What is Your Mission?

Unless you are someone who believes that everything around you happened by accident and life has no purpose, you believe that you are on this planet for a reason. I know a couple of folks who call themselves atheist, who believe they are destined for greatness.

I am not going to get into a debate about religious beliefs. I have mine, you have yours and they really don't matter for the discussion we are going to have here. Having said that, we all have talents that can and should be used for the betterment of our world. 

How to Decide What Your Mission Is

I am a firm believer that over 80% of the people in the world never figure out what they are supposed to do with their lives. I am no exception. I am actually writing this to help me figure out what I was made to do. It is far too easy to get so wrapped up in the day to day, earning a living and paying bills that we never have the opportunity to discover who we really are. I am not talking about traveling the world to find yourself, I am talking about finding the career or the calling in your life that makes you feel fulfilled. 

I am a big fan of writing things down. If you are truly trying to figure out what you were meant to do you will need to list your talents. By talents I mean the things that you are really good at. Here is the problem. A lot of people think they are great at something when they really are not. If this were not true there would not be so many people who show up to the American Idol tryouts that the entire country makes fun of. Some may go just to be on television, but others truly believe that they have what it takes to make it in the music industry and they are actually tone deaf.

How do you list your talents honestly? That is tough. But here goes an honest attempt.

1. Ask for input. Don't ask your mom. She is likely to tell you that you are the greatest even when she knows you are not. Ask your spouse, ask a true friend. A true friend will tell you if you stink at something. They may not do it very tactfully, but they will tell you.
2. What do you like to do? Okay, I know that there are tens of thousands of teen age boys and sadly even thirty something men that would list video games as number one, that is fine, but list more than just one thing. In fact, list at least 10 things that you like to do. If possible list 10 things you love to do.
3. Be honest with yourself. I have wanted to be a lot of things throughout my life. I have wanted to be a farmer, an attorney, a singer, a musician, even a college professor. But I have to admit I did not have the discipline to be a singer or musician. I got to know too many attorneys and couldn't be like that. I am not willing to go in debt enough to become a college professor. 

A professor is still a desire, but I am not willing to feed the beast that is the system. Let me explain. At the time I am writing this I am 44 years old. I have a Bachelor's degree, but in order to teach I would need a minimum of a masters degree. It would cost me a minimum of $52,000 to get my masters degree. Even if I started next year, I would be 47 before I graduated. That means I would have 18 years to pay off $52,000 of student loans, depending on where you live that could be as much as an additional house payment. Not going to happen.

List your weaknesses. If you do not like children you are not going to want to be a day care owner no matter how good the money is. Again be honest. I would like to think that I have no weaknesses, but if I said so I would be lying.  I love creating, but maintenance? That is different. There are times I have to force myself to get things done that I know need doing. Oh and I hate paperwork, HATE IT. So maybe a college professor wasn't the best idea after all.

Look for Alternatives

Okay, so a traditional teacher is out of the question. No big deal. I can be a non traditional teacher. I have held demonstrations for school teachers, children, and even the elderly. What can I teach? Lots of things. If you are good at something and enjoy it (yes I said and, believe it or not there are people who are really good things they do not enjoy) do some research and see if there is a market for that skill. If there is not a market is it game over? No. Dig deeper and see if a market can be created. People don't know they want something if they do not know it exists. The same is true for learning. A person doesn't realize all of the things they do not know.

There are people who are making their living teaching people how to make soap and selling the very soap they make while teaching the class. Get creative.

Start Small

Unless you are creating a brick and mortar business, it is best to start a business without any debts. That sounds like common sense right? Well, its not. There are people shouting at you from every corner about small business grant and loans. Nearly any business you can imagine can start small and part time. Machine shop? Yup, it has been done. Cabinet shop? Yup. Hair salon? Yup. Tutoring? Yup. If you start small and get some satisfied customers out there, it gets easier. Think of it as a cottage business.

If something is your mission, it will also be a passion. A mission, once you find it is something that helps you feel fulfilled. You really want to keep doing it, not just because you should. Once you find your mission you cannot honestly see yourself not doing it. How do I know this? I know this by talking to people who firmly believe they have found their mission in life.

You Cannot Just Use Logic

I know. After all of the things I have covered so far you would think that this is counter intuitive. It is not. Pray, meditate, do whatever you do to calm your mind. Search for peace in an idea before you pursue it. I am not saying to not do something til you have complete confidence, if you wait on that you may never do anything.

