*and again I say rejoice?

There are few shows on TV that I give my time to, but one of the things I like to watch is Parenthood.  It is real.  Real life is acted out as if it might be in my home or your home, of course it isn't a real life family.

Today I want to share with you a "real" life moment in our family's lives.  I  normally share with you all quilting projects, farm related post or maybe a recipe but today will be a little different.  If you have ever been deeply hurt by a Christian friend this may (or may not) be helpful to you.

A few months ago our entire family was effected by the reactions, words and actions of a long time friend and several members of their family.  We have known each other for a long time and bonded in friendship years ago as well as attended the same church.  Christians are not perfect. Right? I am bound to Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior but I know that I am a miserable sinner only saved by Grace.  As are my friends, I mean, I guess we are still friends.

Something happened between our families, something harsh.   I will not go into all of the details because that is not my purpose in sharing today.  I have loved these people for years. I longed for a friendship with this person for a while, and one day (many years ago) we did develop a friendship that ended up being very sisterly like.    Even though some very harsh things took place, accusations were spoken about one of my family members,  deceptive behavior that portrayed friendship, acceptance and egging on of a particular situation only to reveal later that it was all backwards and then later some very cruel accusations were spoken.  OK. I know all of that probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  Let me just say, my family has been effected by this in some most hurtful ways.  I decided early on that I still loved these people very much. After all, we are all fallen people saved by grace. First I was terribly confused, terribly.  My first reaction was that I wanted to forgive.  I forgave. I am continuing to work on forgiving.  Since I am being very transparent with you, I must confess that on some days I feel such hurt and pain as do my other family members that I am not sure how we will ever get past this.  I continued to send text messages and commented on FB post as I normally would have - until just this past week when I got an error message stating that I had been BLOCKED from sending text messages or calling this line.  I am sure you can imagine how heart broken I was.  I mean, if anyone should be blocking anyone it should be me - that is me just being honest.  Of course blocking never even occurred to me, never crossed my mind.  And since I have now been blocked  it is apparent to me that they wish to have nothing to do with me or my family and I can't imagine that they would be interested in reading our family blog either. 

I am a Christian and I am human.  I am sure you can imagine the pain and shock that I was going through when I sent a text that got a return message automatically stating my text couldn't go through.   I immediately chose to try and understand. I started to work out reasons why this might have had to take place.  No one ever asked me not to continue to converse with them.  I went from mostly being at peace, trusting God that He would work things out for the good of all involved to being confused, a bit angry - OK, a lot angry to back now trusting God in all of this.  I am even beginning to come to a place of praising Him in the midst, trusting that He has worked it out for the best of what concerns our family members.  It is not easy but I want to walk in peace, I want to give up trying  to figure this crazy mess out and on some days I do better than others.  It is a daily decision.

I will not lie, this dear family is on my heart and mind every single day. Some who read this may say, whoa, that is a problem.  Maybe.  I believe that I am called to forgiveness maybe reconciliation wont come- that I am not sure of just yet, but forgiveness is what I am called to and with me renewing my mind every day before Christ I am able. It is only when I get distracted, allow words I read or heard replay in my mind that I get off track.   One of these family members at one point during all of this told me that even believers would be at each others throats based on prophecy - well not this believer.   For me that is just not acceptable.

No matter how much pain, hurt, suffering we walk through, whether it be from an unbeliever or a believer the only way to make it through to the other side is with Christ by our sides.   How other do we get through such turbulent times? I ask you, how?   Find someone who you can count on to turn you back to Christ and His promises when you are in need of refocusing when you are struggling.  My someone has been an reflection of the Rock to me, encouraging me and pointing me back when I get off track. 

I suppose I find myself with a sorrowful heart but continuing to keep rejoicing in my spirit.   I have to believe that He (God) has allowed these actions to take place to reveal things that would have otherwise been unknown.  Honestly, since this family will not converse with ours, I have to really trust my heart to seek Him to understand.  I realize that hearts are deceitful above all and I also realize that understanding may never come.   I don't know how this part of the chapter in our lives will end. I can't begin to tell you what will change in our lives because we make vows  not to do.. dot, dot, dot ... based on our hurts. I can't being to tell you how it is that God will use this because we will choose well and not make those vows.   I would hope and do pray that at some point the wounds and scars that have been made will receive a healing balm to bring full cleansing.    It may be that an apology will come or  an explanation or it may be that neither will never come. Either way we have to choose for it to be well with our soul.

This is what I want me, my husband and two wonderful young men to experience....




I will not quote scriptures that have ministered to and spoken to our hearts during this time, for I know that as you seek God , He will be faithful to speak to you personally as well.  If you are walking through a similar situation, it is my hope that you too will be able to daily say, It is well with my soul!

