Author: David & Susan Sifford (Page 72 of 96)

Susan’s Musin’s – Ezekiel’s Wife

October 10, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 1 Comment

I was reading in Ezekiel Chapter 24 recently and was taken back when I got to verses 16 and 18:

Verse 16: “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes [he is referring to Ezekiel’s wife] with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down”…..Verse 18: “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died: and I did in the morning as I was commanded.”

In a larger context, God was using the taking of Ezekiel’s wife as a sign and example to the Israelites. I stopped to ponder and meditate on this for a while. Matthew Henry says this about this passage:

“He must lose a good wife, that should suddenly be taken from him by death. God gave him notice of it before, that it might be the less surprise to him (v. 16): Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke. Note, (1.) A married state may very well agree with the prophetical office; it is honourable in all, and therefore not sinful in ministers. (2.) Much of the comfort of human life lies in agreeable relations. No doubt Ezekiel found a prudent tender yoke-fellow, that shared with him in his griefs and cares, to be a happy companion in his captivity.

“Death is a stroke which the most pious, the most useful, the most amiable, are not exempted from. (5.) When the desire of our eyes is taken away with a stroke we must see and own the hand of God in it: I take away the desire of thy eyes. He takes our creature-comforts from us when and how he pleases; he gave them to us, but reserved to himself a property in them; and may he not do what he will with his own?”

Dr. John Gill has this to say:

“I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; meaning his wife; who very probably was of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to; however, of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet; and, no doubt, a truly religious woman, and upon all account’s desirable to him. This lovely object of his affection the Lord, who is the sovereign disposer of all persons, signifies he would take away from him by death unto himself; that is, suddenly and at once.”

My carnal man at first responded emotionally and in defense of “Mrs.” Ezekiel. I thought, “Wow, what a raw deal to be taken from your beloved husband all because God wanted to prove a point. And I can’t believe Ezekiel was able to just ‘not’ grieve over his wife’s death as God commanded.” I thought of how much I love my husband and love being his wife and serving him, and it made me sad to think of us being apart, and my flesh really clung on to it. But then I was reminded how God in His word continues to reveal to me that we as His creatures are His handiwork, and He made us for HIS glory, and EVERYTHING He does is to bring glory to Himself:

– Isaiah 46:10 – “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

– Daniel 4:35 – “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

– 1 Samuel 2:6-8 – “6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.”

– Psalms 39:5 “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.”

– Proverbs 16:4 – “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

– Revelation 4:11 – “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

…and I repented.

In this day and age, it seems to me we are taught to believe that God owes us something; or it is our right to live our lives in comfort and prosperity as happy as possible. But it’s not about me — it’s about Him! I am asking God to continue to set my mind right and see things from the perspective of “whatever and however God chooses to bring glory to Himself is what I want, whatever that looks like and however that affects my life.” I hope that if I had been Mrs. Ezekiel and had learned about the situation beforehand, I would have said something like, “What a privilege to be used of God for His glory in this manner! The Lord’s will be done!”

This is also helping me to take my focus off of myself in this lifestyle of agrarian separation we live, when things get really tough, uncomfortable or inconvenient. I want to be able to honestly hold that God is sovereign, so He knows EXACTLY what is going on, and this is how He has chosen to glorify HIMSELF in my life at this time. May I learn to ever say, “For THINE is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.”

I thank God for the people in His timeless word through whom He has chosen to teach us these precious truths.

Susan

Fall Ranchfest 2011

October 2, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 4 Comments

Twice a year, the community, along with visitors sometimes, gather together to work as a group in service to our teacher, Michael; it’s also a time where people who follow the ministry or otherwise come down and visit and meet the folks here and work with us — something we call Ranchfest. We just finished up one last week, and I thought we’d share once again a few of the goings-on around the Ranch during that time.

We usually have a kick-off breakfast during the weekend Ranchfest starts:

And then it’s off to work during the week! Here we are gathering in the morning for coffee and a breakfast dish in preparation of the day’s events:

The men this Ranchfest were continuing to help build Michael and his family’s new cottage, putting in windows, doors and putting up siding:

We also typically meet as a group for lunch break for delicious lunches provided by the ladies, and here we are gathered at the Community Center:

The group has generally been moving toward wearing more Amish-style clothing. Here is a picture of the progress for the ladies:

And so, while the men worked on the cottage, the women were helping out in sewing new outfits for Michael’s family. In the end, there were several pairs of Amish broadfall pants and dresses, and other items, completed or at least started:

Even the young ones were helping and learning the “ropes,” so to speak:

All in all, it was a wondering, even joyous, time of fellowship and community here at the Ranch. We are thankful to the Lord for the teacher He has granted us, and for the opportunity to do a little something back for him and his family; and we pray He glorified Himself through this, in the heavenly realms and here on earth, and in demonstration of what we pray is God-granted love for Him and for each other. We’re also grateful to God for granting the provisions He has to Michael and his family for allowing their homestead to be furthered, we pray for Christ’s glory and the benefit of His Church.

