Home Again

Home Again,

When we moved to Winchester almost 4 years ago I am not sure we ever felt at home.  We came here for several reasons and have had our share of ups and downs along the way.  It has always felt as though we were here for the time being, but not necessarily for the duration.  I believe this made it easy to move away to go down to the farm.  We left behind most of our possessions and packed up the essentials and lived in a small cottage.  It was a tremendous learning experience-we learned more then we could have ever imagined, for God is a great and merciful teacher.

Now we are back home and it feels more like home to us.  I write this as we race to prepare our home for sale.  It may sound ironic-but it makes perfect sense.  After our experiences in Amelia we feel we are now ready to progress forward in our calling to have some land and animals of our own.  Our experiences have given us a new perspective on farm life, the providence of God, the richness of whole “real” food, and the beauty of purposeful work.  We met some wonderful people, and left behind some new friends, who we pray for daily and hope to see again Lord willing.

We left Winchester on a whim and a prayer.  We had no idea how long it would be for and what God’s plan was for our experiences.  Reflecting back on our time I am amazed at how much we experienced and how we were able to witness the providence of God at work in everything we did.  He is truly merciful indeed.

We are now back among our friends and family.  Funny, before we left we had many acquaintances here in Winchester, and a few friends.  Returning home we feel more connected to the friends we have and have found our family (brothers and sisters in Christ) have grown as well.  We are truly blessed.

God humbled us through this journey.  When Alison went down with Cancer it changed our lives forever.  It stopped us in our tracks and placed us securely in the arms of God himself.  It was a rough couple of months for Alison and our family-but through God’s grace we pulled together and in many ways it has strengthen us.  Our family motto has always been “stick together” and we have a whole new perspective on this today. 

We left hoping to synergize as a family and grow in grace.  We come home having been strengthened by the experience and more humble as we understand God’s calling for our lives and how truly thankful we are to be His.  We also know that to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48) and we are readying ourselves to be used in whatever way God chooses.

So now we are about the work God calls us to do.  We are baking our bread for those around us with all organic ingredients.  TJ and I have our first customer to build a chicken coop for and we are looking to build some for our own chickens (both laying hens and meat chickens).  We have reconnected with our farm family here in Winchester and have been introduced to a local family who raise grass fed beef and poultry.  We are readying our house for the sale so we can find that special piece of land God has set aside for us to continue our journey into the farm life.  We come back energized and ready to serve as called.

Of course-these are our plans.  We continue to study scripture and praying to God that he directs us down the path He wants us to take.  We will keep you posted . . .

Polyface Farm Field Day

To go to the website type in www.Polyfacefarms.com

Polyface: My favorite farm.

I

F you ever get the chance to go to Polyface farm, I can tell you, you are in for a day like no other than you’ve ever had. Simply because of Joel Salitan, the most dynamic farmer I have ever seen. From chickens, to cows, to pigs, to even the Intern and Apprentice programs, he is almost not a farmer, but a business man. Well, he is, just not one in a fancy 3- piece suit, just a farmer and a business man all in one: a Fissness man! Let’s talk about what he does on his farm. Let’s go!

Chickens- his eggmobile and his broilers are almost all the same. The broilers are moved by hand where as the eggmobile is moved by tractor. The broilers are very healthy and good to eat, and I’ve had some. His eggs also are a good size, and I imagine they are good to. He is a blessed man.

“And I will bless those who blesseth thee, and I will curse those who curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:3.

Turkeys- you want a healthy thanksgiving dinner, get a turkey from Polyface! These turkeys are grass fed, premium quality, and better than a 10 lb. turkey you get at the store!  You see, Polyface is committed to giving you the best quality meat you’ve ever had. Getting a turkey from the store may seem easy, but it just isn’t best meat for any family. A Polyface turkey was not raised in a huge warehouse with 850 other turkeys, but in a spacious pen with only about 30 other turkeys. They are the best. 

Beef- his cows are also properly raised. They graze, they don’t stand in 7 feet of manure all day, and they are the friendliest cows I’ve seen. When you do what Joel does, you get these results.

