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I WANT TO BE WILDER: An Intro

i want to be wilder

When I was a little girl, I read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved every second of  the stories and was excited to read them to Lydia. We read the first two books last year and after one of you suggested the audio versions read by Cherry Jones (that’s President Taylor for all you 24 fans), I picked up the 3rd book, Farmer Boy at the library. I wasn’t sure if Lydia would like it since it’s about…a boy–but my fears were unfounded. It is probably our favorite audiobook so far! My husband was even excited to listen to it. We would talk about the story over dinner and I’d think about it while cleaning or cooking. We kept the CDs in the car and I’d dream up places we needed to go just so we could listen to more of the story!

Farmer Boy is the story of Laura’s husband, Almanzo Wilder when he was a boy on his family’s farm in New York. It’s almost a documentary (if books can be documentaries) there is so much detail. It follows Almanzo through an entire year on the farm—the cold winter where they have to get up in the middle of the night to make sure the cows move and do not froze, the spring where they plant carrots, potatoes and grain; the summer when they raise pigs and pick berries; the fall is for harvesting pumpkins, hay and apples.

With every new season I was dumbfounded at the amount of work they did—they made candles to last an entire year, they butchered pigs and didn’t waste one piece, they sheared sheep so Mrs. Wilder could use it to make fabric, which she dyed herself. She even wove her own carpet for their parlor! They made shingles for roofs, cut ice blocks from the frozen lakes and raised every bit of food they would eat for the entire year.

The book begins with Almanzo’s 9th birthday. There was no special party, not even a special feast or a birthday cake. There was no special gathering or opening up birthday presents from all his friends. In fact, the only present he got was a yoke. A yoke. Like a piece of wood you put around two animals’ necks. He got this yoke so he could break and train his two young calves, Star and Bright. FOR HIS 9th BIRTHDAY. And when he saw the yoke, he was so happy. He was honored his father thought him old enough and mature enough to break the calves. He was excited to start WORKING with them!

The more we listened to the book, the more I felt like my family and I were missing out on something. I’m not remotely suggesting I want to buy a farm, start weaving my own carpet and making my own candles in lieu of electricity. But I do want to do something hard. I want to work. I want to see my children get excited about doing something that has a greater result than entertainment. I want them to love being a part of our family because we make things happen, we work together to do big things.

I know this whole “hard things” is not new—I’ve posted about it a few times. I was listening to Farmer Boy at the same time I was reading Start Here by the Harris brothers. With those two combined, I actually felt convicted. Like I wasn’t doing something I was supposed to be doing. I sat down at the computer and wrote a title for a post: I Want To Be Wilder. But I couldn’t actually write anything about it yet. It’s been sitting in my drafts folder for 3 months. It’s a pun on Laura & Almanzo’s name but it also shows the way I feel. I feel like I’m a sleeping person. I feel drugged and lame and as if I’ve been living under water my whole life. And I don’t want to any more.

I walk around grocery stores and see people yelling at their kids while filling their cart with whatever the kid just demanded. I watch television and see immorality touted as normal and admirable. I read blogs and websites that focus on events and stories and products that are frankly, pointless.

And I am one of those people: I pamper my kids, I entertain myself with immorality, I focus on finite and meaningless stuff.

But I don’t want to be that way. I want to be wilder. I want to be different. I want to do better and bigger things for my family and for God. This is not about going green, or eating more whole foods, or pulling my kids out of public arenas. It’s not about becoming a missionary or a pastor. It’s about doing something…better and bigger than I thought I could do.

If you’re looking for the punchline, I have none. I have no big plans to announce that I’m homeschooling my kids on a farm, or selling my house to move to Africa or anything like that. I told you a few weeks ago, that right now my hard things are scrubbing the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher and getting up at 6am before my kids. But I can see day by day and week by week that I’m feeling new “hard things” come into my life. I’m sensing the ability and desire to do things that from my previous mindset would be WILD.

The next few weeks I’m going to share a series of posts based on the things that have been changing in my heart and life. This is not going to be a series with homework for you. I’m not suggesting this is a path to emulate. I’m not equating Laura Ingalls to God or suggesting that we all need to live like it’s the 1800’s. I’m just ready to share my journey with you. And possibly inspire you to wake up and get a little wilder, too.

:: :: ::

See the whole I WANT TO BE WILDER series:

Part 1: Believing the Best About Your Kids
Part 2: Serving Others
Part 3: The Choice of Freedom
Part 4: Putting Off A Hard Thing

wagon wheel photo by greeney d mantis

Category: me

Comments

  2. I absolutey loved all The Little House books when I was younger. I read them all the way up to high school.
    I totally get what your saying. I have felt like this before, too. I feel like we’re just wasting our lives away entertaining ourselves, and there’s so much more we could do. And also, I just don’t know where to start. It’s something to think about. Great post!