— David

Garden Shade

September 26, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 4 Comments

Back in the Spring, we got a nice bit of rain; and I thought perhaps it might rain enough to be able to plant some tomatoes (we certainly didn’t have enough water for a full garden). And so, I planted them. Well, you probably know the rest — we’ve had the worst drought here in 50 years (or more) this year. However, we’ve been able to limp along most of the plants through it all.

A couple of things we did to try to help was put hay in the bed in which they were planted to help keep moisture in; but that didn’t seem to be doing enough to help, with over 100 degrees F every day for month on end. And so, I thought perhaps if I could get them in the shade it might help, as I heard tomatoes do better in some form of shaded area than in the direct Texas Summer sun.

I wanted something easy to move and quick to build, and so I went with 3/4″ PVC pipe as a frame. And then I just started cutting and assembling.

Here is the corner. In order to even make it, given the fittings available, I had to get a 3-way corner where one was threaded 1/2″, and had to add a threaded 1/2″ male to 3/4″ non-threaded adapter:

Here’s one side built. I thought I’d try not gluing the joints at this point, as I wanted to be able to take it all apart easily to be able to store in the barn:

And here is the side with the top pipes in place:

Here is the second side:

And the complete frame over the bed:

Not thinking it through very well, and so I didn’t have to try to find shade cloth, I was originally going to put window screening on top; and when I rolled it out, I realized it let in a lot of the light, which makes sense, given it’s used to see through clearly in windows and screen doors (duh!). And so, in order to expedite the process, I just placed on top of the frame a couple of blankets and used clothes pins to hold them in place:

It seems to have worked not too badly. The wind has tossed it all around a couple of times, and we added cinder blocks to hold down the frame, which seemed to help; and because I didn’t glue it together, it would lean some the way the wind was blowing; but all in all, it at least brought some shade to the garden bed, and should have helped keep the soil a little cooler.

As Sue mentioned in a previous blog post, we’ll see what happens with the tomato plants as the weather gets cooler. We lost one plant early on in the Spring, and have lost it appears maybe two more since then. The rest have even survived an attack of blister beetles earlier in the Summer, where they ate almost all of the leaves; but the tomato plants bounced back.

We’re grateful to the Lord for granting provisions to be able to tend the garden and even keep some of the plants going through the drought, and we do pray that God might grant some tomatoes this Autumn season.

— David

Our First Longhorn Feast

September 18, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 8 Comments

With the drought this year, we’ve had to be liquidating many of our own personal herd of Texas Longhorn cattle. We’ve been trying to sell as many as possible, but we also raise the cattle to eat. With one of our cows, Catalina, there seemed to be no interest in someone buying her. She also was also one of our more rambunctious cows, in that, if she wanted to jump a fence to go eat something wherever, she would. And so, given that we couldn’t control her anymore, and that she was getting into areas we couldn’t have her, and that no one bought her, we made the difficult decision to take her to the butcher, even though she might be pregnant.

This was Catalina:

And so, after getting her back from the processor, Sue began the preserving process. When we use the butcher, we have them cube a lot of the meat into chunks all ready to go into the jars:

And here they are ready in the canner:

Here are some of the hamburger meat packages:

And Sue browns it before putting it into the jars to can, which apparently helps get extra oils/grease out which could overflow if not removed ahead of time:

And here she is preserved and ready for the root cellar:

One of the benefits of the Longhorns is the use of other parts of the animal, include the horns; and so we had the butcher cut them off of the head, and hopefully I’ll be able to turn them into something mountable some day:

And so, after the processing, it was time to partake in the first one of our personal cows to be eaten!

One of the joys of living here is the fellowship, and we wanted to share in the further joy of the providence of the meat with the community. And so, we had Catalina burger night at our place!

Here are some of the grilled burgers:

And the trimmings and side dishes, with which several of the ladies graciously helped:

We are very thankful for the grace and mercy the Lord has afforded us in this general time of peace to be able to fellowship together, after enjoying His direct provisions:

We are grateful to the God of all providence in allowing us the healthy food from this organically raised, grass-fed cow; and we are thankful to Him for allowing us the fellowship and community He has here.

