How to have the best of both worlds?  I really don't know but I can try my best.  Two small children, working half-time away from home, helping run our family business and also doing marketing/promotions for a neighbors company leaves me running in too many directions, and I constantly need to remind myself to downsize my obligations as much as possible.  I am fortunate that most of the time I am home, but am I failing to give my children all I can give to help them grow to love the Lord and serve Him?

We all need to prioritize our goals, and the wise man isn't always the one who saves for the future at the neglect of the immediate needs (both physical and emotional) of his or her family.  We must be stewards of what we have, but working 18 hours a day, for me, is not worth the  cost.  Even if we are good parents in those few hours we are home, what is happening to our children those other hours of the day.  I know I am incapable of working non-stop and still being a good mother because if I try to do that, I am tired and miserable when I actually have some time with the kids.   That is why (and I was fortunate that God worked things out that way) I chose to only work half-time.  For the last few years, it has been the best of both worlds in many instances.  However, more and more, I believe I am getting to the point that it is in the best interest of our entire family for me to begin thinking about coming home full-time.  I will certainly have many obligations from home, but it will be best, I think?

Then thinking about those things, we need to make sure we can pay our mortgage, I have good health insurance we will lose...there are many problems that will arise from me coming home, and one must trust that God has a plan and timing for each thing to come to fruition, and when it is time for me to be full-time at home, he will make a way through all those details. 

I also have some black-eyed peas soaking to make Hoppin' John... I think I am going to combine different recipes, so I won't tell anyone how I did it unless it turns out well.  I don't know if it is just the warmer weather, but I have been in the mood for southern food lately, so anyone has anymore ideas, let me know!

I have been thinking about peach cobbler since seeing the recipes on "Western Chef" http://www.homesteadblogger.com/westernchef/, so I think I will make it tonight.  I have been trying to use up food around the house and between frozen strawberries from last season and canned peaches, we have been having good desserts lately, which is great, because I rarely cook dessert.

My husband has been so busy, I have been really trying to provide him with a decent meal in the evening.  Many times, we just grub for whatever food we can find, but he needs some decent nourishment right now...Only trouble is, it makes a mess in the kitchen I am often too busy to clean up completely!

I am currently on a business trip...not something I usually do working half-time in a job that doesn't often take me too far from home.  However, this has been a wild year and so now I am sitting in a posh suite in a fancy hotel contemplating the direction my life could have easily gone:

My entire life, I was raised in the American tradition of going to school, working hard, and getting an education so you can be successful in life, and our culture has increasingly defined success as making a six figure income and being able to buy whatever you want.

So here I am, certainly not making the six figure income, bu tliving out for two days what my career could have been.  I could easily have pursued a corporate career, moved to a big city and worked my brains off climbing the corporate ladder to get more money and more "success."  I could have been traveling to all of these "glorious" cities (right now Orlando...not exceptionally glorious, but you get the idea).  On these trips, I would then be also spending  most of the money I make, although the company could choose to pay for evenings out on the town and cocktails all around.  I could go from posh suite to posh suite and meet all kinds of glorious people, but what is the cost?

Here I sit all alone in my suite, and though if I was really in the business mind-set, I would be schmoozing right now, networking, making connections and making what one could scarcely call "friends." Though I could be out on the town and experiencing all kinds of new and exciting things, at the end of the day I would still return to my empty suite (or worse for many...come back with temporary companionship).  Then when I was able to return home, it wouldn't exactly be a home I was returning to, but rather a place to sleep and put all of my wonderful, hard-earned "stuff" that I never even have time to use, and the place I returned to would also be empty, except for maybe a cat who could survive without me for days at a time.  I may have friends and family, but how intimate can one really be with anyone when they are gone all the time or working 80 hour weeks when they are home?

For a long time, though I didn't understand the ramifications, I thought I wanted that "success" and every once in a while when I am frustrated with the way life is going, I think "look what you could have done," but praise God for his infinite wisdom...he did not let me go down many of the paths that I likely would have chosen for myself and he has protected me from  poor decisions. 

I would have been completely miserable had I pursued that life, and I likely would still be single.  Instead, I have a wonderful family, I have time (though often harried time) to be with the people I love, and though I am not making millions, I have also learned to be content with what I do have and have found resourceful ways to live within the abundance that God has provided our family. 

Though I am enjoying some time of solitude that is essentially impossible in a bustling household, I cannot wait to get back home and give everyone the biggest hugs and kisses I have ever given them!

