Katie 4/22/16 “Faith is Like a Little Seed”

By Katie

Good news, friends. My babies are growing! My first cucumber sprouted 2 weeks ago and I nearly died of happiness. After that first little green face, it seemed like everyone decided to come out and play in the sun, too. Now nearly all the seeds I planted have sprouted and grown little leaves. I couldn’t help but think how a garden is like a prayer. You cultivate fertile soil with your faith, and sow your hopes and fears and needs. You continue to exercise your trust in God with attentiveness, watering the seeds, but you have to be prudent. You can’t obsess and overwater, or you’ll drown out any answer before it can take root. You can’t plant something and then run off in the other direction, because neglect doesn’t bring you closer to the Lord. It will never be nourished enough to grow, except for the most persistent and hardy seeds.

Before you realize it, the seed has cracked open and small green sprouts pop up all over. It’s beautiful and miraculous and you can hardly believe your eyes, heart full up with God’s love. And the best part is that the fruit is yet to come. It gets better. It nourishes and blesses you if you are faithful. Each new sprout makes me smile, a reminder of God’s perfect design and perfect love. I feel so near to him in the garden.

Speaking of sprouts, let me show off my babies!

I read a great article the other day detailing the sensibility and crucial aspects of a self-sustaining lifestyle. One line stuck out to me like a rose from the ashes: “America became a helpless and dependent society the day American housewives quit working for themselves and their households, and became wage slaves for someone else.”

Wo-o-ow. Let me tell you, this rings true for me! So often, I feel trapped in a hamster wheel. I have to run like mad from 7-4, Monday through Friday, just to have enough bucks to afford transporting myself to the hamster wheel, to keep a roof over my head, and use my free time to buy and prepare food. There are so many demands I have to meet with my hard won hamster cash that it takes months to get ahead. It will take years of this desperate running to reach my dreams.

The hamster wheel life is not sustainable. I burn out all the time. I live a sedentary lifestyle. I eat junk food because it’s easy and promises pleasure. I can’t keep it up for long before I break down and sob and consider quitting at everything.

The only way to health and happiness is if I escape the cage and create my own wealth. After the breakdown, I have to remember that I can push a little harder and start to change my habits. All the things I want can be achieved if I stop fearing lack. There is always a solution to get us closer to our goals, even if it’s baby steps.

We’ve got to take our independence back. Our culture is one of consumers, not of producers. Most of our products are imported. This is not sustainable. Every year, Americans sink deeper into debt. The only way to turn it around is to produce something. We’ve got to get back to our roots, literally, and grow our own food. We’ve got to produce more than we consume. Otherwise, America will die as a poverty stricken landfill.

In today’s economy, a household often requires dual income to stay afloat. I want to be a stay at home mom, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be employed. The difference between a job and homemaking is that I am with my children all day, but still able to do my half to support our family financially. There are endless options to choose from as a homemaker, which gives me freedom to explore things I have interest and talent for and develop new talents. My family and I will grow in confidence and gain practical life skills together. We’ll be one with the Earth, ruled by the Sun and the Moon as God intended. We will be truly wealthy.

I am not there yet, but I will be. The hamster wheel is more like a hamster track. There’s now a light at the end of this tunnel. I know because I’ve seen God’s promises bloom before my eyes. Each seed I’ve planted is a prayer answered. God has been so good as to give me a bit of earth to plant in, and I look forward to His ever increasing bounty of blessings in my life.

Live well,

Katie