We've shared!

So, it's out there! We have a family!

I decided with the introduction of @crookedroadhome, you can find that here,
this might be a fitting time to share why we let this private area of our lives out.

But first, I think I should share why we kept it so hidden.

The first obvious reason was to keep the identity of the kids safe. That is still the goal. We don’t plan to post any pictures or videos of them.

The second reason is that we live an alternative lifestyle. We’re homesteaders, and soon to be roadsteaders. The American culture has a real nasty way of interfering with parenting choices, be that with opinions or with actual physical interference. We know we’re not doing anything wrong, but that won’t stop people who disagree from weighing in.

And lastly, we were holding onto a part of our lives that wasn’t up for public display. It was a way to separate the online world from our private world.

So why the heck would we offer them up now?

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Ok…ok…that is a little extreme. No one is offering up anything, but it is still a valid question!

Here recently I was on a phone date with a dear friend from Wisconsin. While we lived in Kenosha, we spent almost every Friday for a whole summer having something we called Scone Friday. She would come over with her misfit tribe to play with mine while we baked, drank coffee and unleashed a week’s worth of spiritual girl talk.

It was fantastic.

So, while we were chatting the other day and I was updating her about our journey both online and with our RV, I posed a problem we were having.

Do we keep the kids private?

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It’s been pretty easy so far, but as we start roadsteading, going to Steemit meet-ups and conferences, as we meet other homesteaders, they’ll notice it’s not just the two of us. The jig will be up.

I should say that we’ve been so blessed so far. As we have met people like @thefarmerswife, @bowentroyer, @jonny-clearwater, our partner in crime @steemcafe with the Global Homestead Collective, @enginewitty, and so many others at the Nashville meet-up, everyone kept our kids out of the spotlight.

Not to mention, if anyone had been curious here on the blockchain, no one asked!

As my friend and I hashed this out, I also added one extra tidbit.

The Yeti and I have been asked to write a book about our lives and our journey into homesteading!

I’m so excited to get this going and done…but there lies one huge problem. There’s an entire side of us that we’ve held back from sharing publicly, but has such an integral part in everything we do.

How could I write a book and leave the kids out of it?

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Well, just like any Scone Friday visit, she laid out some truth for me.

She said that God gives us children as a gift, not just for ourselves but as another way to show His light and His grace and His mercy. He gives them as a gift to the world.

I sat there just letting that sink in.

My job, as a mom, is protect them and to nourish them, to give them everything they need.

And yet, this idea made so much sense.

She also reminded me that I should never live in fear. Living in fear is the opposite of living for God.

After that conversation, I talked with the Yeti. He asked a few questions, we discussed new boundaries, then we let it sit.

About a week later I brought it up again and he shared how surprisingly calm he was about it.

If there was ever a fiercely loving, protective father, it is my husband. Of course, you’ve never seen this side of him…but I guess going at such great lengths to keep his kids private shows you more than any of my words could.

So, as the Crooked Road Home started to be born and the RV sat in our driveway, we knew it was time. With a little trepidation on my part, we made our introductory video and shared it with everyone!

So now I can share that we have an Artist, an Inventor and a Dreamer.

Although the last two do not have Steemit accounts yet, our oldest, the Artist, does! You can find his photography and freewrites at @thegreatdayne!

Image Source 1

Image Source 2

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