Who says the good old days are gone forever? For centuries our relatives have depended on their land, their family and their faith in God to get through this thing called life. Today we rely on big box stores, modern technology and cheap overseas labor for everything we need. But are we really living the good life?
My name is Barb, and in June of 2006 I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom. My husband and I and our children decided to change our entire lifestyle – to live simply, naturally, and frugally like our grandparents did. And so began our homestead. We raised chickens and grew our own vegetables, fruits and herbs on our 1/3 of an acre "farm" in the middle of (a 40,000 population) city in the Carolinas. We made many of our own cleaning products, outbuildings and even some toys for the kids. We tried to live in an environmentally friendly way in order to be good stewards of what God had given us. Life was great and we were happy.
But life is full of twists and turns and ours was no exception. In early 2010, I found myself raising my children alone. My orderly little life was over and before long we lost our home to the bank. The kids and I ended up moving in with friends in a beautiful, tiny, country town (population 1,300). Today we are starting over and working towards building a new homestead – from the ground up. My first step was to get a job, then to get a piece of land, then a house, and now to make our new place into a brand new homestead. In today's economy and considering what a small town I now live in, finding a job proved to be difficult but I now work for a hospital in a nearby city. We now have a small piece of land (almost two acres), and a tiny, single-wide mobile home built in the 1970's. We spent a lot of time (with the help of friends) making it livable and were able to move in during the spring of 2012 - without owing the bank a penny! We are still working, one step at a time, to make our new homestead. It's a long, hard process, and working full-time while raising two boys on my own means it's a slow process. But Rome wasn't built in a day!
In order to move on with my life, I felt I had to make a conscious choice. Instead of dwelling on life’s twists and turns, I have chosen to be content with my life. I believe that contentment isn’t something that either comes to us or doesn’t. It’s a decision - a commitment I must make and act upon. Some days I fail at being contented, but God always forgives and tells me to start over. Although I don’t yet know God’s plans for me, I know I have a destiny to fulfill. Recent events are but a stumbling block on the path I have to follow. I have faith that God will continue leading me. And as He does, I will lead “A Life of Contentment.”
As the apostle Paul told the people of Philippi, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13
This spring when I first realized I was going to have to make it on my own, I started paring down my animals. I didn't really want to, but the cost of feed made it necessary. My friend Nancy was nice enough to take all my chickens for me. And later this summer when we realized we were going to lose the house, the kids and I moved in with her family. So now, even though they aren't mine anymore, I get to see my chickens every day! Above is Bella, my favorite bantam hen. Bella is very sweet. She is never a busy body and always minds her own business. I don't care what anyone says, every chicken I have ever known has a distinct personality.
Like this guy - Brian O'Conner. This is one of Nancy's chickens and I have no idea how they got the name, but doesn't he just look evil? Trust me, he is!
My big girl Della, above, has to be the most curious chicken I've ever met. She constantly has to have her beak in everybody's business. She sticks her head in whatever you happen to be carrying outside and always has to check out your shoes or polished toenails.
This is Bella's boyfriend, Edward. He's a sweetheart, and very docile. The only problem is - he's so docile that he lets the hens pull his feathers out mercilessly. See his bald neck?
Above is Flash. When she was just a tiny chick, she was the fastest of all our new chicks. She would dart from one end of the brooder box to the next. When she was just weeks old, she had an impacted feather gland on her tail. It became infected and we didn't think she would make it. We had to treat her every day. We also thought she would never grow tail feathers, but eventually she did. It just took her more than a year. Look at her now, though!
And this is Simone, my favorite Polish chicken. She is a bearded buff laced Polish. She has the most gorgeous hairdo, but she does have trouble seeing through all those feathers. One benefit of this is that her poor eyesight makes her easy to catch and give gentle hugs!
Mark Hitchcock is the author of more than 17 books related to end-time Bible prophecy, including the bestselling 2012, the Bible, and the End of the World. He earned a ThM and PhD from Dallas Theological Seminary and is the senior pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. He has worked as an adjunct professor at DTS and has served as a contributing editor for the Left Behind Prophecy Club for five years.
