Simple Living in the countryside, close to nature, as self sufficient and dependent on what creation provides as possible, according to God's plan and standard, far away from society's sins and wickedness... We have been living like this for a long time already, though not in the ideal location for it. Finally, we moved, and we used the first day of this week to work in our new yard: Clothes lines needed to be put up, the grass needed cut, and the garden needed to be dug. We also went to buy plants and seeds, in addition to what we have been pre-growing indoors in the early spring. So let me share today a few of the thoughts we had while doing all this.
First of all, clothes lines are not a nostalgic thing, but the most natural, cheap and simple way of drying clothes. The wind dries them quickly, the sun kills germs, and this "outdoor dryer" is completely energy neutral and cost us much less than an electric or gas dryer would have. We paid less than $50 for wood, concrete and screws, hooks, clothes line and clothes pins, and there will be no more costs from now on. The energy saved is energy we will not have to go to work and earn money for, in order to pay the bill.
Secondly, the seeds we bought are, of course, heirloom seeds. We spent quite a bit of money on these, and will save the seeds of this year's beans, tomatoes, sunflowers, cantaloupe etc etc etc for next year's sowing season. This is nothing new, but a practice that is as old as farming itself, but in our age, many vegetable and flour seeds are hybrids. God forbids mixing of seed, since the outcome of mixing is infertility, as you can see in hybrids. If you want to live according to God's design, you might have to spend a dime more initially nowadays, if you have to start over gardening-wise, but after the initial purchase, you will be independent of society for you will have your own seed. If you are a good steward, you can work with it for six years, until the Sabbath of the land, and start over after the Sabbath year with the seed you saved in the sixth year.
Finally, a word concerning tools. We enjoyed working with the hand tools we have, some of which have been handed down to us by my husband's grandfather, and who knows where he got them from. We also bought one new tool, a garden claw, that we will hand down to our children and grand children one day, along with the other tools that are well taken care of after each use and stored away neatly and securely, so that neither weather nor usage wears them out untimely and unnecessarily. Stewardship comes in many shapes and sizes, and it includes taking good care of what God in His grace bestows upon us, be it in terms of creation or in terms of individual possessions.
Frugality and country living, simplicity and intelligent stewardship are part and parcel of a life according to God's design. In our plural marriage family, everybody works with his and her own hands towards the common goal of living a godly life according to God's design, and many hands make light work, as the saying goes. What a joy it is to live in our new place ! How thankful we are for all the good things God has bestowed on Joshuah's House !
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