Beauty vs. Function

The chief reason I want another house is not beauty, it’s function. I’m very interested in growing some of my own food, keeping chickens, and having more energy independence. I don’t think we can be “off the grid” but we can have a wood stove, some solar and maybe even some wind energy. But I can not help but think of beauty. I want to make that house and garden beautiful. Yes I know it can all burn! But God is creative. He made the whole world both functional and beautiful! How can we balance the two? How much money do we spend on insulation, and solar? How much do we spend on wallpaper and plants? And when you know so many families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, you have to ask why should we have a villa? I’m listening to an audible book called “out living your life”. There is a pretty good chapter on hospitality. We use to have international students (most from Japan) live with us. We use to have a guest room. Before we got Thomas, Philip and Sarah we would have 30 guests per year. But life got too busy and space too limited. If we could only renovate the attic for the boys, I could have a real guest room again. And I know I’ll have to fight Juergen for the space. It seems so self indulgent to have a room set aside “only for guests”. But maybe that’s why God is giving us a villa? He wants us to have the room and freedom to demonstrate hospitality again. I remember I had to travel across the USA on a hot greyhound bus. I stopped in Montana and spent about 6 hours with Dick and Joy Schroder. They were campus pastors at the University of Montana. Joy ran a nice bath for me. She put candles around the tub, and even provided bubbles. Then she went to the store and bought me goodies for my trip. Fruit, candy and drinks. She feed me a warm meal and then sent me on my way changed by her kindness. I feel called to do the same thing. 100 sermons could not have made a deeper impression on me. In this cold world a cup of coffee and a hot meal can change us forever.

Comments

chicken coop idea

Why not start with an IBC and cut a hole for the door? You could build closed laying boxes into it, and something for the chickens to roost on. Put some straw or saw dust on the floor. You could add vents to the side for air. If it sat inside a chicken run that you can walk into, the chickens could be safe, dry and happy. I have an extra IBC. Maybe this could be my chicken house? I bet I could even plant the outside of it with mud and grass for extra insulation and good looks.

Reading Kingdom

I am very happy to review the Reading Kingdom. This is an online program that uses a variety of methods to teach reading. I decided to share this product with my adopted granddaughter Ruth. Reading kingdom uses a six skills integrative method Ruth only just began to use the program. She is only 3 years old and cannot use the program without help. But her mom says that she can already recognize words like girl and kids when they are shown on the screen. Sylvia wrote that she loves the repetition of the words in the program . That Ruth is memorizing the words she sees. She will be able to use it for an entire year. But I expect her to become a very good reader. And what a great gift to give to any child! She will have a lifetime love for books. Sylvia also works with teenage mothers in Uganda. And many of these women have never attended school. So she plans to use these ideas to help these young women learn to read. http://www.ReadingKingdom.com what

Taking at look at Hotels select

I have the chance to review Hotels select. https://www.hotelsetc.com/ This is a really interesting travel club. You pay a fee of about 200 dollars a year to use their very extensive site. I got this membership free. It has many deals of mostly hotels, but also rental cars, flights, restaurants and events around the world. I have been spending days looking at what they offer. So far what I’ve found is amazing deals on the places many people go. For example, hotels in Orlando are 50% less than deals you find at booking.com. Rental cars are often 25% cheaper than Rental cars.com. And they have a search where you can book a condo for as little as 250 dollars a week just 1 mile from Disney world. That is 7 nights for 250 dollars for up to 4 people. The exact location on Airbnb cost 650 dollars a week. If you travel to places like San Diego, New York City and Las Vegas this site will save you a great deal of money. If you rent cars you will also find it wo

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