Pigs- his pigs are also the best, and, (except for the sows.) they LOVE people. His pork is the best you can get, and also worth paying for. And think of everything else you get, sausage, bacon, ham, pork is a voluble meat.  

Thank you for taking this tour. I can’t wait to write again.

Until next time,

 God bless you,

T. J.

To Whom Much Is Given.

I have not been studying the bible all of my life and there are many times I am sure I do not completely understand each and every verse.  It is very possible this is true with one of my favorite verses in Luke (v28:48).  I often work to preach to my family that everything we have comes from the Lord and he provides it to us for HIS glory.  It is not wrong to receive, but every time I am on the receiving end there is a part of me that shakes in my boots for it is now another blessing I need to give an account for. 

This sums up the feeling I had today when Frank Conlon drove up our driveway with our new brick oven.  Frank and his son Josh built the original brick oven (old world Pompeii style) which gave us our start in the bread and pizza business.  We used that oven heartily-baking in it every week, even in the worst of weather.  We completely enjoyed that oven for it allowed us to explore our craft and provided us with great food to share.  It was a true Blessing from God for he provided us the means (both financial and physical) to have it built.  

When time came to move down here we puzzled what to do about the oven which had become such a part of who we are as a family.  It was cemented to a cinder block foundation and moving it would be an amazing feat.  We knew we would have to make some sacrifices coming down and it looked as though the oven would be one.  Just when we were ready to give it up-in stepped God (using Frank as the means).  Frank had been working on a mobile pizza oven for his business and invited us over to see what he was creating.  It was the perfect answer to our prayers.  God even provided me with extra summer work to pay for the oven-He is perfect in every way.

It took Frank almost two months to build our new oven-and it is wonderful.  Frank made some modifications to his original design and this oven outperforms the other one thus far.  It has extra insulation which enabled us to bake pizza, bread, and even roast a chicken for dinner tomorrow night in our cast iron pot.  When darkness came upon us tonight the oven was still running around 350 degrees. 

When Frank pulled away today I had this rush of excitement filled with a rush of overwhelment (is that a word?) knowing now that we are back in business.  God did not provide us this oven for our individual enjoyment only.  He provided it for us so we can get back into the business of sharing His grace with others.  This directly related to our Proverbs study this morning which directed us through Proverbs 6.  Work is a blessing by God and we are to embrace it will all our heart.  Of course I am speaking of the work God gives us which serves Him daily. This is not to say that we don't enjoy the oven (we love it and God is truly gracious) but I hope we always remember from Whom it came and for Who's purpose it is to serve.

If anyone needs some bread or pizza-we are open for business!

God’s Providence

When we started this endeavor we believed the God was working in our lives and calling us to farm country as part of His sanctification process.  We have been striving to dedicate our lives to Him and His glory for years now, but still found us being pulled by the ways of the world day after day.  There is something about farming that can draw you closer to God for there are so many variables at play-it is impossible to be fully in charge and master of your own destiny.  We (Alison and Thom) wanted to find a way to show our children how God works in our lives by humbling ourselves and relying more on His provisions day after day.  Thus far this experience has taken us far beyond what we would have ever imagined and in doing so we have seen God working in our lives in ways were not able to see before.

We have seen God working in many ways.  Bringing us here and providing for our needs each day we see how gracious He is and how active He is in our lives.  There is no way we could do this without Him and His providing and directing our every need.  Putting ourselves out there and in positions completely foreign to us shows us how He provides and is with us every step of the way.

This came clear to Thom the other evening when we were milking the cows as a family by ourselves.  This was the moment we were waiting for-but hoping would not come for some time.  It was the occasion of Harrison’s Birthday (the Alexander’s now 10 year old son).  They took him out to celebrate as a family knowing we would be at the farm that evening to help out with the milking.  When they discovered the restaurant they wanted to take him to lunch did not open until 4pm (and milking starts at 4:30pm) they called and asked if we could get started without them.  This was around 1pm that day.  Wanting to help out we agreed we could do it ourselves.