*overload maybe?

So I was just looking in my album on my phone and um.. perhaps I have taken a few too many pics of the newest additions to the farm.

Can't imagine what it will be like one day when I have a grandkid, a real live human grandkid!! haha!

*trying to seal his fate

 It takes everything I have each day not to just eat these little cuties up! They are so flipping adorable! These pics were taken on their third day of life in the barn (and on planet Earth).

This is our little buck, Stew or Kabob, seriously though, if we do not find a buyer for our little buck, he will be meat for the freezer. Nubians are considered a dual breed (milk/meat) because of their body structure.  I am already totally attached, so I am not sure how making stew or shish kabobs would go. 

I think he must know what is potentially in store for regarding his fate, just look at that precious face. He is doing his best to win me over. Done. Won over.  Oh my!

 Just one last look, "Momma Lynnie", aren't I cute?

We are so proud of our sweet little Nubian kids! They are just perfect. Bodie is continuing to be a very good mother to her twins.   They are feeding 24/7 on demand, they kids will continue to stay in the stall with her until she shows signs of trying to wean them which might be sometime in 6 to 7 weeks based on all I have read.  They have started to eat some hay from the pail alongside their mother on occasion.  They are certainly growing by leaps and bounds. 


I started our milking schedule just a few days ago.  We are enjoying the delicious milk and boy, talk about timing. I would say that Bodie's conception date, her deliver date are both right on time based on the latest news reports.  We made an order for some enzymes and other supplies that are needed for cheese making, we can hardly wait!

*peeking outside the stall

Narry, Henry's turkey has just realized both Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed and she has survived! Whew!
 (she is going to be part of our breeding stock)

This is the first short trip outside the barn for a bit of sunshine!  They little goatlings seemed to enjoy the ability to frolic around and nibble at fallen leaves like their mother.  After a short while they were escorted back into their stall in the barn where safety and shelter welcomed them!

*we have grown in number by TWO!

I have been waiting for this day for months and months, and preparing for it for just about as long!  Today we added to our numbers by 2!  Our sweet Nubian doe, Bodica gave birth to two (a buck and a doe) seemingly healthy kids this afternoon around 1:30PM.

I have read website after website, posted on several different "goat groups" online, read several books and learned so much in order that I might be prepared for what I was a part of today.  While we were over the top thrilled to figure out that Bodica was pregnant, we didn't have an exact date as to when that happened.  I must say that all of the signs that the books, websites and blogs that I read was all spot on. Not that I doubted any of them.  If you have a doe that has conceived on a date that you are unaware of, if you keep close watch you may still be able to recognize her delivery week.

I have been checking Bodie's ligaments daily to note when I feel a change, the ligaments near her tail are tight and pencil like right up to the day of her delivery. Approaching the delivery date the ligaments start to soften and totally give way on the day she is to deliver.  The  last few days she has eaten very little of her hay, which was another sign that I checked off the list.

Today I had my alarm set for church, but I woke earlier in the morning with a headache, so I turned the alarm off and stayed in from church.  I am really glad that I ended up at home today.   I walked out and picked up the paper, went back to the barn and sat on the floor of Bodie's stall and read the paper.  Earlier in the morning I had rubbed her tummy for a long while, which she really seemed to enjoy.  I felt that her delivery date would be soon, but I had no firm clue that it would be today.  I look at today's events as a gift from God. I so wanted to be in the stall with her when she birthed and I was. So grateful.

As I sat with her reading the paper, she got up a few times, stretching but ignoring her food completely.  This is not normal.  The last time she came back to sit down on the big hay pile near me she stretched out, and elongated her neck along the strong wood in front of her and began to moan a bit.  Shortly  there after she grunted loudly, pushed and her water broke. I was like holy cow!!!! I immediately phoned my beloved who was in his workshop and gave him the news. The next thing I did was fly out of the stall, ran like the wind to the house to get the "birthing basket" and ran back out to the barn. 

I sat down, got my camera ready, and within 20 minutes she had issued birth to her sweet little baby girl.  She pushed several times with such force that her whole body rocked.  The little doe had a textbook delivery - two front hooves and a nose appearing first, then after a good push - flop.. she was out on the barn floor.   As I started to wipe the little doe off and clean her up some, Bodie was starting to push again.  This time around the next one up was showing signs of some possible difficulties.  There was only one hoof present with the head pushing through.   She labored heavily for several minutes pushing with all she had, but to no avail, not much was happening.  I chose to intervene by reaching in with my gloved hand and pulled the other leg out and forward.  Then with one little slight push (or so it seemed at this point) out came out little buck!

