The Cook Family Homestead
EPHESIANS 3:20-21
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We Bought A Basket Factory!

4/25/2024

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Well it's been a minute since my last blog (about 2 months). And boy have we been busy! We have been excited to share the news we have hinted about for the past 5 or 6 months. We bought a basket factory!

So, what is a basket factory? We make wooden baskets for farm/home use. Mostly for agriculture such as bushels, half bushels, 2, 4 and 8 quart baskets. We make them right from the log! 

Here is our story on how we became owners of the basket factory. Our official name is Greenfield Basket Manufacturing, LLC. 

The factory is located about 5 minutes from our Homestead in a little town called Little Hope. It is very rural. The factory was started back in 1933. Our son worked there through high school so we had gotten to know the owners well. During this time, through talking with them, they made it known that they were getting ready to retire. They had owned it for the past 30 years. 

As we talked, Janel and I really felt prodded by the Lord to make an offer on the factory. After looking over the books, we were very surprised at the amount of business they did. There is unlimited work. We are one of only 3 wooden basket manufacturers left in the United States. 

After some back and forth negotiating, we finally struck a deal! And on March 14th of this year, we signed the papers and purchased the factory! What a true blessing. 

These first 6 weeks have flown by and we have been blown away at the amount of orders we have already delivered. And this is our slow time! We had set a goal for April and we have over doubled it already. God has been amazing. 

One of the things we have set out to do first, is to honor the Lord with our business. We will be supporting 4 different ministries that we have felt led to support financially. We will keep the details private, but that is our first priority. We have dedicated this business to our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Secondly, we are looking forward to working together as a family! My son has started this week as he left his other job and Janel works for a few hours a day in the office. I run the factory every day. Right now we have 7 employees, but will be fully staffed with 10 by next month as we have some people starting in May. That was a huge blessing! We have people wanting to come work with us!

I will be putting out a lot of videos on the process of making a basket. It is very interesting and it has been amazing so far. We are thankful for the wonderful mercies of our Most High God! 

Please follow our new Facebook Page HERE and check out a couple video shorts I did on our YouTube channel of making baskets HERE! 

And if you need any baskets....you know where to get them! God bless y'all! -Steve

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Are We Really Free?

2/24/2024

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I've always loved studying history, especially as I've gotten older. Not just our own history here in the USA, but human history. I've always found it interesting that history always repeats itself. Humans always do the same thing. 

Here in the United States, freedom and liberty is something that we "supposedly" strive for. But are we really free? Think about what true freedom is. What liberty is. Are you free?

Sure, we enjoy a lot of freedoms that other countries do not. But not by leaps and bounds anymore. We have allowed ourselves to be shackled and enslaved. Think about the freedoms we enjoyed just a little over 100 years ago in our country.

Back then we could hunt and fish without permission from the government. We could own firearms without begging for permission. We could get married, own our own land, build on our own land, grow our own food and sell it, keep almost all of our wages, buy and sell freely, travel without restriction, start a business, and school our own children. 

Now we have to ask government for our God given rights. We have to pay a fee to the "crown" for these things. How far we have fallen.

Our elections are corrupt. Our politicians are corrupt.  Our courts are unjust. Our judges are wicked. We are taxed beyond what our Founders could have ever imagined.

Our once beautiful cities are now crime infested jungles. Our borders are wide open. Look what this nation has become. 

Our founders laid out one of the greatest blueprints for freedom. The Constitution. Derived from Scripture and a dependence on the Creator. They knew true freedom can only come from God. They knew without an appeal to heaven, we would lose freedom. They knew this from experience. 

They came from a land where monarchy ruled. The king ruled.

So here we are. A couple hundred years later. ONLY a couple hundred years later. We've taken this freedom we were given and have exchanged it for a king.

The tyranny we escaped from 200 years ago, we have ran right back to. 

In our arrogance, we have kicked out God from the public square. We pridefully have taken credit for this once great nation. And in our pride, we have lost all that we were given....freedom. We have given it away and become slaves. 

Governments ALWAYS oppress their people. Always. Throughout the annuls of human history, this has always been the case. It is the case throughout the world today and we see it playing out here in America. Like I said, history repeats itself.  

The flag An Appeal To Heaven was a flag flown by the early colonists in their resistance to the British King. It was flown on our ships and used in battle. It's purpose was just as the words indicated, and appeal to heaven for the mercies of God.

We need to fly this flag again. But this time in resistance to our own government. We need to appeal to heaven for our nation to turn back to God in repentance. To seek out His mercy and to restore freedom. 

Without Gods mercy we will continue down the path of slavery, and eventually destruction. We need to wake up. A few people can change the world. Strive for liberty. Strive for freedom. Pray to God for mercy on our nation.

Join me in standing for Freedom. -Steve


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Fire Rebuild Update ~ Garage

2/12/2024

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As many of you know, we had a fire in April of last year (2023). We lost our barn, all of our animals, tractor, implements, our garage and all our tools, and part of the shed. It was devastating. But God has been faithful and we praise His name!

I haven't done an update for a while, so I thought I would do an update on the garage. It has been rebuilt and we love it! I did a video tour of it....check it out below. 

