Lots of Pictures from NEXT!

I have a few late night minutes in the midst of a crazy, mostly packed, messy, disorganized, in-between house so I'm trying to quickly post my pictures from the NEXT conference before I fall out from total exhaustion. :)

On Saturday I met up with my friends, the Taylors (Rebekah, Abigail, John Paul, and Sam), to join them for our trip to the NEXT conference in Baltimore, MD. The trip up north is chronicled in great detail by Abigail at her blog. I hadn't yet met Candace and Caitlyn (they're twins, in case you're wondering!) and enjoyed getting to know them during our trip.

Rebekah and Candace:

Rebekah was the only one from our group who attended NEXT before, and she had been persistently inviting me and encouraging me to come over the last few months. I'm so glad she did!

Driving through Washington D.C.The drive was filled with chatting and chocolate and just being silly. John Paul and Sam graciously put up with us 5 girls throughout the conference. :)At last we arrived, and, as Abigail details on her blog, we had quite a few parking garage height restriction issues (!), but finally we found a place to park.

Candace:Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel and registered at the conference before the first session began.

The conference was held in the Baltimore Convention Center in downtown Baltimore.

Caitlyn, me, Abigail, Candace, and RebekahThe worship and messages were so rich and taught me more about Jesus Christ's work at the cross, and it's uttermost importance in every aspect of my life. I look forward to writing more about the ways I was challenged through the conference soon.We, along with about 15 other people, gathered in alternating hotel rooms for the meals so we wouldn't have to spend money at restaurants. One morning at breakfast, there were 20 people in a hotel room, and several electric frying pans cooking pancakes, when the electricity in the room went out due to using too many outlets! The hotel security warned that the cooking utensils would be confiscated if it occured again. :-S

Candace and Caitlyn washing dishes in the bathroom sink while Sam dries them: Rebekah washing a crock pot in the bath tub! One afternoon, between sessions, we ventured out to the Inner Harbor. A man doing magic tricks for a crowd along the busy city streets:We walked to Federal Hill, which had an American flag and several war monuments.

Candace, Patrick, Sam, John Paul, Rebekah, me, and Abigail on Federal Hill overlooking the Inner HarborI don't exactly remember how the following silly picture occurred. Abigail said it well at her blog:

"Meredith and I were going to get an innocent picture together, but JP and Patrick felt left out. The result? The man-purse! Mercy. They're doing that way too well. Sam didn't have a place to put his Bible after the conference session that morning, so he just carried it everywhere. Said he felt like Mary Bennet! So here he is being a Mary Bennet, pious in the midst of frivolity:"

Wedding pictures on the hill
On Memorial Day, we went back to the Inner Harbor to have lunch at Five Guys.
Chowin' downCandace and I

I had no idea Rebekah was hiding behind Abigail and me until I was flipping through my pictures!

Each morning, we gathered in "community groups" to discuss the previous day's messages, as well as do our morning devotions. Fortunately, Caitlyn and I got to be in the same group, and the young men in our group had a lot of deep insights into the scriptures we studied. I gleaned a lot from our group discussions.

My community group
Abigail and I The conference itself was incredible, and the time spent with dear, like-minded friends was priceless!

Message Notes from NEXT: Christ's Preeminence

I am going to post my message notes from the NEXT conference as time permits over the next week or so. The sermons are available online on the Resources page at thisisnext.org and I can't encourage you enough to take the time to listen to the messages. In fact, I am re-listening to one of them right now. :)

Christ's Preeminence by Josh Harris

Colossians 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

Jesus never went more than 100 miles from His birthplace of Nazareth, yet nearly 2 billion people describe themselves as followers of Christ.

Jesus is preeminent in all things and His preeminence is past, present, and future.

There is no spiritual force greater than Jesus. Jesus is the One who made all things and will fix all things.

"Most here at this conference would agree that Christ is preeminent, but are you living your life based on the fact that Christ is preeminent?"