When we arrived at the farm it was noticeably quiet.  There were no Alexanders running about working in their usual routine.  We prepped the milking room and went out in the field to release the girls (that is what we call the cows) and bring them in to milk.  When we arrived at the paddock (where they were grazing) they looked up at us with a hint of confusion (Thom took the lead and they have been getting used to him being around) and stayed where they were and did not move.  Thom (brave as he is becoming) walked closer to the cows and persuaded one cow to lead the charge to the milking barn.  It was an interesting site to see the cows respond one by one to the call and follow up the long path to the barn.  Alison and the kids ran ahead to open the barn door and ready for the cows arrival.

There is an old saying (from what we have heard) in show business that you should never work with kids or animals because they are unpredictable.   We have learned this well with the cows.  It is intimating enough for us to be so close (around and under) these large animals while they are locked in to their stall at milking time.  It is more intimidating when they come into the barn together and search for the perfect stall to settle in to be milked.  No two days are alike and you must always be on your toes.  At this time we send TJ and Margaret Rose out of the Barn so they do not get into the way. 

Once we locked the cows in (and counted to make sure all were there) we started the milking process as a family.  Thom and TJ were in charge of the milking room while Alison and Rose worked in the clean room (where they bottled the milk).  TJ was most helpful for he kept us on track-remembering the names of the cows (they still all look alike to us) and which order they needed to be milked.  He also did a great job remember which stage each cow was in (which were milked, which were prepped to be milked and which were finished milking and prepped to leave).  It was a blessing for Thom because he has so many other variables to watch out for it kept him straight.  Rose helped Alison in the clean room be keeping her straight as to which cow’s milk she was straining and how much each cow produced to record in the book.  It was a team effort.

In the midst of this process while Thom was stooping under a cow preparing her teats for milking it hit him all at once-the idea of the Fear of the Lord.  We have been studying proverbs lately as a family and this is a familiar theme.  Thom knew all too well that God was in charge of this milking process and the results would ultimately be up to Him.  Thom also realized that we were doing this for the Lord for it was He who put us there and it is He whom we serve.  It was up to us as a family to work together toward the common cause and completing the task.  That is what we were called to do.  Success or failure was ultimately up to God for either way he would use this to His glory.   It was a humbling experience.

There are probably a million cows milked by a million people everyday (of course we are guestimating-don’t quote us on this).  We have watched the Alexander boys milk these cows many times (and used to watch Ms. Kitty milk at Hedgebrook farm many more times).  For those who grew up around cows or those who are charged with this task twice a day everyday this is no big deal.  For a family who not too long ago only watched this process from a distance it is still a daunting task.  The cows do not always stand still and cooperate in this process and there are more variables then one can control.  Only God can truly manage this process and we can complete the task through him who strengthens us. 

In the end this was a successful experience.  Not because we milked every cow without issue (there were many issues that came up along the way-some glaring ones which showed us how selfish we can be).  It was successful for we came together as a family and worked toward the goal God set before us.  We are learning quickly to die to our individual needs (the kids did well hanging in when the Alexanders came home and Harrison wanted to show TJ the new basketball he got as a present-TJ waited until he was done with the cows to check it out) and work toward His needs.  We can only do this through God’s grace for left to our own we are dead in our trespasses and sins. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

This is why we are here-we are striving to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22).  We face our inadequacies daily which is a humbling experience.  We put ourselves in these situations not because we are Godly, but because God has convicted us of our sins and we are getting a glimpse of who we truly are.  We decided to let God be in charge.  It is through His grace that we learn daily to seek Him first in all we do-a lesson we have not yet perfected.

To God go the glory!

The Homecoming

The Homecoming

You all have seen the pictures of our new chicken coop and the time and effort we put into making it safe and livable (we thought Thom would never be finished making modifications to it as he continued to work to make it better day after day).  Once complete it has sat empty until last evening-when we finally brought our girls home.  We purchased the chickens from the Alexander family.  Their boys drove up to Pennsylvania to purchase some 300 laying hens for their chicken business.  It was a long ride, but the chickens survived and have been doing well at their farm.  They graciously allowed us to purchase 5 of them to bring home for our personal flock.  We waited until last evening to bring them home-after our weekend trip to the Creation Museum with our friends the Fields family. 