Our barn is almost complete. I will try to do an update on the barn this weekend. We should be able to put the cement in for the floor in the spring, hopefully by June. It all depends on the weather. 

Thanks for checking in and watch the video tour of our garage! -Steve

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Homestead Updates ~ VLOG

2/10/2024

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Some updates around the Homestead. Check out our latest video. God bless! 
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Coffee Blog! (And some Coffee ASMR)

2/4/2024

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I'm going a little off topic today. I thought I would share a quick blog/vlog post on how I make my coffee. I love coffee!

I don't make it this way every time as it takes a good 30 mins or so to make, but this is my favorite way.

I love coffee in a percolator. There is just something about it that makes it taste better.

Here is how I make mine and make sure to check out the video at the bottom to see a short video of me making my morning coffee!

First, I pour in 6 cups of water (filtered). I then put in a regular coffee filter in the top part. Percolators can be used without a filter, but it gets more coffee grounds in the pot if you don't use a regular filter.

I like grinding my coffee beans. My favorite coffee is Tim Hortons whole bean, medium roast. You can get a bag HERE. 

I use one tablespoon of coffee for each cup of water. So with 6 cups of water, I use 6 tablespoons of ground coffee. I then put on the stove on high. Once it starts percolating, I let it go for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, I take it off the burner and let it sit for 5-8 minutes. It is VERY hot. This gives any grounds that made it into the percolator a chance to settle to the bottom. 

After that, slowly pour a cup and enjoy! This will give you about 3 or 4 regular coffee cups. 

​Below are some links to my percolator and coffee grinder if you are interested. 

​Percolator - click HERE
Grinder - click HERE

Thanks for checking in and enjoy my Coffee ASMR video! -Steve 

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Be Resolved.

2/3/2024

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Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! -Isaiah 5:20

I was reading an article yesterday about a state senator in Oklahoma who was calling for the banning of pornography. It was interesting seeing the responses. He was quickly ridiculed and made fun of on many of the late night talk shows. Social media pundits were mocking him. News outlets were making fun of him. Politicians and celebrities were laughing at him.

That is expected. What's really surprising is the lack of support from Christians. Or those "conservatives" out there. There were a few posts supporting him scattered around on X (Twitter), but for the most part, the overwhelming sentiment was mocking and ridiculing.

I've come to realize over the past few years that we are now a secular nation. The majority of politicians are corrupt and outright evil. Both parties. The public schools and universities are pumping out God hating rebels and destroying the faith of millions of kids that pass through.

You see, to most people, pornography isn't a big deal. Do what makes you happy, right? Selling your body for sex....who cares? It's your body, do what you want with it.

Decades ago when I first started studying the Bible, I always wondered how a nation as blessed as Israel would so quickly turn against God and run towards immorality. How could a nation that was given such abundance, peace, and grace, so quickly reject the God that gave it to them?

We see the answer to that playing out right before our eyes. Man is depraved. Left without Christ, we see the depths of utter evil that humanity will sink to. It's played out over and over throughout history.

America has been blessed. Most people my age and younger have lived in comfort. The supermarket shelves are full, plenty of medicine, and there isn't war in the streets. We've lived abundantly. God has blessed us.

That is VERY rare in the annuls of human history.

I love history. It is something that you can learn from. It is something that we should learn from. Unfortunately humans rarely do.

There will come a day when we will look back and see how good we had it. We had freedom and liberty but we forgot where it came from. We lived with abundance. But we forgot where it came from. We had peace. But we forgot where it came from. It all came from God.

We rejected Gods beautiful gift of a union between a man and a woman and embraced immorality. Anyone can have sex with anyone. We destroyed the family unit in the name of tolerance. And then we celebrated our immorality. We paraded through the streets and made a month to celebrate it! Those who disagreed were publicly ridiculed and made out to be narrow minded bigots.

We killed our children. In the womb. At first, it was in secret. Then it was public. Now it is celebrated. We brag about killing our children in the womb. We threw parties. We made videos on social media telling the world how wonderful it is.

The Bible was a book with some good stuff in it, but it's just a suggestion. God was whoever you wanted Him to be. First it was a few people, then we taught this to our children in public schools and university, then politicians instituted it in government, and finally the pulpit. Gay pastors....who cares right? Preach on sin? Absolutely not. Of course there isn't a hell. God loves everyone. It's all about tolerance and love.

Hatred and bitterness grew in our hearts. We forgot about God and His mercy and grace. We forgot about forgiveness. Instead we raged against our fellow man in our disagreements. We hated each other. Truth didn't matter. Our love had grown cold.

Families split up. Churches divided and fell. Political walls were put up. We divided ourselves by the color of our skin. No compromise. We became selfish and bitter. We devoured each other in our hatred. We killed each other over sports teams. We delighted in the deaths of those we disagreed with. We cheered the destruction of America because she was evil.

​We had forgotten.

History has repeated itself. We've forgotten God. And we are paying the price.

But there is hope! There is peace in hard times. There is a Rock in times of trouble. There is a Savior and His name is Jesus Christ! He is still saving lives. Cling to Him.