It's one thing to say Christ is preeminent, but do we live like Christ is preeminent?

What does it mean for Christ to truly be preeminent in our lives?

Luke 6:46-49 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

We assume that the man building his house on the sand is not a Christian. Actually, Jesus is not talking about atheists; He's talking about people like us.

His preeminence needs to be what we are building our lives on.

1) Come to Jesus

So often, we "come to Jesus" on our way to something else. He becomes a ticket to something else.

We come to Jesus with our eyes on what He's going to do for us.

Jesus says, "Come to me".

Saving faith is faith in Jesus.

Jesus= the historical person who lived a real life and died a real death

We make His teaching more about what we can do "for Him", not what He has done for us.

The rock of our faith is the person of Jesus Christ.

John 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Everything we do should be an expression of what Jesus has done for us.

2) Hear Jesus' Words

Jesus is speaking to us. Are we hearing Him?

Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Doctrine= truths from the Bible

Studying His words and understanding what it means involves effort.

"If you want to feel deeply, you need to think deeply." -CJ Mahaney

A lot of us want an experiential, deep feeling, but feeling built on feeling is empty.

Emotion and feeling need to be built on something solid and unchanging.

Dig your way to the truth and then the emotions will come. You will be founded on the unchanging truth of who He is.

3) Put His Truth into Practice

You can know "Christianity" backwards and forwards, but if you don't put it into practice, it is nothing.

Christian doctrine is for living.

It is not enough to have your life in close proximity to the rock.

When Jesus is preeminent, He pushes other things aside.

His demand on us is the greatest expression of His love for us.

Ways to Make Christ Preeminent:

Digging into Christ's truths

Prayer-- expresses dependence on Christ-- "pray without ceasing"

1) Come to Jesus

2) Hear Jesus

3) Put His truth into practice

Run to His word, which reveals His character and His love for us.

"The nearer I get, the bigger He becomes..."

Back from NEXT

Photo taken from thisisnext.org

NEXT was the most spiritually rich conference I have ever attended. I have gained a greater love for Jesus Christ and a deeper understanding of what He did for us at the cross. I gleaned so incredibly much from the deep messages and spending time with others also seeking to grow in their love for Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that through God's strength I will be able to grow to be more like Christ in the areas in which I have been challenged and convicted. I look forward to sharing some of my many notes and more thoughts, as well as many of the pictures from our trip, but since we have to be completely moved out of our house in just two days, and very little has been packed, it may be a few days before I can post everything! Thank you to those who kindly prayed for me as I was away. God has worked mightily in my heart throughout these past four days. Our Group: (left to right) me, Caitlyn, Sam, Rebekah, John Paul, Candace, Abigail (she's already begun posting about the conference at her blog, so I encourage you to visit!), and Patrick

In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace, When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My comforter, my all in all—Here in the love of Christ I stand.

"In Christ Alone" by Keith and Kristyn Getty

NEXT Conference!

A few months ago, a couple friends began discussing the Next conference in Baltimore, MD. I already knew my family's spring and summer would be busy enough with farmers markets and bushhogging work (I had no idea we would also be moving during the week of the conference!) and I didn't want to throw a four day excursion into the mix unless it was something I felt God leading me to attend, so I began to pray about it. Throughout my teen years, I went to plenty of youth group-related events, camps, retreats, etc. that brought me to an emotional or spiritual "high" by the end of the experience, yet soon after a few days back in the 'real world' with family and responsibilities, I would often be worse off than where I began prior to the event. If I was going to take the time to attend Next, I wanted to be confident that I would really gain from it and grow closer to God as a result of the conference. As I prayed, I had total peace about attending, and I felt I would be challenged by what the speakers would bring, so I registered! Since then, I have been praying that God would use this weekend as a special time of spiritual renewal, and that He would speak to me in regard to several specific areas. I am looking forward to seeing what He will do! I welcome you to pray with me that God will draw me nearer to Him this weekend.