Here is a story that I heard that rang true for me and I believe applies to any mission in life. 

A young man was attending a church service. He went to church every opportunity he had. One night when the minister offered the call to pray, the young man went to the alter and told the old preacher that he felt like God was calling him to preach. The old preacher asked why he thought that. The young man said "I don't know for sure, I just feel like it is what I am supposed to do". 

The old pastor gave the young man some advice that he did not expect. He told him to run from the call to preach. "Don't do it. It will break your heart. You may never have any money. Everyone will look to you for help. You will be held to a higher behavior standard than everyone else."

The young man didn't know what to say or think. He was expecting encouragement, that was not what he received. The young man did as the pastor told him, he ran from the desire to be a preacher. He was miserable for months. Finally, he went back to the old preacher and told him that he didn't care what the old man thought, he was supposed to preach and that he had been in terrible shape since that night. The old pastor smiled and told him that if he could have avoided the call to preach then he wasn't supposed to preach.

Once you realize what you are supposed to do in your life, you will not be happy until you have at least started down the path to what you were destined to do.

I am Still Struggling

I wish I could tell you that I have found exactly what I am supposed to do with my life, but I haven't, or at least I don't think so. I do a lot of things that bring me joy. That is very important. I love writing all of the articles for all of you and I believe that this is part of what I am supposed to do, but I do not think this is all I was created to do.

What is your mission? Do you know? How did you figure it out? I would really like to know. Maybe you sharing your experience will help me and maybe, just maybe countless others.

I wish you all

Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes.

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Affiliate Link Disclosure: The post may contain affiliate links. I may receive compensation for links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations for any products mentioned on this blog. Any time you use one of our links for Amazon, if you purchase something The Rural Economist receives a small commission and it doesn't cost you any more. Even if you do not purchase the items I list. In this way you will help support us trying to teach people about self reliance and homesteading. Thanks for your consideration.

Getting Prepared for Beginners #16 Don't Fear The Reaper

Before I even get started I want to state that I am not saying you shouldn't be concerned about any of the events I cover in this post. What I am saying is that statistically these events are not very likely. Having a well rounded preparedness plan will have you ready for all of these events without focusing on just one. Obsessing about any single event will not benefit you in any way. All of these events are possible, I just believe that being prepared should be done out of a logical thought process and a desire for self reliance.

A lot of people start getting prepared because of a specific event. This may have happened to them, someone they know, or just been something that a person realizes could happen to them. The first reaction is "Oh crap, What if that happened to me?" This is a normal reaction. However decisions should not be made out of fear.

Fear can be a Catalyst but Should Not be a Motivator

There are a few tried and true marketing techniques. Sex sells clothing, cologne, makeup, and apparently food. Envy sells cars, houses, and jewelry. Fear sells insurance and prepps.

I want you to think about that. The people who are pushing fear are all trying to sell you something. Actually a lot of somethings.

There are a lot of very real things in the world to be afraid of. So many in fact that if you focused on only those things it could drive you mad. Fear has it's place. In a nice box on your mantel. If you keep your fear there it will never control you. People who are controlled by fear make bad decisions.

I hope all of you remember the Mayan calendar thing. The world was supposed to end December 21, 2012. There were people who spent their life savings getting ready for the apocalypse. I remember reading one report of a man and woman who sold their home, split the money and decided to party til the end. Guess what? We are still here.

Fear can be a catalyst but should never be a motivator.

If I could wave my magic wand and change one thing about the Preparedness movement it would be to remove fear as a marketing ploy. I follow a lot of alternative media on Twitter, but I follow a lot of mainstream media as well. I bet once a week someone is predicting doom by such and such date. That is not helping preparedness. Headlines like that are why  society thinks they are justified in calling us crazy. I actually got an email the other day saying the US economy would collapse in 6 weeks.

Really!?! If they truly had this information all of the people in "the know" would be scrambling to get supplies. What were they trying to get me to buy? Silver. Does silver have a place in preparedness? Yup sure does, but it is after peanut butter. At least it is on my list.

We are going to talk about some catastrophic events that people prepare for.