Let us be resolved in our faith. Hard times are coming. You must be resolved to follow Christ. (see short video below). Be in prayer. Read your Bible. Obey what it says. Don't forget what Christ has done for you!

God is still on His Throne and I take comfort in that! -Steve




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Reflecting On 2023

12/26/2023

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Heading into a new year always brings a time of reflection on the past year as well as goals for the coming new year. One thing that 2023 taught me was that I am NOT in control of everything. God is. 

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

-Isaiah 55:8-9

As many of you know, we had a fire in April that destroyed our barn and garage. We lost all our animals. Chickens, rabbits, goats and sheep. It was devastating. We lost our tractor and all our implements. A lifetime of tools. My small welding shop. All gone in a couple hours. 

It was a tough year to say the least. But God has restored. We have rebuilt the barn and garage. We have replaced the tractor (see video below). We have replaced a ton of tools. God has been good to us. 

We are still waiting on putting concrete in the barn. That will happen in the spring. We had to move a bunch of dirt in to build the new barn and the builders recommended we wait until spring to complete the floor. Once that is done, we can build new stalls and finally start raising animals and livestock again! We can't wait.

The day we bring our first animals into the new barn will be quite emotional. It will be incredible. We plan on having some friends and family over to celebrate with us. There will be lots of tears of joy. 

2023 also gave me a new outlook on life. Janel and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary. (see pic from our getaway). I started a new job this year. We grew our garden and had an incredible harvest this year. God brought so many wonderful people into our lives. We grew closer to our neighbors. I praise God for some of these changes that needed to happen.

I must confess that before the fire, I had become quite pessimistic towards people and society in general. I  thought the worst of everyone and everything. I wasn't depressed or anything, but I was pretty much convinced that most people were evil, so let's just live in our little bubble and let a few people in and that's good enough. 

Tragedy really forces you to get out of your comfort zone. When you lose control, there is an internal panic that makes you realize that you can't do it alone. That is tough for a man. Especially a prepper/modern homesteader like me. I'm used to solving the problems and making them right. I'm the one that gets stuff done. If there is an issue, I fix it. That's how it's always been.

Not this time. 

I am thankful for the Lord stretching me out of my comfort zone. I've learned to trust and lean on others more. I'm not even close to where I should be, but closer than where I was. It's a good start. 

So now we are getting ready to enter 2024. Wow did this year go fast. So now what? What are our plans?

​We do have a bunch of goals and plans for the Homestead. Finishing the barn, new animals/livestock, new greenhouse, new pastures....but we are giving these all to God. It is in His hands and we are good with that!

But there is one VERY BIG thing happening. 

We would ask you all to pray for us over the next month or so. We are taking a HUGE step out of our comfort zone. It is very exciting and we can't wait to share it with you. God has provided us with a very big opportunity and we are thankful. Your prayers would be an incredible blessing to us! Stay tuned....

So with that it's almost time to put a wrap on 2023. It was definitely a year of growth for me. It also gave me more of a positive outlook on the future. I'm looking forward to 2024. And I praise God for another year on the Homestead that He blessed me with. 

Have a Happy New Year everyone! God bless!
-Steve

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Christmas Didn't Go As Planned....

12/25/2023

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It is Christmas Evening here at the Homestead. Some of the kids are playing with their new toys the others are just laying around. Janel and I are relaxing and looking back at another wonderful Christmas! But this one didn't go as planned. 

This past Friday, (12/22) I started getting sick. By that evening I was in bed with a fever of over 102 and was completely down for the count. I was congested and my head was feeling like it was going to explode. This was not good heading into a weekend full of planned events at our home and visits to some of our families homes for Christmas. 

I lost my taste and smell and pretty much knew I had covid. I took a test and it was positive. Saturday I felt a lot better in the afternoon, and then went downhill in the evening and was miserable all day Sunday. It was a rough few days. To make matters worse, our 4 year old got very sick and is still down now. 

This evening I am still under the weather, recovering, I still have a small fever and little to no energy. It really threw a wrench into our Christmas plans. We were pretty bummed on Saturday evening when we began to realize that we were going to have to cancel plans for Christmas Eve at our house with family and plans for Christmas day at my in-laws. 

But I have to say, this turned out to be a great Christmas! I was unable to go to church, but Janel and most of the kids went (I stayed home with our sick 4 year old and our 2 year old). We were able to hang out just by ourselves all Christmas Eve. We woke up this morning, prayed together, read the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke and then I got the pure joy of watching the kids open their presents. 

There isn't much in this world that brings me more joy than seeing the faces of my wife and children when they open a gift. I could care less if I ever get another gift for Christmas, just let me see their faces and enjoy the blessing of watching them smile. It doesn't get much better than that. 

So as I'm sitting here tonight typing this, I am really thankful for this Christmas season. It put things back in perspective for me. Christmas is about the Babe in a manger. The One who came to save sinners like me. It's about joy. It's about sharing in that joy with family. And when it doesn't go your way, you can still have that joy. 

I can honestly say, I am filled with joy this evening. Even through the coughing and head pounding! God has blessed me this Christmas. More than I could have ever imagined. I praise His Mighty Name! 

Wherever you are, just know that Jesus came and you can be filled with Joy! 

