The Hynes Family

Recent Happenings.... A Blog Post Finally!

Tim — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:53:00 GMT

(Click to follow links to photos)

I built and delivered a whole set of furniture for a friend's rental cabin out in Luray, VA
Maryanne got some fertilized Canada Goose eggs and incubated them their full time and they actually hatched! We're thinking about training them up as guard geese for our chickens.
Some "portrait" photos I took of my chickens recently.

-Tim

Volunteering at the 2012 HEAV convention

Emily — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:20:00 GMT

I had the privilege of volunteering in the Hospitality Suite this year at the 2012 Home Educators Association of Virginia convention. The Hospitality Suite was just a room in the Marriot Hotel in Richmond were they served food to HEAV speakers and vendors. It was pretty simple; just a buffet line, where mostly people serve themselves, but we serve things like sloppy joes, hot-dogs and burritos. I helped with preparing food on Thursday, but Friday and Saturday I was mostly just manning the buffet...(read more)

Review of April-June 2012

Emily — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:37:00 GMT

Here are a few things that have been keeping us busy the last few months: The garden--Our garden is doing well. We put in a slightly smaller garden this year. I think dad was hoping that we would be moved out of this house before the summer, but since we weren't, Becky planted some late seeds, and we still have small green tomatoes instead of ripe ones right now. We have lots of cucumbers and a few summer squash coming in, though. And yesterday I just harvested our first two okra pods of the...(read more)

House Progess / Dad's Surgery

Tim — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:51:00 GMT

Dad had his surgery on Monday and came back home the same day. Yesterday he was feeling so good that he decided to go out and check on the bees. God is blessing the healing progress.

Tim has been working on bathroom #4 and the tiling is almost done. The shower wall and floor are done, Becky and Tim grouted the floor today. Em has been working on the Living Room. The walls are painted and the trim is 75% done

A Hynes Family Update!

Tim — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:09:00 GMT

A lot has happened in our family over the months since I last wrote. Here is a quick summary:

Dad is retiring from his government job in about a month.
We have been fixing up the house to sell, large items being:
- Replacing a huge deck (finished last summer)
- Sodding the front yard (finished last fall)
- Renovating 5 bathrooms (we have the master bath left)
- Repainting all of the rooms in the house (this is about half done)
The Body has blessed us by families coming out and helping us with these projects. Halbach Family: Its too bad we didn't get any pictures with you. You were an electrifying help to the project!
We're planning to move out to the country where we can own more land and work toward a self sufficient lifestyle.
We have looked at some farm real estate in the area with Grandaddy(Mom's Dad is a real estate agent)
Dad is having foot surgery next Monday (the 23rd). Please pray that it will go well, and be safe and successful.

Cattle Breed Research

Dad — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:40:00 GMT

I’ve been doing some research on cattle breeds for free range beef. Attached are the results, so far. Right now, the Devon breed is #1 in the ranking and Belted Galloway is a close runner up. I still need to evaluate some other breeds, including Brangus. Ideas and considerations would be welcome. -Allen Hynes

Hynes Family Newsletter 2011

Tim — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:43:00 GMT

To all our friends and family, greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We always look forward to hearing about what the Lord has been doing in your life during the year. This letter is a brief summary about what He's been doing in our family.

Our family motto for this year was “Lay treasures in heaven in twenty-eleven”. As we've pursued living out this motto, God has motivated us to invest in relationships. There have been many opportunities to invest deeply in people we know, and also to go out of our comfort zone in starting few relationships. We’ve made mistakes along the way, but the Lord is showing himself faithful toward completing the good work he’s begun in us. In February, Allen and Jennifer traveled to Wake Forest, NC for a couples only conference hosted by Scott Brown. They arrived in the general vicinity after dark, but could not find the exact location. After driving up and down the stretch of road several times looking for the address, they noticed there was another car that seemed to be doing the same thing. The next time they passed the other car in criss crossing the target area, Allen rolled down his window and the other driver did too. Allen and the man asked each if the other was looking for the NCFIC conference, and the answers were yes. The other couple found the place and led us there, and we spent the conference sitting at the same table and getting to know each other, and several other Godly couples. The conference gave important guidance and testimony on building for marriage and strengthening existing ones. Allen and Jennifer were deeply blessed. Then in October, Allen and Jennifer re-met and introduced our whole family to this family and several other couples from the February conference who brought their whole families to a follow-on marriage conference just outside of Raleigh, NC. It was the NCFIC conference called “Gospel-Centered Marriages for a Glorious Church.” This conference explained many fascinating facets of marriage, with topics including: Getting Married Early, Friendship in Marriage, Preparing for Marriage, and The Role of Romance and Emotions. You can get the recording of this conference at www.ncfic.org. This conference sent us home with many ideas to talk and think about. During the conference we made opportunities to meet several new families and deepen relationships with families we already knew.

