The Predators are Circling My Freezer

I really could not believe it. No sooner did I have 77 chickens in my freezer, then people began clamoring to get their share of them.

I started down this agrarian thing for a lot of reasons. One was because of the "agrarian" history in my blood (granddad). Another was because I want to eat real food, not the stuff that gets shipped to most American grocery stores. Another was because I don't think the American economy stands a chance to continue the way it has. For a number of reasons, both evidential (examining the structures we operate under) and theological (God tends to destroy idols that his people worship), I think it is a much sounder bet to depend on God, and the processes he created, for my food, than to bet on the American economy. Another reason has to do with having a framework within which I can train my children to work. I get sick of driving everyday to a job in the city -- I waste an hour of commuting time, and I scarcely get to do anything productive with my kids. I doubt that I will ever reach the point where that is totally turned around, but I would like to give the next generation a little headway against the problem of dad leaving home to work, and not working with his boys. Another reason has to do with St. Paul's admonition: Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to work with your own hands, to not be dependent on outsiders. It's not to say that much of the work I do is sinful, but when you examine the structures that undergird my work, they definitely are. Whether the socialistic government (I work for a company that derives the majority of its work from socialized government spending), or the unjust weights and measures of a fiat money system, most of my work (and most of everyone else's, too) would not exist. Some of this work might exist had we taken a Biblically permissible path -- but most of it, in its present state, is the result of breaking God's law at a number of steps along the way. So, I want for my sons to be able to work quietly, providing for their families, without depending on a system that is -- at many points -- in rebellion against God. All this to say, I want to give my sons a foundation in this.

So, I told my #2 son, who was my chief co-worker in the chicken enterprise, that I wanted 50 of the chickens for our own consumption, but that the remainder were his to jumpstart next year's production. We were thinking that those 27 birds could be used in providing samples (via meals) to potential customers. But we didn't give any of it away. We had people clamoring to buy birds, once they heard what we had done. I think everyone of his 27 birds has been sold, providing about enough cash to buy next years first batch of chicks, and feed. And these customers are already inquiring about next year. In the meantime, we hope to be assisting our friends who are real chicken raisers with many more of their processing runs next year. That way we won't be totally "mooching" off them when we use their equipment to process our chickens. And after processing about 400 birds the day we butchered our chickens, and another 100+ turkeys last Monday, I think I would happily assist them even if we weren't occasionally processing some of our own. There is nothing like the fellowship with the brethren (and sistern) when you get the assembly line (I mean dis-assembly line) going, and the singing going, all at the same time. (Oh, and my 7-year-old got quite a kick out of helping in the dis-assembly line. He was responsible for removing the gizzards from the guts; his co-workers did hearts and livers.)

I hope that we can share with, and help the saints; that my children can work with me and learn useful skills; that I can put healthy food into the freezer; and that the #2 son can do a substantial amount of profitable work next summer. God willing, it will happen.