  3. One of the many reasons I love the Little House series – it reminds us that life wasn’t always as easy as we have it. And that hard stuff won’t kill us. I’m really looking forward to reading your thoughts!
    .-= Heather @ Not a DIY Life´s last blog ..Mamavation Week 23 =-.

  4. I am with you, girl. Even in the Christian realm I think it’s looked down upon to want to Be Something More. I am reading John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and it has helped validate for me that’s it’s RIGHT and OK to be passionate about the things that matter.

    There is an article in the July HomeLife about a family who bought a farm, being something they never ever thought they would do. Reminded me of Les!! Ha!
    .-= Vanderbilt Wife´s last blog ..Before You Hit Publish, Week 3: Common Word Misuse =-.

  5. Amanda,

    Just found your blog. LOVED this post and will definitely be back. God has been working in amazing ways in my life this year. I long to be wild, bold and crazy as I look for opportunities to serve Him. I want to risk and be reckless in my devotion to Him. I want to be confident, free and full of joy as I share about the work He has done in my life.

    I am with you on this and looking forward to the posts to come. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Blessings,
    Molly

  6. Right there with ya! I think it helps living where we do… even an hour away from Starbucks and lots of shopping and such removes some lazy, indulgent temptation. We’re just SUCH a spoiled rotten people, though. Sad.

  7. I love this! Honestly I feel the same way. My kids, being older, are totally addicted to being wired in- xbox, tv, internet, etc. One thing we decided to do this summer is to earn all things electronic. For every half-hour of _____, you can earn and hour of electronic games/tv/laptop. So, if you want to watch an hour long tv show- you’ll have to give me 30 minutes of cleaning, or 30 minutes of practicing your instrument, or 30 minutes of reading. I also bought season passes to White Water- mainly to get us out of the house and active- doesn’t sound Wilder, but to me it is! 🙂 We are going to have a 1 hour cleaning time every morning where I set a timer, pump up my ipod and we all clean. I also, obviously need to lose a large amount of weight, so for the next 2 1/2 weeks I am going on the Daniel Fast- basically strictly vegan. I will break the fast as soon as our cow arrives! Ha! I look forward to your posts, Amanda
    .-= Becky @TheVioletFig´s last blog ..Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Power Sprayer =-.

  8. I can relate to this oh so well. I see all those same things going on around me (and too often in my own home) and I hate it and yet I feel like we are so entrenched in our culture, I don’t even know how to find our way out. And I say this as I get ready to post a review and giveaway for a vacuum cleaner — one that I received for free although I didn’t need it. Ugh.

  11. As soon as I saw “Wilder” you had me sucked in. 🙂 My sisters and I grew up playing “Little House”. We were completely obsessed. Now as an adult when I want to make my own bread, or sew my kids clothes, my husband says I’m being a hippy, but I think I’m really just living out my Little House fantasies. 🙂 Great idea for a series. I look forward to hearing more.
    .-= ashley´s last blog ..Sharing =-.

  12. Love this post and your new theme, can’t wait to see where it goes! And I love love love those books. Makes me kind of want to go pick them back up again 🙂
    .-= Katherine´s last blog ..Sheer Lust =-.

  14. Yay! I’m glad you put this out there – I will pray that God will continue to move in your family and lead you where you need to go!

  16. This is a great post, and I’m there with you on the “hard things” approach to life. In an effort to make things easier on our children, we’re really cursing them with the inability to cope with life’s difficulties. I like the precursor book to “Start Here” by the Harris brothers entitled, “Do Hard Things.” We often tell our children when they buck instruction or discipline from us…just process it however you need to. You can make it hard on yourself, or you can ‘swallow the pill.’ We’re doing our best to make you a better person, and by taking the harder way, we are teaching you more than what is in the task. God’s richest blessings on us all as we lead them down the path of righteousness!
    .-= Andi´s last blog ..Dawson Summer Ballet Camp for 3-7 year olds =-.

  17. I’ve been thinking (more thinking than doing 😉 ) about this since we talked about it last, and how I can apply it to our daily routine. Changing habits is hard. I look forward to reading about your journey. 🙂

  19. Yes! I’m so glad you shared this post! I, actually, just came downstairs from reading Little House in the Big Woods to my 4 and 2 1/2 year old. They love it, and I feel the same way as you.

    Every night I’m exhausted, trying to keep a house clean, wondering if I spent enough meaningful time with the kids, wishing my husband were home earlier…and the list goes on. The Wilders were exhausted at the end of the day, too, but everything they did had a definite purpose. They didn’t waste time on Twitter but spent time hunting, cooking, sewing, etc., and they did these things as a family.

    I can completely relate to your feelings of conviction because I am feeling them, too. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with them, but I do know I want to focus on making the moments of my life count for something, and if that means making things more simple, so be it!
    .-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Mama’s Boy =-.