For our family, it was a conference kind of year. Another conference we attended was the second annual Family Economics Conference. This conference emphasized entrepreneurship and fathers working in home-based businesses instead of external corporate jobs. The conference thoroughly covered these subjects and elaborated on them in subtopics including nuts-and-bolts instructions, Biblical principles, and life stories told by people who've really been living out family economics. Kevin Swanson started off the conference with a passionate talk on where we are as a nation, encouraging us to build fruitful families on the ashes. Until recent times, nations were composed of a family economic base. When dads left the home for employment, a chain of events began that resulted in some of our present societal problems. As dads choose to return home and to lead their families economically and spiritually, they'll be present to disciple their families. We were blessed to fellowship with other families who were serious about serving the Lord. Another overarching principle presented in this conference was that there is no secret recipe for success. We must go back to God and to His Word as we make our plans and start our businesses. The only way our nation is ever going to be changed for the better is through repentance and humility “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land”. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The Family Economics Conference helped us solidify some plans and strategies to the point where we're actively planning and working toward Allen's retirement and transition into a home-based family farm business. As a result, we have been gearing up for some new and exciting changes in our family. One of the implications has been major chores in getting the house ready to sell so we can move to a farm. The larger projects being: Replacing a 5000 square foot deck, laying sod in the front yard, and renovating 5 bathrooms. The whole family has been busy fixing up the house in preparation to sell it. Tim has been learning some new skills while remodeling our bathrooms. He is laying ceramic floors, installing tile and shower walls, and doing the required plumbing. Tim just completed the first shower. Others have done tear-out, dry wall preparation and painting.

Children’s Overview:

Jon is still working for DRG and is using his free time to program small applications – the one he is working on right now is a smart ergonomic keyboard for the Android Tablet PC.
Emily grew and canned more than 100 quarts of tomatoes and some other fruits and vegetables. She was Dad's main garden helper, and they learned and extended their gardening experience together. She's also getting lots of experience on painting accent walls and ceilings.
Tim worked on developing a woodworking business, but has recently has been focusing his energy on home renovation. We see his woodworking business as a potential contributor to a family economic model and a small farm. A few of this year's notable projects for Tim are an adjustable height computer desk (raised and lowered by two sets of scissor bars riding in rails, with garage door springs that offset the weight), custom built-in cabinets, and wood burnt driveway signs.
Becky finished her high school academics, is focusing on piano performance and Pedagogy, and is continuing her viola lessons. She's also pursuing further education in music and accounting. Accounting will be particularly helpful in our family business.
Maryanne & Suzi are working with mom on their school work, and are excited about farm life and caring for animals.

Another exciting activity has been investigating all sorts of plants and animals for a future farm. Beef cattle have had particular interest. In the past several months we have been reading some of Joel Salatin’s books as a family to glean from his alternative farming techniques. One thing we learned about was a better way to care for our chickens. Instead of cooping them up all of the time, we're giving them a fresh airy place to roam and enjoy the healthy sunlight. But if we let them free-range they would be a perfect dinner for a fox, raccoon, or hawk, so we needed something to protect them. We've been trying out a portable electric fence which protects them from most varmints, and can be easily moved for fresh forage daily. We may also get a few guard geese to protect from hawks.

We wanted to move some of our horticultural investments of the last 10 years instead of losing them when we sell the house. We've built up over 240 row feet of hybrid thornless blackberries, 10 large blueberry plants, some fig trees, 5,000 square feet of Zoysia grass, fruit trees, nut trees, and other significant items. A family from church generously volunteered for us to put some of our plants on their farm temporarily while we get ready and sell our house, so we've moved some of our of plants there.

We are intrigued by the idea of running a small family farm for more reasons than one and believe it can certainly be a workable economic model. We see it as a venue through which we can invest in what is really most important in life – relationships.

Our family is learning to accept whatever situations and difficulties the Lord brings our way, and to be thankful, and joyful in them. Please pray for our family to grow in unity and anticipate what God has in store for us next!