Merry Christmas Y'all! -Steve

 
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13

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Prepping ~ Medical Preps (VLOG)

10/18/2023

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I thought I would start sharing some posts on preparedness. It is something that we think is very important and something everyone should be doing. Remember the three "B's".....Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids! 

That is to say, your food (beans), protection (bullets) and medical/hygiene supplies (band-aids). I think I'll do a 3-part series of posts with this one being the first and focusing on medical preps and what we do. Hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to start or add to your medical preps.

I'll also be doing a post on prepping from a Christian perspective. It will be the third post in the three part series. There are a lot of foolish things said about prepping in the Christian community. I will address them, not from a perspective of fear, but of wisdom. 

So, let's start this 3-part series with the first video below on medical preps!
Thanks for checking in.
-Steve

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Carry A Gun! (VLOG)

10/11/2023

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We live in turbulent times. A lot of civil unrest and turmoil not only around the world, but here in the United States. It is important to protect your family and yourself. Don't forget self defense is an important part of preparedness. 

It's not just food preparedness, or medical supplies. It's also about having a plan for the defense of your family and fellow citizens. 

Here is a link to the EDC bag I carry in the video below. Check it out HERE. 

Thanks for checking in! BE PREPARED!  -Steve

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No Farmers No Food (VLOG)

9/26/2023

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We watched the documentary No Farmers No Food last night. Very alarming. Below is a video vlog I made tonight of my thoughts. Everyone should watch this documentary. You can watch it HERE or click on the picture to link to the documentary.

It really reminded me to be diligent in my preparedness for what is coming! Check out my vlog below and God bless!   -Steve

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I'm Back!

8/4/2023

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I'm back to blogging again! 

I love to blog. It is something that I have done for many, many years. But the past year has been an extremely busy and challenging year. 

As many of you know, we had a devastating fire this past April. We lost our barn and all our animals. We lost our garage and a lifetime of tools. We lost our tractor and all our implements. It was absolutely crushing. I'll post the fire video below and my first video after the fire as well.

But.....the Lord was amazing. He has restored us more than we could have imagined. Our family, friends and neighbors were incredible. People we didn't even know showed up. Our church family was amazing. 

The whole process restored my faith in humanity. I was humbled and deeply moved by the love shown to us. 

Since then, we have rebuilt our barn and garage. We are not 100 percent done with the barn as we are waiting for the ground to settle so we can concrete the floor, but the garage is complete. The builder, an Amish crew that I knew very well, moved all their work so they could prioritize our barn and garage. It was amazing. 

Thank you just doesn't seem like it's good enough. Words don't seem good enough. We are full of gratitude and thankfulness. God has been good to us. He has blessed us and used many of you to carry out those blessings!

I'll be back to blogging more consistently as we continue on our journey to live more simply. We definitely feel more of an urgency to prepare for what's coming. We've made so much progress and can't wait to share a lot of those things with y'all. 

Along with more blogging, we will start posting more videos on YouTube. Follow us on our Facebook and YouTube pages by clicking on the icons on the top of the page. We do a lot on Facebook, including lots of giveaways from some of our channel sponsors (who were absolutely amazing through the fire). 

Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for our garden update coming soon! Our garden is incredible this year!

God bless Y'all! - Steve

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Homestead Life (And Update Vlog)

7/19/2022

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Life is busy! But it's a fun kind of busy. We have a list of never ending projects, but God has been very good to us, and we love this life!

Our garden is coming along nicely (except for the corn and peas). Our tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, blueberries, strawberries, lettuce and beans are all growing very well. We should get a good crop this year. 

We got a good amount of rain over the past couple days. It was very much needed! We weren't in drought conditions like a lot of the country, but it was still pretty dry out. It was nice to get a nice day of soaking rain. Our plants loved it. One of these days I'm going to have to do a video of before and after rain. They grown so fast after a good rain. 

We also got our meat chickens in this past week (see video below). We will be butchering them in about 8 weeks. Love raising our own food. Nothing better. We will be doing a video on chick to freezer on how to raise pasture raised chickens. It should be pretty good. Our last video on how to raise meat chickens from chick to freezer has over 2 million views on YouTube! 

Summer is in full swing here at the homestead. It is beautiful. It hasn't been too hot and has been very pleasant. We are looking forward to harvest and canning season as well as breeding our animals this fall. It's a wonderful time of year here. 

Archery season will be starting soon and I'm starting to get excited. I have a new stand that my dad gave me. It is a little taller than my other two stands. I will be doing a video on putting it up in the next couple of weeks. I've been getting a lot of videos of deer on my game cameras. I will definitely get a doe, but I'm going to be picky on shooting a buck. I was last year as well. Looking for a wall mounter! 

On a sad note, we had to put down one of our lambs as he was really hurt. It was very sad, but is part of raising animals on a farm. This one was particularly hard as it was something that shouldn't of happened. It was a fluke accident shortly after he was born and it just got worse. Unfortunately we let him go as long as we could. He was really suffering. 

Check out our new store page! Hit the SHOP tab above. We only have a handful of merch, but soon it will be full. Every purchase helps us out at the Homestead! 

