We've made a bit of a pivot with this community and have returned to our original name LEANSTEAD. This is a name we have used for our Youtube channel over the years because of our desire to build a homestead that is both lean and will age well with us. This homesteading journey has led us to Coturnix quail, a breed that is both nutritionally dense and fascinating, plus brings an incredible variety of ways to provide income opportunities. We are learning everyday and the questions keep surfacing with every new step. So, since we are doing the research anyway, we want to share it here and hope that others will benefit and contribute along the way. Blessings, Michael and Hope Stephens

I'm not doing the typical New Year's resolution because it always ends up being a disappointment. Instead I'm choosing gentler...here's my latest Substack post about it: https://substack.com/@hopedstephens/note/c-195211462?r=6vj7pm&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

When serving overseas, we used the word 'platform' a lot to refer to the way we justified being in a country. Now that we are in the States, we still need to recognize the many platforms we have. I recently created a new 'platform' on Substack. I'd heard others talk about it for a while and finally checked it out. It has me excited to share much of the content that I have already been sharing on Youtube and here on Skool, but I also want to share more of my reflections from my quiet time. Today, I just made my first post and have linked it below: https://substack.com/profile/415761610-hope-stephens/note/c-188027449?utm_source=substack&utm_content=first-note-modal

So, yesterday, Michael and I were talking about God's provision. I won't go into the whole conversation here, but Michael posed this question: Can being a "prepper" (like food and goods) prevent us from relying fully on God? Not that I am advocating for sticking our heads in the sand or being irresponsible, do we as believers sometimes put trust in the stores rather than the provider? Just something I'm chewing on today.

Could this be an example of actually being the Church as opposed to going to one?