Alton Gansky is the author of 30 books—24 of them novels, including the Angel Award winner Terminal Justice and Christie Award finalist A Ship Possessed. A frequent speaker at writing conferences, he holds BA and MA degrees in biblical studies. Alton and his wife reside in Southern California.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
On the heels of Mark Hitchcock’s prophecy bestseller 2012, the Bible, and the End of the World comes a suspenseful novel (coauthored with bestselling novelist Alton Gansky) about the supposed expiration date of planet earth—December 21, 2012.
Andrew Morgan is a wealthy oil executive in search of the meaning of life. In his quest for answers he encounters the ancient Mayan predictions that the world will end in 2012. That the claims seem supported by math and astronomy drives him to check on them. Then he meets Lisa Campbell, an attractive Christian journalist also researching the Mayan calendar. When he learns that she is a Christian, he quickly dismisses what she has to say.
As the time draws closer to December 21, 2012, a meteorite impact in Arizona, a volcanic eruption, and the threat of an asteroid on a collision-course with earth escalate fears. Are these indicators of a global apocalypse? Will anyone survive? Does Lisa’s Christian faith have the answers after all? Or has fate destined everyone to a holocaust from which there is no escape?
Last weekend my brother Tim bought my sons each a small kite. Within a couple of days there was enough of a breeze to fly them. The boys never got to fly kites in the city because there just wasn't anywhere to go where powerlines wouldn't get in the way. But here, right next to the woods, we have open fields with no powerlines to mar the skyline.
We had a great time, with one exception. Those blasted fire ants! They were all over my feet and ankles but poor Adam... it wasn't until the next day that we realized that somehow the fire ants had traveled to his groin area and attacked him there. Not the best place for itchy fire ant bites!
You can see Adam in the photo below trying to fly his kite while scratching at the fire ants crawling on his feet.
Wanda Dyson – "a shining example of what Christian fiction is becoming..." (Christian Fiction Review). She's been called a "natural" and a "master of pacing," but her fans know that whether it's police thrillers, suspense, or bringing a true story to life, Wanda knows how to take her readers on a journey they'll never forget.
Wanda is a multipublished suspense author, currently writing for Random House/Waterbrook. Her one attempt at a nonfiction book was picked for an exclusive release on Oprah. In addition to writing full time, she is also the appointment coordinator for the CCWC, Great Philadelphia Christian Writers, and ACFW conferences.
Wanda lives in Western Maryland on a 125 acre farm with a menagerie of animals and when she's not writing critically acclaimed suspense, or away at conferences, you can find her zipping across the fields on a 4-wheeler with Maya, her German Shepherd, or plodding along at a more leisurely pace on her horse, Nanza.
With the release of her newest hit, Judgment Day, Wanda is heading back to the keyboard to start on her next high-octane thriller, The Vigilante.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sensational journalism has never been so deadly.
The weekly cable news show Judgment Day with Suzanne Kidwell promises to expose businessmen, religious leaders, and politicians for the lies they tell. Suzanne positions herself as a champion of ethics and morality with a backbone of steel—until a revelation of her shoddy investigation tactics and creative fact embellishing put her in hot water with her employers, putting her credibility in question and threatening her professional ambitions.
Bitter and angry, Suzanne returns home one day to find an entrepreneur she is investigating, John Edward Sterling, unconscious on her living room floor. Before the night is over, Sterling is dead, she has his blood on her hands, and the police are arresting her for murder. She needs help to prove her innocence, but her only hope, private investigator Marcus Crisp, is also her ex-fiancé–the man she betrayed in college.
Marcus and his partner Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne reluctantly agree to take the case, but they won’t cut Suzanne any slack. Exposing her lack of ethics and the lives she’s destroyed in her fight for ratings does little to make them think Suzanne is innocent. But as Marcus digs into the mire of secrets surrounding her enemies, he unveils an alliance well-worth killing for. Now all he has to do is keep Suzanne and Alex alive long enough to prove it.
Watch the book trailer:
If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter of Judgment Day, go HERE.