Finally, if you haven't yet....give us a follow on our social media pages! We would love to have you along on the journey with us. Just hit one of the Icons on the top of the page and it will take you to our page. Thank you in advance! 

Check out our update video below and our baby chick video!

​Thanks for checking in and God bless Y'all! -Steve

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He Has Given Me The Desires Of My Heart.

6/27/2022

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I've been doing a lot of self reflection over the past few months. God has been extremely good to me. He has truly given me the desires of my heart. I can honestly say that. The Bible says in Psalm 37:4: 

   Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Life goes by very fast. We are almost half way through 2022 already. It seems it goes by faster the older I get. I know that isn't true, but it seems that the days and weeks go by quickly. And as I get older, the more time I spend in gratitude to the Most High God. 

From a wonderful marriage, to lots of children, to the beautiful Homestead that the Most High God has blessed me with, my heart is full of gratitude. It isn't anything that I did. It is truly from the Hand of the King. He has chosen to give me these things. And I praise His Mighty Name. 

So as I look back on the Goodness of God, I look forward as well. I have so many plans. I have so many goals. I want to see my kids grow up. I want grandkids. I am committing all these things to the Lord. I will trust in Him. I'm so thankful for His wonderful mercy and grace. 

I'll end with a question for y'all.....do you know Jesus? If not, send me a message and I'll tell you all about Him!

God bless - Steve
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Homestead Check-In!

4/11/2022

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It's been a whole month since my last blog post! Wow does time fly.

We've been busy preparing for the spring planting season here at the Homestead. We keep getting hit with snow. The weather has been very cold as well. Basically, it's a typical April here at the Homestead. Lot's of up and down temps, wet and muddy. 

​We will be gardening like our lives depend on it...literally!

It has been shocking to see the increase in food prices. it's actually scary. Some of the prices have doubled or tripled on common items that we have purchased for years. And the outlook is grim as well. It doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon. 

With the huge increase in costs to raise crops, it will affect everyone. Most don't realize the grains and other crops that are common in everyday foods.

If you can plant a garden, start this year. Being able to raise your own food or have renewable resources is a huge step to protecting against inflation and food shortages. 

Our prepper pantry is very well stocked. We've started adding other stuff that we wouldn't normally stock. We've added some emergency canned food. We've also done some taste tests on them and will be continuing doing them. Check out some of the recent videos below. Good stuff to have on the shelf! 

Lot's of projects scheduled for around the Homestead. Hopefully the weather starts getting better so we can start! Follow along with us on our journey! 

Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter. 

Thanks for checking in and watch the videos below! 

God bless! -Steve
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Fear God, Not Man and GET PREPARED!

3/10/2022

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“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” - Matthew 10:28

I love that Scripture. That verse is in the middle of a passage where Jesus is instructing His disciples on how to go about preaching the Gospel. He warns them of the persecution they will endure. And in the face of that, Jesus says the above verse. It is a reminder that we are to focus on Him and not man. 

We live in an unprecedented time in history. We have been extremely blessed. There is not much need in our land. Even among the poor in our country. Technology, medicine, food and money is abundant. We have much. Our generation has lived in much peace and prosperity, and haven't had to experience much war. 

This abundance has produced an entitled people. We feel we are "owed" everything that we have, or that we deserve it. We have forgotten where this abundance has come from. It is from the Creator of the universe. He has blessed this nation. But we have squandered it. 

We flaunt our wickedness and don't even hide it anymore. It is disgusting. We mock God. We laugh at His commands. We make fun of those who stand for righteousness. Churches are empty. Bibles collect dust on our shelves. 

In doing so, we have brought judgement upon ourselves. It is deserved. 

So what do we do now? 

First, we repent. We need to repent and turn to the Most High God and ask for His mercy. In our homes first, then in the church and then society. 

Unfortunately, I believe that part of the Most High God's righteous judgement is that He has given our society over to a reprobate or debased mind. He has lifted His restraint on evil and allowed us to sink into depravity. That is a sign of His judgement. (Read Romans 1)

As for me, I will never fear man. Never. I have chosen to serve the King of Kings. My life is His. 

We will prepare the best we can for the hard times coming. And they are coming. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 5:8:


"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

We have to provide for our families. The signs are everywhere. Get your households ready. Here is some practical advice. Prepare your hearts first, and then for the needs of your family. START NOW! 

We have been preparing for years. But most haven't. When you start your preparedness journey, think of the three "B's"...Beans, Bullets and Bandaids!

Focus on food, protection and medical supplies.

Part of medical supplies are your hygiene products. Hygiene is the best defense against disease and sickness. Soaps, cleaning products, toiletries, sanitation, etc.  

Get at least a weeks worth of food for your whole family immediately. And then build from there. It is easy to quickly build up some food over time. Put away grains. Sugars. Salts. Rice. Oats. Beans. These things can be purchased in bulk for decent prices and can be stored easily. Have a water source. This is critical. 

Protection/self defense. This is a Biblical principle and don't let anyone ever tell you it isn't. I may blog about the Biblical case for self defense someday. (Read a good article on the subject HERE.) I believe it is sinful for a man NOT to defend his family. But that is for another day. Guns are also good for many other things such as hunting, varmint control, and butchering. 

