinkle so generously gave us . . . and of course we did not leave without purchasing a few books of our own. : )

Excursion

In 2004 we had the wonderful opportunity to meet Mr. Sprinkle of Sprinkle Publications . . . and now we get to introduce more of our family to him! That's right. It's off on another conference jaunt. We'll attempt to check in as we go along (as long as our internet connection cooperates from our various undisclosed locations). Hey, maybe we'll even run into you! : )

Spring Planting Festival

Monday we journeyed into the southern hills of Missouri for a genuine Ozark Spring Planting Festival. We were accompanied by a family we recently met (and from whom we had purchased the 3 run-away goats) and also rendezvoused with a second family from our church.



We drove about 4 hours south following directions from MapQuest. As we drove on one small dirt road after another (following the trusty mile measurements provided by the web-site) our doubts grew. Finally after turning on another ever narrowing road with no sign post, and driving over fallen branches and small creeks, we came to a decent sized creek with no apparent way to cross and a 4 wheeler path going out the other side! Time to turn around.

Providentially, even though we were out in the middle of no-where, the cell phone worked. : ) We called Baker Creek Seeds, then turned retracing our steps back several miles. The MapQuest directions might have worked . . . but it was taking us the really back way.



We made it! Baker Creek is a fascinating heirloom seed catalog and store. Jeremiath Gettle, the proprietor and a former home-educated student travels the world searching for forgotten seeds in out of the way places. It was amazing to hear some of the vendors and lecturers speak of how they located certain seeds and grafts. Other lecturers spoke of the importance of preserving heirloom seeds for the coming generations, grower and consumer cooperation (growers finding customers in specialty restaurants, etc.), cautions against Genetically Modified Organism (GMO seeds), and tips on seed saving and gardening.



A little down-home-country music. : )



We enjoyed some delicious Tzatziki Pitas for lunch (1st layer: ground lamb; 2nd layer: a sauce made of mint, dill, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic; 3rd layer: topping of chopped tomatoes, cucumber). We had never had this taste treat before--were they ever yummy!



The proudly proclaimed "Hillbilly Cruiser".



Owner Jeremiath Gettle and his bride.



There were quite a few vendors offering starts of all shapes and sizes. You could also purchase exotic seeds from the store. How about short and squatty lemon cucumbers, purple and green striped tomatoes, Basil and Lemon Grass from Thailand or a black rinded watermelon with yellow spots on it?

One very young entrepreneur impressed us all with his business acumen. He was only about 11 or 12 but had an extensive collection of starts and even some trees he had grafted. Very articulate and handy with a cell phone, he kept up quite the professional image. Sorry, no picture. : )



These guys are ready to go home!



The ladies with all their purchases! We worked out in the garden a good part of the day today.

Planting: peppers (all shapes and colors), arugula ("Rocket"), 3rd planting of lettuce ("Sunset"), and sweet potatoes;
Maintenance: raking up straw from last week's frost scare, weeding, putting up fencing;
Transplanting: tomatoes and eggplant.

We have harvested a few stray radishes and the first crop of lettuce, chard and spinach are just about ready to harvest.