— David

Garlic 2011 – Update I – Doing Something About Garlic “Breadth”

September 10, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 7 Comments

In our last blog post on our 2011 garlic, we had harvested our first small batch; and I tried my hand at braiding it (which turned out to be very “trying”). Well, since then, we have harvested the remainder of the crop, which we did back in May; and we wanted to share a little more of the garlic processing process.

Here is Dave pulling the garlic plants from the beds and placing them in a big box:

Wow! Our first garlic crop! It sure smelled good:

This time we did a bit more research before diving into it, which paid off. We laid out all of the bulbs in the indirect sun for a few days on our makeshift food dryer:

Here is a closer look:

Then we moved it all into our summer kitchen in preparation to be braided and hung:

I was successful at braiding the larger garlic plants; but as I got to smaller ones, the leaves were just too dry and difficult to braid and handle. So I started gathering them into bunches and tying them at the top. I actually like this method better; and it works just as well, in my opinion. I then hung them on my garlic hanging stand (aka: clothes dryer). I was pleased with the end result:

There ended up being many other small bulbs that either lost their leaves or fell off in the process. So I gathered them up and placed them in a small basket. I keep the basket in my kitchen, and it’s perfect for grabbing as many garlic cloves as I need at any given time. And the garlic smells and tastes wonderful!

Due to the extreme drought we have been experiencing, this is the only garden harvest the Lord allowed us to have this Spring and Summer (in addition to a few tomato plants on which the jury is still out). We are very thankful to God for the gift of this garlic crop and look forward to possibly spreading our garlic “breadth” in the future. 🙂

Susan

David’s Digest: Love of Christ: The Motivator of True Obedience

August 26, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 2 Comments

I have read to Sue, as part of our family worship, the Puritan John Owen’s Complete Works, Vol 1, “The Glory of Christ”, which I highly recommend; our fellowship is going through it as well on each Lord’s Day.

Among the many wonderful revelations of Christ in it, one point really stuck out to me that Dr. Owen spends time declaring and defending in chapter 12 of the work “Christologia or a Declaration of the Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ — God and Man”: the Bible declares that if we love God, we will obey His commandments; but this also means that those acts which are actually accepted of God vs. ones that are not, even though they might be the same acts, are differentiated primarily by the motivation behind them — that motivation being love for Him. Any person can perform an act that outwardly performs a command of God; but if it is not out of love for God, it is selfishly motivated — performed improperly inwardly — and thus cannot be acceptable by Him.

Here is a snippet from Dr. Owen’s chapter, which, along with the rest of the volume, I hope you will read in their entirety:

That which does enliven and animate the obedience whereof we have discoursed, is love. This himself makes the foundation of all that is acceptable unto him. “If,” saith he, “ye love me, keep my commandments,” John 14:15. As he distinguisheth between love and obedience, so he asserts the former as the foundation of the latter. He accepts of no obedience unto his commands that does not proceed from love unto his person. That is no love which is not fruitful in obedience; and that is no obedience which proceeds not from love. So he expresseth on both sides: “If a man love me, he will keep my words;” and, “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings,” Verses 23, 24.

In the Old Testament the love of God was the life and substance of all obedience. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, thy mind and strength,” was the sum of the law. This includes in it all obedience, and, where it is genuine, will produce all the fruits of it; and where it was not, no multiplication of duties was accepted with him. But this in general we do not now treat of.

That the person of Christ is the especial object of this divine love, which is the fire that kindles the sacrifice of our obedience unto him — his is that alone which at present I design to demonstrate.

The apostle has recorded a very severe denunciation of divine wrath against all that love him not:

“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,” 1 Corinthians 16:22.

And what was added unto the curse of the Law we may add unto this of the Gospel: “And all the people shall say, Amen,” Deut. 27:26. And, on the other hand, he prays for grace on all that “love him in sincerity,” Ephesians 6:24. Wherefore, none who desire to retain the name of Christian, can deny, in words at least, but that we ought, with all our hearts, to love the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not so distinguish love from obedience as though it were not itself a part, yea, the chiefest part, of our obedience. So is faith also; yet is it constantly distinguished from obedience, properly so called. This alone is that which I shall demonstrate — namely, that there is, and ought to be, in all believers, a divine, gracious love unto the person of Christ, immediately fixed on him, whereby they are excited unto, and acted in, all their obedience unto his authority. Had it been only pleaded, that many who pretend love unto Christ do yet evidence that they love him not, it is that which the Scripture testifieth, and continual experience does proclaim. If an application of this charge had been made unto them whose sincerity in their profession of love unto him can be no way evidenced, it ought to be born with patience, amongst other reproaches of the same kind that are cast upon them. And some things are to be premised unto the confirmation of our assertion.