EMP

Electromagnetic Pulse. An EMP is one of the disasters that if you find someone who is worried about it, it is their primary concern. I know people who think about an EMP everyday. They try to consider an EMP in every purchase. Marketers love these people. If I can claim a radio is EMP resistant and back it up with research, a person who is obsessed with this event is going to buy, even if it is more expensive than it should be.

EMP FACTS

1. EMPs are real. As much as I would like to tell you it is a bunch of hooey, I can't and keep my integrity.
2. EMPs come in many forms. If you go by the strictest definition static electricity and even lightening qualify as an EMP.
3. Small EMPs are much more common than people think. If you throw a fire cracker in a metal garbage can, you can measure the pulse with a good quality multimeter.
4. With all but weapons specifically designed for EMP production, the EMP does not extend beyond the blast radius. So if an EMP does hit wait a couple of seconds and walk toward the light.
5. If an EMP attack were to occur with a weapon designed for that purpose most advanced electronics would be fried. If you saved your radio there would be no stations to listen to. If you saved your cell phone the towers wouldn't work. Your flashlight would be fine. Older cars would probably be fine. Bottom line, unless you have an expensive generator, or some way to create your own electricity, don't worry about it. If you do, don't worry about it too much. It is statistically very low on the probability list.

For more information on EMP please visit my friend Graywolf Survival. He is working on a series specifically about EMP and how to survive if one were to occur. I like the fact that he is focusing primarily on a solar based event while covering a nuclear based one as well.

Yellowstone Super Volcano Eruption

Okay, so you have seen the documentary on the Yellowstone Super Volcano and now you are terrified. I can get that, but here is the deal. If it blows tomorrow, you will not be ready. If it blows in 1000 years you will not care. Yup, it is gonna blow, but there is no way to know when or even how bad it will be. Don't let this one scenario consume you. No one really knows what will happen if Yellowstone goes up. I remember when Mount St Helen erupted. The "experts" said it would be decades before anything grew on that mountain again. Guess what? The very next year things were growing. Will it be bad? It sure will, but no one knows just how bad. Focus on a basic level of preparedness and just go on.

Pandemic

This one is tough for me. I know a little about the concept, but haven't spent much time researching diseases and quarantine procedures. Being clean is very important. Washing your hands by itself decreases the likelihood of getting sick. Including some basic medical preparedness supplies help as well. Masks and gloves being the most basic, but possibly the most important. Hand sanitizer and disinfectants should also be very high on your priorities list. For further information on being prepared for any medical emergency check out Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy. Here is their write up on pandemic supplies. Just be prepared to hang out a home for a little while and be healthy everyday. 

Dirty Bomb

Dirty bombs are small suitcase bombs that have an added nuclear component. Based on everything I can find, these bombs would not be any more powerful than another similar sized conventional bomb, except for the addition of some radioactive fallout. The actual power of this type of device is the panic that it would produce in the population.

If such an event were to occur, I would most certainly stay away from large cities. This type of event has not yet occurred. It is possible. Again achieve a basic level of preparedness and just live life.

Economic Collapse

Of all the possible long term events, this is the one that I think is most likely to occur. At the time I am writing this the United States is 17.66 trillion. And we are not the only ones. www.usbebtclock.org has a tab you can click to see other countries national debt. The numbers are telling. Almost every country is spending money they do not have. This cannot go on like this forever.

What is going to happen? No one knows. At some point we are either going to devalue our currency to the point where we can no longer buy things or we are going to get so deep in debt that we can no longer make the interest payment and we as a country will go into default.

Being afraid doesn't change anything. I have spoken to people, lots of people, that one of these disasters is what they want to talk about. You can see it in their eyes. They almost consider themselves an evangelist of sorts. Their chosen disaster is what will end society as we know it.

Living in a state of fear destroys health and relationships. Keep fear where it belongs, somewhere so it doesn't dominate but it is still available if we start to slack. Fear can and will if allowed to get in the way of your

Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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More Posts in this series:

#1 Why Prepare

#2 The Preparedness Mindset

#3 Priorities List

#4 Getting to My Family

#5 The Backpack

#6 Food Storage

#7 Basic Energy

#8 Water
#9 Security
#10 Medical
#11 Travel and Communications
#12 Fuel Storage
#13 Keep It Quiet aka OPSEC
#14 Building Community and Helping Others
#15 Skill Development (Home)
#16 Don't Fear the Reaper

#17 A Case for Long-Term Preparedness

Affiliate Link Disclosure: The post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation for links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations for any products mentioned on this blog. Any time you use one of our links for Amazon, if you purchase something The Rural Economist receives a small commission and it doesn't cost you any more. Even if you do not purchase the items I list. In this way you will help support us trying to teach people about self reliance and homesteading. Thanks for your consideration.