They are young chickens who have yet to lay an egg, but should be ready to start laying in a couple of weeks.  Bringing them home was a big step for us.  We have been wanting chickens for years now-but our home in Winchester was governed by covenants which did not allow chickens (ironic since we lived on farm land and were surrounded by farms full with cows, chickens, lambs, goats and an array of other animals).  This step is the culmination of years of planning, reading, praying, and wondering what it would be like to own livestock of some kind.  Here are the girls coming home:

TJ retrieving the chickens from the carrier

One of our girls in her nesting box-probably leaving something other then an egg behind.

Being novices we spent a good deal of the night looking out the window down upon our coop to see how they girls were getting along.  TJ did a great job getting the chickens transferred into the pen and making sure they had food and water.  We all walked around the pen to make sure all doors were locked and the place was as safe as it could be.  Living in the “woods” (or cottage is in a large expanse of trees) we know we have a great deal of predators who would love a fresh chicken dinner.  We have been working to make the coop as safe as we can, but realize it will be up to God as to how well our girls do in their new home.  We will keep you posted.

Speaking of predators, Thom has launched a new campaign to keep the deer out of our garden.  He has been on a mission ever since we came home one night last week and spotted a beautiful deer in the middle of the garden feasting on our green bean plants.  He drove quickly down our lane (our driveway is several hundred yards long and runs past the open field in which the garden rests) to scare the deer.  It was an impressive site to see this deer leap high in the air over the fence we constructed to protect our garden.  He cleared the fence by at least a foot.  Thom new at that point he was dealing with experts.  Since that time Thom has researched every type of deer repellant recipes he could find.  We have an array of hot sauce, hot seeds, Millie hair and feces (watch your step!), TJ hair (Thom cut TJ’s hair at the edge of the garden) and even some deer repellent “guaranteed” to work he bought online through Amazon.  We even grilled some deer steaks outside one night in our fire pit-hoping the deer would get the message.  Our garden is still growing at this point-but we once again saw a deer at the edge of the woods last night as we came home from the farm.  We will keep you posted.

Alison is now in training to learn how to milk the cows.  Thom is her teacher.  It is a matter of getting comfortable around the cows and learning the coordination needed to hook up the milking machine.  She is doing a great job-especially priming the cows for milking (Thom can attest to this for his shoes and leg often get sprayed with milk when Alison is priming the teats-her aim is perfect).  We have graduated to milking on our own (The Alexander boys are not too far away for advice) and will continue our milking this week while also making cheese and other dairy treats to share with the cow share owners Saturday at the next open farm day.

We appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers and we work to settle in here in Amelia. 

It Is Only Thursday?

What a busy week we are having.  We are quickly learning that farm life is nonstop and the chores are never ending.  Animals need constant care and gardens need constant tending (and in our case constant patrol for foraging Deer).  This is especially true working on a dairy farm.

One of the many new phrases we are learning is “make work.”  “Make work” means you do whatever you need to do to make it work.  There is no time to take to repair or build things in accordance with plans or detailed specifications.  You need to work quickly to make whatever you have work for your needs.  This is especially true when the nearest hardware store is miles away (30 plus minutes to be exact).  You learn quickly to use what you have or do without until there is time to get it together and make it work.

In light of this we decided to build our own chicken coop (rather then buy a pre-made kit or buy a pre-built coop).  As usual, Thom researched nightly to find the right coop to buy or kit to build and he never found one he liked.  They were either too expensive, not well built, or some combination thereof.  Also, when Thom asked Tim Alexander about where to buy a chicken tractor Tim looked at Thom with a confused look and explained that Harrison (The Alexander’s 9 year old son) built their personal chicken coop.  Thom was put in his place.  After lengthy discussion with Edgar (Alison’s dad) on a recent trip to Winchester Thom decided we would build one together as a family.  This is why we came down here-to work together as a family and learn how farmers live.