1. It is granted that there may be a false pretense of love unto Christ; and as this pretense is ruinous unto the souls of them in whom it is, so it ofttimes renders them prejudicial and troublesome unto others. There ever were, and probably ever will be, hypocrites in the church and a false pretense of love is of the essential form of hypocrisy. The first great act of hypocrisy, with respect unto Christ, was treachery, veiled with a double pretense of love. He cried, “Hail, Master! and kissed him,” who betrayed him. His words and actions proclaimed love, but deceit and treachery were in his heart. …

2. As there is a false pretense of love unto Christ, so there is, or may be, a false love unto him also. The persons in whom it is may in some measure be sincere, and yet their love unto Christ may not be pure, nor sincere — such as answers the principles and rules of the gospel; and as many deceive others, so some deceive themselves in this matter. They may think that they love Christ, but indeed do not so. …

There is much more, and I do hope you will read the whole chapter from the beginning, chapters 13 and 14 also, which continue on this topic, and even the whole volume.

Is your “obedience” truly motivated by love for God? A true love? Are you sure? If it is not, then your obedience is not obedience at all. Have you ever thought about it? If not, then your religious activities and worship might actually be sin. Ask the Searcher of hearts (Psa. 139:23-24 to examine yours and reveal the truth of your motivations toward obedience. Ask Him for love for Him and a true and deeper revelation of Christ, as He is the source of all things spiritual (John 3:6; John 3:27; John 15:5; Acts 17:28; Gal. 5:22-23).

May He grant us love for Him, and repentance for acts of selfish obedience.

— David

Summer Kitchen – Update II – Insulation & Final Cross Wall

August 16, 2011 / David & Susan Sifford / 5 Comments

Little by little, I’ve been slowly working away at the summer kitchen in between everything else going on. The next step was the insulation, and here is a little pictorial of the process…

First, I wanted to cut in roof vents into the cross pieces that were in between the rafters on top of the walls. I drilled 1″ holes and then used a reciprocating saw to cut from the top of one hole to the other, and then the same from bottom to bottom. Here is what it looked like from the inside:

And then on the outside I stapled and glued aluminum screening to keep the bugs out:

Then, I began insulating, starting with the roof:

With the 2×8 rafters, I used R19, which is for 2×6 wood; this allowed for an air gap above the insulation to allow for the air to flow in the lower roof vent out the upper one. This gap is also recommended for proper effect of the solar board:

Before installing the wall insulation, I put diatomaceous earth on the bottom of the frame to perhaps help with termites:

And here is the main area completed:

And the pantry:

Due to my lack of construction knowledge when building the wall frames, I hadn’t done a header over the doorway between the main area and pantry; and it was beginning to sag. And so, I decided to insert one.

I began by cutting the door frame cripple studs:

Here it is with all of the cuts made:

And then with the cutout removed:

Here, the header is in place. I simply used three 2x6s:

And then shimmed them to fit up against the cripple studs above them:

After the header was in place, I was able to insulate the main cross wall. Here it is completed, viewing from the piano room:

And here it is from the main room:

As I noted above, part of the plan for the summer kitchen building was to have about 1/4 of it partitioned off to be a piano room; and so, I added a cross wall from the south wall to the main cross wall using 2×4 wood. And here is a picture of it after it being insulated:

And here is the wall as viewed from the pantry:

Finally, here are a couple of other views, one of the piano room from the main room:

And the other of the pantry from the main room:

The Lord has been gracious and merciful in allowing resources to be able to continue this project, some from the sale of His providential provisions of animal offspring. We thank Him, and we pray for continued help, wisdom and guidance in further homestead development, according to His will.

— David

Author: David & Susan Sifford (Page 72 of 96)

Susan’s Musin’s – Ezekiel’s Wife

Fall Ranchfest 2011

Garden Shade

Our First Longhorn Feast

Garlic 2011 – Update I – Doing Something About Garlic “Breadth”

David’s Digest: Love of Christ: The Motivator of True Obedience

Summer Kitchen – Update II – Insulation & Final Cross Wall

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