Getting Prepared for Beginners #15 Skill Development (Home)

Special thanks to Brenda Barnes, Kathi Rodgers, and
Quinton Wojciechowski for providing photos for this post.

You may be thinking "Why is skill development important for a short term emergency?"  I actually hope you are not thinking that. If you are, just remember you will be asking help from people who are in the middle of the same emergency. I have been a member of a volunteer fire department. When the call comes out you really want to answer. But if something is going on at your house that needs your attention, you are not going to go. This is not being a poor first responder, this is being a responsible father or husband or mother or wife. You cannot expect someone to come to your aid if doing so will endanger themselves, their families, or their property.

Skill development is something you want to do in advance. You do not want to have to learn to run a chainsaw when the tree is already on your house. I know this seems like an extreme example, but it's not and you get the point.

So what skills should you learn? Oh I am so glad you asked.

First Aid and CPR

There is a valid argument to be made for every parent to know CPR. I am not going to cover this in depth. My wife is much more qualified than I and will be writing a full post in the near future. I am just going to share a story.

My grandfather was the fire chief at the local volunteer fire department. As a result every member of my family had a role in the department. My aunt and uncle were rapid responders. A rapid responder is kinda like a medic or advanced first aid person.

I don't remember how old I was but I do remember it was Father's Day. A call went out about a heart attack. We were all at my grandparents' and the address was only a couple miles away. We took off. When we arrived at the home a man was laying in the front yard. My aunt and uncle started CPR.  His adult children were standing around as my family tried to save their dad's life. He didn't make it. At the time I thought it awesome that these people needed my family to try to save theirs. Now I realize that if they had started CPR sooner they might have been able to save his life. Yes CPR IS VERY important.

If you would like to find out where you can become CPR certified you can search for classes HERE.

Building 

These skills are not as glamorous as first aid skills but are just as important and to be honest more likely to be needed.

Skills that at least one if not two people in your family should have include:

• Being able to shut off the utilities
• Being able to tarp a roof to prevent leaking and further damage to your home.
• Being able to board up windows.

We will cover each of these topics.

Electricity. You should at least know how to shut off the power. Depending on your service box you could have two different ways to shut off your power. The most common way to shut off the power is at the breaker box.

Inside the box you will see a large breaker. It will be by itself. Just switch it to off. That is it. Now doing this shuts off the power to the entire house. You can also shut off the power to certain sections of your house. Hopefully your breaker box is labeled. If it is you can just choose which circuits to shut off. If it is not labeled, no problem you can label it yourself.

If you have an older home you may have a fuse box instead of a breaker box. That is not really a problem. The concept is still the same. There will be a large double fuse by itself, either above or below it will be rows of small round fuses. The large fuse will have a handle on it. You will need to pull this fuse out in order to shut off the power to your entire home. To shut off power to individual circuits you will need to unscrew one of the smaller (normally glass) fuses. Just like in a breaker box each circuit should be labeled.

Reasons you might need to turn off the power include: Doing any work that involves an electric circuit. Damage to your home that might cause a short (one room damaged). Flooding of your home or a really bad leak (roof damage).

Water. Shutting off the water is pretty simple. You will have a water meter between your home and the main line. This will not apply if you are on well water or live in an apartment. If you are on well water I hope you are familiar with your system. If you are in an apartment there should be a maintenance person who is charged with this duty.

Your meter will be in a concrete or rubber box. Inside that box you will see the meter. The shutoff will be on the street side of that meter. It normally only takes a quarter turn clockwise to shut off the water. This cuts the water to the entire house. It is a good idea to have shutoff valves in every bathroom and each sink.

Here is the meter tool I mentioned in the video.

Natural Gas or Propane. If your home uses natural gas or propane every member of your family that is old enough to do so, should know how to shut off the gas. If your home is damaged this knowledge could keep a bad situation from turning into a true catastrophe. If something has happened which has caused a gas leak, the slightest spark could be devastating.

