Category: Uncategorized

Wouldn’t it be great if you could go to a website and see all the products that were available in your local geographic region. And what if all the items were made in that geographic region. Local artists and craftsmen, farmers and gardeners, all at one local website, with a click to buy now and have delivered in the next few days. It just seems like something that should exist, that isn’t yet here. I would love to hear your thoughts! Or if it is in existence, please enlighten me!

This website here -> https://www.localharvest.org/benbrook-tx is not exactly what I am talking about, but it does seem to bridge the gap in regards to the food we are buying and being able to partner with local growers to hopefully eat better food, that doesn’t have to travel unnecessarily so far. You are able to view a map of all the farms that are close to your location, as well as see what farms have CSA (community supporter agriculture) programs where you can get a select amount of food (produce, dairy, eggs, and meat). It would be worth your time to give it a look!

The map above can be found on the website, it shows the location of many of our local farms in the DFW region.

There is something novel and unfamiliar about buying from the person who actually made, raised, or grew the product for sale. Its sad that this is the case, but the bright side is that there are ways to spend more of our money with local people we can actually see and get to know on a personal level, like they used to back in the good ole’ days.

Here are some good words spoken by Malcolm Guite, originally written by C.S. Lewis. The gist of the idea is to live moment to moment, trusting God for a our daily bread, and letting Him be the one to worry about the future, since it is within his sovereign control anyhow. This is such good counsel. It is easy to worry about tomorrow and regret about yesterday, while neglecting the goodness of the current moment. We often do this for many different reasons. Sometimes people around us expect us to be worried about what we are going through. This is at least how it feels. If you are calm and at peace people often wonder why that is the case and assume you must be neglecting your responsibilities. What do you do in this situation? It seems that the incentives are sometimes way out of wack. We get more attention and sympathy if we are showing our anxiety. These negative experiences lead to more attention, which then reward the behavior of letting our circumstances get the best of us, instead of putting our confidence in God and letting the peace that comes from Him empower us to face things with confidence and self discipline.

We need to trust in God for that which is beyond our control. Seek guidance to know which things are within our control that He would have us take responsibility for and face head on. That is at least, how it seems to me.

Now here is a great piece of technology to help in the planting process. Tools sometimes get a bad name because of the negative side effects that sometimes occur. Typically this takes the form of pollution or the dependance we sometimes develop on big companies, because we can’t afford the costly tools they are able to use. This tool right here seems to be simple, powerful, pollution free, and it helps you make your own food more efficiently. That seems like a win win, what do you think?

This is a link for the tool on display. This seems like it could be a worthwhile investment for someone who is trying to scale up their gardening and work towards growing more of the food they eat. Let me know what you think.

“We have so much to be thankful for!” The words of Harold Epp, my Grandfather on Mother’s side of the family. These words are not true for everyone. Many throughout history have had difficult lives full of brokenness and heartache. They experienced much suffering beyond what our American brains could ever comprehend. Yet we still complain about so much, it’s as if we will find something to complain about regardless of how blessed we are. Its in our dna to find what is lacking and focus on that. Maybe there is some kind of survive instinct that drives this compulsion we privileged humans have. There is a saying that we will experience the life we focus on. If we focus on all that is wrong and upside down, then we will be a mental wreck. If, on the other hand, we focus on loving people, working hard, being grateful, and chasing excellence, maybe we will live a great life that turns into a story worth telling some day? A good first step is to think about and even meditate on the things we have to be thankful for, there is a good chance you also, “have so much to be thankful for!”

Today marks one more year under my belt. It is hard to believe I am turning 38 years old today, but I am very thankful to have been given so many years of life. Things don’t always go according to plan, you don’t always have the success you dreamed of, but yet, “there is so much to be thankful for.” These are the words of my Grandpa Epp that I will always remember. His health was declining at the time and he didn’t have much time left, but he kept repeating that phrase.

TR was very weak as a child. He had severe asthma and his parents would often fear for his life. His father once commented; “you have the mind but not the body. You must make your body.” As time would tell, he would grow to be a very strong man and leader, due in part to his great struggle that he had to endure.

This is an inspiring tale of will and determination. I think most of us could empathize with the idea of feeling weak and questioning our will to get things done. We might think that we have a handicap in our ability to speak, or lead, or whatever else it might be. We have an opportunity to set our doubts aside and push through all the negative thoughts to improve and overcome our individual areas of growth.

I want to do this blog because I think it is a good opportunity to think more clearly. It is interesting that the best way to think is to write. In our modern age, people spend too much time scrolling, looking at what other people are doing. It isn’t good for their thinking processes that is for sure. It leads to brain rot, lack of focus, and potentially many other ailments as well. Writing would seem to be a great habit to strive for in order to have better mind health. I was listening to a podcast several years ago, and they were talking about how good it is to write as a strategy for better thinking. I really think that this is true, and it has helped me in the past to work through different problems I have tried to solve. Give it a try, see what happens!