As promised, I have returned to explain my lengthy absence from blogging. Time is of the essence so I will not labor long explaining the phenomenon taking place in my life. In fact, rather than explain what has what has already been said elsewhere, I will just point you the link and let you read what I wrote earlier.

Herrick Kimball retired from daily blogging and offers readers an e-zine of sorts. The once of month postings are lengthy but full of revelant and entertaining information. The demands on my time coupled with my short attention span usually allow me to briefly skim Herrick’s updates. This month’s update included an old fashioned picture of a rather stern man with a haunting expression on his face.

 Curiosity got the best of me, so I read intently to learn about this man’s identity. Interestingly enough, he was Charles Finney, a lawyer turned evangelist that my children and I had just studied in our home school. In fact, after reading Herrick’s article, I wondered if he had been secretly visiting our home while we were unaware. Herrick described all that has been on our hearts as a family as though he were a participating family member. This means only one thing. The Holy Spirit is at work laying convictions on the hearts of men every where in preparation for a revival. I have many friends who are wrestling with the same issues and doing what we are doing to reconcile with the moral, educational, and governmental decline of this nation.

Recently, I felt led to transform our methods of home schooling. I describe a little of the transformation on Herrick’s blog. Time and time again, I was drawn to the educational methods of colonial Americans. You can read more about the details of our home school changes here in the comments section of The Deliberate Agrarian.

We have been using the principle approach formally for nine weeks. The changes I have seen in my children and our household are so exciting. As I described on Herrick’s site, this method of education is daunting for both the teacher and the students. As a result, I have been pouring my all into understanding how to apply this approach and to teach it as well. It is time consuming but beyond rewarding.

I suspect that as we adjust to a more demanding and rigorous schedule I will find more time to share our journey. Indeed our lives are full right now. In between home schooling and keeping the home, we are still working to improve our homesteading skills. We recently joined our plain friends for a great time of fellowship and education. They taught us how to butcher a pig and  then later a steer. We witnessed first hand how to use real horse power to operate meat saws and grinders. It was a real treat to see a team of horses harnessed to a treadmill to assist us with the processing. Making scrapple and rendering tallow are just a few of the things I have been doing in my spare time. Lord willing, I will share how to render tallow from an amateur’s perspective. With the advent of spring we anticipate fulfilling some of our goals to live a simple off-the-grid lifestyle. We are cherishing this season as a new family and enjoying the approach of our first spring on the farm. The children are full of anticipation. I anticipate an insurrection soon if we don’t make quick progress on bringing the cows back home. The children inquire daily about our progress on the goals of turning this quiet fallow land into a booming farmstead. May the Lord give us strength to steward this land for His glory. I look forward to sharing our progress with you as time permits.

Udderly His,

The Kansas Milkmaid