Mountain Musings

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Food Conference

Today begins a series of several Deep in the Heart of Texas posts to catch you up on what we experienced at The Reformation of Food and the Family conference sponsored recently by Vision Forum in San Antonio, Texas.

This was our first trip to San Antonio and for some of us our first trip to the state of Texas. Here we are pictured at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center during one of the lunch breaks before workshops begin:

Below: Doug Phillips of Vision Forum introduced the speakers for the three-day event beginning with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms located here in the Shenandoah Valley. Joel spoke in workshops and as the keynote speaker including the topics Redeeming the Earth; Local Food to the Rescue; and Holy Cows and Hog Heaven.

All of us Girotti ladies enjoyed the various ladies' forums which included hearing Michelle Dugger speak on Revitalizing and Reforming Hospitality; Practical Tips for Feeding a Large Family; and Frugality and Health: Feeding Your Family A High Quality Diet While Staying on a Tight Budget:

One of my favorite workshop speakers was Nancy Campbell (below) who spoke on A Glorious Vision for Femininity, Food, and Hospitality in the Christian Household; The Family Feast: How to Transform Meal Time into a Feast for Body, Soul, and Spirit; and The Power of the Family Table.

I loved her sessions because they all dealt with hospitality, and she was a unique and enjoyable speaker. I'll have to start putting into practice some of the things we learned!

Other sessions included learning about A Practical Approach to Addressing Environmental Toxins, Treating Chronic Illness, and Restoring Health; Lyme Disease and the Way to be Well; Nutrition in Fitness; Diet and Dementia: Care for Aging Parents Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease; and Food as Medicine: Eat Well and Be Well.

Here's Dr. Michael Bernui who spoke on Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny: Why Lifestyle and Diet May Trump Genetics in the Battle for Your Health and Understanding Seven Types of Toxins and the Proper Response to Them:

Guest speaker French Chef Francis Foucachon (below) spoke on The Joy of Food in the Christian Home; Starting Your Own Restaurant; and What We Can Learn From the French About Food.

There were many more speakers and topics that made up the conference. Suffice it to say that it was a very full three days! Deciding which 10 of the 40 workshops to attend was quite difficult.

Our family enjoyed the food conference and feel that we learned some practical ways to improve our health. In a nutshell: eat less food, eat more often, and drink more water!

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friends and Fellowship at the Food Conference

~Deb

An Audio Series Taking a Stand for Life

While we did not travel to Texas to attend the Baby Conference, this newly-released audio series from the weekend looks intriguing, and we would love to listen to these Biblical principles communicated. And the introductory price lasts only through this week. Hear audio samples of some of the messages here.

A few of the topics include:

• The Reward of the Fruitful Womb: Real Families Discuss the Rewards of Raising a Large Family for the Glory of God
• How to End Abortion in America: A Look at the Spiritual, Practical, and Constitutional Realities
• How the Local Church Builds a Thriving Culture of Life
• What the Bible Says About Birth Control
• Ladies' Tea with Michelle Duggar
• Naming Babies
• The Indispensible Role of Grandparents in the Life of Children
• Ladies' Symposium on Managing the Logistics of a Large Family
• Symposium on the Future of Healthcare in America: How Must the Church and Parents Respond to Socialized Medicine, Medical Ethical Chaos and the Widespread Abdication of the Professing Church
• Child Training: A Biblical Template
• The Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage
• The Myth of Overpopulation and the Coming Demographic Bomb
• Symposium on Biblical Biomedical Ethics for the Infirm and Aging in the 21st Century: Brain Death, Organ Transplants, Euthanasia, and Care for the Elderly

~Hannah

St. Patrick-ness

Our family has Irish roots, and looking back at our blog, we have posted without fail every year on St. Patrick's Day, either with GREEN recipes, Celtic music, or with a bit of history on the man St. Patrick himself. So here we are again in 2010, making sure we don't break the tradition! Currently, Sarah has a Chocolate Mint Cheesecake cooling, which I'm sure she will post about later. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt to an article we have linked to in the past that gives a good overview of the life of St. Patrick, and reminds us of the reason he is remembered today.

Patrick, a young man raised by loving Christian parents, was thoroughly acquainted with the Bible and the evangelical faith. He was also greatly influenced towards faith in Christ by an old family friend by the name of Julias, who had been a slave in Ireland many years before.

One day when Patrick was sixteen years old, he was out working on his Father's farm and became alerted to a disturbance on the beach near his house. He could tell something was going on by the loud cries of the sea gulls. Upon further investigation he discovered that "sea raiders" from Ireland had invaded the English coast and were preparing to attack the nearby village of Banavem. Knowing that he should warn his Father and Mother who were in the village Patrick tried to slip away undetected, but in his haste slipped and fell from a cliff overlooking the beach....  Continue reading article>>

Our past year's posts for your enjoyment:

Wearing o' the Green 2005

Patrick: Courageous Missionary 2006

Happy St. Patricks Day 2007

Happy St. Patricks Day 2008

Pound Cake with Lime Custard and Lime Sherbet 2009

Also, read how this family uses St. Patrick's Day as a springboard to share the gospel.