In Christ,

Allen and Jennifer
Jonathan, Emily, Timothy, Rebecca, Maryanne, Suzanna

Sodding the Front Yard

Becky — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:21:00 GMT

One of our recent projects related to preparing the house for sale was laying sod in the front yard. At 7:30 one cool Friday morning the sod delivery man unloaded seven moist one-ton pallets of what looked like mammoth red-and-green burritos into our driveway. We had already tilled up our front yard, but it needed some more prep before we could actually lay the sod. We picked out rocks and weeds and raked it smooth, and finally...we were ready to get started.

There are many steps involved in laying a piece of sod. First, you have to figure out the pattern of how the sod farmer loaded the rolls of sod in their different directions, so you can remove the right ones first. Otherwise you end up trying to pick up one that has its end under another one, and you either tear the sod or are unable to remove it from the pile. Another note on this one: the rolls are heavy so a lot of us ended up having to hold them up against us to move them to the cart (first coat of mud to arms and shirt).

Second, you have to transport the slimy roll of sod to the right place. At first we used a hand-truck and a wheelbarrow for transportation, but after a little while we got smart and used the tractor and cart.

Third, you unload the mushy roll, put it where it goes, and roll it out, crawling after it (coat of mud to skirt or pants). This is the fun part. Then you have to interface it to the adjoining pieces of sod so that it is as snug as possible but with no overlap.

Lastly, you drag a roller over the sod. Mare was our expert roller horse, walking back and forth behind the roller (if that isn't putting the cart before the cart). As I watched her, I could just tell she was having fun, and doing a good job.

And then you repeat. And do it again. And again. We were starting to make some progress, and get together a sort of relay line of loaders and unrollers. The sun was coming out. I looked at the row of pallets on the driveway...we had used a third of one pallet. This was going to be a big job.

At about 10:30 Grandaddy drove up to the busy scene. We brought him a chair to sit in, but he wanted to help us instead. Thank you for your help and bits of humor, Grandaddy; it was fun to work with you.

******

At about 7:30 we were almost done. Everyone's front was covered with red Virginia clay – not just splashed or smeared, but covered; you were doing well if there was still some fabric showing. Dad and I drove out to the nearby Giant to get some dinner while the rest of the family finished up the last of the sod, and it really was funny to see the looks we got from some of the other customers.

And we were done with the sod. Except that it all had to be water several times a day for the next two months.

Oh, and by the way, enjoy the painting pictures as well. That was another exciting October project.

NCFIC Gospel Centered Marriages Conference

Jon — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:19:00 GMT

The Hynes family just got back from spending a wonderful week near Asheville, NC at Scott Brown's annual conference. The topic of this year's conference was "Gospel Centered Marriages," and so we had the opportunity to sit under the teaching of some great men of God as they shared principles of marraige from Scripture. Some of our favorite speakers were there: Paul Washer, Dan Horn, Kevin Swanson, Doug Phillips, and of course Scott Brown. The conference provided the occasion for us as a family to discuss some of the important matters regarding courship and marriage.

We also had the opportunity to meet other likeminded families from around the country, and get to know them a little. We figured we would step out of our family's comfort zone a little and do something new. So... we decided to compete with the cafeteria! What's more cramped than nine people hiding out in one litle dorm room? How about 15? And somehow we were able to fit everything we needed to run a food operation into our little minivan - including an electic grill, microwave, toaster, hot shot. We only wished we had the kitchen sink - the shower had to suffice! Needless to say, we had to ignore the junky appearance as we invited families to share a meal or two with us at the room.

We were able to travel with a good family friend - Sandy Gregory, and were blessed by the company of the Butler family. The fellowship we had along the drive was as enjoyable and uplifting as the conference itself. As our family returned from the most exhiliarating and productive vacation we have had in a long time, I realized how much I have to be thankful for. I tend to see the spots and wrinkles more often - but God has indeed blessed me with a wonderful family. God has given us Godly friends who truly care, in spite of all their faults. And although there is still much growth to be desired in our church, as I look back at what God has done and is doing in our midst, it is nothing but awesome!

Let us be thankful to God, and let us pray to Him that He will continue to work his work in and through our lives and the lives of those He has put us with.