So, on Saturday, eight of us from my church are embarking on a road trip up to Baltimore! I am looking forward to fellowshipping with sweet friends and meeting new friends. I already know of one "blogging friend", Kaitlin, who will be attending the conference, and I am hoping to get to meet her. If any other friends or readers are within a reasonable distance of Maryland, I highly encourage you to attend also!

About Next (taken from thisisnext.org):

Next isn't built on "new." It isn't about the next trend or fad. Next is built on the old, treasured, and true. It's about rediscovering old truth and recommitting to it.

The vision of Next is to gather worshipers of Jesus Christ who burn with a passion to see the gospel transferred to the next generation. Next is about faithfully receiving the gospel—the message of Christ and him crucified–from those who have gone before us, holding fast to the gospel personally, and passing the gospel on to those coming after us.

The idea behind Next was born when Joshua Harris, still in his twenties, wanted to expose other young men and women to older pastors and theologians who had profoundly affected his life. Josh started the New Attitude conference as a way to bring thousands of younger people and dozens of faithful pastors together to transfer the gospel faithfully from one generation to the next. In 2008 New Attitude ended and now Next is born—an even more focused way of helping see the gospel transferred and received faithfully.

The focus of the conference is the younger generation: college students, singles, and young married couples. But if you are above the 18-29 year old range and have a passion to see gospel truth passed on, we welcome you as well.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God. ~Psalm 78:5-7

A new generation of young Timothys is needed, who will guard the sacred deposit of the gospel, who are determined to proclaim it and are prepared to suffer for it, and who will pass it on pure and uncorrupted to the generation which in due course will rise up and follow them. ~John Stott

The Farmhouse, Moving, Decorating, & Monogramming Aprons

The following is a very diverse entry, but I have very much to say and very little time!

We continue to stay very busy working almost every day at the new farm. Just recently things have begun to look exciting and almost ready. We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! There is still an incredible amount of work ahead of us though, and we're already so worn out and beat from the huge amount of work we've accomplished in the past couple weeks. Even our "before and after" pictures, as drastic as they are going to be, will not do justice to the hours of work all of us have put into the house and outbuildings! We have to be out of our current house in just one week, and we haven't even packed one box, so our next week will be especially busy. I'm greatly looking forward to several weeks from now, when we are settled in and unpacked.

We've been noticing in home decorating magazines that white walls throughout entire homes are becoming very popular, instead of the more bold colors that have been fashionable for the past 5-7 years. At first thought, painting all of the walls plain white seemed outdated, but after much consideration, we decided to follow the trend with our new farmhouse. The crisp, white color throughout is so cheerful and we'll have so much fun decorating and accentuating other colors in each room.

Last week I had the pleasure of monogramming six aprons for the servers at my friend Sarah's upcoming wedding reception. I am enjoying finding opportunities to use my new embroidery machine and I'm so glad that it can be of use to others also!

The Fine Art of Chicken Processing

Elliott has taken over the poultry operation of our farm and is processing (slaughtering) 100 chickens every other week in April-October. Of course we want for him to be very successful in his new endeavor so we are helping him on the processing days, and Oliver and I are also working at a second farmers market on Saturdays to promote his product and boost his sales.

Several friends have expressed interest in seeing the events of a processing, so I am posting pictures from our two most recent processing days (yesterday and two weeks ago).

Elliott's chickens arrive at our town's post office when they are just one day old. They grow as they graze on the pasture until they are eight weeks old, which is when they are ready to be processed. Once moved from the pasture to the processing area, Sullivan and Harrison set them in the killing cones.

Sullivan has recently begun learning how to slit throats from Oliver, who is proud to be known as a "throat slitting expert". ;)Once they die, they are moved to the scalding station. They are repeatedly dipped in the scalding hot water, so the feathers are loosened.
Then they are moved to the plucker.
The plucker rotates the chickens around so that the feathers are completely removed.

