Beauty vs. Function

The chief reason I want another house is not beauty, it’s function. I’m very interested in growing some of my own food, keeping chickens, and having more energy independence. I don’t think we can be “off the grid” but we can have a wood stove, some solar and maybe even some wind energy. But I can not help but think of beauty. I want to make that house and garden beautiful. Yes I know it can all burn! But God is creative. He made the whole world both functional and beautiful! How can we balance the two? How much money do we spend on insulation, and solar? How much do we spend on wallpaper and plants? And when you know so many families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, you have to ask why should we have a villa? I’m listening to an audible book called “out living your life”. There is a pretty good chapter on hospitality. We use to have international students (most from Japan) live with us. We use to have a guest room. Before we got Thomas, Philip and Sarah we would have 30 guests per year. But life got too busy and space too limited. If we could only renovate the attic for the boys, I could have a real guest room again. And I know I’ll have to fight Juergen for the space. It seems so self indulgent to have a room set aside “only for guests”. But maybe that’s why God is giving us a villa? He wants us to have the room and freedom to demonstrate hospitality again. I remember I had to travel across the USA on a hot greyhound bus. I stopped in Montana and spent about 6 hours with Dick and Joy Schroder. They were campus pastors at the University of Montana. Joy ran a nice bath for me. She put candles around the tub, and even provided bubbles. Then she went to the store and bought me goodies for my trip. Fruit, candy and drinks. She feed me a warm meal and then sent me on my way changed by her kindness. I feel called to do the same thing. 100 sermons could not have made a deeper impression on me. In this cold world a cup of coffee and a hot meal can change us forever.

Comments

chicken coop idea

Why not start with an IBC and cut a hole for the door? You could build closed laying boxes into it, and something for the chickens to roost on. Put some straw or saw dust on the floor. You could add vents to the side for air. If it sat inside a chicken run that you can walk into, the chickens could be safe, dry and happy. I have an extra IBC. Maybe this could be my chicken house? I bet I could even plant the outside of it with mud and grass for extra insulation and good looks.

The Opel Agilia

I think I don't want to spend the money for the VW New Beetle. It's a very cute and safe car, but cost about 17,000Euros new. I can find it for 13,000Euros (this is the most basic model) but that's more then I would want to spend. I don't really drive that much. I'm pretty cheep at heart. I need real value for my money. I keep thinking we really should take advantage of the money Germany is offering to trade old cars in for 2500Euros towards a new car. If I buy a car that's around 10,000 Euros, then the Government is actually going to pay 25% of the cost of that car. That's really a very good deal. Since I know I will need a new car in the near future, I feel I should get a new 10,000 Euro car. The Opel Agilia is around 9,900 Euros. It's got 5 doors, and room for 5. It is pretty safe, and comes with a 6 year warranty. I would not call it my dream car, but I could easily afford it. I'm trying to be wise here. There are other cars in thi...

Reading Kingdom

I am very happy to review the Reading Kingdom. This is an online program that uses a variety of methods to teach reading. I decided to share this product with my adopted granddaughter Ruth. Reading kingdom uses a six skills integrative method Ruth only just began to use the program. She is only 3 years old and cannot use the program without help. But her mom says that she can already recognize words like girl and kids when they are shown on the screen. Sylvia wrote that she loves the repetition of the words in the program . That Ruth is memorizing the words she sees. She will be able to use it for an entire year. But I expect her to become a very good reader. And what a great gift to give to any child! She will have a lifetime love for books. Sylvia also works with teenage mothers in Uganda. And many of these women have never attended school. So she plans to use these ideas to h...

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