AdAgrA 2014 Conference

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AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

Principles of Simple Living

Deidre Dealy

3- Preserving the Harvest

Michelle Lesher

4- Farm to Table: Simple Recipes

Byron Smith

Janice Smith

5- Simple Parenting Principles

Pamela Dysinger

7- The Agrarian Life and Homeschooling: Help for the Frazzled Mother

So when Michelle asked me, she just said to me, Pam, just share about the life, the day, a day in the life of Pam Dysinger.

And it's, she's not asking me because she thinks that I've arrived and that I'm have it all together And I'm not here to share because I've arrived and I have it all together.

I feel very inadequate and my shortcomings are ever before me.

But it's encouraging that we serve a God that can work in and through us, even in our imperfections and in our weakness.

So I'm going to start with just a real day in my life, which is humbling.

And this was about maybe 3 weeks ago and we had come out of 6 months of intense marketing we had had an emotionally charged amazing Lee wonderful engagement of our oldest, our daughter.

Soon as that happened, she started traveling.

She was very much not really around for about 5 weeks.

We were still marketing, the CSA was done.

I had homeschooling that needed to be done, I had 30 bushels of applesauce that I needed to can, the kitchen downstairs where we package was a mess, my closet was a mess, my desk was a mess, my pantry was a mess.

I just felt the devil was like on my tail.

And every place I looked, I felt there's chaos.

You can know intellectually all the right answers.

You can know I'm well-read in spirit of prophecy and the Bible.

And I, you know, the Lord was trying, but I was not letting go.

And the devil knows how to get you when you're there.

And he works through people in your family, situations, circumstances, to get our minds and our eyes off of him and onto ourselves.

Off of him, onto our husband's weaknesses, our children's weaknesses.

And so after morning worship, we had read something that was like the last straw for me.

And it was something about, must have been about Joseph or Daniel, I mean it was just like the perfect life.

They were perfect in all that they did and it was just like, ah, that's not me.

And I left worship and I just told my family, you know what, I need some time out.

And I went in my bedroom and shut the door and I just boohooed.

I fell on my knees, I said, Lord, I cannot continue.

You know, all those things I mentioned on top of my personal bookkeeping, on top of the farm's bookkeeping, on top of the LLP's bookkeeping, on top of registrations for this, on top of getting recipes for the cafeteria, and on and on and on.

And I just, you know what I said to the Lord?

I am not speaking there, unless you give me some answers that I have forgotten.

Cause I know I've known him in the past, but today I cannot see any answers to the total overwhelmed, frazzled life that I live.

It wasn't like he said ding-dong, but he did.

He just started to break through and say, Pam, there are some things that you have forgotten.

There are some things that you have forgotten.

So I want to share some of those things that the Lord brought to my...

I was harvesting lettuce before we came and they had frosted, we took the inside out and I said to Kirsten, hey, let's make a great hat.

So I put it on and Caleb who was watching thought that was funny.

That's what I was doing when I was just hitting that point where I thought, Lord I cannot do it.

Number 2, We become frazzled when we have unrealistic expectations.

Third, and this is the thing that the Lord really, really got through to me as I was on my knees is wrong priorities.

You're focusing on things that are good things to do, but they're not the priority for today.

That's not such a hard thing for me, but in some ways it is.

As I evaluated on my knees that day and I said, Lord, show me.

What can I remove from my life to give me more time?

There was 1 thing, 1 thing that the Lord gave me that I should remove.

But everything else that's on me is on me because of my role as mother, because of my role as helpmate to my husband.

It's my responsibility to help my husband succeed at what the Lord gives him to do.

And so, and being a mother and being faithful to my children.

So I'm fairly decent at saying no to things that don't fall under my wife and my mother role.

Conforming to the world's ideas of education.

Those of you who are here and you heard Byron's and Janice's sharing this morning, they kind of touched on that.

Not getting adequate sleep, that is a hard thing.

And when I was going through this time, I was definitely not getting enough sleep.

I've been over committed for a number of weeks.

But God can still be faithful in our overcommitment.

Now that's not me, but that might be you.

And that is a very, very big time waster.

And if you feel like a frazzled mom and you have too much on you, make sure that You are not letting social media steal from your family what is rightfully theirs.

If I were to ask you to prioritize, what is the most important priority in your life?

Good answers, but there's no doubt, no doubt that God is the priority.

And I want to tell you that is a non-negotiable.

Series

Principles of Simple Living

7- The Agrarian Life and Homeschooling: Help for the Frazzled Mother

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Teach Them Diligently

Teach Them Diligently - Part 3: Each Thought Counts

1h 3m

The Gift of Prophecy - When and Why

57m

Defeat or Victory?

50m

The Spirit of Prophecy

The Testimony of Jesus

49m

Emmanuel Institute Bootcamp

8. State of the Dead

1h 44m

Family Life

Managing God’s Resources at Home

1h 3m

Butcher Shares Life

52m

Q&A

51m

Phil Mills, Sr: Thinking About Relationships

Will He/She Bring You Happiness?

1h

Come Home - Transforming Your Family in Christ

04 Building Family Worship

54m

Prophecy Made Simple

2. Earth’s Invisible War

1h 12m

Education

Every Day with Jesus

1h 13m

Sound Doctrine