All articles by this author

Surviving Off the Grid in Uganda

May 4th, 2012 | By
Surviving Off the Grid in Uganda

Imagine yourself standing between two children, both desperately ill, but you have only enough treatment options for one child. What do you do? This is a question that faces Dr. Jessica Ankney more often than not. When Dr. Ankney answered the call to the mission field in Uganda in 2011, she wasn’t quite prepared for all that would confront her. In fact, she said, “For some reason I thought … following Christ and His path for my life was going to make life easier somehow. I really don’t know why I thought that….” From the
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14 Essential May Gardening Chores

May 3rd, 2012 | By
14 Essential May Gardening Chores

Not sure what you need to accomplish in May to keep your gardening endeavors productive and fruitful? Well, continue reading and see which ones apply to you. There will be some that may or may not apply to you, depending on where you live and the climate there. For information on which hardiness zone you live in, consult the USDA hardiness zone map here. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into ten-degree (Fahrenheit) zones, and is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most
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Food Inflation Makes Comeback on Rising Food Prices

Apr 5th, 2012 | By
Food Inflation Makes Comeback on Rising Food Prices

Last week, the United States government released a report that showed less-than-expected grain reserves, with less acreage devoted to soybean and wheat crops. This report only exacerbated concerns over the global grain supplies and saw an uptick in U.S. and European grain futures, particularly soybeans, which saw a 6 percent increase in price from February to March. The first quarter of 2012 saw a 17 percent increase in soybean futures. Corn and soybeans are set to be the dominant force on world grain markets, and rising soybean futures have some economists concerned farmers will trend
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Conservative Justices Question Key Component of Obamacare in Second Day of Arguments

Mar 27th, 2012 | By
Conservative Justices Question Key Component of Obamacare in Second Day of Arguments

WASHINGTON, D.C.—While two hours of arguments on the individual mandate provision of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have given no apparent indication how several of the Supreme Court justices might rule on the constitutionality of the mandate, what is apparent is the level of skepticism shown by the conservative members of the Court. Suggesting that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act invoked a power “beyond what our cases” have indicated Congress possesses to regulate interstate commerce, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked government lawyers, “Can you create commerce in order to
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Preserving Eggs for the Long Term

Mar 5th, 2012 | By
Preserving Eggs for the Long Term

If you have been watching National Geographic’s Doomsday Prepper series, you’ve probably seen a few ideas that you wanted to try to implement in your own storage preparations. At least a show or two got you wondering about the feasibility of some of the stuff these preppers are doing. One thing that piqued my interest
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National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers

Feb 15th, 2012 | By
National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers

National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers is a new weekly show which explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. If you were like me, the first time I saw the title and preview for this, I was sure it was going to lampoon preppers with all the ferocity of Jurassic Park’s Tyrannosaurus Rex. I mean, seriously, haven’t we all been subjected to the raised eyebrows, the subtle head shakes, and the not-so-few suggestions of paranoia from our family, friends, and neighbors? So it was
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Honey for Health

Dec 12th, 2011 | By
Honey for Health

Located at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, an 80 million-year-old bee lies preserved in a small bit of amber. A rock painting in Spain that is believed to be between 6,000 and 8,000 years old is the earliest recorded history of an interaction between people and bees. Archives from the nations
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Her Safari

Sep 28th, 2011 | By
Her Safari

What kind of book do you think a woman named Lisa Renee Sorbo Walsh Felsh Heidenstecker Mikitarian would write? If you said an eclectic mix of short stories featuring women in various seasons of their life, you would have a beginning understanding of this wonderful author’s debut book, Her Safari. I know… you’re thinking “This is an off-grid news site. This is where we go to learn how to be self-sufficient. Why are we showcasing this book here?” I have known Lisa for several years now. She has a heart as big as a house,
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Where Do I Go For A Baggage Check?

Sep 18th, 2011 | By
Where Do I Go For A Baggage Check?

My husband thinks I’m the craziest woman in the world. Most of the time I’d argue with him about that, but after getting ready for an overnight trip to visit my kids, even I’d have to agree with him. It began simply enough. I laid out the clothes I would wear for the car trip. Then I laid out the clothes I would need for the next day. It all went downhill from there. The weather was going to be a mixture of hot and cold, so I would need several sets of clothes to
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Gnat Got Your Tongue?

Aug 28th, 2011 | By
Gnat Got Your Tongue?

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:23-24 NIV) As the editor of Off the Grid News, I get some pretty interesting emails in my inbox. I receive letters with questions pertaining to every subject one can think about. I receive emails that just
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