Wednesday Ramble

It is a beautiful morning, storms blew through late last night, cooling us off nicely. I can tell already that this is going to be an easy sort of day. Nothing pressing, nothing demanding, just a simple day. I watched that special that was on television last night 2100 and came away thinking that it was a show that said to its audience, "change people or we will pay big time." and most of what they suggested for positive change involved living life simply, stepping back a bit in time, if you removed from the screen the father futuristic scenes. Growing your own food, being frugal with how you use the earths resources etc. I was thinking as I watched the commercials during this program that if we simply went back to painted signs for businesses in place of signs that used electricity we could probably save tons of energy and how about if we did away with plastic for food containers and water and just used glass, wouldn't we cut down on the toxins dramatically and probably be lots more healthy. Maybe we could just purchase and cook what we needed each day rather than have to use plastic storage containers. Use smaller refrigerators and cut our energy needs down a bit in that one area. In other words, live more like our grandmothers and great grandmothers. We might even cut down on the amount of xenoestrogenes (this site has good information on xenoestrogens but I know nothing about the product that is mentioned) wrecking havoc in our bodies if we made these simple steps.

I don't think I have one single family member that thinks how we live is "normal". I am pretty sure by their conversations with me that choosing a life of simplicity, that involved things like cloth diapers, homeschooling, goats, gardens, wood heat, no dishwasher, no clothes dryer, herbal medicine, used clothing, natural fibers, goats, chickens, making our own soap, and on and on. There were and still is a shaking of heads when our life in the Mennonite community is mentioned. Weird dress, those headcoverings and more. We were and still are seeking the best relationship with God that we can possibly have. And what we learned in those years have made all the difference in how we live today. The choices we make or made in the past have been to reach a goal, to NOT be consumers without a conscience, to see each step we take as a move in a healthy direction for us and for the very world we live in. I used to get ticked off when I heard all that flack about homeschooling, how our children were being socially deprived, and blah blah blah, then I thought, don't get ticked off, just sit back and think about how, "The proof will be in the pudding", as they say. Wait until the children are grown and are the people you hoped they would be and who were contributing citizens that never made you feel ashamed and then smile, knowing what you did worked. And after watching this program last night about the possible scenario of what the world might be like in 2100, I can feel good about our personal choices to live a bit differently, stepping lightly on this earth since the beginning of our marriage. Eating healthy, being aware of our consumerism, using what we must of the lands resources but not stripping her with wild abandon of what is not ours to take. We have not done it all right, we have made plenty of mistakes along the way, carving out our own trail has not be easy, and certainly no one in our families have applauded us for our choices, but on the light side of it, we have given them plenty to talk about. This simple life of ours is just that simple. We live in an old house, that is not up to the standards of what modern society sees as a home of success. But within its walls there is great success. Children that have grown up to be delightful responsible adults, with fine social skills and so much love for family. They work hard, know how to step lightly on this earth and care about the important things in life. Not a day goes by that the girls do not call me or chat with me and we are friends too. Emery and I have always put the old fashioned Christian concept of family first and material wealth as just something that can rust or rot and not to be valued above how we treat others or this land that God so beautifully created for us to enjoy.

You have to come to terms with the fact that living your life this way, is a lonely path at times, but I have a feeling the rewards outweigh that 100 fold. My determination for this kind of life dictated my choices from an early age. I wanted to find a life mate that had the same goals, same beliefs, same philosophy of life and I did, and I prayed hard that God would put that man right in my path and He did.

I know in writing all my thoughts out on this subject, it might sound a bit like I am bragging but that's not it at all. So far from it, actually. Its more like no matter how old we are, we are still that child looking for some form of acknowledgement from our parents that something we have done worked out really good . Some of us seem to always seek their approval, no matter what our age. Blogs are strange creatures, many times they are just a place where we try to work out our own issues and share life struggles along with sharing with strangers the everyday aspects of our chosen paths in life.