Gardens, Preserving, Weddings and Paint

Emily — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:20:00 GMT

Lately we've been busy with a bunch of different things. Dad planted over 200 tomato plants this spring, so I've been doing quite a bit of canning and freezing this summer. This is my first year with canning, and, thanks to instruction from a good friend, I've suceeded fairly well. I'd like to try making applesauce this fall as well. We're trying to grow a fall crop of greens this year, which we don't usually do. We'd like to be able to have lettuce, kale, spinach and chard in the fall. The recent rain has been a problem though, as it washed away a lot of the seeds we had just planted.

Joshua are Lisa are married! Yay! I am so thankful to the Lord for this godly couple and their families. It was a blessing to witness their wedding vows. I was privileged to be able to help with the wedding preparations; i.e., putting up tulle, ribbons and flowers, helping pick the flower girls' petals (I felt like a deer ), ironing, learning how to make punch and serve wedding cake, etc. It was good practice for when I'm going to help out with Joel and Sarah's wedding in November. It was also a blessing to have the Staddon family stay at our house during the weekend of the wedding. We were able to spend some quality time getting to know one another better, and look forward to having them over again.

A few weeks ago Mare and Suzi convinced me to paint my room. They moved most of my furniture from my room to theirs. Then I had to decide on a paint color. I had already consulted with Becky on colors, so we soon decided to go with Sage Tint. Due to dry walls, inexperience, garden picking, work on the deck, and a bunch of other things, it took us about 3 weeks to get my room finished. I put the finishing touches on the trim paint last week. Becky and I decided to go with a beach theme for our room, and I like how it turned out. Thanks for all the help, guys! Tim helped me pick out the paint, and paint the first coat on my walls. Mare and Suzi helped with cutting in, and I had lots of good tips on painting from Mom and Dad. Did you ever think of using a shower cap to cover your hair while painting the ceiling? That brilliant idea was Mom's.

GODISNOWHERE

Jon — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:30:00 GMT

Your worldview affects how you see everything! Our culture today has become so secular it’s practically impossible to escape entirely the erroneous foundations it’s based on. But America’s beliefs today are are not new, nor has America always held these beliefs. Our nation, which started largely with God-oriented assumptions about life, has now returned to man-oriented assumptions based in ancient philosophy.

We must be careful to renew our minds in God’s word, because our viewpoint can affect how we see everything, even the title of a blog post. Did you read “God is nowhere,” or “God is now here”? Just as these simple letters can carry totally opposite interpretations, so a simple manifestation (like a human baby) can carry completely opposite interpretations. One will see a baby as a precious spirit made in God’s image, while another will see it as a random arrangement of chemicals of no more significance then a baboon or a grain of sand (as one former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court stated).

2500 years ago in ancient Sparta, we see a stark parallel to what’s happening today. If you remember your history, Sparta was known for its statist attitudes and strict discipline. Good was defined as what was in the best interest of the state, and this meant the individual was of no significance. Boys were taken from their parents at the age of seven to undergo the most severe training for military life. Women were very masculine - everybody was expected to be toughened for war. And perhaps most gruesome, infants who were small or weak were discarded over the edge of a cliff, not deemed worthy of life.

At the same time in ancient Athens, we see another stark parallel. Here the individual was everything, and learning, arts, sports, and other expressions of uniqueness were upheld as the greatest good. Children were spoiled from infancy, pleasure and ease were what they lived for. Yet, we see the same vices in this city. The birth rate was close to 1, children seen as an inconvenience (which eventually became the downfall of this city). And infanticide was promoted as a safeguard against overpopulation and depletion of natural resources (sound familiar?)

What did these two opposite societies have in common? The basic assumption that man is the measure of all things. They saw “God is nowhere”, not “God is now here.” So what can we do in an American culture which is borrowing bigtime from both of these ancient cities? We must address the foundations first. Let us fight their worldview with that of scripture – that God is the measure of all things, and man’s only fulfillment is in knowing Him!

Visiting the Girottis

Becky — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:51:00 GMT

On hearing that our family was going to be in their area touring Polyface Farm, the Girotti family graciously offered to let us stay at their home for a couple of nights. We very much enjoyed the time we spent with them. Over yummy meals we talked, laughed, and got to know each other better. On the last day we hiked up to Humpback Rocks (near the Blue Ridge Parkway). When we got to the top we sang some hymns, or as many of them as we could remember, and took pictures. Thanks for letting us come over...(read more)

A Polyface Day

Jon — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:00:00 GMT

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. "

How far we in America have strayed from obeying this initial purpose and command! We are supposed to be working the land, and guarding/protecting/enhancing it. This conveys the concept of hard labor, and the concept of valuing and nurturing the land as good stewards. But instead, we have mechanized agriculture, taking much of the hard work out of it. Not that there's anything wrong with machinery, but we have abused our power, and destroyed much land rather than tending and keeping it.