As we see society crumbling around us morally, don't fear! Do what you can and leave the rest to our Awesome God! He is in control. 

Fear God, Not Man! 

Thanks for checking in and God bless!
-Steve

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A Beautiful Life

2/28/2022

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As winter winds down here at the Homestead, we are looking forward to spring. It is beautiful here when spring rolls around. Seeing everything come alive again is amazing. Getting ready for growing season is always exciting!

Lately I've been doing a lot of reflection on life. For the past few years I have had such contentment and peace that it is hard to explain. God has given me the desires of my heart. I have a beautiful marriage and lots of children. 

As some of you know, almost 10 years ago we had decided to get some land and live a more simpler life. We wanted to produce a lot of our own food, work the land and raise a bunch of animals. The Lord miraculously provided our property that we have. We moved to our Homestead and started out with pretty much nothing. 

Fast forward to today and it has been an amazing ride. To see how the Good Lord has provided everything we needed and given us so much. It is from His hand. We owe it all to Him. What an awesome God we serve!

One of the things we wanted to commit to this year is to give more of ourselves to help others. We see a lot of hurting people out there and want to give, both financially and of our time, to others. This life is all about serving not being served. The Bible says in Acts 20:35:

 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

Those words of Jesus ring true. Giving is such a blessing. 

Below is our new channel trailer for 2022. I'm thankful for my friend Brandon for letting me use his amazing music for our video. Check out his Facebook page here. Great worship music. 

We thank the Most High God for this beautiful life he has given us. If you're reading this, seek after Him. Leave this world behind. Get out of the rat race and seek the simple things in life. Enjoy the land. There is a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that can only be found in Jesus. 

Thanks for following us on our journey! Check out our new channel trailer below and God bless! -Steve

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Snowy Homestead!

1/26/2022

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Snow came to the Homestead late this year. We didn't get our usual amount in November in December, but January is sure making up for it! And it has been very cold as well. 

Dealing with the bitter cold can be challenging when raising animals. You have to make sure you're on top of getting eggs from the chickens. As you can see from the picture of the egg I'm holding, it doesn't take long for them to freeze and crack when its in the single digits! I went out late in the evening a couple weeks ago and had to throw away a half dozen frozen eggs. 

Frozen water is also an issue. Below is a video I did on how we deal with frozen water issues here at the Homestead. When you have chickens, rabbits, sheep and goats, water is a big issue. 

I invested in a new snow plow for my truck and it has been amazing. For those of you who don't know, I totaled my 2005 Toyota Tacoma last spring. I hit a deer on the highway. I had a smaller plow that I had for the Tacoma that had been awesome over the past 6 years. 

After searching for a truck for over a month after my truck was totaled, I purchased a 2010 Nissan Titan off of a private seller. It was a good deal, but the plow off my Tacoma was too small for the Titan. So I had to invest in a new plow. I went with a Snow Dogg. I have been very happy with it. There is a huge difference plowing with a full sized truck and plow. I will be doing a video review on the plow this weekend. 

On another note, I'm getting over my second bout of Covid. The first time I got it back in May of 2021, it was rough. I don't ever remember being that sick in my life. It put me down for 9 days and took a couple months to fully recover. 

This last bout wasn't near as bad. Basically like a bad cold. I'm still dealing with the cough, but the worst was losing my taste and smell for the second time. I got it back after about a week, but that is horrible! 

Janel and I both got it twice. The good thing is it got us to concentrate more on our health. One of the reasons we wanted to get into modern homesteading was to raise a lot of our own food. We want to raise and grow a good portion of our vegetables and meat. Knowing how your food is raised/grown is priceless. There is nothing better than eating food that you raised. 

Including more fruits and vegetables in our diet is something we have really started to do and I have noticed the difference quickly. I've already dropped a few pounds (my goal is 25 lbs) and I just feel better. It's amazing what a small change can do. 

Finally, we are looking forward to spring as we have some excited projects here at the Homestead. Janel is already getting into gardening mode. I love the garden. We are expanding it this year for a couple reasons. First, we love gardening! Secondly, we want to give a bunch away this year to some who may not be able to garden or have the space we have. 

I will be finally fencing in all my corn. The deer have totally destroyed it every year for the past few years. I'm done with that. We fenced in all of our garden boxes (see video below) and it kept out the deer this year. But any of our gardens outside our fenced in area get hammered by the deer and rabbits. 

Thanks for checking in and reading our latest blog. Check out the videos below. 

Stay warm and God bless!  -Steve

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Mice Problem Solved! (A Cook Family Homestead Vlog)

1/3/2022

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Link to product in video - Click HERE. 
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Welcome 2022!

1/2/2022

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Well, 2022 has arrived here at the Homestead! I always get excited when the new year rolls around. I love goal setting. I always have. Not just for the new year, but in most everything I do. 2022 is no different!

​Janel and I actually accomplished more in 2021 than we set out to do. We have scaled back the projects for 2022, but we are looking forward to this year. 


We spent New Years Eve at home with the family. We made ribs (see the video below) and watched movies. I do not miss going out in the least. Give me a quiet evening at home with my family any day of the week. I have grown into a serious homebody! 