Shutting off the gas to your home is just as simple as shutting off the other utilities. Just a turn of a knob. If you do not think about it ahead of time you probably won't think about it when you need to. Being able to shut off gas lines is very important.

Most gas companies and even modern gas appliances have safety features that make gas leaks less likely, but this knowledge could be the difference between a bad situation and a total loss.

Boarding up Windows

By now you know me. I am not talking about protecting your home from zombies. I believe it is much more likely for a tree to knock a window out of your house. Once you remove the tree you will need to do something about that window. If you are rural and it is not during the blazing hot summer or hard cold winter you may be able to get away with just using plastic to prevent critters and weather from getting in your home. If you live in an area where looting is a possibility you will need to do something more substantial. Enter boarding up your windows.

There are several ways to board your windows.

The most common way is take boards or plywood and nail it up. Easy right? Also fairly easy to tear down if you have a pry bar.

There is another more secure way to board up a window, but it takes advanced planning and at least two people. Here are the steps and supplies needed. 

1. Cut treated plywood to at least 4 inches larger than window opening.
2. Cut a 2X4 at least 6 inches longer than the window is wide on the inside of the house.
3. Open window wide open and figure out where to drill a hole as close to the center of the plywood as possible. Hole will need to be about 3/8 of an inch.
4. Also drill a 3/8 hole in the center of the 2X4
5. You will need a 12 inch piece of all thread 2 nuts and 2 fender washers for each window.
6. One person holds the plywood in place and feeds the all thread through the hole with a fender washer and nut already started.
7. The person on the inside makes sure the all thread goes through the hole on the 2X4 places the washer on the all thread and then tightens the nut. 

I pulled this picture from Amazon, but you should be able to find this locally.

This will hold the plywood in place and will protect against most of the elements, but it is still not "zombie proof". It could be made so, but that would require tack welding, a cotter key and a drill press. If someone really wanted to get in all they would need would be a wrench, but if you had a tree come through a window, this would be the best way to keep the elements out of your home.

Tarping a Roof

Like so many things there is a couple of right ways and a ton of wrong ways to tarp a roof. The reason you would need to tarp a roof could be as simple as a few shingles have blown off and you are trying to prevent leaking that might occur or a whole section of shingles are missing and leaking will occur. Of course there is always the scenario where not only are shingles missing, but some of the decking of your roof is also gone. In the last two situations tarping your roof is a necessity. 

I know you could always call a carpenter or repair person, but remember when you need them in situations like this several others are calling them as well. You could be way down on the list. The longer you wait to put into place preventative measures the greater the likely damage to your home.

If done incorrectly tarping your roof can actually increase the damage caused. When you put a tarp on your roof you are trying to keep moisture from getting to your decking. If the tarp allows moisture to get to the decking it also interferes with your decking's ability to dry out. 

If at all possible the tarp should go across the ridge line of your roof. This helps prevent water from just running under the tarp. If you cannot have the tarp cross the ridge line of your roof you should use either a 1x2 or furring strip the hold the tarp as tight as possible then caulk the upper edge and the edge that is the direction where most of your weather comes from. Around here our strongest storms tend to come from the southwest. Ensure the tarp is as tight as possible and use either 1x2 or furring strips around the whole perimeter. The pictures below are of a tarp job done well.

Special thanks to Brenda Barnes for these photos.

Storm damage can happen to anyone at any time. Knowing these basic skills will help you protect your family and property.

I wish you all Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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You can like The Rural Economist on Facebook follow on The Rural Economist on Gplus. Or you can even follow The Rural Economist on Pintrest. We now have a YouTube channel and are doing a series on wild edible and medicinal plants. Hope on over and check them out, oh and don't forget to subscribe.

More Posts in this series:

#1 Why Prepare

#2 The Preparedness Mindset

#3 Priorities List

#4 Getting to My Family

#5 The Backpack

#6 Food Storage

#7 Basic Energy

#8 Water
#9 Security
#10 Medical
#11 Travel and Communications
#12 Fuel Storage
#13 Keep It Quiet aka OPSEC
#14 Building Community and Helping Others
#15 Skill Development (Home)
#16 Don't Fear the Reaper

#17 A Case for Long-Term Preparedness

Affiliate Link Disclosure: The post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation for links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations for any products mentioned on this blog. Any time you use one of our links for Amazon, if you purchase something The Rural Economist receives a small commission and it doesn't cost you any more. Even if you do not purchase the items I list. In this way you will help support us trying to teach people about self reliance and homesteading. Thanks for your consideration.