Delia Parr, pen name for Mary Lechleidner, is the author of 10 historical novels and the winner of several awards, including the Laurel Wreath Award for Historical Romance and the Aspen Gold Award for Best Inspirational Book. She is a full-time high school teacher who spends her summer vacations writing and kayaking. The mother of three grown children, she lives in Collingswood, New Jersey.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Ruth Livingstone's life changes drastically the day her father puts a young child in her arms and sends her to a small village in New Jersey under an assumed name. There Ruth pretends to be a widow and quietly secludes herself until her father is acquitted of a crime.
But with the emergence of the penny press, the imagination of the reading public is stirred, and her father's trial stands center stage. Asher Tripp is the brash newspaperman who determines that this case is the event he can use to redeem himself as a journalist.
Ruth finds solace tending a garden along the banks of the Toms River--a place where she can find a measure of peace in the midst of the sorrow that continues to build. It is also here that Asher Tripp finds a temporary residence, all in an attempt to discover if the lovely creature known as Widow Malloy is truly Ruth Livingstone, the woman every newspaper has been looking for.
Love begins to slowly bloom...but is the affection they share strong enough to withstand the secrets that separate them?
Since 2000, Shelley Sabga has sold twenty-six novels to numerous publishers. She has written a seven book contemporary series for Avalon books. She also published The Love Letter, a western for Avalon. Five Star Expressions published Suddenly, You in February of 2007. This novel is a historical western set in the mountains of Colorado.
Shelley has written nine novels for Harlequin American Romance. Cinderella Christmas, her first novel with them, reached number six on the Waldenbooks Bestseller list. Her second book with them, Simple Gifts won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice award for best Harlequin American Romance of 2006. The Mommy Bride, was chosen by Romantic Times Magazine as one of their TOP PICKS for May, 2008.
Under the name Shelley Shepard Gray, Shelley writes Amish romances for Harper Collins’ inspirational line, Avon Inspire. HIDDEN and WANTED the first two novels of her ‘Sisters of the Heart’ series, were chosen to be Alternate Selections for the Doubleday/ Literary Guild Book Club. FORGIVEN, book 3, has received glowing reviews. Avon Inspire is releasing four novels by Shelley this year.
Before writing romances, Shelley lived in Texas and Colorado, where she taught school and earned both her bachelors and masters degrees in education. She now lives in southern Ohio and writes full time. Shelley is married, the mother of two teenagers, and is an active member of her church.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Some promises are meant to be broken...
Until Robert Miller met Lilly Allen, his world had been dark. A widower after only two years of marriage, he'd been living in a haze, feeling that, at twenty-four, his life was already over.
But thanks to his friendship with Lilly, he now has new reasons to wake up each day. He knows his connection to her doesn't make sense. She's only nineteen, with a past the whole town talks about. Even more, she's not Amish, like Robert. A marriage between the two of them could never happen.
Lilly's heart is drawn to Robert, not to his faith. No matter how much she admires his quiet strength and dependability, she doesn't think she could ever give up her independence and reliance on the modern world. Is their love doomed before it even begins?
My son 7-year-old son Adam has been having some nightmares lately. As I put him to bed last night, I explained (a conversation we've had many times before) that God watches over us and protects us if we ask Him. Adam looked at me and in his little boy voice said he wasn't sure if God was real because God won't answer his prayer for our whole family to be together again.
I started explaining to Adam that sometimes God has other things in mind for us, things that will be better for us in the long run even if we can't see it right away. That God knows the future and He knows that sometimes the things that we want aren't always the things that will be best for us, or for His kingdom.
My 15-year-old son spoke up and said that God probably had a job for Daddy to do somewhere else, and a job for us to do here. He told Adam we had to be patient and do the jobs God wanted us to do, no matter how long it took or how much we wanted it to be different.
My heart was breaking for my family as I went to bed myself last night. And I realized that I ask those same questions that my little boy asks all the time. Why doesn't God always answers our prayers, whatever they may be? I believe in the answers I gave my son, but it's not always easy. I realize that I am like a child who can't always see what's best for her, and God is my Father, who does what He has to do to raise me up in the right way, whether it's what I want or not.
