This Blog has a mission statement and it is: To provide encouragement and support for women who are homemakers or who are seeking and desiring to expand and strengthen their roles as homemakers in their families; to encourage women in their spiritual journeys so that they can have a positive effect on their husbands and their families; to encourage women who are taking a traditional and Biblical role in their home in the face of this world; to provide a source of education and enlightenment; to provide cooking and kitchen tips; to share the joy in raising children; to share the joy and passion in loving your husband; to glorify and magnify God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The people behind that mission are …
Gregg is Hallee’s brilliant, amazing, wonderful husband. He is also her favorite person in the world. He is the spiritual head of the family and deeply devoted to God. Over the last eight years, he has delved in and studied and learned and ultimately become an expert in scientific Creationism. Gregg enjoys taking over this blog on most Sundays and posting fascinating tidbits about scientific Creationism. He is extremely analytical, and as such tackles problems layer by layer until there is simply no problem or question left. He is a computer consultant by day, with a string of letters like MCSA, MCSE, MCTS, MCDBA, ITIL, CISSP, and dozens more, following his name. He is also a veteran of the Gulf War, a veteran of the War on Terror, and still serves in the National Guard.
Hallee is a follower of a Christ and a child of God. She loves and respects her husband passionately, and strives to make his home a beacon of comfort and love in this violent world. She has three amazing children, whom you will read about below.Once a professional woman in suits and heels six days a week, her life now is a bit unconventional. She’s an advocate for the Titus 2 model of a womanhood. Research has taught her how horribly unhealthy the food sitting on grocery shelves is for her family, and Hallee has made it a personal commitment to make as much as she possibly can from scratch, using wholesome and whole real food ingredients. She grinds flour, bakes bread, makes cookies and cakes, makes crackers, salad dressings…if it can be made, she finds a way to make it, keeping the constraints of their family’s devotion to following a Levitcal diet.
Hallee loves to serve others, and volunteers once a week at a fundraising activity that supports the Glen Eden Youth Center in Central Kentucky. Hallee also writes Christian romances and has three fiction books and one cookbook out. You can read more about her writing here.
And she’s a blogger. Which is why we’re all together here.
Gregg and Hallee are one. Their marriage has been through the fire, and has come out refined and stronger than ever. Together they read books on marriage, relationships, and love. They watch seminars, do workbooks, and read the Bible. They’ve learned how men tick, how women think, and why some marriages can survive the worst of nightmares. They are here together only through the intervention of the Holy Spirit, and they enjoy mentoring younger couples with the wisdom that they’ve gleaned over their years of research. They are raising their children to be warriors for Christ, children of God, and dedicated workers for His kingdom. They will encourage their children in work and in ministry that glorifies God, and to discover and use the gifts God has given them. They pray every night that their children find spouses with the same love and commitment.
Kaylee is the quintessential teen girl. She loves clothes, shoes, texting, and designer purses. Checking her internet search history, you’ll find specifications on the latest hot new cell phone as well as the newest styles coming from Coach, LTD. She is an avid volleyball player, high school junior with straight A’s, and wants to be an attorney. She is brilliant, wise beyond her years, and has such a heart for people that her mama worries that it will be broken time and time again with the life that is out there.
She also loves Jesus Christ with all of her heart. She desires to be pleasing to Him, and accepts the limitations that her family places on media and entertainment. She is a good friend, an alpha personality who takes charge of her various cliques, and who loves to eat. Which makes her mama happy, because her mama loves to cook.
Scott is an extremely precoscious 7-year-old. He questions everything, likes to take things apart, zones into his own world, and plays with an imagination that astounds his parents. He is very comfortable in his own skin, knows he is loved and runs with it, and plays and has fun in his own way. He is all boy, from throwing dirt clods to driving a toy bulldozer through his mama’s houseplants. He is also the first one in the kitchen to help cook, and will stop whatever he’s doing and come running to the rescue whenever he hears the big Kitchenaid mixer fire up.
His trusty sidekick and security blanket, Lightning McQueen is never far from his side. His favorite super hero is Veggie Tales’ Larry Boy, and his favorite color is green. Since Larry Boy is a cucumber, likely that is the source for the color fave.
Johnathan or “Jeb” is a gentle soul whose feelings get hurt very quickly. He is very loving, but also very needy. A friend said if she could bottle Jeb’s smile and sell it, the world would be a better place. It is already a better place, simply by his existence.
As an infant, Johnathan could only be soothed by Hallee or Gregg, and needed soothing quite often. He hero worships his older brother, and follows Scott wherever he goes, saying the same thing, doing the same thing. His big brother is awesome, too, and only encourages – never condemns, never puts down, and hasn’t yet realized that his powers could be used for evil instead of good.
He loves airplanes and anything to do with balls — football, basketball, baseball, soccer ball — whatever. He’s left handed, so his daddy teases him about building his baseball pitching muscles. His favorite super hero is Superman, and he runs through the house with his Superman action figure humming the theme song from the original cartoons.
That’s our family.
We seek the Lord God’s will in our lives in all things.
We pray that we walk on paths of righteousness.
We sincerely desire to bless you in your faith walk.
God Bless!
love it!! You rock Hallee!!!
Found your sweet blog on MPM. I love to find other blogs that are “family friendly” and respect God and honor our military folks. I strive to always do the same on my blog; please visit!
I love that you live by a levitical diet. I have been trying to implement that in my families diet, but I struggle when it comes to my husband. He very much likes pork and it is hard to sway him from that. Hpwever he doesnt complain if I subsitute his pork sausage or bacon for turkey so I do that as often as possible. I love to read blogs about families who truely love God and live their lives for him.
