This was my welcome home this evening. Frosty got smart and waltzed through the not-so-electric fence. In her case, the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence…in our front yard.
I love coming home.
Author Archives: Laura Lindblom
FREEDOM 2015
Kevin Swanson, Generations with Vision
When my family decided to move out to South Dakota, moving from the most liberal state in the Union to one of the most conservative, from one of the largest in population to one of the smallest, from an urban state to a rural state, our decision was based hugely on matters of freedom. We are a conservative Christian homeschooling entrepreneurial family. We depend, in a manner of speaking, on freedoms – the freedom to worship as we please throughout the week, to run a business as we see fit, to school at home with the content we feel belongs in the curriculum. Would those freedoms still exist when my sisters and I got married and started families? Given that Illinois is Illinois…there was reason to doubt.
But even here in South Dakota, by far more conservative, more God-fearing, more self-reliant and community-oriented, friendlier to individual rights, prouder of our freedoms and more committed to preserve them, we see those freedoms being eroded and chiseled and defaced.
Governor Bobby Jindal, 2016 Presidential Candidate
So here we were today at the Freedom 2015 Conference, sponsored by Generations with Vision, gathering together with hundreds and hundreds of other likeminded individuals, who believe that our greatest heritage is our Christian heritage, and our most important rights are our religious rights, and the most important foundation of our country the foundation of God’s Word. Praise God for bringing about this conference!
Today we heard from persecuted men and women, who were intentionally targeted by the left for their God-fearing beliefs. We heard from candidates for president, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Ted Cruz.
Senator Ted Cruz, 2016 Presidential Candidate
I thought the first two were exciting and well-received. But the standing ovation Ted Cruz received before he had even reached the top step to the stage was almost overwhelming. What a testament to his courage, his faith, his willingness to speak the truth in the face of stern opposition. This is a man to rally behind. He can lead a country. When asked how important it was for the president of the United States to fear God, he didn’t flinch, he didn’t hedge around the answer. He stated his conviction plainly – How can a man rule rightly if he himself isn’t governed by God in Heaven?
Even as we mourned for the state of our country, this once-great nation, we rejoiced in the knowledge that God can spark a revival, if he wants, and that throughout history the church of God has only ever strengthened through persecution and opposition. If God allows persecution, I firmly believe he will strengthen beyond measure those of his flock who remain steadfast.
Quiet Day
A good day is a quiet day. The savor of life, for me, is the quiet and enlivening action of being. In our society, we have all but forgotten how to simply be. We have an agenda for the whole day, meals mapped out, road routes planned ahead of time, work schedules set practically in stone, social lives that keep us away from home, all in an attempt to be full, to live life to its fullest, to be efficient, to be productive, to be visibly successful – That is the mark of our society – Meshing cogs, perfectly timed machinery, society run like efficient computers, filling our minds and our lives so full that what we’ve retained is irretrievable, lost in the stimulus.
But what about a full life that is full in its quietness? What about a life that is brimming with possibility, instead of a scheduled, itemized list? What in the meshing cogs of our society really leaves room for creativity, spontaneity, and breathing deep of life? What about forsaking some of the world’s marks of success to pursue a kind of success that is soul-deep, built on relationships with God and people? My heart hungered for a slower life, even when I didn’t realize it, but out here where there are miles upon miles of hills and trees and craggy peaks and rugged ravines, I find it easier, so much easier to simply be.
I want to live a life that is full of purpose and hard work, that is productive and industrious and useful, but I want that productivity and industriousness and usefulness to be plaited together with quietness, solitude, and relationships, and detached from the matrix of society. A four-day-per-week work schedule is ideal! I am so thankful.
On my days off, I feel as if I flee into God’s creation, hungering to see nothing of what people have made, and simply to revel in the wonders of the natural world. For a couple of months, I’ve tried to make it down to Hole-in-the-Wall, one of my family’s favorite haunts. Finally! Sarah and I had an hour and a half or so yesterday and we made a quick jaunt down our old jeep trail to that wonderful place.
