EVEN IF.......WHAT IF???

PRODUCER...OR CONSUMER???

...PRODUCTION OR REDUCTION???

....STEWARDSHIP VS. SELFISHNESS!!!

.......SPIRITUAL  VS. SECULAR!!!

Ok...Lets take belief and faith in God out of the equation...Even if we were not staring down the barrell of total economical collapse???

What if we weren't waking up every morning with this feeling that we are right on the verge of some major geo political, apocalyptic global conflagration???

Would it still make sense to consider or begin to immediately take a course of action that I have been previously describing as being prepared on numerous levels to insure that our families are safe, well protected!

...What if we were prepared to survive when we have our major meltdown in society and we totally lose our current standards of living in America, and the other modern, technologically advanced western cultures???

...Remember that cute little concept that states that "THOSE WHO FAIL TO PLAN...PLAN TO FAIL?"


...NOW I DONT CLAIM TO BE THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER...BUT LET ME DO A LITTLE BIT OF DREAMING HERE...AND KIND OF CONSTRUCT MY PERFECT WORLD SCENARIO.
...IF FOR NOTHING ELSE THAN JUST GOOD OLD FASHIONED PRACTICAL REASONS LIKE...
...I LOVE MY KIDS, THEIR SPOUSES, AND THEIR SPAWN...IT KINDA FEELS LIKE FAMILY...

THE PROBLEM IS, THAT THE CURRENT FAMILY DYNAMICS OR LACK THERE OF DOESN'T MUCH RESEMBLE WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT WHAT THE CLOSENESS OF FAMILY FELT LIKE WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG...
...  AND MY MATERNAL AND PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS AUNTS, UNCLES, COUSINS WERE ACTUALLY A CLOSE AND VERY SIGNIFICANT ACTIVE PARTICIPATING MEMBER OF MY LIFE...

...WE WERE A FAMILY, AND WE STAYED TOGETHER, PRAYED TOGETHER, PLAYED TOGETHER, CRIED TOGETHER, AND ACTUALLY AT LEAST ONCE A DAY, SAT AROUND THE FAMILY TABLE IN MAMAW'S KITCHENS AND SHARED A MEAL TOGETHER WHILE LISTENING TO OUR PAPAW'S TELL ALL OF THESE INCREDIBLE STORIES ABOUT LIFE AND DAILY LIVING...THEIR WAS ALWAYS A LOT OF SMILES AND LAUGHTER AND EVEN SOMETIMES A FEW TEARS AND HEATED CONVERSATIONS, ARGUMENTS EVER NOW AND THEN TO HELP ROUND OUT AND BALANCE SOME OF THESE UTOPIAN MEMORIES THAT I POSESS WERE PART OF THE HEALTHY PROCESSES OF THE FAMILY DYNAMIC THAT I REMEMBER AND CHERISH...

...Is it wrong or naive for me to want to have these similiar type of experiences with my younguns???

...In all due seriousness...the "PERFECT WORLD" FOR ME IS LIVING ON THIS FARM OR RANCH THAT I'VE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED WITH EACH OF OUR INDIVIDUAL FAMILY UNITS, AIMEE AND JOE'S, MICHAEL AND JESS'S, APRIL AND TYLER'S ALL HAVING OUR OWN SEPERATE LIVING QUARTERS OR HOUSEHOLD...THE RANCH ITSELF WOULD BE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OPERATION PROVIDING INCOME AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT THROUGH A VARIETY OF SELF CONTAINED AND SELF SUSTAINING ENTERPRISES.

RAISING A DIVERSE VARIETY OF FARM ANIMALS. FOR FOOD, BEEF AND DAIRY CATTLE WITH A FEW SPECIALTY BREEDS THROWN IN, POSSIBLE RODEO STOCK FOR ONE... OR, SOME HEAVY DUTY WORKING STYLE, DRAFT SIZE ANIMALS FOR PLOWING OR PULLING WAGONS ETC. LIKE OXEN MAYBE.

  THINK EARLY PIONEER/WESTERN COVERED WAGONS, STAGECOACHS, BUCKBOARDS, JUST IN CASE GASOLINE AND DIESEL BECOME SCARCE AND YOU NEED AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION AND PLOWING/HARVESTING CROPS.

HORSES WOULD ALSO BE GOOD, AND HELP OUT TREMENDOUSLY... WHEN MODERN TRANSPORTATION LIKE CARS AND TRUCKS AND THE FUEL TO RUN THEM ARE NO LONGER VIABLE OPTIONS...

