Posted by Posted in Fun Stuff, Nature and the Outdoors, Pioneer living, stuff to do

Living Like a Pioneer: Why Raise Chickens?

Why Get Chickens?

They provide food.
-Every twenty five hours a chicken lays an egg. With three chickens I get about eighteen eggs a week, plenty to feed a family. These eggs are not just grocery store eggs either. They are fresh (You don’t have to worry about eating eggs that have been in factories and then onto trucks which take them to your grocery store. These are not the freshest.), nutritious (You know what you feed your chickens and you know that they are not being fed chemicals. Remember, what you feed your chickens is going to show up in your eggs!), strong (ever noticed how the yolks and shells of fresh eggs are so much stronger? None of those chemicals on the shell to keep the eggs “fresh”!) and humane (You know that your chickens have laid these eggs in a humane environment. In fact, you are the one who lovingly cares for them!). Also as a bonus, eggs are full of protein!

They provide education.
-Raising chickens are great for kids and young people. The experience teaches you about responsibility in caring for animals and shows you the process of where food comes from and how it is produced. You can learn about hatching, incubation and care for baby animals. It is also very fun to watch the chicks grow from tiny little babies to grown chickens who are producing your breakfast!

They provide entertainment.
-Chickens can be pretty funny and each one has their own personality. You can feed them treats and when you bring their food to them they just flock to you! Also, it is fun to collect eggs, it is like an Easter egg hunt but everyday!

They provide help around the homestead.
-Chickens can provide some practical help for you in ways other than eggs! First of all, they eat your scraps which would otherwise go in the garbage and landfills. They also eat your bugs and keep that bug population low. And thirdly, chicken manure is great for your garden and yard as a fertilizer. So collect that manure and put it on your garden to produce that rich soil that is excellent for growing things!

Hope you enjoyed my four reasons why you should raise chickens!
Look for a post on how you actually raise chickens…. (There is your sneak preview)

Priscilla the farm girl

Posted by Posted in holidays

Committing Your Year to the Lord

It is a new year and many people like to make New Years resolutions. I think that is a great thing to do! Comment below to share your resolutions. Today I want to propose something else for you to do too.

Let’s commit our year to the Lord.

Let’s just say a prayer, write one down if you want, and just thank the Lord for all He has done in your life this past year and ask Him to do great things in you this year.

Be humble and commit 2016 to Him!

Happy New Year!
Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in Jesus

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who read this!

As we celebrate the Christmas season it is easy to get caught up in the lights, the snow (or rain in my case), presents, finding the perfect present (aka lots of shopping), putting up the tree, Santa Claus and whatever other things make you busy and distracted.

Let us keep our focus on Jesus this season. In a quiet moment by yourself read and dwell on the Christmas story. Below I have verses for you to read and cry at, enjoy, laugh, sing for joy at and smile in your heart.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary has been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall name him Jesus, for he shall save his people from thier sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son
And they shall call his name Immanuel.”

Matthew 1:18-23

“And Mary said:
My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For behold,from now on all generations will call me blessed;
For he who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is his name.
His mercy is for all who fear him
From generation to generation
He has shown strength with his arm
And scattered the proud in the thoughts of thier hearts.”

Luke 1:46-51

“Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”
John 1:29b

“For to us a child is born and a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting, Father and Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6

Have a Merry, Merry Christmas! Celebrating Christ’s birth!
Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in Family, God, holidays, Jesus

Movie Review: The Nativity Story

It’s Chrstmas time! I sit and listen to Celtic Christmas CD as I write this post. There are some Christmas movies we like to watch as a family. Last night, we watched “The Nativity Story”. Here is my movie review on it!

Rating: PG for some violent content

Age: 12 and up could watch the whole movie. My little brother (7) watched it, he just covered his eyes in some parts.

Things to watch for: The first scene in Herod killing the babies, it doesn’t actually show a baby being killed but it gets pretty close. There are also two births (Mary and Elizabeth). Mary’s birth scene is pretty mild but the one with Elizabeth is a little more vivid (again, nothing too bad). The last thing to watch for is it does show John (the Baptist) getting circumcised but it is not too vivid.