Here is our result: The Morra Chicken Coop  (https://picasaweb.google.com/atmorra/MorraChickenCoop?feat=directlink ) After a couple of trips to Lowes and a couple of mornings working together this is what we came up with.  It is a lot bigger then we first planned (and it does not move as easily as we had hoped-who knew you needed to put skids on the bottom), but we are satisfied with our efforts.  It was an amazing family experience.  We are so glad we trusted in God and allowed Him to work through us to build this coop.  Our chickens are at the Alexander’s farm and we will bring them home in about a week.  We continue to make modifications to it and hope it will keep our girls safe and secure.

We built this in the mornings over this past week since we have also started milking cows in the evening at the Alexander’s farm.  Alison and the kids have watched cows being milked at Hedgebrook farm by our house over the 3.5 years we have lived in Winchester and dreamed of the day they would be able to get into the action.  Well, they are still dreaming for it has been Thom who has been milking the cows.  He has been working with Oliver-the Alexander’s 17 year old son.  Thus far Thom has done everything from cleaning the utters and teats, priming the teats the old fashion way (with his hands) hooking up the milking machine and washing the teats after he is done.  He has done it all for the past week.  At dinner each night Thom asks at the table: "raise your hand if you ever milked a cow?”  He has been a brave soul for a city boy.  These are massive animals with their varying needs and quirks and Oliver has been a patient and respectable young man who has guided Thom through this process.  He is the kind of boy Thom hopes TJ aspires to become for he is a hard working, humble and respectable young man who diligently serves his parents and the Lord.

Alison has also gotten into the action for she works at the other end of the milking process-bottling the milk for distribution to the farms customers.  Next week Thom will cross train with Alison while Alison will work with the boys and learn how to milk as well.  In the end this will be helpful for the Alexander’s for it gives them extra people who can fill in when needed for the cows need to be milked everyday (twice a day in fact).  TJ and Margaret Rose have also gotten into the action for they help bottle feed the new calfs and are working to learn the names of the cows.  This is helpful for they each have their special milking needs and Thom is not able to name them all-yet.  From the end he works with they all look the same.

It has been a busy and productive week thus far.  We are keeping busy tending our garden (out here in the woods we have Deer eating up our seedling so we need to take more serious action) readying for our chickens and getting more acclimated to the area.  Being busy is a blessing and we are thankful for the work. 

Next week we hope to get to process another batch of chickens while continuing our milking efforts.  We are also hopeful that our new mobile brick oven will arrive soon (Frank the builder is working on the trailer which will help us pull the oven around with us wherever the Lord takes us).  We also head out for a trip at the end of the week to the Creation Museum (TJ needs to make good on his promise to Ken Ham-the museums founder) to meet up with our friends the Fields family whom we met at the Family Economics Conference.

We hope you all are well!

What I’m learning at the farm.

My Dad has shown me the blog, so I wanted to contribute by writing this post for him.

I want to introduce you to my friend, Harrison Alexander. He is a year older than me, so we are very, very close in age. (He is nine and three quarters, I am eight and three quarters.). He is the 5^th in line of 6 children. I will be helping him chase and catch chickens to process on Tuesday.  So now that I’ve said that, let’s get down to business.  

Now that we have moved down to Amelia, I’m learning more and more from Harrison. He has been teaching me a lot about what the Alexander’s do with the farm. Here are a few examples of things that I’ve been learning from him.

1. The first day we went to the farm; (We went to come and see it, and to see what the Alexander’s were doing.) I helped Harrison with a process called Chlorination. Chlorination is a process in which Harrison & I cleaned out the buckets & the milker’s for the milking that evening. (They milk around 5:30- 6:15 PM in the evening.)
2. He has taught me how they process chickens .(this is Elliot’s chicken business.  Elliot is the eldest son at 20 years of age.)  These following points will explain how it’s done:

•   Harrison Alexander and I were in charge of getting  the chickens
•   We hand them to Sullivan Alexander, and he slits their necks
•   Then, Oliver Alexander dips them in hot water
•   Then, dad helped pull its head off
•   Dad also helped cut the feet off.
•  Then, mom helped pull the guts out  
•  later Dad helped de-bone the chicken.     