  IN MANY CULTURES OF OLD AND EVEN A FEW TODAY IE; IN PRIMITIVE, UNDERVELOPED, REMOTE AREAS OF OUR PLANET, A FAMILIES WEALTH OR AFFLUENCE IS MEASURED BY THE VARIETY AND AMOUNT OF LIVESTOCK THEY POSSESS...It certainly can be the deciding factor when survival is at stake.

There are so many ways to make more than AN adequate living, from farming and ranching!

What better way is there to raise a family and teach amazing life lessons to our children along the way.

...The TV series the Waltons come to mind if your trying to picture in your minds eye what I'm talking about.

....They lived off the land for the most part growing and even canning and preserving their own fruit and produce. 
... They would hunt and eat wild game to supplement their grocery needs.

  Native American cultures taught many lessons about using every part of the animals they harvested, wasting very little as hides were used for leather goods and clothing, bones and antlers for tools and weapons etc.

  It was all about showing respect and honor for God's creation, being good and faithful stewards of the bounty and sustenance provided to us in our natural world.

...These are great Godly values and important opportunities for a grandfather or grandmother to pass down to our children...People today call it Home Schooling I think, but I doubt you will find these lessons in our modern curriculuums and lesson plans.

This is one Dad and grandfather that would be in hog heaven teaching my son-in-laws, and grandchildren about how to be a naturalist, surviving and living off the land...Respecting the land and the resources in a way that is renewable and self sustaining...Not raping and exploiting these precious gifts.

You've heard the saying, about how you;

 "Give a person a fish, and you provide them with a meal for the day...But teach them to fish, and you provide them with the skill to feed themselves for a lifetime!"

Animal Husbandry, veterinary medicine, breeding and livestock management, Agriculture and Horticulture,  Timber and woodworking, carpentry and construction...

  Masonry, Architecture, engineering, building and mechanics...

...I'm not talking about theory or the kinds of lessons you learn from class room lectures or textbook studies...

...These are experiential studies that are passed down from generation to generation, Father to Father, Mother to Mother, Father to Son,  Mother to Daughter, Brother to Brother, Sister to Sister,  Family to Family...

...BELIEVER TO BELIEVER...


 Not Some half baked lessons taught to our children by some half assed underpaid, liberal arts college educated wannabe, whose biggest goal on a week to week basis is collecting that paycheck on friday...

...Getting that weekend buzzzz, they so richly deserve, for putting up with someone elses demon possessed monsters all week long...

...and if the gods really smile on them for all the crap they've had to endure just to earn that paycheck...

...If they are really lucky, they will get laid at least once this weekend...

... before they have to get back up early Monday morning and do it all over again!!!

I dont Know about you???

But for me and mine...I'm thinking, I would prefer to give them a shot at living life like I've seen on the Waltons, or Bonanza style on The Ponderosa Ranch...
... or maybe... somewhere... out in someplace...
... like Montana... where... A  River Runs Through It!
... or... There's Legends in the Fall...

...We might even learn a few lessons from...

... The Man That Just Returned To Snowy River!!!

SOUNDS GOOD, DOESN'T IT?

SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER ADVENTURE TO ME!

 IF THERE IS ONE THING I THINK MY WIFE CAN ATTEST TO AT THIS POINT IN OUR LIVES...

 EXCEPT MAYBE EXCLUDING THIS PAST HORRIBLE YEAR OF 2008.

There has not been too many dull moments in our 33 - 34 years of marital bliss...

Life with me has been an adventure...Some of it good...and some of it not so good...but at the very least...ADVENTURESOME!

Oh Yeah!!!

BY THE WAY...WE HAVEN'T EVEN DIPPED OUR TOES INTO THE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF WHAT IS IN STORE FOR US ONCE GOD WORKS OUT ALL THESE LOGISTICAL DETAILS...
 ... ASSEMBLING US ALL TOGETHER IN THIS PROMISED LAND THATS FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY ...
THAT I'VE BEEN DESCRIBING  IN THIS VISION...
... OUR HEAVENLY FATHER INSPIRED WAY DOWN IN THE DEPTHS OF MY SOUL...
... AT THE CORE OF MY VERY BEING...

stay tuned....plenty more coming...so prepare yourself for the rest of this story!

"WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US!"

Brother Michael