The Personal Economy Revisited and Expanded

Two years ago I wrote this article as a way of sharing what our aunt went through and the advice I gave her. It  first was written when I first started this blog and as a result was not seen by many people. I had a conversation the other day that brought this back to mind. So I am re sharing with expansion. I hope you enjoy.

The Original post with grammar changes to make it past tense.

My wife's aunt lost her husband to cancer in February of 2012.  Some ,hopefully, well meaning friends were basically trying to take over her finances and trying to make decisions on her behalf when it came to the possessions of her late husband.  She was really torn up emotionally over selling his car and now then were pushing her to sell other personal items that he held dear. One of these friends had even gone so far as to take items and have them appraised, without her permission. I fear this happens far more often than we realize. 

I was talking to a gentleman this week that was going through a similar situation. His wife had died and his children were pushing him to sell many of their mother's possessions. Once again, I think they meant well, but this is not the way things should be done. In both of these situations neither of the surviving spouses really needed an inflow of cash. Both spouses that passed had life insurance that was able to cover burial expenses and more. 

So why were they being pushed to get rid of their spouses' things? In my aunt's situation I honestly think one of the people pushing liquidation wanted several of the items. I would not put it past him to sell several items and keep a couple, you know as a fee. I do not think this was the children's motivation or strongly encouraging their father. I think they saw it as an opportunity to get rid of things before their dad died too so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

FYI Two years after my aunt's husband passed away his office still looks like he just walked out and will be back any moment. My aunt has found peace by still having a lot of his things around. Time is what people need. No one should force a person to get rid of things. If a person wants to create a shrine for the one they loved they should be able to do so.

The advice I gave both was this. When you get ready to start selling or giving away your spouses things, I don't want you to just let people take them. I want you to take each item in your hands, physically touch each piece. Then ask yourself these questions; Do I need this? Do I want this? Will I be sorry if this is gone? If you cannot answer no to all three of these questions, you are not ready to give up that item yet.

Talking to her got me thinking. Why don't I modify these questions and apply them to my everyday life. The modified questions would look something like this. Do I need this? Do I want this? If I want this, why? Will it improve my quality of life or make me more productive? Will this item make me more secure? Will this item help me grow as a person? If I cannot answer yes to at least two of these questions I will not purchase the item.

Any time we are thinking about making a large purchase, my wife and I talk about it. We  research the item. We see if we can get the same or similar items somewhere else for a better price or at the same price with a better warranty or of better quality. In the process we are waiting. No purchase of a sizable amount should be made on impulse. Time should pass so you can be sure that this item is what you really want.

What is a sizable purchase? Well that depends. If you are a multimillionaire, you might have to make it all the way up to the price of a car before it would be considered a sizable purchase. If you are living on a limited budget you may have to think before spending $50.00 on a used dehydrator. It is all a matter of scale. There will always be the "Well, if I wait someone else may buy it." Yup, that is true. But you can only spend money once. As soon as it has left your hand it is no longer yours. You are no worse off if you do not get the dehydrator.

Honestly, if we all ask ourselves these questions how many things would we not purchase? How much better would our personal economies be?

On another note - sometimes a person's death spurs people to action. My grandfather died this past April. Both my wife and I wrote posts about him and our family after his death. His death served as a wake up call for several members of my family. He had taught all of us, my whole life anyway to be as self sustainable as possible. When he died he left a hole in our family. My dad and step mom moved in with my grandmother to help her cover expenses and to take care of her. Dad retired and has gone to farming full time and doing a fairly good job of it. He is teaching everyone he can how to take care of themselves by taking care of the land and so am I. 

My grandfather knew he was dying. Before he went into the hospital for the last time he started handing out things. He did this to make sure that who he wanted to have something was the one who got that item. I have so many things that I cherish that my grandfather gave me and I would not try to begrudge any of my family of the things he gave them. If you find yourself in a situation similar, remember to think of what the person who has gone would have wanted, but also remember the ones who are still here are the ones that are hurting. 

Other Posts you might enjoy:

I hope this post has given you something to think about and I hope it finds you well. May God grant you your 

Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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