...the love of many shall wax cold.

 Matthew 24:1-51 KJV

1 ¶  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 ¶  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25  Behold, I have told you before.
26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 ¶  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Summer recipes request by Grace

Monday, July 06, 2020 7:07 PM

 

Goat keeping through the years

Ashley, our first Purebred Nubian doe 2010

Aiyana 2011

 --------I will likely add to this post off and on, as long as we have goats...-----------

John Henry /Double Dipper 2014

We've raised more than a few goats through the years.
We mainly raise our mixed Nubian goats for fresh dairy:  milk, yogurt, buttermilk, chevre, feta, mozzarella, ricotta.
We have eaten goat meat, but it's been a while (I can recommend goat processing by Fort  Valley State University SMALL RUMINANT CENTER).  If you like deer meat (I do), then you'd probably like goat meat.

2012

For a while now, we've sold our surplus live goats right off the homestead (Craigslist farm and garden ((Columbus, GA)) listings have worked well for us), so no extras left for eating.


Starting 2018, we had repeat goat customers.  Two had purchased bucks from us for breeding in years past, and wanted to repeat their success.  Several had purchased does for milk and/or breeding, and wanted more of the same.

I do enjoy meeting new goat folks.  But I am very much encouraged by seeing previously new goat friends coming back as happy repeat goat customer friends.

I prefer keeping our goat herd small:  ten or so, tops.  Although I have milked seven goats at morning milking, I prefer three or four at a time.  (I feel myself slowing down in recent years.)  This way some can be in milk, and some can be hanging around with the buck, for the next round of freshening.  In a perfect year (no issues with predators, parasites, weather catastrophes, budget constraints, stress, infertility, etc.), just as one half of the herd is drying off, the other half is freshening.  That has probably occurred once or twice in about 16 years.

We try to limit keeping the new kids.  I prefer us just keeping one or two doe kids (doelings) per year.  For the sake of diversity, I tend to not keep too many generations of one line.  If I really want to keep the new girl kid then I will probably sell her dam.  Not always every time.  Just a general guideline.

Emma & Grayson Spring 2019

If there is a very promising buck kid (buckling), then he's a keeper for a year or two.


We make sure to get a new buck (new genetics) every two years or so to prevent inbreeding.

Ideally we'll have two freshening seasons in a year:  a cool season and a warm season.  This keeps us in milk year round.  I'm a bit conflicted here.  On the plus side we don't have a dry period, and we'll suffer less through allergy or flu season.  On the minus side, we don't get a season of rest because we (usually me) milk goats every morning.  At peak flow (right after kidding) Bryant or Grace or Katie also milks at night.

I used to - scratch that - still do - tell folks that you can usually tell what book we're reading, or what show we're watching by what names the goat kids end up with.  In the interest of reducing attachment/limiting keepers, we keep a list of male & female names handy.  The keeper list stays short and the get rid of list (book / TV show characters we do not like) is long.

Donovan & Koa Autumn 2019

Autumn 2019

God's economy, goats and lye

2012 Arwen & Ashley

Through the years,  I believe we've been more of a ministry than a homestead farm.  We've given tours, hosted on farm culinary education, and homestead mentoring.  As long as I enjoy it, I'm glad to share my time, knowledge, experience, equipment, raw materials and recipes.

There were some "learn the hard way" times that dimmed my enthusiasm.  But I try to keep in mind that my life is bought with a price, and when I am DOING, if I'm doing as unto the LORD, it's all good.

God's economy is a beautiful aspect of His kingdom.  It is amazing to hear the stories of God working in other believers' lives.  And, praise the Lord, I am thankful to see God working in my life.  Up close and personal.

We sell extra goats throughout the year.  The goats have the whole reproducing after their own kind thing down pat.  Each freshening, we keep one or two and sell the rest.  We HAVE eaten goat, but it's been a few years.  I think the last goat processing appointment I had scheduled at Fort Valley State University (Small Ruminant Center) was when Hurricane Irma came through.  We cancelled that appointment due to the weather, and ended up selling those goats here instead.

In 2018, we lost a bit of money on one goat sale.  My fault - nobody's fault but mine.  I somewhat knew this local livestock person, having met years previously through an up-the-road-neighbor-friend.  I sold this person a goat kid on a payment plan.  After they finished making their payments, they picked up their goat kid.  No problem.  They expressed interest in one of our mama goats.  After we came to agreement on price, the person loaded up the mama goat with agreement to pay "next month."  I said since they were faithful to pay, and known for a number of years, I would trust them and their word.  They came back a month later not to pay but to ask for another goat.  I reminded them of their balance due, and said I would not do further business until that was paid.  Have not heard back since, so I let it go and figured it was a valuable learning experience.

At year end, I was discussing this situation with my husband, and asked what should we do about the mama goat balance still due on our square store.  We agreed we'd  just zero it out.

A short while later, I got a call from a very sweet sister in Jesus, who I had taught how to make soap a few years prior.  She was cleaning out her craft stuff, and came across a bunch of lye leftover from her soapmaking.  She asked if we could use it.  I seldom make soap, but Grace makes big batches of vegan-friendly soap a few times a year for soap customers.  So I said, yes, we sure can, and just let me know how much I can pay her.  She laughed and said this is a blessing from the Lord.

