A year ago today, my best good buddy Choca died in my arms. Many of you were part of my community here at the time and remember it. It kicked off a year of loss: our dog, our unborn baby, my job. This is why I was convinced Sassy wouldn't make it to 2022. Choca was my hiking partner for many years, and because she never said anything, I came to enjoy silence rather than the adrenaline and distractions of my life off the mountains. I think my career in TV news eventually ended because of that - as the silence allowed me self-relfection, which brought self-awareness, and with it, awareness of the world around me. Choca's death was a violent one in the sense that natural death, I've heard, isn't always how movies depict it. This was the first time I'd ever been there for a last breath and for months after it, I woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and had other unexplained health problems. This may seem an odd reaction, but as a child I accompanied my doctor parents to hospitals and witnessed sickness and dying at a very young age. Avoiding death, while trying to understand it, became a driving motivation for me. Perhaps it is, in part, why I went to seminary and eventually became a reporter. I sought distraction from my own mortality while also seeking to control it through knowledge. A losing combination. In the book he wrote about his wife's death, CS Lewis said, "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid." That was my experience. And I had no choice but to sit through it. Then to confront it again and again throughout the rest of the year. But as I sat quietly, I realized something. I had believed that if I could unlock the secrets of death and finally come to peace with it- the ultimate question of existence that has eluded philosophers for centuries - I would finally come to know God. Instead, after last year, I now believe that I had gotten it backwards. Instead, it is coming to know God that brings one peace about death (and all other things for that matter). And thus begins a new journey, not of the head but of the heart. I'll end with another quote from a favorite Lewis book, the last lines of Til We Have Faces, “I ended my first book with the words 'no answer.' I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words. Long did I hate you, long did I fear you.” Blessings to all of you on your journey. Thank you for being a part of mine.
I love making sauerkraut with kids. They enjoy every part of it and get interested in fermented foods at a young age, which kickstarts taste buds geared for a healthy adulthood. It’s incredibly easy to do! Fermented foods are packed with probiotics, vitamins and minerals. They restore your gut health, which is the center of all health. Please drop your favorite fermented food recipe in the comments. Here’s how we make sauerkraut.
🥬 One large head of cabbage, remove outer leaves.
🥬 Rinse under cold water.
🥬 Cut out the core and slice into thin pieces.
🥬 Put in a bowl and pour 1-3 tablespoons of sea salt on it.
🥬 Mash the cabbage in the bowl, use your hands, a muddler or a wooden spoon. (This is the fun part for kids!)
🥬 Once cabbage pieces are almost half the size they were, and you have a good amount of liquid in the bowl, transfer to your fermentation container.
🥬 Add water to cover the cabbage and use weights to keep it below the water level.
🥬 Add dill or anything ...
Did you know that chickens love milk? Whenever our goats knock over a jar while we are milking them, we give the remainder to the chickens as a treat. They go crazy for it. It has a lot of protein, which gives them a boost for winter nutrition, and calcium, which is great for strengthening egg shells. Raw milk is also given to chickens at times to aid with gut disorders because of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Plus, our chickens just love it! Anyone else do this?
