Sunday, April 18, 2021

We Bought a Farm: Having Oxen

  • “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox." – Proverbs 14:4

Today, kicked my butt. 

  • Our "puppy", Raven got into the girl's new playhouse and destroyed a bunch of the girls toys.
  • Due to a miscommunication, she got in there a second time. 
  • A wild animal (Bear? Coyote?) ate the head off of one of our bottle-fed lambs. It was awful.
  • Raven is in heat but shouldn't be bred during her first heat. So we have to keep Ritter away from her. Easy enough, except he managed to get spooked by shooting and climb OUT of our outdoor kennel through a hot tin the fence he should have never been able to fit through.
  • We had to repair the fence. 
And that's just the farming side. Honestly, the kid side felt nearly as bad. Lots of bad behavior. Complaining. Disrespect. Frustrations. Arguments. 

Did I tell you John is working three 12-hours shifts in a row? That he had to squeeze an entire month of work into three weeks in order to take the vacation with us?

And then a farming friend shared the scripture I posted above with me. And it really hit home. Things happen on the farm because our farm is ALIVE. Our house is crazy because there are CHILDREN in it. Life is hard because we are living it. And it's real. Animals die. Children misbehave. But without these dogs, we'd lose the joy of raising Australian Shepherds. And without the sheep, we couldn't manage our pastures or eat delicious meat. Without my children? Well, enough said. 

To those of you who had a day like I did, remember. It's crazy because there ARE oxen! What a great thing.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That verse has always been one of my favorites throughout my life overseas and here! (and I only had two kiddos!). You did look so cute in those sunglasses enjoying the sun and chats with gfs even if for just a few minutes yesterday -I cannot imagine all of that when it looked so peaceful and joy-filled when I came! What a day can bring! Hang in there niece --Sahibs escape coming soon -I owe you!