    • And he directed one of my farivote movies, The Miracle Worker, with a farivote performance, by Anne Bancroft, and my farivote scene from that performance, from IMDB -The asylum? I grew up in such an asylum, the State Alms House. Rats? Why, my brother Jimmy and I used to play with the rats because we didn’t have toys. Maybe you’d like to know what Helen will find there, not on visiting days. One ward was full of the old women. Crippled, blind, dying, but even if what they had was catching, there was nowhere else to move them. That’s where they put us. There were younger ones across the hall, prostitutes mostly, with TB and epileptic fits. And some of the kind that keep after other girls, especially the young ones. And some were just insane. Some had the DTs. And there were girls in another ward with babies they didn’t want. They started at thirteen, fourteen. They left afterwards, but the babies stayed. We played with them, too. There were a lot of them, with sores all over from diseases you’re not supposed to talk about.

  21. I think this may be the first time I’ve commented, but I love your writing. 🙂 I especially adore this post. It hits home with me. I wish we could all go back to the simpler days when we had time to do something bigger! I feel that so many “conveniences” get in our way of living wilder, as you call it. I have been having these same thoughts lately, but my mind moves in a million different directions and I don’t really know where to start. I’m excited to read your future posts on this idea. Love it! 🙂
    .-= Amanda {Mimi Leigh}´s last blog ..Piece Of My Heart =-.

  22. This is exactly where I am too. And my husband is 100% the opposite direction. I even started baking my own bread to try to scratch that itch, but you know it doesn’t work. Because this isn’t about baking bread. It’s about purpose and meaning and work. I wish I could figure out what to do about it! Please keep us posted (get it? ) with your discoveries!

  24. We’ve been reading through the Little House books, and my husband and I always long for a little different life while we’re reading them. And, we also count our blessings that we have so much free time, even if we like to think we’re horribly busy.

    We are reading book 7 right now (Little Town on the Prairie). We originally skipped Farmer Boy, but then we read it at the end of this school year. I think it was our family’s favorite. Our very favorite chapter was when Almonzo’s parents left the kids on their own for a week. Before we read it, we predicted how it would go. Most of us guessed fine, but our 10 year old said, “This is NOT going to be good.” LOL
    .-= Angie @ Many Little Blessings´s last blog ..Hang On — Where Are We Really Going? =-.

  25. Love this post. Well, I love the books, too. I have the entire hardcover set that I purchased in grade school. Sadly, my daughters never took to the books, even when I tried using them in a unit study (back in the days when we homeschooled).

    Anyway, I can relate to how you’re feeling. Don’t know what to do about it either, but I’m looking forward to hearing your discoveries. : ) Blessings!

  26. Great post, Amanda! This is something I’ve been thinking about for some time, so it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. My biggest struggle is identifying what it is I should be doing that I’m not yet doing.

    It seems so many days I practically sleepwalk through life. I drive to work each day and when I arrive I sometimes wonder how it is I got there. I watch television shows that not only are of no value (not that I shouldn’t watch some TV for entertainment), but they’re actually corrupting my morals. So many shows depict unmarried couples having sex and I don’t even get upset about it when my morals tell me that I should.

    I made a comment on Twitter over the weekend on how so many of the tweets in my timeline are about someone buying or wanting a new “toy;” unsurprisingly I received no replies, so apparently this has become the norm. When did we stop being satisfied with what we have and are blessed with and decide we want more, more, more?

    Sorry for the rant, but your post really hit home. I look forward to the upcoming series of posts; I’m sure they will be as inspiring as so many of your posts are.
    .-= Tim Weston´s last blog ..Windows on Main Street: Jack Lindquist =-.

  27. This post captures exactly how Tim & I have been feeling lately! I look forward to reading the rest of your series…as you pursue the hard things and get “wilder.”
    .-= Stephanie´s last blog ..twenty-ten =-.

  30. something is wrong with my bloglines, I am no longer getting updates from your blog. Hopefully I can get that fixed. Anyway, I decided to come on over and check out what I’ve been missing (because, yes, I have been missing out!) 🙂

    I love this post Amanda. I’ve been wrestling with sharing my heart, the unfinished wonderings of my heart, lately. It’s kind of funny, actually, I have a half written post in my mind about being in a rut and I’ve wanted to use a picture of deep wagon ruts from the pioneer days. Anyway, thank you for sharing your journey, or the beginning of it. Who knows…..you may gather some company along the way. 🙂
    .-= Deanne´s last blog ..Snapshot of Daily Life =-.

  32. This sounds exactly like several posts I have written…I want to do hard things too, have a kingdom vision, make an impact for His glory. But I’m not sure what those things are just yet! I”m catching glimpses of possibilities, like adopting, but the timing isn’t right so I have to wait on Him. We’ll see. Glad to hear I’m not alone 🙂

  33. Very cool — this is inspiring me not to ditch out on the “boy” books! Laurel really wanted to pick up where Little House on the Prairie ended, so we started up with Plum Creek, but we will definitely need to get Farmer Boy!

    Also, I like the idea of an audio book. Though I love the cuddle time, my throat was pretty tired after two hours of reading yesterday. 🙂

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