~Hannah

 

New Reclaiming the Culture DVD Giveaway

 

Time for yet another great giveaway, compliments of Vision Forum. This one features the 5 newly released DVDs in the Reclaiming the Culture series.

The new titles in this series include:

You May Not Take Our Guns by Larry Pratt

The Devolution of Law by Doug Phillips

Top Ten Questions About Genesis and Creation by Ken Ham

The State of Parental Rights in America by Don Hart

Christianity and Science Fiction: Reclaiming the Genre for Christ

"These timely presentations will equip your family to understand our culture’s most critical battles and biblically fight for the rights granted to us by God, rights recognized and preserved for us by our Founding Fathers."

Sound compelling? You have the chance to enter to win one of these DVDs. Go to each of the links above, then comment on this post telling us which one you would like to win! Deadline to enter is Wednesday, May 13th, 8pm EST. We will post the winner Wednesday night in time for you to take advantage of the special sale price if your name is not drawn!

~Hannah

The Really Awesome Vision Forum CD series

Our family had the wonderful opportunity this month to review the newly released audio CD album, Let Freedom Ring: The Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour. With 13 CDs' worth of messages by Doug Phillips and Bill Potter, we have listened to a "firehose" of American history from a Christian worldview, and we haven't even heard them all yet!

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• The History of Quakers in America
• The Life and Impact of William Penn
• The Nation's Church: Christ's Church Meetinghouse and Graveyard
• Carpenter's Hall: the Continental Congress is Formed
• The First Bank of the United States
• Architecture
• The Brandywine Battlefield
• Crossing the Delaware: Washington's Daring Winter Raid
• The Legacy of John Witherspoon
• Princeton Cemetery: Graveyard of Pastors, Patriots, and Presidents
• Lessons from Valley Forge
• Colonial Maritime Life Explored
• Question and Answer Sessions

Jonathan:

It's been interesting to listen to the Let Freedom Ring CD series. In the introductory message, Mr. Phillips overviewed the tour goals and the historic themes that would be explored. I appreciated the balanced viewpoint that Mr. Phillips had regarding the Founding Fathers. We should not idolize them as perfect Christians but realize that there were destructive humanist influences in some of their worldviews. That said, many of the founders were devout Christians and almost all of them at least respected Christianity and had a basic Christian worldview. 

Another part I liked about the series was the lectures on the Quaker sect and their beliefs. I had never heard what the Quakers actually were (or if I had, I had forgotten). While generally within Christian orthodoxy, they departed from it by stressing inner revelation over Scripture. Their church meeting was primarily not based on Scripture but rather on the messages of "inner light" from the members.

Another notable lecture was one on the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Phillips discussed some of the salient points of the document as well as giving biographies of some of the lesser-known signers.

Hannah:

I skipped ahead to hear the tour of the Princeton Cemetery, and it was quite an interesting presentation. Containing the graves of the likes of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, Samuel Davies, John Witherspoon, the Aaron Burrs, president Grover Cleveland, and members of the Alexander and Hodge families, this location could definitely inspire awe. As someone present exclaimed, "This place is gonna blow [on resurrection day]!"

My interest was also piqued to hear about godly men with connections to Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley who were buried at this site, such as Archibald Alexander and William Graham. I will have to find more to read about their lives and involvements.

As the tour group gathered around the grave of Sarah Edwards, several men prayed especially for all of the young ladies in attendance, that they would be faithful to the Lord in much the same way that Sarah was, as a godly helpmeet, mother, and hospitable and influential Christian lady.

I'm sure the rest of the CDs will be enjoyable for more car-riding, treadmill-walking, or quilt square-cutting hours. :) It's almost as good as being there.

~And if you'll notice the ad on the right sidebar, if you purchase $95 worth of products from Vision Forum through April 1st, you will receive a $50 "Passport"--that would kind of be like getting this Faith and Freedom Tour album free!

Becoming a Woman of Wisdom--Week of Celebration

Sherrin, over on her blog A Deeper Love, is hosting a week of posts celebrating biblical womanhood, a subject she is very passionate about. She will be focusing specifically on wise womanhood and examples of how the Lord has used others to bless our lives.

I was honored when Sherrin asked if I would write a guest post. You will find it here. I wrote about a friend who has demonstrated Godly wisdom to me by her words of kindness and by her constant faith in the Lord.