The dollar value of the lye and the dollar value of the mama goat are the same.  Praise God.  Thank you Jesus!    Dear Lord, please bless this dear sister in Jesus!  And dear Lord, please bless the mama goat person too.  Thank you Lord for provision, for family & friends, for health and strength and daily bread.  Thank you Lord for salvation by/of/through/Jesus and His precious blood.

Hey, Hey, Hey! Godspeed dear Amy

Winter 1995 

 Stuarts Draft, VA 

Back Row:  Bryant, Tonia, Amy

Front Row:  Teresa

3-11-2019 I just found out this morning about Amy. I can’t believe it took me this long to realize I had not heard from Amy in a while, knowing she had been battling non hodgkins lymphoma. To say my bad just doesn’t cut it.

Amy was a significant influence in my life and I am grateful for her friendship through the years. Thank you, Amy’s parents & sister, for raising such a strong and giving soul. Amy was brave, feisty, smart, adventurous, caring, and an amazing cook. Amy showed up.

If a picture says a thousand words, Amy’s pictures through the years spoke her love. Amy traveled - sometimes with folks and sometimes solo. Somewhere in our storage there are dozens of postcards from Amy from the time she went across the United States & back in her Saturn. Solo.

Amy's Salsa Recipe found on 76th page of 1993 Vaughn Family Reunion Family Cookbook

About twenty years or so ago, Amy shared her salsa recipe with me. I sent “Amy’s Salsa” recipe in for my husband’s 1993 family reunion cookbook. I remember one time Amy was visiting us I showed it to her, and she was glad to see it in there. If you’re a salsa fan, try Amy’s recipe (with fresh ingredients, preferably homegrown, like Amy did).

There’s an Amy-shaped empty spot in our lives now. Knowing Amy has gone to be with the Lord gives comfort. And I imagine time will ease the sorrow. I’m sending thoughts & prayers to Amy’s sister & nephews & parents. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 (These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

1. A proud look, 2. a lying tongue, 3. and hands that shed innocent blood, 4. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 5. feet that be swift in running to mischief, 6. A false witness that speaketh lies, and 7. he that soweth discord among brethren.)

Proverbs 6:1-35 KJV
1 ¶My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3  Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4  Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5  Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 ¶  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7  Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8  Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9  How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
12 ¶  A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13  He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14  Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15  Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
20 ¶  My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21  Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22  When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23  For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24  To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25  Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26  For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27  Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28  Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29  So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
30  Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31  But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32  But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33  A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34  For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35  He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Revelation 2:5

... and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Revelation 2:23b-c

Error of omission... error correction

Repent:  for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  (Matthew 4:17, 10:7)

I'm thankful to still receive correction, even when it is coming from a young person.  Early 2018, we had some folks over for dinner.  I shared how thrilled I was to have received a senior citizen discount when grocery shopping, even though I had not reached the store's senior discount age (I was 53 when the incident occurred).  I said that I could have corrected the cashier's error, but preferred to benefit from the error and keep the discount.  Their teenage son carefully, thoughtfully, paused and then remarked "And it's not REALLY lying..."  I laughed and said I guessed not.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

But I reckon it really was.  My bad.  I thought about this quite a bit, in the back of my head,  the rest of the evening, and off and on for several weeks.  MONTHS, actually.

Thank you, Jeremiah!  Bless you.

Not too long after, while driving through Leslie, GA, I was discussing this (my error needing correction) with my youngest daughter, just before being pulled over by a police officer for speeding.  Oops.  My bad.  My fault.  Nobody's fault but mine.

 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.  (James 4:17)

So, do I care that I was speeding?  Yes.  (Not just because the ticket cost $194.25, which I paid by phone April 2018 [cheaper than driving to court, for sure], but because I ought not to have been speeding!)

But woe unto you (me), Pharisees!  for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God:  these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.                   (Luke 11:42)

And do I care that I neglected to speak up to the grocery store cashier about my premature-senior status?  A few shades short of honesty?  Yes. 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

I was wrong to not speak up about my age (it has been a long time since I've been too young for something...).  And I was wrong to be speeding.  I don't want to be a bad example for my daughters, and I do not want to be a bad "billboard for Jesus."  As a believer, my life is bought with a price.  I ought to practice what I believe on.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?      God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?    (Romans 6:1&2)

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.  Selah. (Psalm 32:5)

I've reacquainted myself with the cruise control button and pay closer attention to speed limit signs.  I've asked my family to help with that (if I'm not heeding the traffic signs or signals, SPEAK UP, please).  I've adopted a stop sign ritual (with my foot on the brake, I think/say:  1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000); this helps me stop instead of pause at stop signs.  I am trying to listen more carefully to what others say to me, and what I say to others:  is it true?  is it of good report?  etc.  To help me actively listen to the preacher (my husband) Sunday mornings, I take notes - scripture references, admonitions, instructions.  With the Lord's help, I'm hoping to maintain a teachable spirit and be able to receive constructive input from those around me.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
(Philippians 4:8)