The land is not something to exploit, but it is something that we should put great efforts into maintaining and bettering. We should not be extracting every last penny we can out of agricultural land, but rather be looking for ways to make the land naturally more productive. The industrial revolution has left us with much land which has drastically reduced productivity, and accepted methods of farming which are fundamentally flawed.

But all is not lost. We recently had the opportunity to visit Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm, and see what he is doing to "keep" his land. He explained that as he has attempted to mimic natural patterns for growing cows, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs, they have achieved many times the average productivity per acre. It's exciting to see small-time farmers popping up again here and there, realizing what the big farm has done to America.

According to Joel Salatin, it's all in the grass. He started with rocky, infertile farmland, and now this is what it looks like:

Some key phrases that Joel Salatin used were Moving, Mobbing, and Mowing, with regards to pastured cattle. You control what the cows eat in an intensive grazing pattern, making sure the grass has enough time to grow optimally, and giving the cows the optimal nutrition as they eat the best part of the grass. Intensive grazing ensures the cows eat "liver" plants as well as "ice cream" plants, giving them the best nutrition, preventing the common clumpy appearance of extensively grazed pasture, and preventing the "survival of the least tasty." Similar rules hold true for his other animals as well:

Another key term is Disturbance of the land, which promotes variety and growth. Pigs rooting around create a lot of ground disturbance, enhancing the forest, keeping down the brambles, and providing a tasty porky side-benefit as well.

We took a lot of notes, and are already starting to apply what we learned on our own farm!

Passing on the Baton (FEW 2011)

Jon — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:29:00 GMT

We have heard it said that Christians are always just one generation away from apostacy, and in these troubled days we are seeing how true this saying really is. Statistics show that the majority of professing Christians live just like the rest of the world. I have witnessed many I know personally apostacize and fall away from the faith. And many, many more claim faith, but do not live faithfully. Why is this happening? What have we as Christians done wrong?

I think Christian parents in America have forgotton how to pass on the baton - forgotten how to pass their faith in a real, powerful, and lasting way onto their children. It only takes one neglegent generation to snuff out the longevity of the work Christ is doing in a family - to push the spiritual "reset" button, allowing the next generation little foundation to build upon. We are told so many times in Scripture how important it is to pass on the "baton":

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut 6:7)

This is what matters - to pass on faith, to teach God's commands, to raise a Godly generation. And yet what is it that we think is so important for our children? Health, happiness, safety? Education, opportunity, good employment? These things are not wrong, but why are these the things we pray so often for, rather than what Jesus himself modeled? I was encouraged this Sunday by the following verse:

"But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." (Luk 22:32)

Shoudn't this be our prayer too? Aren't the things we pray for truly the things we desire? Let us pray for one another, and especially for our children and younger siblings, that their faith fail not. And let us take every opportunity God gives us to strengthen our children and our brethren!

We were greatly blessed last week by the Virginia Family Encouragement Weekend, and by the many families who gathered together to do just what this verse says: To pray for one another that their faith fail not, and to strengthen their brethren. The theme of the conference was "Passing on the Baton," and we learned about accomplishing this from various angles, from courtship and marriage to family economics and entrepreneurship. Here are some of the highlights of the weekend:

The Holy Spirit Glorifying Christ

Jon — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:22:00 GMT

Yesterday I listened to an excellent sermon by C.H. Spurgeon titled "The Holy Spirit Glorifying Christ" and thought it tempered well my previous posting about "Doing and Daring!" We need to get out and do things, but we should never think our own efforts sufficient, or our accomplishments our own. Without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing. Spurgeon eloquently relates this:

"...Let us, therefore, pray without ceasing. Oh, without prayer, what are the Church’s agencies but the stretching out of a dead man’s arm, or the lifting up of the lid of a blind man’s eye?... Cry then mightily unto God, O you who seek to glorify Christ, for without the Holy Spirit you utterly fail."

