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mamakay

managing a household of 10 by the grace of God

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Homemaking

We are Placemakers

March 1, 2019 by mamakay Leave a Comment

placemaker

What is placemaking? It is deliberately sending your roots deep into a place, like a tree. It means allowing yourself to be nourished by a place even as you shape it for the better.

This is a book about my longing for peace and my instinct that peace and place are indistinguishable. But it is also a book about God’s longing, a longing that weaves in and out and through the whole story the Bible tells. God longs for the place he has chosen as a dwelling for his Name.

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

I was blessed by being included in the launch team for Christie Purifoy’s new book, Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace.

I feel so much connection to Christie. Both of us were an English Lit majors. We have moved a few times looking for a place to put down roots and have found ourselves in an old farmhouse that requires so much work to keep (although not as beautiful as hers). We have found ourselves in a wilderness season where so much of what we thought was our path turned out not to be so. All along the way trees have anchored me and connected me to the place we were.

Our First House and Australian Bottle Tree

The first tree we chose at our first house was an Australian Bottle Tree. It is a fast growing evergreen tree that flourishes in Arizona. We lived in that home for 5 years and started our family there. It had a tiny yard but big vaulted ceilings. The house was a new build and it was so fun getting to pick out the carpet and counter top. It was a beautiful home and we began our journey of being placemakers. But it was a long commute to my husband’s job and so we decided it was time to move on.

  • Phoenix House
  • Our Citrus Grove
  • Palm Tree

Our next house was a beautiful home. In fact to this day I wish I could have just picked that house up and transported it with us to Montana. Our neighborhood was lined with Elm trees. We planted 3 citrus trees our first year as placemakers there: an orange, a tangelo and a lemon tree. The orange tree didn’t make it but the other two thrived and we got to enjoy fresh citrus for several years.

A funny story: Do you see that huge palm tree growing in the backyard? A palm frond blew into our yard one day and our oldest daughter decided to plant it! Lo and behold it took root and grew into that tree!

We lived in that house for 8 years. Although we loved the house itself we never felt at peace there. We tried to sell it for years to no avail. A dream grew in our hearts for a homestead. A place where we could work together as a family to raise good, healthy food. A place where our children could play outside. A place that wasn’t so hot or so full of people. And then God did a miracle in our lives. One day we received a phone call from our old realtor. He wondered, “Are you still interested in selling your house? I have someone who is interested in buying it.” And so just like that we were released from that house and decided to pursue our dream of moving to Montana.

Our Tiny Rental House

Many of us long to put down roots in some particular place, but we guard ourselves against heartbreak by waiting for a perfect place.

In the wilderness, we are given the opportunity to lay down the burden of our desire to make or remake so that when some other place invites our participation and our creative efforts, we are ready to offer those things with humility

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

That was the rental house for us! It was tiny! 1200 square feet housing 8 people. Our front room served as the dining room, school room, library, and sitting area. We knew this was a temporary place but we were there longer than we expected. Finding our place in Montana was much harder than we thought it would be. But we found freedom in our wilderness and continued to be placemakers. We got to experience seasons for the first time as a family and we loved it! We got to experience small town life with neighbors to talk to and kids to play with and a park close by. The older kids could ride their bikes to the library without fear. Such a difference from Arizona.

Our Montana Home

Sometimes, placemakers make new. Build fresh. Start from scratch. But most of the time, they repair. They restore. They protect. Sometimes, placemaking is nothing more than the refusal to unmake.

After much searching we found our home in the country. Instead of the brand new houses we had lived in before we have a crazy old house originally built in 1949 with several additions over the years. But it came with old trees including a giant Cottonwood, a pine tree, a mature apple tree and several plum trees. This was a place we could put our roots down (and several of our children have told us we can never move).

Our Cottonwood in it’s full fall glory

An orchard is not a forest, though. Most forests arise naturally over time, but an orchard is a collaboration — an intentional partnership between us and the creator-God in whose image we are made….We do not make the trees, but we make a place for them. Like the God to whom we belong, we are placemakers.