Harrison has been my best friend at the farm. I really have gotten to like him, to be friends with him, and also, I have had the chance to learn a lot from him! (He’s a true farm boy.)

Also, I want to tell you that all I said that I learned, I learned from him! Maybe next time I can tell you what I learned from Elliot, or Oliver!

Until next time this is T.J., signing out.

God bless all of your reading!

Thomas P. Morra JR.

Or

T.J.

Our First Big Surprise!

It is not my intention to make a posting each day we are here-but today was a special day for us.  While the Alexander men were bush hogging around our property (several acres by the barn were overgrown and needed to be mowed) Oliver (The Alexanders 17 year old son) found this below.  The kids named him (yes we checked and it is a boy) Bambi.  They sat with it all day while we worked clearing the property and readying our new garden (we plant many seeds today in hopes of having much to share-if we can keep the Deer away).  The Alexanders took it home to feed him (pays to have a dairy farm) and take care of him until he can be released (with not too far from a Wildlife center).  "Bambi"  was left behind by the Mom and was in the filed he was clearing.  We kept him in the garage for the day.

Shortly after this while walking back to the field being cleared for our garden Thom ran into a King snake.  He did not stop to take a picture and he did not name the snake.  It went under the woodpile Thom was near the day before chopping wood readying for the arrival of our brick oven sometime soon.

It was an exciting day!

Thom M.

Settling In

We have made it to Amelia and are starting to settle in to our new home.  We are living in a small cottage on 7 acres in the woods.  It is down a gravel road a short ways from a paved two lane country road (about a half mile or so).  We do have some neighbors-but they are few and far between.  We understand there is a family living in the house behind us (a young Christian family with several children and a rooster-we know about the rooster for it crows early in the morning-it is one of many we live around).  We are hoping to get out and meet them soon.  We can hear the Mom call the children from time to time, but we have yet to run into them.  There house is off the same one lane road ours is-bit we have yet to see them drive by (which with all the trees it is not hard to miss them).  There house is also owned by the Alexander family-they rent it out to this family.

We have been here lest then a week and Alison has already baked several loafs of Carol bread.  She has also made granola, banana bread and canned several pints (and one quart) of our fresh strawberry jam.  We stopped by Winchester on our way home from Disney to cut the grass and pick strawberries.  It stopped raining long enough for us to get the grass cut, pick our berries (and our first batch of lettuce) collect Millie and head south again.  Our plan is to return every couple of weeks to collect some of our garden goodies (Thom and TJ spread a lot of hay in the garden before we left and it is working to keep the weeds down) cut the grass, see family and fiends and the like.

We spent last evening at the Farm.  They had one of their monthly farm tours in which they invite share holders and others out to the farm for a tour and demonstrations.  It was a fun visit.  Thom got to spend some time with the boys (at one point he was deep out in the field checking on the laying hens with Tim and surrounded by several large cows getting acquainted).  Alison spent some time with Joy and learning more about the farm operation while the kids played. 

Tim and the boys are due out tomorrow to prepare the field so we can plant our garden (we are a little late since we are further south-the growing season already started for the summer crops).  They will also bush hog the road around the barn on the property since the grass it about 4 feet high.  We have not ventured far out in the area of the barn for fear of snakes and ticks.  Margaret Rose seems to be the winner so far since she has had two tick bites.  We are using some essential oils to try and ward off the bugs-it has not worked for her yet.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

Tuesday is our big day-it is time again to process chickens.  This will be our first time.  The kids are excited and ready to go (Margaret Rose wants to know when she can chop a chickens head off-I am not sure she knows what that is although we have watched some videos).  TJ is excited for he gets to work with Harrison (the Alexander’s 9 year old boy) and chase the chickens to be processed.  They have some 200 to be done.  Pray for us as we work to earn our keep. 

