Make your goals specific or be ready for God's interpretation. . .

We all do it.  Whether formally on paper, in our head, or just in our spirit.  Our entire life we set goals, things we want to do or be.
Recently, I have been evaluating my almost 40 years.  I started out thinking, wow, I haven't met any of my goals.  It was then in my self-pity, that God was able slap me.  And say, "you met them, take a minute and reevaluate, this time look at them with My boundaries and not Rachel's."

This is what I found -

Goal #1 - I want to be a teacher when I grow up.  
Rachel's Idea
My view of this had me in an amazing classroom full of children who were excited that I was their teacher.  A classroom that other teachers only longed to have - full of wonder, color, technology, and creativity.  I was going to make a difference in lives of countless students.  I was going to be that teacher they always thought of as adults, when they thought of the teacher that made a difference in their lives.
God's Idea
I am the teacher to three amazing people.  I sit at my kitchen table surrounded by laundry, dirty dishes, and lunch plates discussing the Trojan War, atomic structure, how to find the area of a circle, the Apollo space missions, and how to write a good paragraph - simultaneously.  I will the be the teacher they think of when they grow up, by default :).

Goal #2 - I want to change the world.
Rachel's Idea
I was going to do something that people would recognize as world changing.   Something that made this world a better place.  Something that allowed this world to have little more potential.
God's Idea
He gave me three acres of "the world" to change.  I have quite literally changed the physical world on which we live.  What was once over grown and unusable, is now producing food and allowing animals to sustain life.  It is providing a place for family and friends to get away from the hustle and bustle and find hope and peace.  My three acres have potential and there is lot more "world" changing left to do.

Goal #3 - I want a big family.
Rachel's Idea
We were going to give the Duggar's a run for their money :)
God's Idea
He gave me body that would have limits, but heart that would not.  Becoming a foster parent has allowed me to love - at last count 7 little blessings.  Who knows?  Some of these blessing may officially become Medlin's, but all of them have been loved with a mother's love.

Goal #4 - I want to preach The Word.
Rachel's Idea
I was going to be a preacher like all those preachers I know.  I was going to stand in a pulpit and deliver sermons that would make people want to be different.
God's Idea
Here is the definition of preach on google -

Full Definition of PREACH

intransitive verb

1

:  to deliver a sermon

2

:  to urge acceptance or abandonment of an idea or course of action

Looks like God had definition number in mind for me.

And Finally Goal #4 - I want to be a writer.
Rachel's Idea
I wanted to walk through the library and see my name on the spine of a book.  I wanted to write words that move people.  Words that would link in with other goals I had like changing the world and preaching.
God's Idea
He gave me a blog and let me vent my heart about how He deals with me.

Do you see the pattern yet?  All my goals were totally ME centered.  All about how my name would make a difference.  All His fulfillment's of my goals are totally GOD centered.  They can't be described without using His name.   They can't be explained without giving Him glory.  And they certainly would not have been met without His direction.

I am so glad God took my goals and made them His.  I might not be everything I thought I was going to be.  But I live in assurance that God has allowed me to meet every goal.

Do you know you're a Duck?

So having the homestead has afforded us many opportunities, one of which is rescuing three hens, a rooster, and duck from a local business.  They had been dropped off to fend for themselves in the deep woods.  Now the actual rescue process is whole different blog for a different day - wow, what a story.  But today, I want to share a lesson I learned from our sweet little duck.

She came to us not knowing she was a duck.  She had grown up with these chickens and she acted like a chicken.  She tried to eat like a chicken, sleep like a chicken, take a dust bath like a chicken, even scratch with her web feet like a chicken.  She had no idea she was made for the water.  She didn't look for water.  She never sat longingly with a dreamy look in her eyes wishing for water.  She was just trying to be a chicken.  Yet, you could tell she was frustrated.  She couldn't really be a chicken.

Our goal was to make her realize she was a duck.  It was a slow process.  It was a gradual introduction to water.  First, we just made puddles in the yard for her to find.  She would find them and while the chickens would stand on the edge and just take a sips.  She found she could wade right into the middle and enjoy the puddle.  She would drink the water and splash it in the air.  This led us to making her a small "pond" out of a shallow feeding trough.  Once she found the trough she spent two weeks just circling it.  She never attempted to get in.  She enjoyed playing, drinking, and splashing from the outside.  And then it happened.  Yesterday morning as I opened the barn doors, she ran from the barn and jumped all in into the "pond".  She was amazed.  She realized she was a duck.  She was made for the water.  She spent the next hour splashing, dunking and floating in her "pond".   She is now so content.  So, ready to be a duck.  Now she is the only duck in our chicken world.  But she is an awesome duck.  And she loves the water!!!!

Ok, so do you see it!  The sermon just waiting to seen.

When spend so much of our time trying to fit into a world that we were not created for.  We try to fit in and be like those around us, knowing the entire time that something is not right.  Once we get a taste of the Living Water (Jesus), we just keep going back for more.  Until finally we love the Water so much, we just jump in.  We submerge ourselves in the Living Water.  We fill ourselves with Him.  We can't get enough of Him.  We want to swim in Him, play in Him, rest in Him, float in Him, and cleanse ourselves in Him.   We want the Water to be our reason for living.  Go back and read our ducks story again this time thinking about yourself and how you feel about the Living Water (Jesus).