On another note....I need to quit eating. I have been on a serious eating binge for about a month. The holidays have really put a hurting on me! Janel and I are planning to get back on track this month. It's so hard with all the Christmas parties and family gatherings, as there is always a ton of food. I definitely put on 5-10 pounds. Easy to put on, hard to take off the older I get. 

So what are our plans in 2022?

First and foremost, we want to give/serve more. Both financially and of our time. We know so many people who are hurting and going through tough times. Whether it be relationships or finances, we see a lot of hurt, and we want to come alongside more people. We want to serve our King more faithfully. 

We are also planning a few smaller scale outdoor projects. We took a lot on in 2021 (and got it done!). This year we plan to add more pasture, add a large shed, redo our back deck and build a run in for more sheep this year. 

Our online store is almost a reality! Janel and Abby will be running our store. We should have it open in the next month or so. It will involve a new design of our website, both an upgrade and to be able to accept payments. To start, there will be a few items on it, but the plan is to grow it and expand into an Etsy store as well. We will eventually have a ton of products, both homemade and other. 

Expanding the fenced in portion of our garden and adding some more garden boxes is another goal for this year. We did a ton last year. We want to use our garden as an outreach as well. We raised a ton of food last year. A ton! This year we want to do more. Not only harvest a ton, but to give away a lot as well. We also want to start doing our own seeds. It will be a new thing for us as we usually buy all our seeds. 

Breeding and growing our animals here at the Homestead will be a priority as well. We are planning to hatch more chickens, raise some more meat chickens and grow our flock of sheep and herd of goats. This is one of my passions. I am excited to start lambing. I'm also planning on selling lamb meat. I'm not sure how that will work as I'm still in the planning process. 

Finally, please pray for us. We have been abundantly blessed. The Most High God has given us the desires or our hearts. Pray for health. Pray for guidance. Pray for strength. 

And let us pray for you! If you have any requests, please let us know! It would be an honor for us to pray for you! 

Thanks for following us on our journey and God bless!  -Steve

Check out our latest videos below! 


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A Look Back.

12/30/2021

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About 9 years ago my wife and I went out in faith and put our home up for sale. We lived on a cul-de-sac in a nice neighborhood. But we longed for land and a simpler way of life. To be more self sufficient. Check out the "Our Story" tab to read more about it. 

Over these past 9 years we have slowly built up our Homestead. I remember the excitement of getting our first chickens! Or planting our first little garden....and it was little! But it was amazing. The joy and contentment of those moments are hard to put into words. There is something spiritual that God has instilled in us when we work the land or raise/harvest our own food. You can't find that peace anywhere else. 

Next week we are butchering one of our sheep. It made me reflect on how far the Most High God has brought us. I thought about 9 years ago when we went out in faith and put our trust in Him for this move. How He provided this land (it was a miracle). How He has sustained us through the tough financial times. How we have always had enough and been provided for. Always. 

We are humbled to be butchering our first sheep that we have raised right here on our own land. It may not be that big of a deal to some. But this is a goal of ours being realized. 

We have butchered hundreds of chickens. We have collected thousands of eggs. We have planted, grown, and harvested tons of vegetables over these past 9 years. But raising sheep has been something I have wanted to do for many years. 

And to see it come to fruition is humbling.

Years and years of planning. Hours and hours of research. Tons of work to prepare pastures, pens, and to expand the barn. The expense to become a Finnsheep Breeder. All the failures and successes of breeding.

​Yet the Most High has been so gracious and merciful to us. We are thankful. We are blessed. 

You see, this lifestyle brings so much contentment and joy. It is hard to look back and not get emotional. The blessings are incredible. The hard work is so rewarding. The joy is unexplainable. 

We get a lot of comments on our YouTube channel from people who are longing to live a more simpler way of life. They don't want the things this world offers. There is something missing. 

To those people longing to leave the empty promises of this world, let our story be an encouragement to you. We are not special. There is no magical formula or luck that is involved. There is only faith in the Creator of this world. He can accomplish anything. He can give you the desires of your heart. Trust in Him.

Write down your goals. Pray over them. 

Do you want land? Pray fervently for it. Do you want to live more simply? Pray fervently for it. The Most High is merciful and gracious. Live for Him and be free! The Bible says in James 5:16:

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

As we wrap up 2021, I am looking back at what the Most High has done for us. It has been a beautiful 9 years. I have learned to enjoy the ride. There is a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). That verse has come alive to me over the past years. 

I'm looking forward to what's in store for 2022! We have big plans. But everything is in His hands. We are trusting in that and can't wait to share this journey with you'all!

Thanks for following along and blessing us with the kind comments and all the prayers. We love you all! 

Many blessings in the name of Yeshua and Happy New Year! 
-Steve

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We're Back!

12/29/2021

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What an amazing and challenging 2021 it has been! We've been on a hiatus from our blog/website due to the many projects around the Homestead. 

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to share some successes and plans for 2022.

So what are some of the things that happened here at the Homestead in 2021?

Well, first and foremost, we had our 7th baby in July. God blessed us with another beautiful baby....Dakota Stephen Cook! He is growing a ton and we love him so much. 

