All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)

I was raised as a city girl. My parents are city people. You have to go back to my grandparent’s generation to find people who lived on and from the land. However, I have always felt a deep connection to nature and the old ways of life; a yearning for the simpler things and times when hard work meant food on the table and in the pantry. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy 2 day shipping and modern conveniences but there is such richness to digging in the earth and harvesting things grown with your own two hands. There is wholesome satisfaction in knowing exactly what is in that loaf of sourdough bread that took two days to make. I want to have a pantry full of home grown and home preserved foods and not have to worry about long grocery lists. I want a simple home full of faith, love, warmth and security.

Sometimes we get stuck in something that we think (or are told) is good for us, when in fact it is not. I think a lot of people end up here, stuck in their 9-5, paying for a house they are hardly ever in except to sleep and paying for a car so they can get to their job to pay for someone else to raise their children. There is no time or space for homegrown, home processed foods, so over-processed foods are store-bought to keep everyone fed. Somewhere along the line we wandered far from where we need to be, but that doesn’t mean we’re lost! We can make it back to where we need to be – back to our roots – just like the prodigal son.

Our roots all reach back to similar origins – farmers, homesteaders, foragers, hunters. These old ways are not obsolete. These are deeply rooted traditions that can provide life and life abundant. Much like when you’re rooted in Christ and hard times come. Deep roots always stand firm, even through the hardest of winters.