Huh........ well, first off, I promise you, it's not for the money!! I once heard that if you want to have a million dollars farming, then you need to start out with two million! They do, but they are far larger than we are. Hopefully as we grow and get established, we may some day see a little money in return, but for now, we will settle for the satisfaction that our kids are getting something ou
t of all this. With that said, I guess the answer to "why" we do it, is, FOR THE KIDS! Additionally, the answer to "what" we are doing, is, TEACHING THE KIDS! The world we live in, IS NOT, a pleasant place! I think we all know that. The things that our children are taught by this world, most often, is not so good. After 21 years in my profession, I've seen what this world teaches! FAR TOO MUCH! First and formost, it is our responsibility to lead our children to JESUS CHRIST ! For if we don't, the world will surely lead them away from him! On a far simpler note, it is our responsibility to teach our kids the basics. Responsibility. How to set and acheive a goal. The importance of finishing a job, and doing it right. Respect for yourself and others. Pride, with limitations. Humility. Imagination. Caring. Morals. LOVE! I grew up in a far simpler time. In addition to that, I grew up in a time, long before my time. What does that mean? It's really not complicated. I spent most of the first 18 years of my life growing up with my grandpa. He was born in 1910, a far simpler time! After having to retire for medical reasons in the 1960's, he mainly planted, grew, and farmed. He was not much for advancing with modern things or times, and mostly lived the way he had, for most of his life. I came along in 1969, and spent many years following him around, learning ways far before my time! Maria grew up most of the time in similar ways. Usually on a small farm, growing some food and caring for some animals. That's part of what we are teaching our children. How to do SOMETHING! Something other than "wiggling their thumbs". Yeah, I mean the dreaded ELECTRONICS, games, ect......... Yeah, electronics aren't all bad. Yeah, they need to learn, for their future is based around them. Yeah, they are good, if used in the right manner. Yeah, they can learn good skill on/with them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know! I also know that FAR too many children's lives revolve around electronics! At most, some of them are involved in sports, which is great, but, that still isn't enough. We are seeing too many people that know how to do NOTHING! They can provide NOTHING for themselves. They can do NOTHING for themselves. I know, this isn't all the fault of electronics, I don't mean that. But, it is a large part of it. I basically grew up without electronics. Even after they came about, I didn't have them. I NEVER owned a video game! I learned to play! To have an imagination! And, I learned to WORK! Don't misunderstand, our kids have just about every electronic there is. But, they are limited to the time they spend on them. They are also VERY limited as to what they do/view on them! A few lines above, I wrote that I learned to WORK, and work hard! I didn't nessasarily like it, but it was good for me! I look back and enjoy the memories of it now! I am proud of it! Our kids learn to WORK! The dreaded thing.....................WORK! The thing so many kids (and adults) this day and time, know nothing of! Yes, ours work! They work hard, based on their age and ability. They have responsibilities, based on their age and ability! They may not enjoy ALL of it now, but it's not something that is absolutly HORRIBLE to them, because it's the way they are taught. They will go into life knowing how to do SOMETHING. I hope they will be proud of it. I hope they look back and remember the LOVE that went into teaching them. I hope they look back and long to be able to come back to this time, for the rest of their lives. I guess it's a balancing act. Teach them to live in the modern world, combined with ways from the past. All the while teaching the skills I've mentioned above. Tough? Yeah, probably. The good Lord knows, that WAY too soon, it will be time for them to head out into this world on their own. We would all prolong that time as much as possible, but it will come! When they go, we can only hope that we have taught some of the basic skills I've talked about. Giving them the desire to go into the world and future full steam, but with the knowledge and desire to preserve the past and the skills they've learned. The desire to always come back home to a simpler world, no matter where they go. I guess that was a long answer to a simple question! Keep checking back on our page as we go. We'll try to explain a little about why we have chosen the animals and things that we have, and what may come in the future.