I really liked the movie. It is not biblically correct on every point but I think it does capture the nativity story very well. Joseph might be my favorite character. He was really portrayed as a noble, strong man who thought of others before himself. When he, and Mary are traveling to Bethlehem he takes good care of her, protecting her and keeping her safe.

The scene where Mary has Jesus is very sweet and special… It might make you cry. 🙂

Mary’s character was overall played well. The one thing I wished is that she would have been more joyful in some parts. But I think the scene when she tells her parents and Joseph she is pregnant with Jesus she shows lots of character and stands strong in her faith even though it might mean her death.

I also liked how they showed how the townspeople shunned Mary and Joseph after finding out about the baby. I don’t usually think of that part.

The wisemen were good. They added just a touch of humor to the movie but not enough to take away from the beauty and seriousness of the story.

In all I think it was a great movie and it really brings the story to life. Perfect for Christmastime!

Merry Christmas!
Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in adventures, Family, Fun Stuff, holidays, journal entries, me, memorys, Nature and the Outdoors

Journal Entries- My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 16 years old. I sometimes can’t believe I am that old but I like the sound of both 15 and 16 so I am still happy. 🙂

I had a really fun time yesterday so I will reveal what I did in this journal entry blog post.

When I woke up I had my devotions like usual. I had been reading in Isaiah but I took a break from that and read Phillipians because that is one of my favorite books of the Bible and you always do your favorite things on your birthday, right?

We had breakfast together (my dad and Jace took off work) and looked at my baby book. I always love looking at that. It is fun to see our family when I was born, my little brother Jace (almost two at the time of my birth) is SO cute! I opened gifts and then we all got ready and dressed for the day.

We headed out on the road to Stone Mountain about 9:30 a.m. We arrived there at about 10:45 a.m. I like to go hiking on my birthday because it is something I love to do but we don’t get to do a lot. We had never been to Stone Mountin before so we were all looking forward to it.

I decided we should do the Stone Mountain Loop Trail. It was 4.5 miles but we probably hiked about 5 miles in all because you had to hike .3 miles to get to the trailhead.

Stone Mountain Summit

Stone Mountain Summit

It was very pretty. Not too long before we started there was this HUGE stone slab that we stopped at and just hung out and explored and ate lunch at. It was cool. We hiked up some more (up and up and up) until we reached the Stone Mountain Summit. It was 2,305 altitude! It was sooo high up!

The view from Stone Mountain summit

The view from Stone Mountain summit

We saw lots of Hawks (maybe 100?) circling in the air right about our height. It was cool that we were the same height as the birds. Also the mountains around us were about equal with us. We were high up. After experiencing that awe inspiring work of God we continued.

This next leg of the journey was through the forest so it got cool and damp in there. We went down lots of steps and we were all very glad that we were not going up the steps! It was about 1.5 miles between each attraction. We stopped at a “comfort station” (a wet bench) and had granola bars and apples. Then we got to the Hutchinson Homestead. It was pretty cool. There was an old barn, cabin, corn crib, outhouse, garden, smokehouse and more. You know me… I love the pioneer/frontier times!

Hutchinson Homestead

Hutchinson Homestead

After that the trail went through a field and then into the forest again. There were a lot of gurgling brooks on the side of the trail and we soon came to the source! The Stone Mountain Waterfall! It was a huge slab of stone with sheets of water just careening down it! William, Celia and I went to the bottom of it and watched it for a bit. The trail then went up the waterfall so there were lots of stairs. Lots and lots and lots.

Stone Mountain waterfall

Stone Mountain waterfall

There wasn’t too much more. After the waterfall there was only less than half a mile to go. We went back to the car and headed back to Statesville where we stopped for dinner at Crackerbarrel. It was a really good time as a family. Very precious.

We went to a friends house for dessert. We played Risk and had ice cream sundaes and brownies. Then we came home and since we were all very tired went to bed soon after.

I stayed up and looked at my baby book one last time and then I went to bed. I had a great day! Thanks to all who made it special! I look forward to see what God will do in me this next year!

-Priscilla Joy