Cowherd?

Yesterday about dusk my husband calls me.  He is out doing chores.  He says, "Go look out your front door you will see something interesting.  Nevermind the fact that I am in the middle of trying to get dinner ready.  We all, myself and the two children who are home, go stand on the front porch.  Fortunately, I grabbed my camera on the way out the door.
It was so funny.  Here comes my husband, walking along the fence row, and nine (all that we have) cows (well, technically they aren't all cows, but you know what I mean) following him in a line.  Totally cracked me up.  The picture is not very good because it was almost dark. 

He said, he walked back to the back of our property to count the cows and turned to head back to the barn.  He didn't say anything or have any feed.  As he was walking along the path, he hears the "pitter patter" of hooves.  When he turned around to look, there was the bull chasing after him with all of the others following.  Is there a such thing as a "cowherd" as opposed to a shepherd?  You know sheep follow their shepherd, now the cows are following their "cowherd"?  The joys of country life.  I am glad God has given me the opportunity to experience country living.

The cows followed me home!

Love is...

Love: A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

Beloved: Dearly loved,well loved, dear to the heart

On the Eve of our 27^th Wedding Anniversary...October 22, 1983 was forever a turning point in my life. So in honor of my husband's love for me I am writing this post. I have also posted pictures on Facebook. My life with him has been amazing. Sometimes a struggle for me at least. He is always so full of patience and goodness. I can't imagine life without him.

When I think of my husband... strong, good, kind, caring, beloved; I think of our life together and our marriage and union.  I am reminded of the account given in

Genesis 2:18-25 says, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

There was not a fit helper for Adam out of all the animals, think about how many creatures that is, don't forget the bugs, caterpillars, snakes, etc. That is a lot of creatures. None of them were a good fit for Adam. But God has a plan. I just love that God always has a plan. He knows just what to do. He gets busy, and prepares a surprise for Adam. I love surprises (well, good ones anyway.) God gets creative and makes Eve. Now Eve was perfect for Adam, Adam recognizes this immediately. Don't you love Adam's reaction to Eve... He burst into poetry (verse 23.) Now, if I think about my husband bursting into poetry, I crack up. Not his style, I guess. Although sometimes it might be nice. Then God says, “Therefore”, I love this word, because it is a pointer word. It points us to something important. Because of what God did for Adam, He makes a pronouncement for us all, it is recorded in verse 24. Because God gave Adam, Eve, specially made just for him, men shall leave their parents and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. Remember the definition for love, we started with? Remember the part that says, “a sense of underlying oneness?” Look at that verse again what does God tell us, “they shall become one flesh.” This is more than just the physical part (I know that is what you were thinking of.) It is a spiritual, emotional, mindful oneness. As Anne of Green Gables would say, you become “kindred spirits.” The last part of that verse talks about being naked and not ashamed, more than physical, but more like they were not afraid to bare their hearts to each other. They could be themselves and feel loved and accepted, just as they are.

Loved this quote from Matthew Henry on Genesis 2:18-25, "The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near to his heart to be beloved." Right where I want to be!

I love the feeling that I have when I go to bed at night and lay my head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me. I feel safe, protected, and loved, but more than loved, cherished, treasured, a part of him and all that he is. I guess we really have become one.

On the Farm

Today on the farm, we have one pig, nine cows, six turkeys, 21-23 hens, 40 baby chickens, two dogs, three cats, and four hives of bees (which makes for over 200,000 bees, I think).  Thirty of the chicks are Cornish Crosses for eating and 10 are Rhode Island Reds for eggs next summer.  Why we need more chickens for eggs... the egg situation around here is pretty desperate!  We get 18-20 eggs a day.  I have over 100 eggs in my refrigerator.  They are beautiful brown, fresh, farm eggs.  We can not possibly use 18- 20 eggs a day.  Ludicrous!  So, we get more chickens to lay more eggs, go figure.  Jerry says, he plans to send some of the hens to freezer camp soon and because of their age, they will slow down on egg production next Spring.  So, we have new egg layers getting ready to do their job.  We chose a different breed just for fun.  The different kinds of chickens available is absolutely astonishing.  The hens we have now are Buff Orppingtons.  The are beautiful, calm and lay brown eggs. We do have one chicken that lays green eggs.  We don't know what kind she is though.  We will see what the Rhode Island Reds are like. 
Bees are very interesting, I think we have fed them over 500 pounds of sugar since July when we first got them.  That is a lot of sugar.
One pig has gone to freezer camp.  The other one was not quite big enough, he will go next month.  We are also contemplating taking a steer or two to freezer camp soon.  The turkeys will soon find they are attending freezer camp.  This is sad.  I love to watch the turkeys.  They fan their tails and prance around turning their tails first one way and then the other.  They are very interesting creatures.  Their head is ugly, but the rest of them is very beautiful indeed.
The autumn colors are beautiful, red, yellow, orange, burgundy, and many shades of green.  God is a fantastic painter.  The clouds have been fascinating.  I enjoy watching the sky. The fog in the morning has been extremely attention getting.  Funny, how when you start noticing things and point them out to your children, they in turn notice and point them out to you.
For the time being, I am focusing on housekeeping chores, creative projects, and dreaming of the garden for the Spring.