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

One of best things we did to be placemakers our first year at this place was to plant an orchard. We planted four kinds of apples, 2 pear trees and a cherry tree. A tree for each child plus an extra one. We have been here for 9 years now and are starting to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Each year we can jars upon jars of applesauce, apple butter and apple slices almost every fall that we enjoy all year long. We are starting to get enough cherries for a couple of pies every summer. Maybe next year the pears will be bountiful. Every fruit we get to enjoy is such a gift. We never know what will come. But God is gracious.

Our Orchard

Our life here hasn’t been all that we had hoped for. We have stumbled and fallen. But we have gotten back up. We have been refined (and continue to be). Life is messy. But God is at work and I pray that we are collaborating with him to cultivate this place for his glory, whatever that looks like.

I want to be a placemaker, how about you?

MamaKay

Filed Under: Books, Faith, Homemaking

September: the New (Old) January

September 13, 2018 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Colorado Mountains

 

Fall is by far my favorite season! I love the cooling of the air, the shortening of the days, and the invitation to prepare for winter by preserving the harvest (even if its not from my own garden). It is the time of returning to routines and the home is central to it all. Warm meals and baking are welcomed after so many hot months where the kitchen seems unappealing. School begins and the rhythms of life become more predictable.

Each season brings a time for reflection for me. What is working in our lives? What isn’t working? What can we do differently? How do we want to spend our time during this season? I try to take some time to really think through these things. The last 2 years I have been able to get away for a couple days and it has been such a blessing to have the time and space to consider our lives. We have made some huge changes this past year and having some space really helped me have some clarity.

This year I also started making a wall calendar on a half sheet of poster board for the family for the season. It has been amazing to me how much it has helped us be intentional about our time. Seeing our schedule a little zoomed out has helped us so much as we make our plans.

I have been thinking about how much September seems like new year. It is a time for making plans, lists and preparations for the coming time. And then it hit me as I looked at the calendar. Rosh Hashanah was this week. In the Jewish calendar, September has been the new year all along.

So Happy New Year! May God bless you in this coming year!

MamaKay

 

Filed Under: general thoughts, Homemaking, large family living, Parenting, planning, Seasonal Living Tagged With: fall, harvest, Preserving Food, rosh hashanah, routines

Thanksgiving

November 21, 2017 by mamakay 1 Comment

It’s the week of Thanksgiving! One of my favorite times of the year.  It feels like each year the world wants us to rush past this week. Halloween gives way straight to Christmas. But I find myself wanting to hold back the rush and just savor this week. To me it is a time of reflection of the blessings God has bestowed on me. It is a time to gather family together and enjoy good food and good conversations. To connect. To be present. No need to rush around. Just time to engage right where we are. Yes there is lots of cooking to do but we can do it together and sing and talk as we go along. We keep the menu the same every year. We know what to expect and we know it will all turn out okay.

I have been pondering the question, “Do you consider yourself a grateful person?”

I want the answer to be “yes!” But is it true? Am I grateful for this life that I am living filled with complexity and uncertainty and pain? Can I find the blessings that come through all of this? I am trying to. My relationship with God has grown so much the past two years! And really isn’t that what is most important? I’m learning to connect with others on a much deeper level and I am starting to find the beginnings of community that I have been longing for.

 

I have returned to my Gratitude Journal and am determining to write in it each night before going to bed. I thought I would look back over the 1000 Gifts challenge that I documented here over the years and am floored by the fact that its been 11 years since I began working on this from Ann Voskamp’s challenge. Here is a link to my first post on it!

I encourage you to hit pause on the anticipation of Christmas and all the lists of things that need to be done to prepare for it. There will be time enough. For now reflect on God’s blessings and those around you and love them well.

Resources for Thanksgiving:

We put up our Thanksgiving Tree and have been adding leaves to it.

Here is a link to our traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Psalms 100:4

MamaKay

Filed Under: 1000 Gifts, Holidays, Homemaking Tagged With: Thanksgiving

Reflections on Mere Motherhood

October 13, 2016 by mamakay Leave a Comment

This summer I read a wonderful book by homeschooling veteran Cindy Rollins. It is called Mere Motherhood: Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes and My Journey Towards Sanctification. She is the mother of 9 kids. Eight of which were boys. It is a memoir filled with funny stories and peppered with amazing tips and advice for not only homeschooling but mothering through all of the stages of life.