Secondly, we did a huge amount of remodeling on our house. As some of you know, when we purchased our 20 acres 9 years ago, we had a double wide trailer on a full basement. The trailer was 20 years old. We have slowly over the years made some progress, but this year we really needed to do some things. So this summer we put on a new roof, added a huge mud room, new windows and doors, new furnace and central air, new floors and counter tops. It was a major project and took months. That is why we haven't done a ton on YouTube or our blog. 

But we are back!

As we look forward to 2022 we have a ton planned here at the Homestead. Here are a few of our goals.

We will be opening our online store (finally!). This has been in the works for 2 years. It will include a redesign of our website. This should be open in January/February sometime. 

We will also be going full steam into growing our Homestead. We have numerous animals now who will be having babies soon! Our Finnsheep and Goats are all expecting. We will also be getting into selling lamb. I am now a Finnsheep breeder and am looking forward to growing our flock. 

We had a great year in the garden, but this year we will be expanding even more! We will be growing a ton of vegetables for canning and to give away to others. Janel loves to garden. It is her passion! She's always dreamed of a huge garden and it is a blessing to see her get it. God is good! 

Continuing to grow our preps and become more self sufficient is another goal this year. One of the things we set out to do on this journey years ago, was to live more simply. That is something we are going to put more effort into this year. To enjoy our land and each other. To be content.

To intentionally be old fashioned! (See my video below)

Finally, but more importantly, we are going to strive to live for Jesus more passionately. That includes serving others more. To give more of ourselves for the Kingdom. To help those in need. To stretch ourselves both financially and with our time.  

I hope you had a blessed 2021. We are thankful for the blessings of God and wish you all a happy new year!

Check out some pics and videos below!

God bless. -Steve




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Got Seeds? (A Cook Family Homestead Vlog)

2/24/2021

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We were doing an inventory on our canning supplies and seeds for the upcoming gardening season and decided to shoot a quick video! From all the reading I've been doing, the expectation is that there will be a seed and canning supply shortage again this year. Right now there are tons of inventory in stock, but that is expected to shrink over the next couple of months! Hope the video inspires you to get started now before it's too late!
 
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​God bless ~ Steve
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A Fast Start To 2021!

1/27/2021

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January is flying by! It has gone by quickly. We have definitely gotten a lot of snow this month (Erie is number one in total snow fall), but we had a break at the beginning of the month and we were able to get a total barn cleaning done! Check out the videos below. 

We are looking forward to spring here at the Homestead. One of our major projects this year is to expand our garden. Last year we had an incredible garden. The Most High blessed us with an abundance of vegetables. But the deer and other animals got their fair share as well!

So this year we will be installing a fence around the entire garden. It will be a big project as we have a HUGE garden. We will also be adding more garden boxes and growing a bunch of different stuff this year. One of the things that I missed last year was our corn. It got completely hammered by the deer. I also want to do some potatoes as well. 

We will be making an investment in a rototiller for the back of the tractor. We have a nice rototiller that has served us well, but it is a lot of work to put in a big plot. Especially when the dirt is untilled. We are planning to expand our ground plots this year and we also have a lot of manure that we want to rototill in. Last year it was a lot of work to work the manure into the ground with our old rototiller.

This year we will also be adding more pasture for our sheep and goats as we will be expanding the herd. We are looking to begin our years long dream of selling goats milk products and sheep spun wool products. It is an exciting time! 

The Most High has blessed us so much and we praise His name! We have some more VERY exciting news we will be sharing soon. Stay tuned! 

Thanks for stopping by and check out a couple of our videos from the past few weeks! God bless!  -Steve
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Goodbye 2020...Hello 2021!

1/1/2021

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As I look back on the past year, I have to say it was one of the most blessed years of my life. Elections, Covid and civil unrest were the stories that surrounded us. But that wasn't our story.

Our story was one of peace and love. A story that only God could of wrote. As I reflect back over the past year, I am humbled at the work of our Lord in our lives. I'm reminded of the passage of Scripture of when Jesus was preparing his disciples for His death on the Cross:

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” — John 14:27

It is from His hand that he has provided. It is from His hand that our Homestead has grown. It is from His hand that he has chosen to bless us....not only with earthly treasures, but with love and peace.

Our journey has been a pursuit to live more simply. To focus on loving one another and living for Jesus. As one person put it....to be old fashioned on purpose. And God has blessed us in this pursuit.

As the new year begins, I usually make a New Years resolution. Last year I had made the resolution to slow down and enjoy the ride. I was always focusing on our end goal and not enjoying getting there! I think I held pretty good to that resolution. This year's resolution is different.

This year I want to serve Jesus more. To help others more. To give more, both of myself and financially. I want to spend more time in the Scriptures with my family. I want to pray more. These are my resolutions for 2021.

So Happy New Year from the Homestead! We have been blessed from the many, many kind words from those who have joined us on our journey through our YouTube, FB and Website. May you seek the peace of our Lord Jesus as you journey through 2021!
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    Stephen and Janel Cook from The Cook Family Homestead

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Ephesians 3:20-21

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.


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