I am so happy that I found out I am duck!  Jesus the Living Water has made a huge difference in my life.  He longs to be your hope and fulfillment too. All you have to do is jump in!  Trust me the Water is great!

Hold the Goat!

We share our goat milk with Cowboy, the baby goat.  He gets momma all day and he sleeps in a pen by himself at night.  I go out early in the morning and milk, Ms. Charlotte, before Cowboy gets out.  This way everyone gets milk :)

This morning however, Cowboy broke out of his pen before I had finished milking.  So here was the picture in the goat pen this morning.  Ms. Charlotte locked in the milking stand eating her morning grains, me sitting on the milking stool with a baby goat across my lap holding him down with my elbows, while I continued to milk.  Cowboy will not go in the history books as a quiet kid.  Let's add some sound to this whole scene, imagine Cowboy screaming at the top of his lungs.  Seriously folks, he sounds like a real child who is in some sort of danger.  We set for the next 20 minutes - Charlotte eating, me milking and holding (down) the goat, and Cowboy screaming.

See Cowboy didn't seem to understand that if he just rested there for a moment, it wouldn't be long and he could have all the milk he wanted.  He didn't understand that he had the opportunity to just spend some time with the farmer.  Cowboy loves his farmer, I was there when he was born.  I was the first person he saw, the first thing of the outside world to touch him.  I helped him take his first breath.  So, he trust me more than any other person on this earth and I often find he likes to just be near me.  Yet in this moment, he was so overcome with what he didn't have, he couldn't see what he already had.

If you haven't got the sermon for yourself out of this story, let me type it out for you. . .
We have the chance to lay in the lap of God almighty, while He cares for those around us.  Yet, oh so many times, we spend our entire time in His lap crying about the things we can't have.  We have no idea that if we just enjoyed the time in His lap and took in His presence, before too very long we would have our fill of all the thing we need.

Is your freezer full?

I know I don't blog as often as I like, thing on The Homestead keep me on my toes.  But today I must slow down just a bit to tell a few God stories.

Not to complain, but just to set the backstory - Times are lean on The Homestead these days.  Praise the Lord chicken still sells, just not as fast as it could.  (Those would be Travis' chickens, not mine!)
With that said, know we are a two frig family.  One in the kitchen and one in the laundry room for overflow.  Teenage boys are hard to fill up!  That also means two freezer spaces.  And most times those stay at or to capacity.  We also have a small reach in freezer, that was given to us awhile back that we have stored in the barn because we did not need to use it.  We were making do with what we had.  Well, this week we went dry. . . our inside freezer's went bare.  We like game meat and usually I always have some wild boar or venison in there; or fresh chicken from The Homestead or even grocery store meat I found on sale.  It came down to the last venison roast and we savored each bite.  We knew it wasn't really in the budget to load up on meats - Meat is expensive.  So we thanked God for the meat, we have had and carried on.
Early Friday morning, God told me to go get the reach in the freezer from the barn, clean it up, and plug it in.  I kinda did a double take, ok God, run that by me again.  I can't even fill the freezer space I already have and you want me to do what?  CLEAN IT!!! He said.  So clean it I did.  I carried it in and plugged it up.  As I shut the lid, I said, Ok God, I cleaned it - now you can fill it!  Ten minutes later - no joke folks - ten minutes, Travis texts me and says, someone just asked me if we wanted two coolers full of venison.

I don't know why I marvel at how God works - after all He is God.  I think I marvel most at the fact He choose to be my God.  That He cares enough to fill my freezer.

I, also, can't help but wonder - what would have happened if I hadn't cleaned the freezer?

Bread . . .mmm!!!

A couple of people have asked for my bread recipe.  I thought I would just post it here for easy reference.  Keep in mind - Bread making is an art, not a science.  This is only a base to follow.  Temperatures in your house, humidity, flour type, etc all effect the bread.  Don't give up on first try.  I made bread every week for three months before I got right.  And I still have weeks were it's edible, but not great.  Happy Bread Baking!

               Medlin Homestead Bread

Ingredients

2 Cups of Warm Water

1 1/2 Tablespoons Yeast

Pinch of Sugar

5 1/2 Cups of Bread Flour

3 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tablespoon Salt

4 Large Eggs

1/2 Cup Honey, Molasses, Sorghum, or Syrup

2/3 Cups of Oil (Olive, Vegetable, etc.)

Pour 1/2 cup of warm water in small bowl and add yeast and sugar - let set 10 minutes 

Prepare in mixing bowl 1 1/2 cups of bread flour, salt, eggs, oil, remaining 1 1/2 cups of water and your choice of honey, molasses, sorghum, or syrup.  Each of these will give your bread a slightly different taste and color.  ex. Molasses gives you a more rustic tasting darker bread, while honey will give you a sweet light bread.  Mix these ingredients with paddle. 

