crazy

ok..ok...so I'm terrible at  blogging!  Right now I have a ton of things waiting to do and I don't want to do any of them.  So...I wasted a little time via FB...read the blog of another farm wife and got inspired.

  Once again...it's planting season and once again I realize just how hard it is for me to "get it" when it comes to the urgency of planting.  Maybe it's because I was raised in a family that didn't own a house, or lands or other "assests."  Maybe it's because I was taught that my value as a person was not determined by how many hours I worked ( or didn't); being first didn't always mean the same as winning and that God's plans alway superseeded my human ones.  Maybe it's all those things.  No matter what the case, after 10 planting seasons I'm still trying to encourage my farmer husband that God's timing is perfect and that He can make corn and beans grow even if we never get one seed planted. 
As you're out and about on the roads and in the field, take a moment to be thankful for the livestyle we live (even though it sometimes drives us crazy); take a moment to be thankful for husbands, fathers, sons, uncles and neighbors who value the land and love what they do; take a moment to be thankful for crazy 18 hour days because it means that we still have our jobs; and take a moment to be thankful that God is sovereign and that he created a farmer first!  Happy Planting!

Question #6 - What does being a Radical Christian mean to you?

Question #5- What is the difference between the "privileges" being a Christian and the "obligations" of being a Christian?

Question #4 - What does "The Great Commission" really mean?

Question #3 - What does being a follower of Christ look like?

Question #2 - What does it truly mean to hunger and thirst after God's Word?

Radical

"Radical" by David Platt is a new book that Kenton & I have both read. We are now leading a Sunday School class based on the book. This Sunday was the intro session to our class and we came up with 6 questions for our class to answer. These questions were based off of our readings and they were questions that challlenged us the first time we read the book. There are no "right or wrong" answers...but we've found our perspective changing on these questions as we read, talked and studied God's Word.

If you'd like to join us, I'll try to post each week what our class discussion was about. If you'd like to read the book and add your thoughts that would be great! We have no corner on the market nor do we have this "all figured out." It will be a journey. A good journey. A challenging journey. Since the questions are not simple, I'm going to post them as separate entries. Grab God's Word, "Radical" and let's begin!

1. Do you belive the Bible is true? If so, is it relevant to our lives today?

Amish Friendship bread overload!

I love Amish Friendship bead. It's great for breakfast, company, gifts, etc. Most of us who have delt with that famous 1 gallon ziplock bag, however, will admit that we cringe a little when our starter bag is "gifted" to us. I immediately think "Can I find four people who really don't mind doing all the work and will I just get a bag back in 10 days?" So...I got creative.
On Day 10, the first step of instructions tell us to add another helping of sugar, milk and flour. I did this and discovered that in doing so, I now have 6 cups of batter. If I have to give four cups away, then I now know that each batch begins with 2 cups (aren't you proud of my math skills!!) So...instead of giving away the four bags, I filled containers with 2 cups of batter and put them in the freezer. When I'm in the mood for more friendship bread, I simply take out my frozen batter, let it thaw and add the ingredients from day 10! No more never ending cycles of batter to pass around and no more counting days to make sure I don't miss a day. The best part is that I can make another "starter" batch and do the same thing again if I need to! I've come to the conclusion that I would rather keep my friends and bring the BAKED loaf of bread to their door and have a great cup of coffe rather than create more work for them.

