MILEPOSTS: THE KENTUCKY CHRONICLES 5: THE CRAFT BUSINESS

During the seven years Dan lived in Kentucky he did not have a regular job. Sometimes he worked for farmers bailing hay or whatever. He delivered the newspaper. He worked with his friend Steve in construction. He painted. Also, he and his wife grew their business of handcrafted gifts. While they still lived in Minnesota they made dolls and quilts for a company. In Kentucky, they developed their own line of dolls and then expanded into woodcrafts. The crafts were really pretty good and sold very well. At first, they sold wholesale to stores mainly in Kentucky. Eventually, they expanded to craft shows and got to the point where they could live exclusively on the profits from the craft business. The business demanded plenty of work and hours, but the work was at home and mostly very satisfying. For several years selling their crafts paid all the bills and then some. Over time it got a little old and both Dan and his wife wore wrist braces because of the constant pain from hand work. Sooner or later something different would have to be done for an income, but the Kentucky years were largely craft years.

For years while Dan worked at the School district in Minnesota he went on prayer walks whenever possible. In the winter he would pray alone someplace in his home but when the weather warmed up, the great outdoors called him to pray. In Kentucky on their 47 acres, there were great, scenic wooded paths to walk and because of the warmer weather, prayer walks could be done most of the year. Dan met with God very regularly in those hills of backwoods Kentucky and maintained great zeal for God and his ways.

With all the animals and gardening there were always things to do on the farm. But also there were crafts to make. Eli, Dan’s youngest son, loved to go out on the farm and work with Dan. Dan remembers fondly the days when Eli would hound him all day while he was working on crafts with the question, “Is it time to work yet?” When Dan finally said yes, Eli’s face would light up and he would head straight for the door excited about anything Dan would throw at him in the way of farm work. As Dan looks back to that time he wishes he could have spent more time with Eli and less time with the crafts. But that is a common thought of parents. Money must be made, that’s just the way it is. It’s not all bad for kids to learn that it isn’t all about them in this life. Being home with the children all those years was a great blessing.

When it became time to start school with the children the decision was made to homeschool them. Kentucky’s educational statistics were horrendous. Besides that, Dan wanted his children to learn his values and he wanted to help keep them from the temptation to sin that so often is rampant in the public school. They purchased school books from Rod and Staff, a Kentucky-based creator of homeschool curriculum. The first year the family drove to Eastern Kentucky to see the sights of Eastern Kentucky and go and buy the curriculum in person and see the Rod and Staff headquarters. It was run primarily by Mennonites. What wonderful believers they were. Dan and his family were invited to one of the employee’s home for supper and fellowship that evening. The old fashioned lifestyle and Christianity the Mennonites lived was very inspiring and encouraging. The fellowship was sweet. At home, when Josiah started his schooling, the first word he learned to read in the Rod and Staff curriculum was…God.

After three and a half years of roughing it on the farm Dan had had enough and he purchased a more modern home on an acre and a half for $15,000 on a contract for deed. Yes, it needed a tremendous amount of work. More about that home and lifestyle next time.