As I navigate the waters of a new community I continually think how easy I have it compared to going on missions for say, the rest of my life. Idaho is still in the PNW. They still speak English. I still maintain my lifestyle I did in Washington. I get to send my kids to public school (God willing) as soon as they come of age. It's really not so bad--just an Idaho paradise instead of a Washington paradise.
However, I think a lot if God sent us abroad to reach others how would I cope? Do I have enough faith to hack it? Most days I feel like I hardly have enough faith to deal with the amount of change in the last year just having a baby and moving to Idaho.
I daydream about what I would take overseas to survive. How would I cook for my family? I'm pretty sure they don't sell skinned, deboned chicken breasts in Cambodia or India. They probably sell bread but could I make it for my family if I needed to? So, I've been honing my cooking/baking skills in the name of Missions. One day. I bought whole chickens for the first time and opened my Martha Stewart Cooking School cookbook and started following directions.
We've read Phil Robertson's autobiography and he talks about living off the land quite a bit. It's a foreign idea to most of us in the United States. Actually growing everything you eat and killing all the meat you consume. Then I take it a step further--could I clean a duck? Or chicken? Or turkey? Sheesh--I'm so spoiled.
Trent and I are discussing growing a huge garden and trying to do everything as sustainable as possible (read: without too many commercial chemicals). As much as we are pro-chemical agriculture we've also discussed if we were abroad could we grow a successful garden without all these inputs? How would we do it?
As we speak there is a compost garbage can in my backyard. We are adding all the kitchen scraps we can and trying to create our own soil from our waste. And goat and chicken waste.
We'll keep you updated on this endeavor. Seed starting is beginning soon!!
Love this!! So neat to hear your heart's cry as God's heart cry. It's encouraging and ministers to where I am right now. Can't wait to see pics of your plantings. And, maybe you should do a whole instructional blog post on how to debone and cook up that chicken! :)
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