Next, the chickens are brought to the eviscerating table. We cut them open to pull their guts out and rinse them in preparation for packaging and cooling.

It seems really disgusting, but you really get used to it!Mama is the fastest and most thorough eviscerater, but she was the one with the camera, so she isn't pictured. That's the whole process from start to finish...

Yesterday, Elliott set a goal of having all of the chickens finished, parted (he sells some in parts-- i.e. leg packs, boneless breast fillets, etc.), and packaged by 5 pm (we began around 10:30 am). He told us that if we finished by 5 pm, he'd buy each of us a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! Fortunately, we finished around 4:45 pm, so we each enjoyed lots of ice cream last night!

"The first rule of chicken processing is if you feel something wet on your lip, don't lick it." ~ Joel Salatin ;)

Good Ol' Chocolate Chip Cookies

Even during our craziest, busiest, most stressful times (such as our present state!), a steady dose of desserts is always a staple in our house! Whenever we move into a new home, our feeling of being "settled in" comes only once the first batch of cookies has been baked in our new kitchen.

My good friend, Abigail, recently introduced me to The Pioneer Woman Cooks' website and I am loving it. Eager to try one of the decadent-sounding recipes, yesterday afternoon I opted for the Good Ol' Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies. My family loves chocolate chip cookies, so I am always trying out new recipes with the hope of one day finding the perfect recipe to create a cookie crispy on the edges yet soft in the middle. This recipe calls for flax seed and crushed coffee granules, so I was especially looking forward to seeing how these unusual ingredients would change the classic recipe. They turned out deliciously and have been the worst temptation all day long! I look forward to trying more recipes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks once we get moved into our new house.

Behind the Scenes of Week One (Written by Mama)

Behind the scenes of this first week of the farm fix-up, are stories and events that remind us that we've stepped out of our old, familiar life and into a world where we have so very much to learn and experience.

After our first day of working at the new farm last week, we all came home exhausted, tired, and late for milking. Meredith's crew arrived home just seconds before Tim's but it was long enough for her to go in the house, turn on her heels, and meet the second crew as we pulled into the driveway. We were greeted by one very angry young lady shouting with great frustration, "The goats have been IN OUR HOUSE!" Sure enough, in our absence the goats broke out of their pen, climbed our tall porch steps, hooved the handicap accessible door handle, came right in, and made themselves at home. It appeared they had enjoyed a nice snack of bread from the kitchen counter top, eggs straight from the carton, and sadly my decorative wheat bundles that had been harvested and saved for my memory of Meredith's first property she bought and sold. I felt as if it were some twisted Goldilocks fairy tale as Timmy ran upstairs and exclaimed in seriousness and with great relief that at least the goats hadn't gone into our bedrooms. We worked to clean up the mess almost in silence for fear of saying things that really shouldn't be said!

The next day presented more new challenges in this world of farming in which we're so unfamiliar. As I awoke that morning, the first thing that crossed my mind was a cow that had been very sick. I prayed for CC before I barely opened my eyes Friday. As Tim and the bigger boys began their morning chores, it became obvious that CC was even worse. She was less than 10 days away from calving but we feared she wouldn't make it that long. Tim called the vet with whom he had been in constant contact regarding CC's condition, and I could overhear the vet say it was time to put her down. Timmy flipped his cell phone shut, looked at me, and said, "I don't know how to do that!"

As God has so faithfully done in the past, He has given us people to help us in our time of need. Tim called our new farming friend, Ty, and explained the situation. Ty assured us he could help but suggested we try to save the baby calf since it was so close to the delivery date. He immediately made contact with a farmer known for his skill in such procedures and both men met our boys within hours. Tim and I were working at the new farm, waiting for word from the boys and praying for a miraculous outcome. After what seemed like a long time, tender-hearted Elliott called Timmy and simply said, "What do you want me to do with both of them?" Tears fell from my eyes as the disappointment overwhelmed me. There would be no miraculous farm story today.

