Here is her original note:
Dearest Cheri,
Came across your website today and have read many of the posts. When I married three years ago, I felt the encouragement from God to start growing my own food, learning how to prepare foods from scratch and to be more self-sufficient. I have learned so much in these three years, and I recognize so many of the learning moments you and your family had, I was a city girl too!
I am reaching out to you today for prayer and encouragement. After three years of marriage, my husband has decided to follow the ways of the world and is divorcing me. As the house is in his name, I will soon be looking for a new place to live. I am not tied to this area so am free to move anywhere.
I feel strongly that I am to continue on my path of self-sufficiency and embrace even more the christian agrarian lifestyle, but am unsure of whether I can do it all by myself. I have no family here, and we have no children. Do you know any other single ladies that are living this lifestyle and succeeding? I know that God has me covered, but encouragement from fellow christian sisters would be wonderful right now! I thank you for the time you take to write up all you do, it's comforting to know you're out there!
Many blessings,
N.
I was able to send her to this wonderful blog but I am sure that there are others out there. So, if you are able to point her to other women...please leave a comment or drop me an email and I'll make sure to pass them along.
Posts
SHERI,
ReplyDeleteI LIVE IN MIDDLE TN. WE HAVE LIVED HERE A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. THERE IS A HEAVY POPULATION OF AMISH AROUND THE CENTERVILLE RUSSEL CREEK AREA. I PERSONALLY KNOW SOME SINGLE WOMEN WHO LIVE AGRARIAN HERE. ONE LADY I KNOW HAS BEEN ON HER OWN FOR EIGHT YEARS WITH THREE DAUGHTERS. SHE LIVES SIMPLE AND DOES NOT HAVE TO WORK OFF THE FARM. NOW THESE FOLKS GO ALL THE WAY THEY CAN LIVE ON 5000 A YEAR BECAUSE THEY REALLY LIVE SIMPLE. NO ELECTRIC NO WORLDLY ATTACHMENTS. THOUGH THERE HOUSE IS NICE NO DUMP. THEY DO HAVE A CAR OLDER GAS EFF. MODEL. FOR A WHILE THEY HEAD HORSE AND BUGGY WHICH YOU CAN DO IF YOU LIVE NEAR AMISH. THEY ARE SOME OF THE HAPPIEST MOST CONTENTED PEOPLE I HAVE EVER KNOWN. MUCH HAPPIER THEN THE RICH FOLKS I HAVE KNOWN. ANY WAY I WRITE ALL THIS TO ENCOURAGE THAT IF GOD LAYS IT ON YOUR HEART THERE IS A WAY. GOD BLESS, RACHAEL STOKES
Cheri,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sweet words and referral!
N, you can send me an email at tobequiet at gmail dot com, and then I can send you my e-mail address that I check more often. I do know that there are single women who are homesteaders at www.homesteadingtoday.com (although it is not a strictly Christian site)and at www.frugalsquirrels.com. Frugal's is a preparedness (or survivalist) site, but the board owner is a Christian, and several members there are Christians (although not everyone is, but it's not really that noticeable away from the General Discussion Forum). Many of them are homesteaders who are quite self-sufficient, and there's always great information, especially in the Homesteading and Emergency Preparedness Forums there. There's a forum at Frugal's just for the Lady Squirrels, and there are at least a handful of single women who are in various stages of living an agrarian life (although maybe not self-sufficient), and they always seem to have great information to share. You could actually post your e-mail to Cheri over there in the Lady Squirrels Forum, and I'm almost certain you'd get some encouragement and helpful information. You do have to register before you can read it, though, and that's the only bad thing about it.
And I agree with Rachel, if God lays it on your heart, you will find a way. :-)
Andi
Single homesteading was also the question of the month in the July/August 2004 issue of Countryside Magazine. Here's a link to the back issue: http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/88-4.html. If I recall correctly, everyone who wrote in was a single woman except for one man. :-) I also love the web site www.pathtofreedom.com, and especially their journal. They are homesteading in the city (Pasadena, I believe) on a tiny piece of land (just their yard), and it is incredible how much of their own food they grow. They also have chickens and goats. I like their site because it shows that you don't need a huge amount of acreage to be nearly self-sufficient.
ReplyDeleteOK, I've got to get to work now. LOL Y'all have a great day!