I found your blog when researching the Levitical diet. I am attempting to implement this in our home and wanted some advice. God absolutely led me to the right spot! It is so wonderful to find a sister in Christ who is raising her children to love God and serve Him with their lives! It is not often enough that I encounter women who are truly “Not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ”! Thank you for your blog!
I’m so happy you found my blog. Thank you for such kind words of encouragement!
Hallee
Very cool family Hallee. I hope to be like you one day: A homemaker who grinds her own grain and makes everything from scratch. I’m still a ways off, but I also love to be healthy, and my husband is also my favorite person in the world! He sounds a lot like YOUR husband, actually :)
Thanks for sharing so much of your life with others. I look forward to reading more from you!
xo Esther
Hallee, I would like to add your button to my blog, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Would you mind taking a look at it? Thanks! I definitely want to help promote your blog!
You have alluded many time to a dark time in your marriage and then everything turned around and became great. I know that is very personal stuff, and I have only been following your blog for about 1 year, but I am wondering if you have written about it in more detail before or will in the future?
I love your blog and I always walk away feeling like I want to try harder, do better and that with God’s help I will be able to have my own “turn around.”
I have never written about the details of our dark time. My thoughts are, my details were specific to my marriage, and my relationship with Gregg. I could get bogged down in the details.
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Someone else might have different details but exactly the same darkness, the same brokenness, the same feelings. What I did to work through mine, how we worked through our marriage, what strengthened us to where we are right now – I think that is more important that the details.
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However, we have talked about whether we will ever talk about the details, and we haven’t decided yet. If we do, it will be done very prayerfully.
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Thank you so much for your encouragement.
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Hallee
I find the role you play sad! There is so much more to life than being a homemaker and mom. Plus why would you want man to be above you? He should be beside you and a partner!
Lisa, thank you for your comment. I understand that this may be difficult to understand because we live in a very secular and very feminized culture. But if you have read anything beyond this single page, then you realize that I’ve been a single working woman, and a working mom, and a working single mom after my first husband and I divorced. None of those “roles” provided the complete intellectual, physical, and spiritual richness that working toward make a HOME for myself and my family provides on a daily basis.
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Also, I do not have “a man” above me as if some random male presence were subjugating and oppressing me. I am deeply blessed in that I have a husband and I am his wife. My husband works unbelievably hard. He has repeatedly demonstrated his love for me and our children by his willingness to sacrifice on levels that I can assure you most selfish WOMEN in this culture would not even contemplate.
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We are not partners. We are not beside each other. We are ONE. We are unified in purpose and each very comfortable in our roles.
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I pray God can reveal all of the levels of meaning in this prayerfully considered response and I wish you the very best.
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God Bless,
Hallee
Thank you so much for your devotion to this blog and sharing the wisdom that God has given you as a woman of her home. I was searching for a ‘Panera Bread Bowl recipe’ and stumbled upon your blog. I follow other homemaking blogs too, but am now also very interested in yours as well. You have yet another new reader to add to your quadrupled numbers. May the Lord bless you for your efforts and love.
Love,
Courtney
Question for cold pack dill pickles. You said to use rock salt or canning salt, I have Kosher and SeaSalt, are these acceptable and do I need to use grape or horseraddish leaves or can they be ommitted? Thanks for your help and god bless.
This is what I found researching an answer for you:
Coarse kosher salt – Kosher salt is preferred over table salt for canning and pickling. Like pickling salt, kosher salt is free of iodine, which can react adversely with certain foods. Some brands of kosher salt contain yellow prussiate of soda, an anti-caking agent, but unlike the anti-caking additive in table salt, it doesn’t cloud pickling liquids. The only drawback to using kosher salt for pickling or canning is that the grains are coarser and flakier, and can’t be packed as tightly into a measuring cup as pickling salt. This raises the risk that the salt won’t be properly measured. To get around this problem, measure by weight instead of volume. Since it’s not as dense as pickling salt, you’ll need to use more, but how much more varies by brand:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of Morton Kosher Salt = 1 cup Morton Canning & Pickling Salt. For other brands, it’s best to measure by weight rather than volume.
As for the grape leaves or horseradish leaves, without them, the pickles may not be as crisp.
Hallee, how exciting about your cookbook. What a great “recipe” for a Christian cookbook, with a little wry humor for seasoning! I published a cookbook/devotional back in 2006, and enjoy seeing the Christian cookbook author represented in our culture. God bless, and wishing you all the best,
Jen
PS Love your website too!
Thank you so much!
Performing a search on how to pasteurize an egg, I stumbled upon your blog. I am, like you, deeply concerned for the food on the shelves of the grocery store. My wife and I are trying to transition our family from one that is reliant on the grocery store food to being a bit more self sustaining. From your point of view, what tips or pointers can you give for a family really trying to be a bit more self sufficient? Is there one thing we should perfect first and then move on to the next? What’s an easy food item to make from home? By the by, we are all relatively healthy individuals as we try to eat less of the processed foods; however, we still want to transition away from a dependence on the grocery store and more on the land…
The first thing we did was remove high fructose corn syrup from our diet. From there, we removed processed soy and hydrogenated oils. After that, everything just kind of fell into line with a whole food diet.
As far as food preparation, I just tackled one thing at a time — bread, pasta, rice pilaf, broth…Once it became the norm for me to make one thing homemade, I went ahead and picked something else.