Fog and Earthquakes

Disclaimer:  This is not a scientific research paper, and in all likelihood contains no scientific facts.

Yesterday, Oklahoma had an earthquake.  5.1 on the Richter Scale.  Pretty exciting at least for us.  Not that I felt it or anything, but my husband and daughter did, so I can live vicariously through them I guess.
Buildings shook (vibrated really), some people close to the epicenter had windows broken.  I wish I had been outside at the time to watch the animals, but alas, I was cooking for 100+ people, but that is another blog.
This morning as I am taking the kids to school...
We notice the fog.  (I know you are wondering what this has to do with the earthquake.  You will see, keep reading)(Really, I just wanted to discuss the earthquake.  So cool!)  The fog is floating, as fog is want to do, but it is in an unusual place.  The fog is mid-air.  About the top of the trees is a layer of fog, crystal clear above and crystal clear below.  It looked kind of like a fog sandwich, with the fog as the meat. (Why is so much of my life and thought spent on food.) I point it out to my two darling children.  We discuss how it looks (mostly me, discussing).  I ask my highly intelligent (no, really) child why it is that way.  He shrugs.  I guess his brain has yet to awaken.  I pose a probable cause,  the fog is confused because the earth moved yesterday.  He says, "Mom, its fog.  Can it get confused?" He is probably thinking his mother is confused or insane.  Oh well, I delight in tormenting my children with my insanity.  It makes them think.   I tell him to ask for permission from his science teacher to research weird fog and let me know.  I pose another cause for the fog, maybe God is confused because He moved the earth yesterday, or maybe He just forgot where He put it.  My daughter says, "Mom, He is God, He can't be confused or forget."  I knew that, but she didn't know I knew.  "Ever so correct," I reply, "Your theology is impeccable."
The fog was very interesting.  I have never seen it do that before.  God is so amazing.  Never a dull moment.

Ode to a Clothesline

Ode to a Clothesline

Oh you old fashioned, out of date contrivance for drying clothes

Freshly washed laundry, hung with cute little wooden pins, 

On the line to dry in the wind.

Tall (actually, a little shorter please, I am short and squatty) and strong,

Standing there in my dreams, with the laundry being scented with

Cool, fresh breezes.

Oh how I wish my beloved would make me a clothesline

Instead he whines about the dampness of the sheets

As he crawls between.

The clothes are in the way, laying flat on the bed to dry

So they will not shrink, or get out of shape,

And have to be replaced.

A clothesline in its simplistic beauty, is so useful,

And frugal, saving money that would be spent on

Propane by drying the clothes in a mechanical device

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil ; ) (for those who

like politically correct poetry, that is for you, I care not)

Making the clothes dryer last longer and sing fewer songs.

Clothesline, you are so beautiful to me.

Clothesline, of my dreams, beautiful laundry swaying in the breeze.

Clothesline, oh how I wish you were mine.

Clothesline!

Pondering, Again

As I read this verse... Luke 12:15 “And He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

I began once again to ponder my accumulation of things. Do I covet? It brought me to the issue of contentment. Contentment? Yes, am I or would I be content with just what I have or less? Am I content with what God has for me? Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' Which then brings us to an issue of trust. Do I trust God to do what He said He would do? Do I trust God to know what is best for me? Do I want to trust Him? Do I trust that He is who He says He is? He says He is good, righteous, loving, and faithful. Do I believe that?

Oh my! I have opened a can of worms, haven't I. It gives one pause to think or 'ponder.'

Let's see if we can get some of these worms back in the can.

Luke 12:15 was used as a New Testament interpretation or statement of the 10^th Commandment. Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” If you are like me...when you read that you say, “Nope, I have no desire for an ox, not that my neighbor has one, or his donkey, (not that I wouldn't like to have a donkey, a cute, little miniature one) he doesn't have one of those either. So, I know I am not coveting. I'm good.” But read Luke 12:15 again, “And He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Oh dear, “abundance of possessions”? Surely not, Lord. You can't mean that. I mean, I live in the land of abundance. The American Dream is to accumulate. Are You sure You want to say, “abundance of possessions” Lord?

In the end it is like I am the child arguing with my parent about whether or not I have done what they asked me to do. I know I haven't, I mean technically, I may have done what they said, but did I really do what they intended? 

God has richly blessed me and my family, beyond what I could have imagined. He wants me to enjoy what He has given, but... not so that it takes over my life and I forget who gave it to me and why He gave it. My focus should not be on the accumulation of things but on Him.  Do I struggle with the accumulation of things?  Of course, do you?  I want to live my life to bring glory to God and God alone.