Well maybe not the final chapter, but this is the last I will be talking about it for a while...

After my original post and subsequent meeting with the pastor, combined with comments from many of you on the blog, self-evaluation, convictions and discussions with friends and family...most notably my husband, here is where this journey has taken me:

 

The issue of Christians and alchohol has been a long-standing issue for me as most (and yes these are generalities) of the more conservatively dressed and demeanored Christians in my life have always abstained from alcohol and told thier children to abstain from it, while many of my friends and more "free-spirited" Christians who have had the greatest impact on my complete commitment to Christ have not made a big deal of alcohol and will freely drink in public.

Since becoming a Christian, I have always resisted the more conservative approach to Christianity via skirts, head-coverings and abstaining from all things that could even whiff of impurity.  Until I can find clear and coherent teachings from the word of God on why I should or should not do something, I do not want to draw hard lines in the sand unless Jesus himself does.

So, I have been pursuing this issue, but as I am reaching the end of the journey, I am recognizing that I have made it into a much bigger issue than is necessary and as a result have taken my focus off Christ.  Because I have spent much of my time ticked at our church for stating that alcohol is prohibited, that has been a partial excuse for our lack of involvement in a church that is greatly pursuing God's will for itself and our community.

The reality is that it is such an absurd waste of time to worry about such a trivial matter when there are eternal consequences for what we are doing with our time today.  I have really been trying to refocus on God and as such, I began reading AW Tozer's A Knowledge of the Holy.  Though I seemed to have misplaced the book and am only a few chapters in, a point that Tozer made about God has really stuck with me. 

In the book he explains how modern Christianity has developed this warped and highly-inaccurate picture of who God is and this has caused disasterous results within "Christianity" as it is loosely defined by the 50 or some percent of the US population that claimed to be evangelical Christians (those of you who have read Tozer's book will recognize that this is my editorial comment, not Tozers).  Tozer suggests that, among other things, if we were to regain a more accurate picture of God, we would be so amazed with who He is and what He has done for us that anything other than complete love, unadorned worship and service to the true and living God would lose all significance.

So, though I have not finished the book or have not still come up with an absolute answer to the alcohol question, I am turned to focus on God and His will for my life as I learn daily to love and serve Him better, and can only hope that many of the other worldly burdens on my shoulders would be taken away (or I will throw them away as I recognize their complete insignificance in light of eternity)  as I cast my cares upon Him.

Thank you to all who responded to my original post...your comments were all very helpful...and a basic answer to the question...right now I am simply going to stay away from alcohol personally and keep it out of our home as I allow my husband to reach his own conclusions as to what is best for our household.

Life has been exceptionally hectic, but now I will try to recap our meeting in regards to alcohol and our church.  The meeting with our pastor was really nice...we had dinner with him, his wife, and my brother and sister-in-law...very casual.

The results were positive, though not quite what my husband and I were expecting.  We have had in our head for several years that the church drew a hard line in the sand in regards to alcohol, as essentially that's what our church covenant proclaims.  As I got thinking about the covenant previous to our meeting, I had been wondering if there had been some historical significance to alcohol being spoken of specifically in the covenant, while other more clear areas of blatant sin were neglected...it turns out I was right.  Our church has been around for a long time and the covenant has existed as it is since before and during Prohibition.  I can only imagne the controvery that would ensue if anyone ever made a move to have that stricken from the covenant. 

I was happy to know that we are of like mind with the pastor in regards to the arguments for and against the use of alcohol...for example the fact that the bible does not explicitely prohibit all uses of alcohol (but it is not recommended for princes and kings or those in leadership and drunkenness is clearly a sin--points some of you have already pointed out).

The reasons our church and our pastor have decided not to consume alcohol is more a matter of our testimony and our ability to serve as a stumbling block to our neighbors or make it more difficult for a believer who has previously had problems with alcohol to be in fellowship with believers who consume alcohol.  Though the church explains their stand on alcohol as one becomes a member, they are not under any false assumptions that no member of their church consumes alcohol and they would not actively pursue discipline in that matter as long as it was not impacting others in one of the ways mentioned above.  He explained (and I sincerely took to heart) the fact that we need to be united in pursuing a uniformity in the body focused on our love and service to the Lord, and drawing hard lines on peripheral issues such as alcohol does not bring us toward that purpose.

That is a quick recap of our meeting and next I will elaborate on what I have been learning throughout the process.

