Post by kansasfamily on Aug 19, 2015 17:26:01 GMT -5
Greetings,
We are the Michael and Shasta Hamilton Family located near Abilene, Kansas. We are a homeschool family of 3 boys and 3girls. We own a 11-acre farm and a restaurant here in Kansas. Our focus is training our sons to be future men who work for themselves, preferably farming, and our daughters to be wives, mothers, and keepers at home. Our children range from 14 to 4--2 boys, 2girls, 1 boy and 1 girl is the order. Our conviction for Christian living began 17 years ago as young marrieds while I was in seminary. We became more and more convicted to be obedient unto the Scriptures. We have lived our convictions these 17 years, though as many of you have experienced, it has always been wrought with pressure from family, friends, society and especially the "Christian" community. But to see our children and watch them grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord with true purity is a feeling that words cannot express. My wife and I both grew up in traditional "Christian" homes and the public school system. Both failed us and both left us entering marriage as spiritually ignorant, impure, pretending Christians.
Like Ben, we have spent time among the Anabaptists. We spent 4 years among a more conservative, traditional minded Amish Mennonite (Beechy) congregation. We learned a lot, which is why we went, but left there recently before our oldest would reach the age for their youth programs. We left in good standing and with a letter. Though we disagreed with them on much, we did not want our time there to have been a contentious one. Our time there was not wasted, as we spent a lot of time among the Old Order Amish, Old German Baptist Brethren, and (Horse and Buggy) River Brethren learning how they make their fellowships work. We currently attend a geriatric independent Baptist fellowship (about 30 folks) in a nearby town. The pastor and his wife homeschooled their children, and their daughter and son-in-law practiced no touch courtship until they wed. We are of like mind on most things and it has been our best fit yet as there are no age segregated "Sunday Schools" or youth groups (by conviction--not just because we have the only children and youth and wouldn't participate). We dress very traditionally Plain, both male and female, hold to the principle "plain is simple, and simple is plain".
Both my wife and I are generational rural farm folk, so we have a distinct advantage over many who want the simple life, as we already have many of the skills and knowledge needed to succeed. Our passion is recovering the lost traditional life skills that our forefathers had. This has meant finding folks who still know many of these skills and working with them to aquire them. It also means purchasing tools and equipment nolonger found among our families. We are blessed that our children have caught our vision and our convictions. We have not hid the world from them. We explain the world around them and how foolish and inconsistent the world and its belief system are. I could say more, but I think I will end here.
We only have internet here at the restaurant, and work to keep our use of digital technology to a minimum, so we may be slow in responding sometimes.
In the Bonds of Christ,
Michael Hamilton