With so much going on, grief is quickly pushed aside by the next pressing detail. It would be Sullivan's injured toe taking center stage. A few days earlier he had dropped a piece of lumber on it and by Tuesday, the toe nail was pushing away from the skin because of the extreme amount of pressure from the bruising below. He was limping and complaining of pain in his leg from the throbbing pressure. Knowing that we'd end up at a doctor if I didn't find a solution, I studied remedies online. After reading about the shocking solution, I thought, "If we're going to be farmers, I suppose I better learn how to do stuff like this and not be a pansy." (This next part is not for the faint of heart, but honest to goodness, it worked!) Brave Sullivan, my trusting patient, sat very still as I heated a needle till the metal point was red. The directions said I should touch the needle point to the toe nail repeatedly until a hole was made. I tried to make casual conversation, raising my voice a bit louder when the heat would sizzle and melt the toe nail, while my patient sat calmly as if he had complete confidence in my newfound medical skills. Just as the directions said, suddenly the pressure began to release and a mixture of.. well, you don't want to know every detail, began to come from the newly drilled hole. It seemed the procedure would be a success until suddenly (the online medical eduation never mentioned this might happen) the needle went too far and poor Sullivan shouted in pain! Oh, I felt just terrible for him. In that moment, I would have gladly spent the $250 to have had a podiatrist to do this. Sullivan was very forgiving of my inefficiency and I'm happy to report that he's healed!! His toe went from terrible purple with the nail beginning to lift off, to almost completely normal - with the exception of the unique toe nail piercing. As I try so hard to model my life after the Proverbs 31 woman, I wondered for the first time why the biblical description doesn't mention her dispensing medical care. Maybe I don't have to become the farm medic afterall?!

The first week of work at the new farm concluded with a thrilling, overwhelming welcome from those with whom we'll be sharing our property - an abundance of black snakes! Yes, they've come from near and far to greet us. We have one living in the pump house for whom we are choosing a name, while many others have taken time to stop by for a surprise visit. One slithered across the driveway as if to assure us that he'd keep an eye on the place while we'd be away. Another tried to join us on the porch for lunch. Yet, one really went all out to make us feel welcome and was discovered in the master bedroom. We don't know if he came in under a door or maybe just through one of the holes in the bedroom wall. You can only imagine how we anticipate more visits from the vast welcoming committee with each closet we open or bucket we overturn.

All in all, I hope week 2 of the renovations is much less eventful and our biggest dilemma will be how to hang 8 bath towels in a tiny, closet sized, shared bathroom!

Progress Update

Yesterday marked one week of work on our new house. At least some of the family has been out there working every day except Sunday. I wish I could post amazing "after" pictures, but everything is still very much in the "before" stage! We have made a lot of progress though. All of the wallpaper has been torn down, as well as the vinyl backsplash in the kitchen. Daddy was replacing one of the broken window panes in the picture below:

Elliott and Oliver worked hard pulling up the many layers of flooring that had been put down over the years:

The floors are stripped down to the original wood now, so we can begin sanding and refinishing them.

Daddy finished building the closets in the dining room and one of the upstairs bedrooms. We had planned to do the painting, but we found someone on Craigslist that was willing to do it for a very good price so we hired his crew instead. They began painting yesterday and Daddy says they are doing quality work.

The upstairs bedroom:Elliott and Oliver have learned so many carpentry skills over the years they have worked with Daddy:We were having quotes done for the roof repairs, but PaPa (Daddy's father) and Daddy were able to fix the roof yesterday! That will save a lot of money. Mama also tore up floors and pulled the left behind nails.

We bring lunch each day and eat on the front porch:

I pulled the nails left on the walls from where a zillion pictures have hung over the years. Then I patched the walls with spackling and sanded them:

Maybe our next post will look a little more encouraging! A fresh coat of paint always seems to make a huge difference in all of the houses we have fixed up.