Everyday is just like today… very full and completely unique from every other day! :o) We’ve been amazed at how full every day is, not just busy (though they are), but full. Our prayer continues to be that in the fullness (and busyness) of it all, that we would continue to be focused on Christ, pursuing him and his ways, and living in obedience, not habit or routine (as important as good habits and routines are).
Here are a few highlights of the day TODAY (2024/11/05)… though likely posted a bit later!
- Goat Walking – Oh, the goats. I love them and… well, I guess I just love them. I certainly have spent a lot of time with them. At least I can say that I spend a lot of time with my kids. ;o) A friend of ours gifted us two goats. (They wanted to gift three, but we decided two is good for now… especially since the reason the third wasn’t ready is that he was having a hard time catching it and we aren’t sure we want that one. :o)
The two goats that we have are about a year old and have almost never been handled. We on the other hand want them to be ready to be with children, be walked around the property to eat brush, etc. It has been a fun challenge earning their trust. I am the primary trainer until they are more accustomed to people. Our relationship started with netting them and wrestling them into a cage to bring to our house and today was the first time they ate out of my hand (with jumpiness), let me rub their heads and were on a leash with me.
This process has helped me to appreciate God’s love for us. I know they want the food outside the confines of their fence, but I can’t just let them go freely or there will be chaos and destruction. I think I want them to have that feast even more than they want it, but they need to learn to trust me first, to come along with me, so that I can lead them into feasts of food that they can’t even see or imagine from their limited vision in the fence. How many blessings does God have for us that we are simply not ready to receive? This can only come through knowing, trusting and walking with him.
- Animal Care – With the focus on goats, as we are training them. I want to also express appreciation for all that our boys do each day to take care of the chickens, ducks, and rabbits: moving chicken tractors, filling water and food, making sure that the free range birds get where they need to be, foraging food for the rabbits, etc.
- Mushroom Rains – We just had a lot of rain. And that means MUSHROOMS! We had tried growing mushrooms before we moved, but didn’t have the set up for it. Here, our mushroom logs are blooming nicely and we have a nice flow of Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms when it rains. Josiah loves checking and cutting the mushrooms and it was fun watching him walk up from the woods with Elyse with a big bag of mushrooms and a smile on his face. Mushrooms are wonderful things. They are not plants, they are Fungi and they are one of the renewers of the earth. They can take things that are old, broken and rotting and turn them into soil and edibles. Not only is God’s creation absolutely amazing! It points us to him. Only God can take a broken, rotting life and give it purpose and impact.
- Flour…cise – You’ve heard of exercise (at least as a distant concept :o). We have “flourcise”. This is where you set up the manual grain mill and go at it. We often take turns with Elijah and Isaiah taking 50 rotations and Rob taking 200 to rest between turns. This time, Isaiah went all at it and kept going, and going, and going and did most of the grinding for us. I was amazed. (As a note: We often buy our flour from Azure, but didn’t get that order in and Costco and Walmart didn’t have quality flour, so we dug into the organic wheat berry stash and started spinning.
- Boat Retrieval – Our boat (which we discovered buried in vines on our property), which the boys like to take fishing on the pond was resting comfortably several feet from the water… until it rained, and poured, and just kept coming. So today, Isaiah (our early riser) discovered that we were going to get to wade out several feet to the boat and work on bailing it out and bringing it in. I guess the boys will be back up and fishing.
- RV Twister – Finding a water leak in an RV is a fun mix of Twister (the game where you bend into strange contortions to reach areas that didn’t seem possible) and whack a mole (where you nail the problem… just to have another one pop up). I am happy to announce that our RV is back up and ready for visitors (in time for my mom and sisters to come for Thanksgiving). Note: If you’re passing through, or want to come visit, we’ll leave a light on for you. (This works best in warm, or not too cold, weather.)
- Election Excitement – Oh yeah, and there is an election today. I almost forgot (as the results map sits on my other screen). I have been amazed how different elections are here from Ohio. One could almost forget that there is an election. Perhaps it’s because we live in the country, and don’t watch TV, but I had an endless supply of fire starter in the swing state of Ohio and I think we may have had one or two election mailers here (but never fear, we don’t order trash pickup, so have plenty of other things to burn). One thing that I have learned with this election is to be excited no matter who wins. Like really, actually excited. Not that I didn’t vote and have strong views on many of the choices that were to be made, but to truly rejoice in the only true cause of peace and joy, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. If Trump wins, What is GOD doing? If Harris wins, What is GOD doing? If Missouri, one of the most anti-abortion states, enshrines abortion in the constitution (which it looks like it will), What is God doing? While I may mourn for some of the results and what they mean (and be grateful for others), and the reflection they have on the heart of man and the revealing of our deserving of judgment and wrath and need of mercy and grace, I can always rejoice in what GOD is doing. None of it is the end of the world as we know it… unless, of course it is, but that is entirely in God’s hands. None of it takes us out of God’s hands, though some choices may result in strong testing of our faith (which, by the way, isn’t a bad thing). Our BSF study this week included Daniel 2: 20-21, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.” Read that a few times and apply it to the election. GOD “deposes kings and raises up others”. Just as God raised up David, Josiah and Hezekiah, he can raise up kings for blessing. And just as God raised up Pharaoh, “for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Romans 9:17), God can raise up kings to show his power (in judgement) that His name might be proclaimed in all the Earth. So, while we pray for godly ways to prevail, we can rejoice no matter the outcome (even through possibly mourning) as we can excitedly ask, “What is GOD doing?”.
3rd Culture Living 