Celebrating the Little Things

Skylar loves using our China dishes. She loves being "fancy" and having her own goblet to drink from. She loves eating by the glow of our hurricane lanterns and feeling grown up enough to be able to use the "good" dishes. This summer, she was given a set of her own China dishes from a kind lady who just felt that God was telling her to do this. A small set of tableware for 4 - in a blue flower pattern rimed with silver. She was soooo excited!
We used to have a tradition of using the china when Kenton finished planting his last field and when he finished harvesting his last field. We try to demonstrate that we celebrate the importance of Kenton's work and how much it means to us. Of course we use our fancy dishes for holidays and (now) even birthdays. Tonight, Skylar added a new reason to celebrate...The End of Summer Special Meal! We broke out her small set of dishes for...grilled hamburgers, mac-n-cheese, iced tea and brownies from a box! She prances around the kitchen, talking to herself about how to set the dishes in the right order and what is going to go in each one. She proudly collects the "good" silverware from it's box and asks in eager tone if she's set the table correctly. We love to hear her giggle when Kenton walks in for supper and she swings her arms with granduretoward the table and says, "Look at our fancy table, Dad!" We gush and ooooh and aahhh and she giggles even more.
So...what do you break out the china for? What small things are you celebrating? Do you eat on China dishes when your kids get 100% on the spelling test? How about using them when mom or dad comes home from a long trip? Skyar reminds me that life holds lots of reasons to celebrate them, but we push them aside because it's too much work and we're too busy. Take the time to celebrate and break out the China dishes!

Worship

Today's post might be a little bit scrambled as I don't have all of my thoughts totally collected, but feel the need to get something out of my head before it explodes! I've been thinking a lot about worship...what it means...why we do it...how we do it...when we do it.... It seems to be that I'm more aware about what worship is not. Here's the list I've come up with so far:



Worship is NOT:

1. ...the 1st 15 minutes of a Sunday morning church service (specifically music) - the Bible is full of examples of the people worshipping God and some of them do include music, but many do not. In my limited knowledge, I've observed that worship from people in the Bible included a protrate position, some type of alter and usually prayer. Not ALL cases are like that, but those are the first that come to my mind. I can think of many stories of people in worship and I keep remembering phrases like "...and [someone] fell down in worship..." or "...and [someone] built an alter to worship God..."

So from the above non-descript examples and my own vague memory I would venture to suggest that:

Worship IS:

A heart or mindset in which one encounters God and it becomes a moment of one-on-one time with Him who created us! In my own experience, I am so weighted down by the presence of something within a worship setting that I physically cannot stay upright. It's almost like enterting the throne room of the king and having him shut the door for a private audience. What a concept that is!!!



Worship is NOT:

2. ..some emotional high that only happens on special occasions. In reading through the Old Testament, there were many command given by God in terms of how people worshipped. What they brought to the Temple, when they brought it, how it was used, who blessed it, etc...were all specifically laid out for the people. However, these commands were to be observed by everyone, every day, all the time...daily, weekly, monthly, in times of celebration and in everyday life. The people brought what they had...it was not prefabricated, they didn't wait until it was "just right"...they just obeyed and came to bring their offering of worship.



So again, I would venture to suggest that

Worship is: ...coimng to God with my gifts and talents to offer them in service to God. For me, that includes offering back to God a gift of music and organization. For others, it could include administration, teaching, cleaning, finances, decorating, etc. There is no limit to the gifts that God has bestowed upon us to use in service for Him. It helps me to keep in mind that the custodian of our church is 'worshipping' everytime she cleans the bathrooms. The secretaries are 'worshipping' every time they create a bulletin. The people who beautify our church with decorations are 'worshipping.' Can you imagine how much the church would change if everyone had this mentality?!?! What would happen in our churches if we did our jobs - not with human preferences in mind - but with the concept that the King of Kings is going to "see" this?!



I've written a book today.... I have a few more thoughts, but need to get them a bit more organized. At least now I can think more clearly about them since I've emptied my head! Thanks for letting me get this out and hopefully, something I've written will be food for thought!

out of the mouthes of babes

So I'm feeling a bit like a dishrag today...all wrung out and used up. Sounds depressing, huh? I was feeling discouraged and downright mad. I said to Kenton this morning, "What did I ever do to God to have to deal with this?" Of course, that question is quite stupid and I KNOW the answer, but just wanted to grumble a bit. So...I grabbed my coffee and headed to the car for the morning commute to work and school.
Now...Skylar was given a little devotional book last year when she graduated from kindergarten and she's taken to reading to devotions to us on the way into town.
"Ready for da'votions?" she asks.
"Um..sure, Honey. Go ahead" I turn off the radio and mentally focus on the words I know she'll not know. And what hits me??? "I need to love other's because God loved me. I was selfish and mean, but God loved me anyway, so I need to love other people the same way that God loved me."
"Okay, Lord. I get your point." I say.
The rest of the commute was rather quiet as I'm SURE the Lord was giving me opportunity to let his Spirit speak to me. So while I still feel little like the dishrag...at least I know that I've been washed clean by God's grace. I know that I have a purpose, but that sometimes it requires "getting dirty" for the Lord. And mostly...I'm thankful for the little girl who sits in the back seat and reads me "da'votions" in the morning. I'm thankful that she looks up each verse in her Bible when she's done and reads it outloud. I'm thankful that God's word is timeless and necessary and that even the mouthes of babes are used to speak God's word to me!

