So, we just finished watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.  This is a staple for us here in our house; we have been watching it for 40 years.  Today marks the 50th anniversary of this wonderfully crafted Christmas story.  However, I was outside for a few minutes and missed my favorite scene, Linus reciting the Gospel of Luke.  I was so upset I had to go and look it up on YouTube so I could see it.  After watching and listening for a minute I decided to read the viewer comments to the YouTube post...I was a little appalled at the comments.  There were of course, Christians commenting on the scripture.  They were commenting that the point of the message was the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Then there were the non-believers commenting that the point of the message was that there should be Peace on Earth and Good Will toward Men…I found it interesting that President Obama falls into this latter group.  His televised words during the 50th anniversary special that was aired directly prior to the Charlie Brown Christmas showed this directly, almost word for word.  What I find interesting is that Linus is reading from God’s Word and all our President and many other people can get out of the message isn’t even the basis of the Gospel that Linus us quoting. 

Luke 2:8-14
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The passage clearly talks about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, even the quote that our President used from verse 14 is prefaced by the phrase “Glory to God in the highest,” I guess his speech writers figured he would offend too many people if he said the reason for the message was to Glorify God, or that we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.  Or maybe he told his speech writers not to include it on purpose.  Either way I will pray for him, and for everyone who has yet to accept their salvation through Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary.

 We base our farm decisions on scripture.  We follow the teachings of the Old and New Testaments.  We believe that the King James Bible is THE Bible.  We don’t need new translations to omit God’s word because it chastens us, challenges us, or points out our sin.  We need these things to drive ourselves to always strive towards Gods ultimate purpose for our lives.  We feel that we have been called to heal God’s people, all people. Through God’s grace we will continue to strive for the unattainable, and be content with the Blessings God chooses to send to us and our families.  We love you and pray for your safety, salvation, and renewed hope during this Christmas Season.

P.S. I saw a sign that said ‘Trees for Sale…Christmas Trees $20, Holiday Trees $40'.

Merry Christmas,
The Zynda’s

Thanksgiving is upon us once again.  Over the last two years I have accepted my salvation through Jesus Christ, begun to grow in the Lord, study my bible, and watch my family grow in their love for the Lord.  If you are like we used to be, thanksgiving was a day of family, feasting, football (I still cry when I see the Lions lose on thanksgiving day), and a quick prayer before we gorged ourselves on foods fit for a king. 

However, this past Sunday morning the Thanksgiving season took on a whole new meaning.  At morning service we heard preaching on the topic of thanksgiving...there are hundreds of references to thanksgiving in the bible, and every one is applicable to us at different points in our lives, but I hadn't ever "felt" truly thankful for the things in my life...after all, I had EARNED those things with MY hard work, right?  Well, actually I was wrong.  MY hard work only came through the gifts that God had given me...the ability to lead my teams when I was back in management, the ability to raise our animals here on the farm, the ability to raise our children (actually Crystal did most of that work, her gift is MUCH greater than mine, not to mention her patience).  However this Sunday I was given the greatest gift of my life, the survival of my children.  Let me explain:

After morning service we had the opportunity to travel to my mother's house for a visit...just the girls and I.  Vivian was driving, logging hours so that she could take her drivers license test.  The roads were in great condition, most of the snow having burned off in the sun, however, we found a shady spot, some black ice, and then a farmers field...all in about 3 seconds.  We had lost control, hit the embankment and started rolling.  We had a Reese hitch, brake rotors, farm tools, staple guns, and all types of heavy parts and pieces in the back of our Suburban as we were rolling....over, and over, and over, and finally upside down...yup, three times we rolled over.  We crawled out of the vehicle, safe for a couple bruises, 120ft from the road, shaken and crying.  As we stood in a huddle and gave a prayer of thanks to God for preserving us through our ordeal I realized that our safety through this accident was guaranteed for us almost 20 years ago.

See, our Suburban was manufactured in the year 2000, almost 16 years ago, designed for a couple of years before that.  Before the design phase could begin the engineers had to be trained and experienced enough to design the safety features that kept us safe through all of the violence of a roll over accident.  I firmly believe that this was prepared for us by God, LONG before we would ever need his protection.