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness." ~ Proverbs 31:26

Be sure and visit Sherrin each day this week to read the series Becoming a Woman of Wisdom and encourage her by leaving a comment. Over on her sidebar she asks that you share the area of Godly wisdom you grew in the most during the last twelve months; there's a poll for both men and women. It will be interesting to see the tally at the end of the week.

~Deb

Uniting Church and Family ~ Day 2

Scott Brown began the two-day session with the keynote addresses: "Returning to Biblical Order in Church and Home" and "Biblical Pictures of Headship in the Home." Scott is the Director for the NCFIC (National Center for Family Integrated Churches).

Voddie. Everyone was waiting for Voddie to arrive. We had never met or heard him speak in person, although we knew he was a very motivational and encouraging speaker after listening to one of his CDs we had borrowed. The announcement was made that Voddie was recovering from the flu but would be flying in later in the day, and the schedule was rearranged so he could still get in his three keynote addresses.

His sessions included: "Answering Objections to Uniting Church and Family," "What He Must Be--The Biblical Portrait of a Father's Discipleship Responsibility in the Home," and "Go and Make Disciples--Evangelism and Missions in the Family Integrated Church." 

Jonathan's goal was to interview all the speakers at some point during the weekend. Voddie was usually swamped with folks around him asking questions. Finally, as he was rushing out to catch his flight home, Jonathan managed to snag him for a two-minute interview. (And when Jonathan is not so swamped himself with end-of-semester school assignments, he is going to post snippets of the interviews and additional pictures on his blog.)

Here's Jason Dohm, one of the breakout session speakers, holding his little cutie. His sessions included: "The Sufficiency of Scripture--Establishing Biblical Practices in the Church" and "Establishing Biblical Church Leadership." 

Other topics by various speakers: "Calling Men to Lead," "Equipping Family Shepherds," "Church Planting Principles and Practices," "If, When, or Why to Leave a Church," and "Transitioning to Family Integrated Church Life." Of course, with these being breakout sessions, we had to pick and choose which ones we most wanted to hear.

We will try and gather our notes together on some of these sessions and post in a separate entry later this week. Do you get the idea that our two days were cram packed with excellent teaching and times of fellowship? It was very enjoyable!

However...craft lovers usually find a way to sneak out and pop into a local yarn shop at some point, also very enjoyable. :)

Next: Quilt & Yarn Shop Excursion During the Conference

~Deb

Romania Tour

We read with interest that Scott Brown and entourage have arrived in Budapest to begin a two-week teaching tour/conference on Uniting Church and Family. The first post is here along with pictures of fellow Christians in Romania. Follow along on their travels as their internet access allows for new posts.

Members of our family (Tom, Hannah, and Jonathan) will be particularly interested in following these travels since they met and became acquainted with some of the participants when attending the Church Planting Conference in June of this year. Tom wrote about their experiences here and here.

~Deb

Good Idea for a Family Vacation

Answers in Genesis recently opened their long-awaited Creation Museum, and it is definitely on our list of family excursions this year. From what I've heard some families say, it is well worth a visit.

After the Hayden Family left our home here in Virginia on Monday, they headed to Kentucky where the Museum is located. If you're interested in seeing some great pictures taken inside and around the Museum, check out Caleb's blog here. (He also has posted some additional pictures of their visit to the Shenandoah Valley.)

Has your family visited the Museum yet? If so, let us know what you thought of it.

~Deb

Remembering Jamestown

Many homeschool field trips to Jamestown Settlement to visit the three ships and the Indian Village created lasting memories for the kids through the years. Of all the different places we've lived in Virginia, Williamsburg is where they spent their growing up years and the place they most remember. 

Here's a very young Jonathan trying his hand at grinding maize. Whenever we see pictures of Jonathan with his blue "D" cap on, we automatically think of Doctor Doley's Dodgers, his softball team, which brings back lots of sitting and rooting on the bleacher memories.

Below is a picture of all four kids aboard the Susan Constant, taken around 1995. What a young crew!

The local Jamestown Ferry leaves several times daily to cross the river just down and over from where the three ships are docked. We often would board and enjoy the 20-minute ride across, turn around, and ferry right back feeding the seagulls as we journeyed. Big doings on a Saturday evening in rural Virginia!

Well, that's all the memories I have time for this morning. Lots to do as we have company arriving tomorrow--the Hayden Family from Kansas on their way back home from the Jamestown 400th Anniversary Celebration!!

So, we'll get to hear first-hand all about this exciting week. If you've been following Caleb's blog you know their days have been packed full of interesting excursions and speeches on God's providence through history. We're looking forward to meeting the Haydens after being introduced to them through blogging! (Sounds like another post for sure!)

Hope you have a good Saturday and a great Father's Day weekend!

~Deb