Yesterday I took the boys to visit their paternal grandparents. "Pawpaw" spent a lot of time with the boys, talking about his days in Vietnam and his father's days at Iwo Jima. He got the boys really excited and now they want to play war. I think I am going to try to find them each an old military or scout shirt at a thrift store and perhaps find some old badges or something to put on there, as well. I'd much rather them play like they were fighting in Word War II than fighting in a gang, after all. And the woods around the house make for some good hiding places. Since I still don't have a job, does anyone have any ideas for homemade things I can give them to play "war" with?
It seems like all I do is ask for prayers nowadays, but we could still use some. I am still looking for a job, and we can't look into getting our own place until I get one. There are other unspoken things that I really need prayers for right now, as well. Sometimes I feel like we are fighting in our own war against the powers of evil that are constantly chasing us. The battles are constant... will we ever win the war?
Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He is best known for stories which could be broadly described as suspense thrillers with major twists and unforgettable characters, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans.
Early in his career he wrote a number of spiritual thrillers and his novels were lumped in with ‘Christian Fiction’ a surprisingly large category. His later novels are a mix of mainstream novels such as Adam, Thr3e, Skin, Obsessed and BoneMan’s Daughters, and fantasy thrillers that metaphorically explore faith. Best known among these is his Circle Series: Green, Black, Red, White and The Paradise Books: Showdown, Saint, and Sinner.
Dekker was born to missionaries who lived among the headhunter tribes of Indonesia. Because his parents’ work often included extended periods of time away from their children, Dekker describes his early life in a culture to which he was a stranger as both fascinating and lonely. It is this unique upbringing that forced him to rely on his own imagination to create a world in which he belonged.
After leaving Indonesia, Dekker graduated from a multi-cultural high school and took up permanent residence in the United States to study philosophy and religion. Upon earning his Bachelor’s Degree, he entered the corporate world and proceeded to climb the proverbial ladder. But his personal drive left him restless and, after many successful years, he traded corporate life for wide range of entrepreneurial pursuits that included buying and selling businesses, healthcare services, and marketing.
In the early nineties while visiting a friend who had just written a book, Dekker decided to pursue a long held desire to be a novelist. Over the course of two years he wrote two full length novels before starting from scratch and rewriting both. Now fully enamored by the the process and the stories, he realized that storytelling was in his blood and a new obsession to explore truth through story gripped him anew.
He sold his business, moved his family to the mountains of Western Colorado and began writing full-time on his third novel. Two years and three novels later his first novel, Heaven’s Wager, was published.
Now, Dekker’s novels had sold over 3.4 million copies worldwide. Two of his novels, Thr3e and House, have been made into movies with more in production. Dekker resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Lee Ann and two of their daughters.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This story is for everyone--but not everyone is for this story.
It is a dangerous tale of times past. A torrid love story full of deep seduction. A story of terrible longing and bold sacrifice.
Then as now, evil begins its courtship cloaked in light. And the heart embraces what it should flee. Forgetting it once had a truer lover.
With a kiss, evil will ravage body, soul, and mind. Yet there remains hope, because the heart knows no bounds.
Love will prove greater than lust. Sacrifice will overcome seduction. And blood will flow.
Because the battle for the heart is always violently opposed. For those desperate to drink deep from this fountain of life, enter.
MY THOUGHTS: The publishers have asked reviewers to answer this question: What is sacrificial love? To me, it's a love that is willing to sacrifice everything. It's a simple answer... Sacrificial love is a love willing to give of it's livelihood, it's reputation, it's emotions... it's very life. Truthfully, this book was a little late arriving from the publishers and I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'll go back and publish more on this review after I have finished the book.
Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times best-selling author whose connection with the Amish community has been featured on ABC Nightline and on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
She was also a homeschool mom. As her children progressed in age, her desire to write grew stronger. After working through reservations whether this desire was something she should pursue, she began her writing journey. Her husband was her staunchest supporter.
Her first novel released in 2006 to much acclaim and became a best seller. Cindy was a 2007 ECPA award finalist, along with Karen Kingsbury, Angela Hunt, and Charles Martin.