We did our best to get them started with nursing so they have a good start with the colostrum they are in such great need for at this point.   The little goats need to get as much colostrum as possible in the first 24 hours, as their stomach lining changes after that first day. So they do not absorb and take in the colostrum as they would have in that short window of time.

We went out to check on momma and kids one more time before bedtime.  They were snug as a bug in a rug.  Bodie has been bonding with her kids nicely and is showing signs of a great momma!

It seems every other creature in the barnyard was wanting in on the action that was taking place in stall No. 1.   Bodie was showing signs of protection over her little one, pushing Lucy (the chicken) around with her head and she would not let Zeke (the cat) get very close either. 

More to come, you can be sure of that.  Good night!

Some of these photos was taken with my Android phone, so.. the lighting and images aren't the best but still captured some great moments!

*zy·mol·o·gy

Cabbages grow so beautifully in the garden.  The grandness of the outer leaves are just beautiful, actually quite ornamental.  Of course, the outer leaves are very useful here as rabbit food and do not go to waste.  

This year we planted 15 or more heads of cabbage over a course of a month, so we have some coming ready at different times.   Our first 5 heads were harvested just a few days go in order that we could make our attempt at sauerkraut!

You not only need cabbage to make sauerkraut, but you also need a crock. OK, so you don't NEED a crock, you can make the kraut in a glass container, a food grade plastic pail but not in reactive metal containers.   We found this 3 gallon crock at an awesome hardware store ( Halls Hardware of Milton, Fl) in a neighboring town in our area.  Hall's had crock as large as 5 gallons available as well, but I felt like the 3 gallon was sufficient. 

We  ended up using only 3 of the large cabbages that we picked before the crock was full.  The other two heads of cabbage will go in a gift basket for two of our neighbors along with other veggies and some fresh eggs as an early Christmas gift.

Shredding with a knife as fine as we were able, then layering half of each cabbage head with a sprinkling of salt and caraway seeds until we reached the top.  We also added some onion about mid way through the crock. 

Now we just wait.  I hope to be able to report back to you on how delicious our kraut turned out!  We will likely freeze some of the finished kraut as well as can some.   We visited many different websites before we proceeded with this exciting venture. Yes, I said exciting. It seems anytime I have something new to embark upon, I feel excitement.  

 Real Food Fermentation by Alex Lewin is actually an excellent book on fermenting foods. 





zy·mol·o·gy (Source: Dictionary.com)
[zahy-mol-uh-jee] –noun Biochemistry.
(formerly) the science dealing with fermentation and the action of enzymes; enzymology.


 

*my knight

Years ago we lived across the street from a very sweet young family. Some families are DIY families, some aren't. It doesn't make one better or worse than the next. Ang herself use to say, "we are the family who buys the service agreement with each purchase." (this post is all about how awesome my husband is.. just sayin) My dear husband grew up in a home with a father who was and still is, a fixer of most anything! He didn't fall far from the tree!

We stay pretty busy around here, don't get me wrong - we have ample down time as well for leisure too.  It does seem like there is always something that needs to be done with this blessed property whether it be tree maintenance, fence mending or building animal shelter of sorts.

There isn't much that my dear husband can't do and for that I am truly grateful!  He really amazes me more often than not.  If we were to add money back into our budget based on the repairs, work etc he does for our homestead, it would be huge.  This ability to do most things or to research to find out how to do things and have the precision to carry it out really is a gift that has been instilled in him.  Trust me. I have built tried to build a nesting box for our rabbits in the past. I measured. Marked. Cut carefully but somehow I just don't have what it takes to produce a nice looking end product.

Whatever it is that your dearly beloved excels in, praise him for it. It may be that he is the chief handler of your finances for the family or perhaps he is a great help around the inner working of how your household operates, or maybe he is the master gardener, whatever it is make sure you don't take him for granted.  When you are reading folks blogs, looking at their FB or the old fashioned talking to a friends who are sharing about their husbands strong points, don't compare.  I think comparing is a huge NO-NO, this only leaves us with a feeling of coming up short when that is not the case at all.  Unfortunately I did it for years because I wanted my husband to "look" like other husbands and fathers "in the church", this was not productive for either of us. Shame on me. Bottom line is those people you are comparing to aren't who and what you think they are. While they are probably fine people, they too have flaws - some you may not see.  I couldn't be less concerned with what other people think of my husband now because most don't "know" him, so shame on those who judge him.  It isn't that my husband has developed into a different person although as time has passed he has grown and changed, it really is more about me having changed.  Whatever it is your husband lacks, or is bad at there must be a number of redeeming qualities you can put your focus on, so you can see your knight in shinning armor through a different pair of lenses.

 He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. The Lord has really blessed our marriage and we make a great team!