We have ventured beyond Amelia-which is truly a very small town.  We did find Chesterfield VA which reminded us of Waldorf MD.  It was more metropolitan then Winchester VA.  They had the nicest Walmart we have ever seen-it was incredibly fancy.  They also have a Chick-Fil-A which actually had fancy dessert menus on each table.  It is a sharp contrast to the rest of the area and only a short 30 minute ride. 

Well-it is time to go to bed (we tend to get to bead earlier around here-we know the roosters will be crowing early and there is a lot to do).  We are amazed at how dark it is at night.  With all the changes we are experiencing we feel the presence of the Lord.  Although we have seen more chickens then people in our short time here (there are chickens everywhere here-Tyson has many farms throughout the area) we actually have DSL for our internet-which is significantly faster then our wireless broadband in Winchester.  Go figure.  One of the many ironies of life.

God Bless!

Thom M.

On The Move

Dear Friends and Family,

The Morra Family is on the move! Some of you know this, while for others this is news. We are moving to Amelia, VA which is in the South Central part of Virginia about 45 minutes outside Richmond (and not too far from Charlottesville). We are moving to farm country. As most of you know it has been our dream to have a farm. Well, God is working to answer our prayers. We are moving to a dairy farm to work with a Christian family we met a couple of months ago at a Christian Family Economics Conference. This family owns and operates Avery Branch farm. Besides offering raw milk they also sell fresh natural chickens (processed there on the farm), all natural beef and pork and other products.

We will be working side by side with this family as they seek to grow their farm (and we seek to learn the ropes). Alison and Margaret Rose (and Thom when possible-you know he loves to cook) will be working with the Alexander women to help them turn their "come back milk" to raw milk yogurt, cheese, and other treats. Thom and TJ will be working side by side with the Alexander men milking cows, processing chickens, raising beef and pork and who knows what else. In exchange for our labor the Alexanders have provided us a small cottage near their farm. This cottage comes with 7 acres for us to grow our food, raise some chickens of our own and who knows what else. Since we are all new to this Thom will be keeping his day job at NVCC (his classes are online and Amelia has DSL-a much higher speed internet then we have in Winchester-go figure). Thom also plans on returning to Catholic in the Fall for there is a train that runs from Richmond to DC and will get him there quicker then traveling from Winchester-and he does not have to drive. Alison also plans on continuing her part-time billing from home.

If this all seems sudden to some of you we can assure you we have been praying about this opportunity for years, although it has all come together very recently. In anticipation of some of the questions you may have-here are some answers:

What about the Brick Oven?

We are making arrangements to have a brick oven in Amelia to continue our endeavors of baking bread and pizza. Frank Conlon (a man way ahead of his time) is working on designing a mobile brick oven which will meet our needs. We hope to work out the details with Frank shortly and be able to start baking breads and pizzas for the people of Amelia very soon. We have also been sending out our bread through the mail so those of you who would like some please let us know and we can see what we can arrange.

Why are you doing this?

The quick answer is to glorify God. We believe it is part of His calling for our family. We strive to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and we have prayed that He would use us in ways that would glorify His name. We want to provide our children (and ourselves) purposeful work which can impact the lives of others. At this point we know no better way then to raise healthy food while also teaching our children the value of work. We feel He is using us to help out the Alexander family while we strive to raise our children and prepare them to serve Him.

What about your house in Winchester?

We are putting the Winchester house up for sale. It has always been too big for our needs and too restricting for our plans. We will be coming back to Winchester from time to time (it is almost time to harvest our strawberries) to check on things and see friends and family.

What can we do to help?

Those of you who know about this already have asked what can you do to help. All we need is your prayers. We know we are in Gods hands and He has been preparing us for this for years. This has been a humbling experience for us as we watch God work-presenting sinners like us with so many incredible opportunities.

That is our news for now. We purpose to pack a rented U-Haul truck this coming Thursday and head south. We are only taking what we need for now and will be back for the rest sometime later. In hopes of recording our endeavors while also proving to everyone that we have not fallen off the face of the earth we plan on setting up some kind of blog (can you believe it-the Morra's who don't have TV or use Facebook will have a blog-what is the world coming to?) so you can enjoy (don't laugh too hard) our endeavors.

God Bless!