So the dream is a small family farm. For our family to be small family farmers. I thought the end result should be us sustaining our current lifestyle, providing good, real food, direct to the consumers. This is a possibility on a much smaller scale than the one I originally thought was small. There are hoops and double Dutch jump ropes we have to get through with the government to even be a business farm, and with our current land and other factors, it's just not possible.
But...... We can still farm. A couple dairy cows, a beef cow to butcher, a dozen chickens, and 2 feeder pigs. That is about what we can do. And what a life we could live with all of that beautiful food to sell off to willing customers.
The original vision was to greatly improve our own quality of life, and letting others, the customers then benefit by minutely improving their quality of life.
That's not our Gods way. And I was slapped in the face with it today, gently and lovingly of course.
Let's be real. We serve a radical God, who radically loves us in crazy ways that the world can't fathom. Heck, at times, we can't even fathom it. And thats what our vision should be around. So here's the new radical vision:
We give our food away.
What if, instead of "tithing" the religious 10 percent, we do the opposite. We GIVE away 90 percent and keep 10 for ourselves. The people who need this real food the most, aren't savvy consumers- CEOs, upper middle class, but it's those that dont have the means to obtain it. That's our target "customer". The customer who has no real way of paying, but can benefit the most from our product.
RADICAL
A radical God, a radical life. It's sounds crazy, and backwards, but as I tell people all the time, "if you don't think my choices and lifestyle are crazy, then I'm not following Jesus." I mean, the man preached about drinking his blood and eating his flesh. It's crazy. He let those that we think deserved to be punished and tortured, go free. He set them free, and he got to our hearts so we could understand why they deserve it as much as we do.
So yes, we can still farm. Yes, we can still be farmers. And instead of worrying about improving our quality of life, our focus will be on improving OTHERS quality of life. Cause let's face it, when we open our eyes, and I mean truly open our eyes, and we see the poverty around us, our life seems like a dream. When we take away, that they deserve it, or that it is their own fault, and we see the hurt, and the anguish and the shame in their eyes, our hearts can bleed for them. That's what we need. Not stone cold hearts. Not safe and sparkly christian lives. But we need bleeding hearts and open hands.
We struggle financially at times. We live paycheck to paycheck, and sometimes we live paycheck to the paycheck after the current one. We live on a meager budget where we spend more on gas than groceries. But we live with a God that provides our every need. As much as I want new yarn to be a "need", because then I can knit new gloves and socks for everyone, it really isn't. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it isn't. When we have a need God provides it. And if he doesn't, than we just didn't need it at that time.
So there it is. Maybe I'll call it the 90/10 project. I don't yet have a group in mind to serve, I'd rather have God bring them to me. There is a food pantry at our church that could be the connection, but again, he'll bring the people to us that need it the most.
90/10
RADICAL
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