Saturday, April 21, 2007

Review: A Journey Home

Our family borrowed a DVD from fellow blogger Herrick Kimball entitled, "A Journey Home," produced by Franklin Springs Media. This DVD tells the story of the Tommy and Sherri Waller family. Tommy felt prompted by the Lord to give up his corporate job and move to rural Tennessee with his wife and 11 children, choosing instead to live a more simple life. This DVD is a documentary chronicling 18 months of their lives, showing how they began organic gardening and then selling the produce at a local farmer's market. This was how they made their living. Their oldest child was 18; their youngest looked like a newborn. If you are interested in what Herrick had to say about the story, please go to his blog and check out his entry from Thursday, April 5, 2007.

There was a lot going on in my mind as I watched the movie ... For one thing, I wondered if the family ever had a down day, where things just didn't go right. All that was shown were positive things, and I guess I wondered if they, like us, had at times made bad choices, had crops fail, sickness in the family, etc. Did they ever run out of money? I am a practical person, wanting to know the nuts and bolts of things, and I wish they could have shown a bit of how they worked things out so they could do all the things they did. How did they manage to buy what they needed to set up their farming activities?

Jim left his teaching position in Dec. 2003, and has been home with us ever since. We too felt the Lord calling us to a move from city living to country living, and for a simpler way of life. Even though we knew the Lord was in it -- it was hard! Many times our way of making money was by saving money here and there, and have done without many things. How did they do that with 11 children? It is an amazing story.

I must admit I was a bit concerned that some families watching this movie would decide to jump in without really counting the cost. The Waller family seemed so perfect -- and maybe they are. However, the Wallers had laid a foundation in the Lord to get them to where they were, and because of that were able to do what they were doing. Their house was in order, the children well trained, and Tommy Waller had a clear vision for what he was going to do. All of this caused them to be ready when they felt led by God to minister in Israel.

If you are interested in checking out the Waller family, you can go to their website called Ha Yovel .

7 comments:

Goodolboy said...

Hi Lynn, Finally some nice weather eh (I'm Canadian so I say eh alot). You raise some good points. I am searching the Christian book stores around here for the movie. No luck so far. Reality suggests in a venture like this things would not be roses all the time. In fact I would think there would be some down right trying times where ya all are thinking "What have we done" You probably know this better than anyone. This is one of the reasons I enjoy your story so much. Ya lay it on the line. Ya talk about mud, rain, no washroom facility ..... It smacks of honesty and makes for very interesting reading. With that being said, wheres part 9? We're waitin :-).

Guy

Marci said...

We love that movie. I know what you mean, and I am sure they have the down days and the mistakes. I don't think that was the point of the movie though. I think it was to show over all that God can use one family to reach lots of people. We all have warts. I think if it had been more of a biography of their lives over all, I think more of that would have been included. Just my opinion.

Lynn Bartlett said...

Hi Guy,
Yes, this weather is wonderful, and I'm just thankful we didn't blow away a few days ago. Now to get some rain,we've only had a few drops since the snow melted. It is tinder dry around here. I will try to get back at "Part 9" as soon as I can. I can't write off the top of my head like Northern Farmer can, it kind of takes me a while! Thanks so much for your encouragement. Sometimes I wonder if I am too honest about our life! Let me know if you can't get the DVD, we probably could get it across the border for you.

Anonymous said...

Oops, I'm having problems with Blogger. Since Peter and I had the same email address listed, it keeps mixing us up!

Anonymous said...

Marci,
You are probably right. The Wallers are a very special family, and such a blessing to many people. They could never make a documentary about our family, with the exception of a possible sequel to "Little House on the Prairie", Turtle Mountain Style!

Herrick Kimball said...

Hi Lynn,

I'm glad you got the movie and had a chance to blog about it. If I remember correctly, there was one short clip where it showed a downpour of rain at the farmer's market. That is always a bummer. So, for a few seconds, a bit of hardship was displayed. But you are right about the movie focusing on the best aspects of the family's life.

Nevertheless, what the Waller family did by leaving the industrialized modern world and focusing on faith and family bore good fruit, and seeing that is such a delight--especially to those of us who understand why they did what they did.

I think anyone who heads off to the wilderness to start anew, for all the right reasons, like the Wallers in TN, and the Bartletts in ND, are surely a peculiar people. :-)

Anonymous said...

Moving out of the comfortable city and into a foreign lifestyle hasn't exactly been a cakewalk for us either.
Thanks for sharing! I had no idea there was such a video.

Karisa