Life Learning

So much of our education comes from just living the life that God has given us.   Twenty-three years ago when we first started on our homeschooling journey I don't believe that Jeff and I had any ideas of where this walk would lead us.  Visions of two little girls learning to read, write and study God's Word and His creation floated in my mind's eye, but never would I have dreamed that we would still be on this journey 23 years later and still have at least 16 years to go as our family grew to include seven children and now, three grandchildren as well.

Our current life lessons seem to be focused on homesteading activities and I am really enjoying these lessons.  This week we have been canning applesauce and today we'll tackle beef and turkey broths, tomatoes, pickles and more applesauce.  We have potatoes to dehydrate and onions to freeze.  Kaelan made a big batch of dough yesterday for cinnamon rolls and I rolled them out for breakfast this morning.  I spread my own homemade butter over the dough, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and then rolled them up, sliced and baked.  Topped with icing made with more homemade butter, they were simply delicious.

Jeff commented after finishing his second cinnamon roll that our daughters sure could cook!!  Well, I reminded him that Kaelan made the dough, but I finished them up this morning!  There were/are extremely tasty and he also commented about the fresh taste of the butter.....and that we will soon be getting our own cow!  We have so enjoyed getting fresh milk for the last several months and I admit, have become a little snobbish now about our homemade milk products.  Oh, and we sit around drooling over cheese and soap making products from the Hoegger's Catalog and other products from Lehman's!!

This weekend we'll be busy building our first chicken tractor in preparation for ordering about 50 meat birds.  We're using a trampoline which was given to us just this week!  I'm sure I'll be posting pictures about that adventure soon.

Learning is more than just reading and writing.  Learning from real life is so much fun!  We are so very grateful that God as opened our eyes to learning in new ways with our children.  Yes, WITH!!  Our excitement for life learning is contagious and our children are catching the vision of becoming self-sufficient as much as possible and learning to live a more meaningful life that is not tied to the latest new-fangled toys, gadgets and clothing trends.   And in all this learning it seems that there is a much deeper awareness of the beauty and bounty that God as provided for us and a desire to use our resources for His glory.

So, what is God teaching you as you walk through life with your family?  Has your walk taken directions you would never have expected?  Please share!

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