updates

So I guess it's been a while since I've been on here! Since my last post our lives have changed so dramtically, that it would take several updates to fill you in. Soooo...I'll just try to give you the highlights!

Summer: Tyler and Kayleigh were married July 11th in Zenia Ohio. They now live in Nashville and are loving life! We took a quick trip to the Big Horn mountains for vacation and met up with our great friends, the Ziebarth Family. We took Sammy Olson into our home and have been educated about the wonderful (abiet turbulent) years of teenagers.

Fall: Harvest went really late this year. We had over 12" inches of rain in Octber and November. Kenton finished his last field the day of our 5 day Christmas blizzard. We thank God we were able to get everything in. There were several farmers who were still trying to harvest their crops this spring! Skylar is in the 1st grade and LOVES her new teacher. She was a part of the "Little Eagles Cheerleading" during the basketball season. I stayed busy working in town at Agribooks, shuttling the girls to school and church activites.

Winter: Snow, Snow and more snow. Enough said....

Spring: So, now we're facing another planting season. Several of our fields are wet due to all the moisture from last fall and the snowy winter. We absolutely hate the windy days, but love them too since they are drying out fields and allowing us to get into our fields much sooner. Skylar started Gymnastics right after Easter and just loves it. She wants to do the summer session as well. I'm glad she enjoys the active lifestyle. Sammy has brought a lot of joy to us, but she will be returning home to live with her dad after the school year is done. We're glad she was a part of our lives for this year. Not much has changed with my schedule, but I'm thankful that God has kept us safe during all of our travel.

So...now your up-to-date and I'll try to be more faithful about writing! Keep in touch!

Passing on the Faith

Last fall, my daughter collected a small amount of soybeans that were scattered on the ground after the last of the crop had been put into the bins. They didn't even fill 1/4 of a pint jar, but she was determined to keep them over the winter and plant them this spring. She kept the beans in sight at all times and every so often would tell anyone who cared to listen that she was going to plant beans like her dad. This spring she carefully scoped out the yard and decided the plant them in the small planter we made around the utility pole and electric box.

When she woke up this morning, she was determined to plant, so I sent her to her room to get dressed thinking she might get distracted as I had a list a mile long to accomplish! Instead, she came out dressed in her blue and purple capri pants, bright yellow shirt and old pink tennis shoes and we put her hair into two blonde braids. Her dad helped loosen up the dirt and she dilligently pushed the beans into the ground with her tiny thumb. She dug out Mom's old green watering can and poured the life-giving moisure onto her carefully planted beans. Then all three of us, held hands and prayed over that tiny plot of beans. It's an activity that we do for every field we plant. We stand in the field and give it back to God. We wanted to teach her that her tiny plot of beans were no less important to God that our big fields.

I was struck with the thought that I wish it were that easy to pass on our faith. If we could just show them once on a small scale and have them learn instantly. Skylar will have to learn that her beans need to be weeded and watered; she'll have to keep the chickens from scratching the dirt away and the cats from using the freshly tilled ground as a litter box. She'll have to protect her crop. In the same way, one day, she must learn to tend to her own faith. She'll have to learn to "weed out" the influences that can choke her faith to death. She'll have to learn to keep the "critters" out of her life so they won't destroy the fruit that God wishes to produce through her. It's a lesson that will be a lifetime in the making. All because of a few soybeans....

