Recently I have purchased a book named “Money issues for Christians Today” by David L. Martin, published by Rod and Staff Publishers. This is a very practical book in helping Christians today how to deal with money in a biblical way. It touches areas like economics, investing, earning and borrowing. This book challenges me how to be a better steward of money that God has entrusted me. We are called to be a steward for whatever God gives us in life: wealth, children, possession, church …
I have copied the topic “Single-household income” onto our webiste. You can view it here. Since day 1 of our marriage, we have been living solely on my salary. And now we have 8 people in the household, me being unemployed, the money has never been tighter. However, God has always been faithful to us that each month we have just enough for food and raiment. Granted that my parents had helped me financially in the past, we also strive to live simply. I challenge Christian readers to rethink the secular household model where both the father and mother HAVE to work.
It is no doubt that in order to rely on one income, a family has to give up many things: expensive travel, extra-curriculum programs for children, flat-screen TV, double vehicles….this list goes on and on. We have to ask ourselves constantly, “Do we really need this?” Of course, if you can afford that nice stainless steel fridge without stretching the family finance (meaning you are not in debt and you have offered to the Lord first), then go ahead. However, a good used white fridge from kijiji will serve the same purpose (we found a 6-year-old GE fridge for $150).
We have made many mistakes in the past. For example, we were pursuaded by my parents to purchase a house rather than renting. I don’t agree that buying a 300,000 house and end up paying 400,000 in mortgage interest a wise investment. We simply cannot assume house prices will always go up and we can sell for a profit at the right time. We also purchased brand new appliances when we moved to the country and I regretted to this day that I did not search for good used ones. Anyway, I hope the readers can pounder on these things and be prudent on their finance. I highly recomment the book.
All posts by Derek
End of season
It is end of October and the weather is colder now, which means end of gardening season. Well, at least most
of it. This year, we have expanded the
Square Foot Gardening up
to half of our garden. The result is acceptable, definitely much less
labour and the children can walk around the squares easily. However, the
hot season is quite short this year and a lot of heat-loving plants did not do
well, i.e. tomato. Also, the frost comes in a surprise in September,
killing some young seedlings that I was hoping to grow as a fall crop.
One thing I notice is squash grows better the traditional way: lots of
crawling space. While I do get 1 fruit per squash plant that grows
vertically, that is just pathetic comparing to 5 or 6 per squash plant that
allows to explore on the ground. The most important thing is that everyone
did enjoy the garden, helping out here and there. I wish Melody’s skin
problem will be healed by the Lord so my wife can sit in the garden next summer
and enjoy our labor together.
| Using straw to cover the soil for overwinter. |
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| The simple compost is filled to the top. | 
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I am trying to grow spinach, lettuce and swiss chard under the poly film again this year. |
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Sending the chickens to meat
It is the big day again to bring the chickens for butcher. The weather is good and we have a trailer this time.
The pasture raised poultry is a success this time.
| 7 weeks of labour and feeding finally pays off. |
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| Shoshana standing beside 2 cages of chickens, each cage holds 5. | 
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| Odelia opens the gate and let 1 chicken out each time so Daddy can catch it. |
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| This is our trailer, covered with tarp. |
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| Everyone is helping one and saying goodbye to the chickens. |
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| This is the entrance of the abattoir. You can see the sign that says “Live Receiving”. |  |
| Inside of the abattoir. You can see the cages other people brought in. |
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Butcher my first chicken
Well, another chicken has problem with its legs.Â
This is the inherited issue for the White Rock X,
because they are bred to be meat machine.Â
With super rapid grow, sometimes its legs cannot
hold its weight and thus the bones are deformed.Â
Rather than waiting for it to die because it can’t
move to feed it self, I decided to butcher the
chicken myself. It is my first time
but I believe it should be quite easy. After
reviewing the steps listed in the books, I took a
sharp knife and headed out. If you would
like to butcher your own chicken, here is a list
of things you would need:
- A sharp knife, preferably a boning knife.
- A bucket of hot water between 145°F and
150°F - A killing cone specially designed for this
purpose if you are dressing lots of chickens.Â
But for 1 chicken, I would just tie its feet
and hang it somewhere far from the house for
bleeding. - A bucket of ice to keep the bird cool.
- A couple of containers would be handy to
hold the organs and feathers. - Cover-all and gloves
| First, I hold the bird upside down and slit the artery below the jaw line so the blood would drop. I waited 5 mins for the bleeding to stop. |
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| I then dropped the bird several times into the hot water and started to pull the feathers out. I did not finish the whole job here because it was cold and windy. |
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| Then I cut its head off. | 
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| I took the windpipe out |
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| Then I cut around its vent. |
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I took all the internal organs out carefully. Here came the liver. |
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| I am cutting the breast meat out for lunch. |  |
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I am cutting off the foot here. Â |
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| Here I am cutting off the drumstick. Yummy! |
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All the while Odelia was observing the whole process. |
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Squash
The squashes that grown in traditional way, i.e. lots of crawling space gave better result than SFG squashes. We got 5 o 6 squashes each plant. Here we have butternut, buttercup, a greenish type that I don’t know and pumpkins that are not ready to harvest. These squashes make excellent soup in winter. They are worthwhile to grow if you have the space.
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Baby Corn
Some of the corn did not have summer heat long enough to develop the cob. So we have this very tiny corn with fully developed kernels. Compare this with a normal corn.
Banana Squash
We only have 1 banana squash this year. Doesn’t it look like a banana. It is very moist when cooked.
Eggs again
After 2 weeks of waiting, the ready-to-lay birds finally give some eggs. So once again, the girls take turn and gather the eggs everyday.
Frost in September ?
Yes, there were 2 nights in a row where we had a light frost. Consequently, the squash, sweet potatoes and tomatoes were killed. I could have spray drops of water on the plants to protect them but didn’t have the time to do so. However, I did put the frost blanket on the sweet potatoes but in vain. May be I should put the 6 mil plastic film that I used last winter. So the sweet potatoes remain a challenge for me.
Can a 2 years old child do chores?
Do you believe that a 2 years old can be trained and encouraged to help in doing chores? I believe they can. Of course, it is more like a play than work to them and the end result is not going to meet your standard (i.e. the floor would still be dirty). However, we as parents have to instill the idea of “working” early in the life so our children would not become a slothful and unresponsible teenager that we see around us today. And it is mostly the parents of the teenager to be blamed. I read that the sons of the settlers were capable of running the farm at 12 while their fathers were away to town; while the daughters were capable of running the house chores at 12 as good as their mothers when they were not around.
We cannot expect our children to become responsible and hardworking adults overnight when they turn 16 if they are never taught to share the chores according to their capabilities. A child can be trained and should be allowed to “work” together alongside his parents, although sometimes it might seem he does more damage than help. But that’s alright! The idea is to build up the mentaily that WORK IS PART OF LIFE and WORK DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BORING. Work can be fun when you have the right attitude and passion. Men can fight under horrible situatons on a battlefield without losing morale if they believe in the cause. We as Christians can stand the persecutions and trials because we believe our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy for the sufferings. The children will work steadily if they see their parents do the chores cheerfully and without grumblings. Of course, the young children should get lots of praise and may be some tangible rewards (cookies or a special bike ride with daddy) if they perform exceptionally well.
Here we want to present to you Shoshana, trying to pour some baking soda and wipe the kitchen floor:
Watch here