New Term For a New Calling (Austin)

As Lauren and I have been endeavoring to homestead and look into shaping our vision, we've done a lot of adapting and growing of what we want to build. But lately it's become much more than just being sustainable in our own right. The best way I can think to say it is that God is not leading us to build a mere homestead; rather, He is revealing to us a vision of what I call a farmstead.
So what do I mean when I say a farmstead? I mean a working, sustainable homestead (like we've been dreaming of) that is also a producing farm which provides quality food products to the local community. We've already had the notion to produce what we can for ourselves and any surplus would be treated as a viable source of income. But in this vision goes beyond in that it encompasses an intentional effort to produce food and materials to go beyond our homestead. This drive is not to produce food for the sake of making money, but rather to try and change how people see food and its production so that we can embrace methods that are more respectful to God's glorious and sustainable Creation.
Conventional agriculture has only been around for the last century or so, yet it has already changed our way of life in more ways than most people see or care to realize. And if you look into it, it won't take long to realize that we can't keep it up forever. I don't want to come across as disrespectful or unappreciative of mainstream farmers. I admire what they do and have great respect for them and their work. But I think there are better ways to accomplish the same goal that are both more reflective of God's love and more consistent with His first tasking to humankind.
Before Eden fell and sin entered the world, even before we had to work by the sweat of our brow and the toil of our backs, God tasked Adam and Eve with the care and stewardship of the Earth. This was the first thing our Creator set us to do:

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:8)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

That this task is given to us before the fall of humanity tells me that working the Earth is not a punishment or a result of sin; rather, I understand it as meaning that productive work and good stewardship is part of God's purpose for humanity in our creation. It was only after sin entered the world that the work became painful, thorns and thistles began to grow, and the sweat of our brow became our means to eat bread (Genesis 3:17-19).

I believe in the day when Christ will restore the Earth to how it was, when we may tend Creation without toil and the thistles and weeds (like sin) are no longer in our way. Until then, I intend to raise a farmstead that honors this goal which was set before me as it was in Eden. I don't fear the toil and pain that will accompany the endeavor, and I eagerly await the day when the love of Christ will restore the full glory of God to all Creation. Amen.