Last Updated on December 8, 2020 by Michelle
Steadfast. Unchanging, no matter what. Not too many things are that way today. And we don’t often WANT things to be dutifully firm. We want better, fancier, higher pixels and lower carbs. Upgraded, boosted, and improved.
“Modern” tends to be what folks desire, and “old-fashioned” has a bad rap.
But I see it the opposite way many times… which isn’t too surprising I guess since I tend to always go against the flow.
So, yeah, call me a rebel.
Don’t get me wrong. I like “new.” I love my new phone that allows me to always have a great camera in my back pocket. And I’d much rather churn my butter with my high-powered KitchenAid that has it done in 10 minutes flat, with zero effort on my part, than sit and turn a handle for four times as long.
But I love all my connections to the past as well. The really old, antiquated things I tend to surround myself with in my really old, antiquated New England farmhouse. From Bill’s grandmother’s hand-braided wool rug that still cushions our feet, more than 8 decades after she cut the amber, brown, and green strips of wool and twisted them together, to mom’s old blue mason jars filled with wooden spools, to my grandmom’s old wooden butter mold that I would love to use every week if only I had all the pieces and it wasn’t so weathered.
Wanna know the bitter truths (and joys) of owning an old farmhouse? I wrote about those here.
Wanna know where you can unearth some rustic farmhouse treasures of your own? You will LOVE this site I just discovered–Antique Farmhouse.
Simple doesn’t mean easy, folks.
While these things have no intrinsic value–I probably couldn’t get 50 bucks for both items combined–they remind me daily that simple joys don’t come easy.
They require hard work. And that’s okay.
Because no matter how many apps my phone has or how large and powerful my food processor is, I can’t avoid life’s hard work. And I shouldn’t want to.
Troubles, aches, grief, loss, and so many deep-cutting pains abound in our days, effects that no app can cure and no gadget can erase, but “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” And the hard work makes us appreciate the sunrise and other glimpses of His love and mercy even more.
That brings me back to where this all started…
“Upgraded” and “fancier” isn’t always better.
Steadfast. Unchanging, no matter what. Not too many things are that way today. And that’s the way we like it, apparently. We WANT things to always be changing. We want better, fancier, higher pixels and lower carbs. Upgraded, boosted, and improved.
But some things can’t be improved…
I woke to a snow-covered sunrise this morning that reminded me. While every day is indeed new… a clean slate… a glorious opportunity to start again… I serve an awesome God who has been making sure every day is filled with His glory from the dawn of time.
And there is no improving on Him.
I choose old rugs and broken butter molds.
So if I had to choose, I’d take old rugs and broken butter molds over the latest technology. I’d choose reminders in my everyday moments of who I am, where I come from, and what generations before me accomplished. Yes, there has been hard work, troubles, aches, grief, and loss, but oh there have been simple joys as well. I can’t truly have one without the other, as far as I see it. So, yes, today I am thankful for the antiquated.
The view I have tonight, in my backyard, only solidifies my thoughts. The floodlights that help us do our evening chores illuminate the snow-powdered maples on the other side of the barn. Promises of his goodness that will soon run through those tree trunks and fill our sap buckets with delight and our table with maple syrup joy.
Read here if you’d like to see some of the maple-syrup-making joy around our homestead. Or go here to find out how YOU can make maple sugar even without ever tapping one tree.
I am thankful for simple joys in the very midst of the “hard.”
But for now, we’ll toss some hay to the cows, close up the chicken coop, and I will recount a few simple joys I am thankful for in the very midst of the sometimes cold, long, hard night.
Of course, a fancy phone and a new nighttime app helped me share my backyard with you tonight. So I’m keeping my phone. And my KitchenAid.
But I’m looking at getting a pretty old-fashioned butter mold that I can actually use, when I’m making butter, like this one.
Do you like to repurpose old treasures? Then you’ll wanna snag a free copy of my instructional booklet, Give An Old Door New Life, for free, like right now… in my Resource Library.
Go here if you’d like to see an instructional video, and printable, of how I clean my heirloom rug.
And you won’t believe the fun stories behind these old jars and what I use them for today.
Go here if you’d like to know how to make your own butter (with or without an old butter mold).
Click below to join me in my winter wonderland today.
Wishing some simple joys for you today, friend.
I pray that you too have a reminder of His unfailing love in your day today and find you have much to be thankful for every day, in the simple things.
Follow along on my podcast, Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy, on your favorite podcast player. Find all the links right here.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22
Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.
Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here. And for the first time in a post, ever, I included a picture from my new phone.
And hop over here to find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018.
I’d love to connect!
To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:
You might like these posts that recall some simple joys:
And please follow along!
Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, discover fascinating things about my centuries-old farmhouse, glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades, or enjoy the inside scoop on the secrets other legit homesteaders might not tell you.
I hope my focus always encourages you, because simple joys require hard work. Let’s face it, we all need all the encouragement we can get! As soon as you subscribe (in the box at the end of this post), you’ll have immediate access to my Resource Library, which includes my FREE EBOOKs, and amazing recipes for things like whoopie pie cookies, maple sap switchel, and my grandmom’s perfect pie crust.
If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)
And, ummmm, have you printed the a-MAAHZ-ingly delicious Maple Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I just downloaded there recently?
Absolutely love this, and I feel very much the same 😊