In her book, Cindy Rollins says, “I am a mother at heart. I build a home, which seems like a place to stay, but really, it is a place to leave. That is the way of it. Children are meant to grow up.” I am a homebody! I could stay home for weeks (and have from time to time) without going stir crazy. I have worked for years to build a home and a connected family. And now I am approaching a new season of life when it is time to let my people go. My oldest is a senior and has already taking steps towards independence. My second daughter has chosen to go to public school and participate in lots of activities. My third daughter is already talking about the next stage of her life even though she is only 13.

Of course, I always knew that my children would grow up. In fact, we have worked hard to help them have the life skills they need to fully function as adults. And yet as the time is approaching I just want a little longer. I want them to want to stay. I want them to value what I value. But they are their own people and they have to find their own ways in the world.

Somehow I thought we could protect them from the world but the truth is that bad things are going to happen. It isn’t even my job to prevent bad things from happening. And it isn’t my fault that bad things will happen. They have their own ideas and their own plans. I just have to keep praying and trusting God that he continue His good work in them. I can’t create children with perfect character and all of the skills they will ever need. But I can love them and create a safe place for them to come home to.

So during these “Driving Years” I am looking for new ways to connect. To use the time I have and to foster our relationships beyond what schoolwork needs done or what chores aren’t complete. As Cindy Rollins talks about,  I want to create a lifeline for our children to our family and to the past so that as they move on into the future so they are not just adrift in the universe. And I am trying to let go of my own expectations of a perfect family and instead put my trust in a perfect God.

 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  Philippians 1:6

MamaKay

*Mere Motherhood is available from Circe Institute. Here is a link: https://www.circeinstitute.org/store/books/mere-motherhood

Filed Under: Books, general thoughts, Homemaking, Parenting

Not Perfect But Still Nourishing

November 4, 2015 by mamakay Leave a Comment

baking

I love baking and usually turn out wonderful baked goods but let’s face it, I have 8 kids and sometimes I get distracted and mess up! Just yesterday I was making blueberry muffins. I’ve made them so many times that I didn’t take the time to get out my ingredients and go over the recipe. And you know what? I forgot to add the sugar! Thankfully I have made them frequently enough that as I was mixing in the blueberries I realized that something was not right. The mixture was just too dry. So I tasted the batter and that’s when I realized I missed the sugar. So I just went ahead and mixed the sugar in (which is much more difficult to do after the other ingredients have been assembled). The muffins turned out blue and lumpy but they were still edible.

20151104_090156

Sometimes we just have to work with what we’ve got even if we know the end result will not be as good as we want it to be. We can’t give up! Not with muffins and not with the rest of our lives. Sometimes I get so frustrated that my spiritual life is not what I want it to be, that I am interrupted and don’t make it through my Bible reading or my prayers for my official “quiet time.” But then I have to work to fit it in during the rest of the day and maybe that is a good thing. I am forced to keep looking for time and ways to incorporate it into the rest of my day and that often means including the kids in my attempts. Yes it is lumpy and bumpy but in the end it still nourishes my soul just as the muffins nourished our bodies.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up — Galatians 6:9

– MamaKay

Filed Under: baking, God Stops, Homemaking

Going Back to the Basics

November 2, 2015 by mamakay Leave a Comment

baking

I have found that whenever I get off track in my life I can get back where I need to be by getting back to the basics. Our daily bread recipe is the one I turn to when I want to get back to baking. I have made it so many times that it is sure to work. Everyone loves eating it and it gives us a good nutritional base for many meals. I love making our bread with Prairie Gold Wheat berries from Wheat Montana these days. The flavor of the wheat is delicious and the loaves turn out light and fluffy. Perfect for slicing to fill in the gaps for dinner, making a sandwich, or after a couple days French Toast!

Here is a link to a tutorial I did a couple years ago on making bread.

Enjoy!

MamaKay


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Filed Under: Homemaking, recipe, whole foods

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So glad you stopped by. I am a Christian wife and mother of 8 in the middle years. My kids are aged 4 to 20 and just about every 2 years in between. I write about our life as a big family, what God is personally doing in my life, food and books.

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