"We are by the seaside. There are a number of ships left high and dry by the ebb of the tide. A long tract of mud stretches out before us. What is to be done? Call the king’s horses, bring the king’s men, gather together the wise and the mighty. What can they all do? Nothing—their learning can only avail to prove most clearly that they can do nothing. But see, the tide rolls in, wave after wave rises from the deep, and lo, every ship floats and all the mud and sand is covered with the fullness of the sea. So is it with the Churches. We all lie high and dry upon the beach and there is nothing but the rock and mud of our own inability that is visible—and we can do nothing, absolutely nothing, till the holy tide comes.

The blessed spirit of revival, the Holy Spirit, is poured out, and now the heaviest Church is floating out to sea and that which was most inactive begins to move! Oh, what can we not do if we have the Holy Spirit? What can we do if we have Him not? See our utter and entire dependence upon Him. When we, as a Church, first came out into broader light
and more public notice, I bear my witness, we had an entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit. What prayers have I heard, what striving and what groaning! We are reaping now the ripe fruits of the early sowing.

All the sailors on the ocean cannot make a capful of wind. When the sail flaps to and fro they cannot make it swell out as in the gale—but what can they do when the wind does blow? They can crowd on every yard of canvas. So all the Christians in the world cannot make the Holy Spirit work. “The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell from where it comes nor where it goes.” But what we can do is this, when we have the Holy Spirit—we can use Him. When He is with us we can work. We must make hay while the sun shines. We must grind while the wind blows, we must be active and diligent for God when the visitation of the Holy Spirit is with us. The revival has, to a great extent, ceased in many places. I fear it is because they did not diligently use its influence."

But then again...

"Brethren, while we make this our aim, let us take every opportunity of glorifying Christ. We throw thousands of opportunities away. Where we might do good, we neglect it. I chide my own self here very bitterly, and very often, but I fear I might chide many of you, too. You had an opportunity yesterday but you lost it. You might have spoken for Christ but you did not. No one can tell the good you might have done, but you did not do it. You were backward. Oh, as the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ everywhere, so do you! I pray you do this always, not merely at particular times, but make your whole life a glorifying of Christ."

I was convicted too, and I trust this post will get you thinking (and doing) about ways to glorify Christ!

Be Doing and Daring!

Jon — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:29:00 GMT

Wow! It's been a long time since I've written here. But what good is a "web log" if you don't write in it, so I figure maybe I should pick it up again.

I love stimulating spiritual discussions, and always try to come to church with a question to ask or something more than small talk to talk about. Yesterday I asked, "How do you know the Lord's will?" especially with regard to making decisions. This stimulated a long discussion, of course, but the conclusion at least I came to is that you go to the Scriptures, to your authorities, to Godly people for counsel, and in prayer ask God to give you wisdom and guide your steps. You make it a habit of saturating your mind with scripture so you are thinking in a spiritual mindset, not a worldly one. Then, you step out in faith with what knowledge and wisdom God has given you, trusting that He will direct your steps, and turn you a different direction if you made the wrong decision. It's not so bad to do the "wrong good thing" (is this possible?), than to do nothing at all. Even if God has different plans, we will learn a lot as we watch Him direct our steps. (If we're not walking, how can He direct our steps?) In the end, you may not have a "feeling" of peace, but you just have to get out and do what you believe to be best. True peace is a faith and trust in God's sovereignty that transcends our feelings and "passes understanding." Dare to be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only, even if it doesn't all make sense right now or feel comfortable. Be doing and daring!

Although this secular poem may have a bit of hyperbole, it also has an analogous truth to be gleaned:

I would rather stumble a thousand times
Attempting to reach a goal,
Than to sit in a crowd
In my weather-proof shroud,
A shriveling and self-satisfied soul.

I would rather be doing and daring
All of my error-filled days,
Than watching and waiting
And dying,
Smug in my perfect ways.

I would rather wonder and blunder,
Stumbling blindly ahead,
Than for safety’s sake
Lest I make a mistake
Be sure, be safe, be dead.

-Anonymous

Skylight Screens

Emily — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:44:00 GMT

For a long time our family has had problems with our sunroom. Although it's a very nice room at certain times of the year, in the summer it's too hot and sunny, and in the winter it's too cool. Last year we bought some Coolaroo, a long-life knitted fabric that provides shade temperature reduction, and 90% UV blocking and privacy screening. But we couldn't figure out how to attatch the Coolaroo to the skylights; we tried using stick-on velcro on the skylight exterior, and that didn't work because all the sun up there melted the adhesive.