I have to say I am really impressed with the members of this blog community.  I was definitely skeptical at first and just started a blog here just to find out how blogs worked, but I think I'm hooked.  I am definitely guilty on many occasions of pre-judging a lot of things, this being one...I assumed that most of the bloggers on here were hard-line legalist Christians...after all, as I think of most homesteaders, I think of a near-Amish existence and women in dresses and head-coverings.  Even if that is the case (which is probably true for some, but not all of you) I GREATLY appreciate that this blog community allows for each of us to be real people, share struggles, admit that we are not always perfect, and help one another in various avenues.  I will give an update on the status of my "Christians and Alcohol" story when I get a chance, but just reading the responses to my first post overwhelmed me in that people took the time to respond with sincere points-of-view and "CountryGoalie" is phenomenal in that she really expounded on the question with great clarity. 

Thank you to all that responded and thanks to homesteadblogger!

I know this has nothing to do with homesteading, but I see there are many Christian women in this community and wanted to get different perspectives.

My husband and I are having a hard time determining whether or not it is OK to consume alcohol.  Though the bible is clear that drunkenness is a sin, we are not really finding anything that says that all alcohol is evil, though that seems to be the mentality of many Christians. 

I guess I just don't understand how some God-fearing Christians drink alcohol and it is not a big deal to them or their churches while others are totally against it.  Our church covenant(though we are not members) includes the statement "we will abstain from the sale or use of alcohol as a beverage."  Part of the reason we are not members is because we do not understand why that is an explicit statement in our church, and without good cause, I do not feel comfortable telling my non-Christian friends and colleagues "I'm not really sure why it is not OK to drink, but that's what my church says, so that is why I don't drink."

I think that is a lousy reason

Any opinions or wisdom would be greatly appreciated.  We are actually meeting with our pastor and his wife tonight to discuss it.  I will relay his viewpoint another day.

A long time ago, I came across a few recipes that called for vanilla beans (cheesecake and rice pudding were two big ones).  I couldn't figure out how to find them at the store, and when I finally did, I was amazed that it cost about $6 for one stinkin' bean.  I decided I would not use those recipes.

As I began looking into what exactly was so special about a vanilla bean, I really couldn't figure it out, but as I began looking into it, I thought I would like to get some, just a little cheaper...hence my grand plan.  I was able to find some cheap vanilla beans that were still a quality product if I bought them in bulk, so I did...about 200 beans.  I thought that I would then be able to use as many as I wanted, the price per bean was pretty good, and I would be able to tell people I knew how great the beans were and how cheap they were, and they would buy some off of me, thus making up for the extra cost of 200 beans.

Needless to say, that didn't quite work out, as I really am not a saleswoman, so I have all the vanilla beans I could ever need and more.  So, as a result of this big plan, I have learned various uses of vanilla beans, most useful...and cost effective...make your own vanilla extract. 

I don't know why I thought that vanilla extract was some super-human concoction, but it is only made of vanilla beans, vodka, and a tiny bit of corn syrup.  I paid $15 dollars for 8 oz. of vanilla at BJ's, when I can make a half gallon for less!

To make the extract, all you do is soak vanilla beans in a bottle of vodka w/ 2 T. of corn syrup, then shake it everyday.

How much, and how many beans?  I was told 10 beans for a half-gallon of vodka, but because I don't bother to shake it everyday, I don't think that worked out that well.  But, a perfect size is a 16 oz Snapple bottle, 1 T of corn syrup and 10 beans.  It makes it quicker and stronger.  Also, you can continue to produce vanilla extract as long as the vodka continues to get darker.  When you use about 1/3 of the bottle, you can cap it off again with vodka and keep reusing.

You can also then use the beans in other recipes.

Other things to do with the beans:

-Stick a few in your sugar for vanilla flavored sugar

-Grind any unused shells (I used one or two shells)and mix it in with your ground coffee beans for vanilla coffee--very good

-Make real vanilla bean ice cream

-Scrape pods into cheesecake

-cook in rice pudding and scrape pods inside

-much more...

If you are intrigued and want to try for yourself...I'm still trying to shrink my bean pile...75 cents a piece!

I was looking through homesteadblogger.com a while ago and came across a list off foods to have on hand to feed a family for a year...It might have been titled "Not for the Faint at Heart" but I can't figure out how to find it.  It talked about canning and needing quarts and quarts of applesauce, beans and whatnot. 

 

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about or how to find it, I would appreciate any help I can get.  I'm thinking about beginning to stock up a pantry