Ten years ago, there wasn’t a homestead. There wasn’t even a thought of homesteading, animals, garden, or self-sufficient farming. To make a long story VERY short, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease fourteen years ago. For various reasons we put both our sons on my gluten free diet within the next two years, and my husband graciously allowed me to do the same with him. We found, in those two years, however, that it wasn’t just gluten. It was the American diet that was the real problem.
I remember an Italian woman, years ago in a grocery store, complaining about “stupid Americans.” She was moving from item to item in the produce section, sampling every seemingly sample-able fruit and vegetable and spitting them out! When our eyes met, she seethingly exclaimed amidst voluminous hand gestured, “You don’t even know what food is! This (she picked up a grape and threw it on the floor) is NOT food!” At the time I only thought, “So why don’t you just go home?” Instead, I said nothing and tucked it away in the folds of my mind, somehow not able to forget it.
My sister decided to move to Italy some years later. She found that she could eat all kinds of foods that, here in the U.S. she had not been able to tolerate. She also ranted and raved about how great everything tasted. Again I didn’t think much about it and chalked it up to her happiness with being out of the corporate pressure pot.
The following Spring, a neighbor brought over some tomato, carrot, and cucumber excess from her garden as a kind of “welcome to the area.” I can still remember our astonishment upon eating that first tomato! It was vibrant with flavor and so pleasing in texture. I had several flashbacks at once; one of being in my Italian Grandmother’s kitchen, and another of that Italian woman in the grocery store.
Could it be that we really didn’t know what food was? Could our food really not be food at all?!?!
The final tumbler had fallen into place. As our health problems had escalated from graves disease, miscarriages, constant sinus and gut issues, eczema, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Celiac, then finally to developmental problems in our second son, we turned over the card of “raising your own food.”
God was very gracious and only gave us a bit at a time. When I counsel people now, it’s very difficult to not dump the whole load on them at once. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. Our first step was to go gluten free along with most additives. Dairy was another struggle, but I could not fathom a life without it. So . . . we stupidly bought a cow!
It wasn’t quite that rash a decision. A year or two of continued digestive problems even after going G-Free, much research about the factory-dairy farm, and finally the viewing of the film “Fresh”, pushed us to the point of no return. One of our farmer friends was struggling financially, and was going to send some of his dairy cows to auction. We offered to buy one for his desired value so long as he taught us how to take care of her. Six months later, the farmer had to move and we walked home with a cow we knew very little about!
We were not farmers. We were not knowledgeable. We did a lot of reading and asked everybody questions. But mostly we had the Lord and His strength, courage, and guidance. Ten years have passed and we now raise all our own beef, pork, chicken, turkey, eggs, vegetables, berries, hay, bees, maple syrup, and some small fruit trees. We drink our own milk and process everything dairy. We go to the store to buy organic fruit, juices, and nuts, and order our G-Free flours on line.
It can be done, but I’ll warn you, the learning curve is more like climbing a rope! Take it slow and steady. DON’T buy 100 chickens because there are 52 weeks in the year! Pray about the next step and WAIT for God’s reply. You are NOT going to save money on food! You should spend A LOT of money on real food. It’s what your body, your earthly tent, needs to properly function, fight, grow strong, and repair. We no longer go to the doctor or pharmacy. We don’t spend hours a day in the bathroom. Rheumatoid and joint problems are gone. Our son is a highly functioning teen with only hints of his autism.
Remember that this world is not our home any more than it was Christ’s. Our real home is in Heaven with our Father, whose Son is preparing for us a place. Like the Italian woman who was apparently stuck here in America, we long to be home. Just like Abraham and Moses, we are aliens in a strange land.
Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God. So our eternal home can begin here on earth – one bite at a time, one step at a time, prayerfully consulting the Father for direction. I am certain that Italian woman either died here miserable or started raising her own food. Just like her, we can’t go home,but the Kingdom of God can be cultivated here spiritually. To some extent, it can even be cultivated physically.
Scriptures that inspired this post:
John 18:36
“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now My kingdom is from another place.'”
John 14:2
“In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”
2 Corinthians 5:4
“For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
Hebrews 11:9
“By faith, he (Abraham) made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”
Exodus 18:3-4
“…one son (he) named Gershom, for Moses said, ‘I have become an alien in a foreign land,’ and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, ‘My father’s God was my helper; He saved me from the sword of Pharoah.'”
John 17:3
“Now this is eternal life; that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
Luke 17:20-21
“The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you.”
Proverbs 16:9
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”
Psalm 105:4
“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”
