Welcome back, Orange Jeep Dad

Some of you may remember Orange Jeep Dad, the blogger with six daughters and a large following and characterized by, you guessed it, an orange jeep. This family has had a lot of ups and downs over the last year, including a devastating house fire in which they lost everything but their lives. (And the orange jeep.)

Well, guess what. Orange Jeep Dad has accepted a job at the local hospital and is moving up this way! We had the pleasure of having the family (minus one of the daughters) to dinner a few weeks ago, and found they're just as nice in person as they are online.

Orange Jeep Dad's blog lapsed over the last couple of years, but he's re-started his page and is documenting his family's journey as they relocate to this neck of the woods. I hope you'll follow this family on their new adventure.

Powerful testimony

I received an email a couple weeks ago from Orange Jeep Dad (who is in the process of relocating to Idaho, yeah!!) asking me to read a deep and heartfelt piece written by his fifteen year old daughter. I read it, spellbound, from beginning to end. Speaking as a writer, I noticed a few point-of-view errors... but those were nothing next to the emotion and raw feeling in the piece.

It's long but powerful. I urge everyone to go read it here. You might also leave some encouraging comments on his post, since I'm sure his daughter would love to get feedback.

Me... I think this kid has a future as a writer if she can wring this kind of emotion from her readers at such a young age.

Please help Orange Jeep Dad

As many of you have doubtless heard, the blogger who runs Orange Jeep Dad suffered a terrible tragedy on Saturday -- their home burned completely to the ground.

By the grace of God they and their pets/animals are safe, but they've lost everything except the clothes on their backs.

Orange Jeep Dad is a hard-working family man with a family of six daughters who has spent the last couple of years striving for greater independence and self-sufficiency. They moved to a more rural area earlier this year, and now to lose everything so unexpectedly is shocking.

Thankfully OJD and his family have kind friends who are taking them in for the moment, and their church is rallying around. But they need help. They pretty much need everything -- storable food, kitchen implements, furniture, anything.

I am appealing to all of you wonderful and generous people to help them in any way you can, either financially or with tangibles of whatever you can spare. Financial donations can be made through PayPal at lisajones515@hotmail.com

Tangible items can be sent to:

Orange Jeep Dad
2532 N. Fourth St. #230
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004-3712

SurvivalBlog has post up on specifics of what this family needs; please visit the link here. James Rawles is also auctioning a roll of silver American Redoubt coins on eBay, with all gross proceeds to go to OJD.

It's rare that I ask for donations on someone's behalf, but this is a clear case of a family in need. They could also use a lot of prayer.

Thank you all on behalf of the OJD family. Please be generous.

A New Contest!

A new (and easy) contest to enter!

One of our favorite bloggers, The Orange Jeep Dad is having a contest with some very nifty prizes:

- 6,000 open-pollinated seeds from fifteen heirloom varieties donated by Seed For Security!

- An AUTOGRAPHED copy of The Simplicity Primer (My personal favorite.)

- A Sport Berkey Water Bottle Portable Water Purifier from directive 21

- And a $10 dollar gift certificate from Home Depot.

What do you have to do to win these prizes? Do you have to write an essay or create a video?

NO!

Just head on over to The Orange Jeep Dad blog page and follow the simple directions to get your chance to win.

Good Luck!