Setting things apart...

I occasionally get migraines. My own theory is that they are triggered by allergies that cause sinus pressure. The pressure is caused by my base line of being dry, so I have to do things to keep my sinuses moist and able to move. I've tried many different mitigation methods and found some that work better than others. The funny thing is, these methods only work when I practice them. The hard part is that I have to practice these methods when I'm feeling fine. This ties into something that I thought of yesterday while experiencing one of these migraines.

I thought about disciplines that many incorporate into their lives when they aren't doing well. You know, we go on a "diet" or we start "working out" or start "eating healthy". While starting this is great and necessary, it seems to me, the difficulty is continuing to do this once we have met the goal and are "feeling fine". It can apply to many different areas in our lives. Our goal is to continue feeling that way, right? These "things" we set out to do and then practice are disciplines. Seemingly our lives are better when we discipline ourselves to do the things that may add to our "to do" list even when we are feeling or looking how we want to. In my experience, that's the hardest time to do those types of things. In my head, I tell myself, I feel fine, I can compromise and not do that beneficial thing today. As these times accumulate I end up with the same problem I had taken care of. In this case, it was a migraine.

Yesterday was Sunday, the day many observe as the Sabbath. The Ten Commandments say to "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy". Holy is defined as "set apart". As I pondered on that for awhile, I thought about how I came about the farming journey that I'm on. It kinda started with thoughts that I couldn't get away from. Thoughts that I had grown up in an environment that neglected what our Creator provides, and embraced man's modified versions. Our Creator packaged fruit in a nice little package that has skin that's got fiber and requires the efforts of chewing it, man's modification is removing the skin, squishing all the fibrous material out and keeping the sugary remains. You may be rolling your eyes at this point, but I can't apologize. There was and is something "holy" about a created earth that has regenerated itself, sustained us, and provided for us since the beginning of time, despite the horrendous things we've done against it. What the earth provides us is meant to be holy. We can modify it to some degree, but my goal has been to do this minimally. Hence why we raise our animals on pasture, mimicking what they were designed to do, not what man has forced them to do to be more profitable. Whenever we compromise, it costs us, and a lot of times, it has hidden costs.

Another thought I had was about devices. The same devices that I am preparing this on and you are reading this on. I thought, what if I chose 1 day to not use the man made devices that are full of distractions. One day where I just practice the joy of simplicity in reading a book, of walking outside and observing the beauty of creation, or listening to the music produced by creation? That would be a day "set apart" or "holy". For those that believe the Bible, we are called to "Be holy, for I am holy" 1Pet. 1:16. I may experience difficulty in doing this, but as identified earlier, these things are most beneficial when practiced consistently. I think about the relationship building opportunities I can have access to when I get away from the distractions I've become so accepting of. Each of us can start this discipline in a way that caters specifically to ourselves.

Farm update:

We will formally start taking orders for pastured, organically fed turkeys on April 17th. Pricing and availability will be shared then. First through an email, then through the website the following week.

As always, I want to thank each of you for your membership, your consideration, and for giving us the opportunity to exercise our convictions in a way that benefits ourselves and hopefully you as well.

Thankfully,

Embrace Farm PMA