Switch to dough hook and slowly add remaining flour about a cup at at time.  The dough will begin to form and pull from the sides of the bowl.  Once the bowl is free of dough on the side, allow the dough hook to knead the dough for about 4 minutes.  

Gentle lift dough out of bowl and spray the bowl with non-stick spray.  Drop your dough back in and spray top lightly.  Cover with thin cloth and allow to rise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours in a warm place.  Dough should double in size.  Temperature and time of year will vary your rise time.

After dough has doubled, carefully punch down dough with your fist, cover and let rise for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours, again watching for it to double.

Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface. Use dough knife and divide into four equal parts.  Theses will be your loafs.  You may gently shape them how ever you wish.  Once shaped gently drop loaf onto work surface to allow any air bubbles in the bread to escape.

Place in greased baking pans.  Be sure to pinch and tuck the ends so the loaf will rise correctly.  Beat one egg with tablespoon of water and brush on top of loaves.  Allow them to rise for 45 minutes - about an inch over the pan. 

About 20 minutes before baking turn oven on 350 and move rack to middle of oven.  When rise if finished glaze again and sprinkle top if you desire with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, oat flakes, etc.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes and immediately remove from pan and allow to cool on cooling racks.  This is when I rub my crust down with butter.  This is optional.  Slicing is easiest with an electric knife.  Bread can be frozen.  Slice first for easy thawing and double wrap for air tight freezing.  By making four loaves, I find you have a loaf to eat hot out of the oven with butter, a loaf for sandwiches early in the week, a loaf to freeze for later in the week, and a loaf for the neighbors.

Once you get the hang of it you can experiment with folding in lots of the goodies on the final rise, dry fruit and nuts, cinnamon and sugar, garlic and herbs.  This recipe can also be used to make buns just shape and mold before the final rise. 

You might be a mini-farmer . . .

You might be a mini-farmer . . . 

if you wait by the mail box for your seed packets to come.

if you realize the time it takes for highlight dye to sit on your hair, is just enough time to feed and water the animals.

if a horse is your lawn mower and fertilizer.

if you measure time by the sun coming up and down instead of the clock.

if your husband knows to be careful when coming up the driveway, because the chickens or the goats may be free-ranging.

if your children know the breeding habits of your goats and talk about them with strangers.

I am sure I will think of more . . . you may have some too.

Are you a rooster or a hen?

      After building a coop from scrap material left on our property, I promptly filled it with hens.  I had decided a couple of things after all my research.  One - I didn't want to start with bittys.  I needed my chickens to start out semi-grown and healthy.  After I learned adult chicken care, then we would see about babies.  Two - I didn't want a rooster.  I had done lots of research on the pro's and con's of a  rooster.  I had decided, I could get all the eggs I needed without a rooster.  And my neighbor's would be happy.  So the hen house was filled with two layers, two soon to be layers, and three pullets (teenage chickens).
      Well, my pullets have grown up, they are adult chickens.  Guess what?. . . . I think I have a rooster!  They told me all three where hens, but it looks like a rooster, acts like a rooster, and yet after all my research on rooster telling - I still don't know.  Sounds crazy doesn't it.  One should be able to tell.  Really it's what on the inside that counts, because it's what's on the inside that will or will not produce an egg.  Looks, personality, characteristics, those are all surface thing.  Things that hens and roosters both can show.  But it's those internal things we can't see that determines, if I get eggs or not.

Got me to thinking - One may look "Godly" on the outside, but really it's what on the inside.  It is the condition of the heart that determines, if we bear good fruit or not.  And it is the fact that we bear good fruit that proves the condition of our heart.

This is Caroline.  She is most certainly a hen.  She is a consistent layer of beautiful eggs, and the self appointed keeper of the nest.  She works all day to keep the laying box clean and ready for all to lay eggs.

2/20/13 Update:  Enough time has passed for me to positively verify - I have a rooster!

When a goat won't be a goat. . .

We have a goat - her name is Charlotte Goat #1 (long story).  She has become very dear to us.  And perhaps we have babied her too much.  She came to us to be a supply of milk.  Well just like all mammals, she must first have a baby to produce milk.  This process has proven quite tricky.  After coming to us "with goat", and miscarrying.  Our only option was to find her a companion.  Jehoshaphat Goat #2 came to live on the homestead.  Charlotte was ticked, what was an old goat doing in her pen.  She had no idea she was a goat!  Well here we are two months later and still no baby in process.  Charlotte is completely put out at the idea of living with an old goat.  Jehoshaphat is tired of Charlotte not wanting to be a goat (if you know what I mean).  So, here we are . . . still no milk, but a couple of hilarious old goats.

Did you ever think that maybe we loose perspective of who we are?  God intended us to be a working part of the body of Christ, producing lots of fruit.  Yet somehow, we got it all of whack.  We spend our days scuffling with the very people we were intended to produce fruit with.  And here we are inside the four walls of our church chasing each other; mad because the other is not acting like we think they should.   So busy trying to be something we were not intended to be that no fruit is ever produced.  What would happen if each of us let God take control and we became the part of the body of Christ He intended us to be?  We would have so much fruit, the walls could hold them.  Wait isn't that how it is supposed be . . .