The hardwood trees have all lost their leaves by now, or mostly, and the air was crisp and ripe with autumn. We hiked along the creek bed for most of the way, scrambling over rocks, jumping from one to the other, getting tangled in young trees which are growing bravely up through the rocky creek bottom. Battle Creek was flowing high this summer. Sarah is a tall girl, and the clumps of tangled grass and leaves above her head show the waterline to have been at least 7 feet deep in this bend of the canyon!
Hole-in-the-Wall is whittled away a little more each year, but there it has been for about 100 years. I wonder how much longer it will be there, and big enough for us to climb through and hike over? I hope I never have to see it collapsed, the whole ridge crumbled to a pile of rock, but one never knows – A little more of it tumbles down with every rain. It still enchants me.
The canyon leading to Hole-in-the-Wall was glowing brightly – Blue sky, a little breeze, and warm sunlight. What more could we ask for? I guess the one thing we could have asked for was a little more time. Salsa preparations and housework in the early afternoon and small group in the evening didn’t leave a lot of time, but we still had the leisure to enjoy our scramble to and from, to stop and marvel at fallen leaves, garnet sand, and orange berries. We had time to be.
It was a good day. A quiet sort of day.
Dirt fresh
There’s nothing quite like hot soup on a cold evening. Soup is a perfect fall and winter food, and I find that brewing a pot of soup satisfies a need for creative expression. I don’t enjoy following recipes, which is probably why I don’t enjoy baking. I’m not brave enough to stray from a baking recipe – Bad things can happen! Good things happen when I stray from a soup recipe. I’d be happy to share my butternut squash soup recipe.
We’re still getting produce from the garden, against all odds, and last night I was able to pick baseball-sized turnips and a fist full of leeks, which were in the pot not twenty minutes later. I only used three turnips, plus their greens, and we still have many, many left in the garden. Threw in some frozen home-grown yellow squash and home-grown basil pesto, along with ground beef, onions, and carrots – It was a pretty good soup, if I do say so myself.
Perfect for autumn.
Game night
I have to admit, my family is not much of a board-game-playing family, or a game playing family, period. Not sure why – Maybe we’re not competitive enough and it bores us to death, or perhaps we’re too competitive and it stresses us out. However, we do have tendencies to be a two-person game-playing family. Rarely will all six of us sit down for a game, but pairs or threes of us do enjoy games, such as Speed, Double Solitaire (some of us prefer Solitaire – alone), Rummy, Monopoly (if it is the horse edition), Herd Your Horses (yes, there’s a trend), Taboo (all of us get in on that one)…
Dad and I had the house to ourselves this evening – It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Mom, Sarah, and Anna are all in Custer, for overnight church-related activities. We had dinner, got dishes done, read our chapter in Hebrews, and decided to…play a few games. Given that it is Dad and me and not, say, Anna or Sarah and me, I expected us to make tea or decaf, make ourselves comfortable in the living room and read for a few hours. Maybe listen to Kevin Swanson’s podcast, or even watch a movie. But no, we decided to play a game or two.
Dad taught me King’s Corners, a card game that he learned a few months ago from his now-92-year-old former gradeschool teacher. We played four rounds. He trounced me. Oh, well. Next time.
Then I wheedled and cajoled just a little bit, and Dad agreed to play Risk with me. We have an ancient Risk board that has been in our cabin for decades, but the rules are a bit different from the ones I’m used to – We muddled through the setup (the part I always forget how to do anyway), and took off.
Not sure exactly what it is that appeals to me about Risk – Perhaps it feeds some inner desire to actually take over the world, hearkening back to my adolescent days where my dear cousin and I plotted world domination.
We played for an hour and didn’t finish, which is of course usual for Risk – We’ll revisit it in the morning, perhaps.
I’ve got a pretty wonderful dad. That’s all.
Findings | Around the homestead
Sometimes it is the simplest things that catch your eye…
Song Dog Journal 