How does all this fit into farming?  You are farmers, right?  Valid questions to ask of us, and yes this does all tie into farming, but mostly it ties into thanksgiving.  Let's hit both at the same time.  1 Timothy 4:4-5 'For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.'

Psalms 50:14 tells us 'Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:' 

Here on the farm, we strive to base our decision making process on as much scripture as we can find.  Through prayer and thanksgiving for the gifts that God has given us we ask for direction for the farm, and for our lives.  Through prayer, bible study, and doing our best to live by the Bible's teachings we allow God to pour out blessings to us as he sees fit.

Remember on this Thanksgiving Holiday to thank the one 'Most High' for his gifts to you, your family, and for the blessings he pours out to you.  Titus 2:10 'In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: In doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,'

May the Lord bless you in all things...have a SAFE, and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Hello, and welcome to the Brand New Full Circle Farms Blog Spot.  The idea of blogging about our farm, animals, philosophy, button topics etc is totally new to us here at FCF.  Blogging is about as far out of my wheelhouse as you can get, but our customers will attest to the fact that I like to talk :) so hopefully we'll learn this blogging thing together, and quickly.

The first topic I wanted to tackle is blemishes.  As a society of purchasers we have been trained to select only the 'perfect' items when we hit the meat and produce aisles in our local supermarkets.  I mean really, if you wanted a hole in your apple you would have picked it yourself, right?  But I wanted to take a minute to talk about blemishes and the wonderful things that they can represent.

First, let's discuss what I mean by a blemish.  This could be a worm hole in a head of cabbage, a blue-green bruise on a chicken wing, or just scabs on the skin of the apple your thinking about eating.  Blemishes represent the 'natural' order of things, how our animals and gardens grow when we allow them to do their thing without all of the herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, restricted indoor living conditions (that's a whole different post), etc. 

If you garden and/or buy your food items from local farmers, you have seen what I mean by a blemish.  Does it affect the flavor?  Well the easy answer is no, however the long answer is that our sight, smell, and expectations also affect our palate.  Ever notice that your mouth waters with the aroma of enticingly prepared turkey at the Thanksgiving table, LONG before you get a chance to sink your taste buds into that delectable dark meat?  (Yup, I'm a leg and thigh man).  How about Grandma's liver and onion pate (a blemish on our thanksgiving table if I ever ate one).  The fact is that a blemish can literally ruin your appetite, why is that?  Because our expectations cloud our olfactory and salivatory senses.  Through our supermarket desensitization we 'see' this blemished food as unappetizing, but I would like to offer a different perspective.

I read an article a year or two ago that mentioned that in Japan, the purchasers at the local food markets would actually pay higher rates for food with blemishes.  Yup, scabbed apples brought higher prices than that shiny ruby red apple.  The reason?  Customers believed that if insects were eating them, they had to have less pesticide/herbicide residue than the pristine version sitting right beside it.  Blemishes became a visual buyers guide to what the customers believed were healthier versions of the food they wanted to buy.  I admit that I have been somewhat spoiled.  We grew up in the lower middle class, pinched pennies, ate hamburger soup WAYYYY before Campbell's decided to add it to their portfolio, bought our bread from the 'day-old' bread store and lived on 'seconds' from the local orchards.  So blemishes never really meant anything to me.  If fact, what I noticed from the supermarket fruit selection was that I had wax on my teeth when I finished eating a Granny Smith.  However, if you shake our family trees, more than a few farmers fall off the limbs, so I may be a little prejudiced. 

Do yourself a favor, when you see that bruise on the Turkey wing or a worm hole in your cabbage head, tell the Lord thank you for putting you in touch with your local farmers.  And remember, if you know your farmers first name, chances are you have TRUE food security. 

I hope this wasn't too long winded.  We look forward to your comments and will offer a toast to your renewed health with our blemished apples and broken chicken wings.

Always remember that your body is a temple, we should treat it as such.
1 Cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?