This year, though, I was determined to make it work. I searched high and low all over the house for the pieces of Coolaroo fabric that we'd used last summer, but could find neither hide nor hair of them. Somehow we had stored the pieces somewhere and then forgot where they were. Funny how that works. ; ) I finally ended up just cutting new pieces. Then I measured the skylight perimeter, and started making a wooden frame to tack the Coolaroo to. This would have been fairly easy, except that I forgot that what I had measured was the outside perimeter, and I needed to make the pieces bigger in order to fit over it. Oh well, time to try again! Fortunately, I didn't have to recut the short pieces of the rectangles, just the long ones. When I finally got one frame finished, I brought it onto the sunroom roof to try it out. Oops! just a bit too small. I hadn't left enough wiggle room. Back down to the workroom I went to make eight more long pieces for the frames. I guess you live and learn. When I finally got the frames to fit properly, I hammered brads into the corners, and one in the middle of each long piece. Then I stretched the Coolaroo on the frames, ran them back up to the sunroom roof, and...Voilà! They fit. Yay! The skylight screen project was finally a sucess!

So what did I learn through doing this project? Well, I learned that you have to think things through. You can't just go ahead and do them without forethought. If I had just made a plan on paper, or if I had made one frame and fitted it before doing the others, I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble. I also could have asked Tim to help me think it through. And I might have gotten the project done before the beating rays of the sun came out over the sunroom. (That's one of the hard things about working up there...you get really hot from all the sun) Next time I do a project I will try to remember--not just to, "measure twice, cut once", but to stand back, take forethought, and make a plan before I begin.

"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established." Proverbs 15:22

"Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly." Proverbs 13:16

"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want." Proverbs 21:5

Basketmaking

Emily — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:20:00 GMT

Lately I've had an itch for basketmaking. I don't know why, but I have. So, I started looking around for some natural resources that I could use to weave baskets. Some of the natural resources available to us in our neighborhood are: ~ honeysuckle vines ~ grape vines ~ corn husks ~ blackberry shoots ~ cattail stalks and leaves ~ grasses ~ iris and daffodil leaves, and ~ splints from maple, dogwood or other hardwoods. I decided the most readily available thing would be cattails, so I Suzi and I gathered some on Monday as we were walking the neighborhood. We soaked the brown leaves for 20 minutes, and then started making baskets. I wanted to try a square basket, so I made that, and Suzi started on a semi-circular one, but then opted for square as being easier. Maryanne made a cute little semi-circular basket, and then later I wove another basket made of wire and spun wool. It was a fun little project, and now we all know a little more about the difficulties and joys of basketmaking!

The Wonders of God's Creation

Emily — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:42:00 GMT

We started some plants from seeds, and they're starting to sprout. It's so fascinating to watch the growth and wonder of God's creation.

"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;" Psalm 104:14

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." Ecclesiasties 3:1-2

Family Economics Conference

Emily — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:27:00 GMT

This weekend our family attended Kevin Swanson's family economics conference in Raleigh, NC. We heard messages from Doug Phillips, Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr., Scott Brown, Kevin Swanson, Bill Roach, Mike Cheney, Erik Weir, and many others. We were able to fellowship with a few families we already knew, and meet new ones. The conference included breakout sessions which were very helpful. Some of the breakout sessions were panels where 2-3 families would give their family economics testimonies, and then...(read more)

Hynes Family 2011 Motto

Tim — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:45:00 GMT

Put treasures in heaven in 2011.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21)

Immortal Quotation 2

Tim — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:44:00 GMT

“Don’t learn safety rules simply by accident.” -Anonymous

Immortal Quotation 1

Tim — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:09:00 GMT

Why quotations? Quotations can effectively communicate ideas quickly. Many famous orators and authors have used quotations to their advantage.

"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it." -George Bernard Shaw

Colonial Williamsburg

Tim — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:30:00 GMT

We toured Williamsburg with the Wilkes family. Here are some photos of the event. One interesting fact I learned was that books were extremely expensive in the 1700s - like $300/book(today's money). Why? Because it was so time consuming to make them and paper was so scarce in the colonies.

At the end of the day when we were waiting for the Fife And Drum Parade to come down main street, we decided to sing together. It was very interesting to see the reactions of the people around. There was actually quite a bit of interest, some people singing with us, or thanking us for our singing. What a blessing it was to see how the Lord encouraged others through us just singing a few songs.

A New Years Benediction

Tim — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:25:00 GMT

We listened to this sermon by C.H Spurgeon entitled A New Years Benediction. It was very encouraging and convicting to us all.