Her second book, When the Morning Comes, hit numerous best-sellers lists across the US, including edging into the extended list of the New York Times, coming in at number thirty-four.
Her third book, When the Soul Mends, hit the New York Times best-sellers list, coming in at number thirteen, as well as making the USA Today’s best-sellers list.
Cindy continues to write and release best-selling works of fiction, and she’s also written a nonfiction work with an Old Order Amish friend, Miriam Flaud. The book is titled Plain Wisdom: An Invitation into an Amish Home and the Hearts of Two Women. It will release March 11, 2011.
Her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families enrich her novels with authenticity.
As an adult, Cindy became friends with a wonderful Old Order Amish family who opened their home to her. Although the two women, Miriam and Cindy, live seven hundred miles apart geographically, and a century apart by customs, when they come together they never lack for commonality, laughter, and dreams of what only God can accomplish through His children.
Cindy, her husband, their three sons and two daughters-in-law reside in Georgia.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Love alone isn’t enough to overcome some obstacles.
Lena Kauffman is a young Old Order Amish schoolteacher who has dealt all her life with attention raised by a noticeable birthmark on her cheek. Having learned to move past the stares and whispers, Lena channels her zest for living into her love of teaching. But tensions mount as she is challenged to work with a rebellious young man and deal with several crises at the schoolhouse that threaten her other students. Her lack of submission and use of ideas that don’t line up with the Old Ways strengthen the school board’s case as they begin to believe that Lena is behind all the trouble.
One member of the school board, Grey Graber, feels trapped by his own stifling circumstances. His wife, Elsie, has shut him out of her life, and he doesn’t know how long he can continue to live as if nothing is wrong. As the two finally come to a place of working toward a better marriage, tragedy befalls their family.
Lena and Grey have been life-long friends, but their relationship begins to crumble amidst unsettling deceptions, propelling each of them to finally face their own secrets. Can they both find a way past their losses and discover the strength to build a new bridge?
Win a "Trip To Amish Country"...contest opens August 31st -December 31st...go HERE to enter!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Not until her own children were well into middle school did Bev seek to publish her work, first in magazines such as Highlights for Children, Dolphin Log, and Guideposts for Kids. Her first book followed in 1993—Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans—presently retitled Big Bad Beans (book #22 in the popular CUL-DE-SAC KIDS series of chapter books—see list of Bev's children's books).
Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, THE HERITAGE OF LANCASTER COUNTY, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."
Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Bev's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."
A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and playing with their three grandchildren. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Lancaster County, with its rolling meadows and secret byways, may seem idyllic, but it is not without its thorns. THE ROSE TRILOGY is the stirring saga of two Amish sisters on the fringes of the church, and the unforeseen discoveries that change their lives.
Rose Kauffman, a spirited young woman, has a close friendship with the bishop's foster son. Nick dresses Plain and works hard but stirs up plenty of trouble too. Rose's sister cautions her against becoming too involved, but Rose is being courted by a good, Amish fellow, so dismisses the warnings.
Meanwhile, Rose keeps house for an English widower but is startled when he forbids her to ever go upstairs. What is the man hiding? Rose's older sister, Hen, knows more than she should about falling for the wrong man. Unable to abandon her Amish ways, Hen is soon separated from her very modern husband.
Mattie, their young daughter, must visit her father regularly, but Hen demands she wear Amish attire--and speak Pennsylvania Dutch, despite her husband's wishes. Will Hen be able to reestablish her place among the People she abandoned? And will she be able to convince Rose to steer clear of rogue neighbor Nick?
Watch the book trailer:
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Thorn, go HERE.
Last weekend it wasn't quite so hot, so my youngest and I spent a couple of hours washing a truck, a van, and two cars (vehicles from two families). We only had one sponge, and by the time we got done it was pretty much shot. I'm going to have to go to the dollar store and buy a couple of sponges, but it's still a lot cheaper than even the do-it-yourself car wash. Since I'm still looking for a job, cheap is good!
A homestead truck hardly ever gets washed and this one was definitely due for it. Adam actually enjoyed helping, too. Why is that the younger the kids are, the more they actually want to help?