Farming: Day 1

So it officially begins. Planting. The day was perfect...65 degrees...no wind....lots of sunshine. Amid the hustle of making sure all the technology was working (or rather that we knew how to work it...), getting the seed boxes loaded, making sure we had all the inventory on hand... there was my daughter. Riding around in circles with her jellybean helmet, princess bike and a big smile on her face. She would get off every five minutes to see what everyone was doing; try to catch the illusive kitties; pick up a tool that someone needed 30 seconds later; skip around the planter; always in constant motion.
Kenton is cleaning out fertilizer tanks; making sure the sprayer works so that he can spray fertilizer on the newly planted field; cranking up the motors to run the pumps on the sprayer, delivering more seeds to the field; always in constant motion.
Then there is me. Mentally counting how many people I have to feed for lunch, making sure the technology is in sync with the office computer, telling Skylar to give the tools back and quit chasing the kitties; wishing I could have finished my cup of coffee before the rush started; always in constant motion.

There you have a brief picture of the first day of planting. The scene will continue for about 4-6 weeks (depending on the weather.) We'll have days when nothing works and days when we are a well oiled machine. At the end of the day, just before we drop off to sleep, I wil thank God. What a blessing it is to live this life. My husband works at a job that he loves. By the very nature of what farming is, Kenton must have faith that the seed will sprout. We have total trust that, even if the crop fails, God will provide. "The LORD gives and the LORD takes. Blessed be the name of the LORD!!" My daughter is happy and healthy. She gets dirty from head to toe, but her smile outshines it all. And I...well, let's just say I totally get the verse that states, "...and she {Mary} kept all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Home for now...

I told our pastor that I'm in the mood the clip the wings off my shoes and then maybe I'll stay at home for a while! Washington DC was a great learning experience. I was so excited to have lunch with foreign ambassadors from Africa! That was truly a lifetime opportunity. Visiting our nation's capital was great. Everyone should go at least once in their life.
Even now, eight years after 9-11, I was struck by one thought. Certainly, we lost lives; our everyday lives were altered and we now remember to kiss our family once more before going out the door, but we also lost something even more special. We no longer have open access to our governmental buildings. We can't walk into the nation's capital to claim ownership to our government. The front doors to the National Archives is barracaded off and one must enter through a small side door. We are not able to absorb the richness of our heritage without a metal detector, a pat down and police escorts at every turn. I'm not complaining in the least about the protection, but those thoughts were always at the forefront of my mind. Hopefully I'll have pictures post soon of my trip and a few more details!

So it's been a little crazy at the Hofer household this week. Kenton was gone for 8 days on a missions trip to Guatemala with our church family. You can view their activities by going to www.guatemalamission2009.wordpress.com It was fun for us to have updates everyday.

I (Autumn) will be leaving on Sunday afternoon to fly to Washington, DC with a group of people who are a part of Foods Resource Bank. It's an organization that Kenton and I have been involved with over the past year and I'm so totally excited to go! (www.foodsresourcebank.org)

As I sit down to write this, I'm a little overwhelmed at all that must be done. Sometimes I think that God would have us be a little less busy doing his work so that we can concentrate a little more on our relationship with Him. March is only a week away and I'm going to challege myself to schedule less on the calendar so that I may have more time with God and with my family!

Thanks again for keeping up with us. Once I figure this blog-thing out, I'll try to post some more pictures of our activities.

Intro to the family

Welcome to our life! I have been married to Kenton for 7 years now. Our family is traditionally called a "blended" family. Sheldon (Kenton's oldest son) is married to Shannon and they live just up the road from us. Tyler (Kenton's younger son) will be graduating from college this spring and he's going to marry Kayleigh in July. Skylar (our daughter together) is 6 and is in Kindergarten.

We are not a perfect family and have had to learn to give and take...a lot. The journey has not always been easy (nor fun), but I thank God everyday for the lessons we've learned along the way. Life is good now. Time and maturity have helped to heal the wounds, but we also praise God for the scars that remain, for they are a constant reminder to never take each other for granted.

I won't post to this everyday, but hopefully you'll be able to keep up on the happenin's of our life. Please keep in touch and I look forward to hearing from you!

Autumn