Vanity, patch of Heaven

Mama spent most of the day yesterday debating whether to go to church last night but she finally decided that the rash she had around her eyes from an allergic reaction was not enough to deter her. Vanity is a strange emotion; not exclusive to women, not even exclusive to the human race. A friend of mine told me he had his large dog shorn from the tip of his nose to the tip of the tail. When they got the dog home he crawled into his dog house and refused to come out.

That went on for several weeks. Finally enough of the hair growth returned that the dog began to behave normally. The following year they had the dog short again – leaving a tuft of hair on the tip of the tail as well as most of the hair around his face. That time he acted as if nothing had happened. I do not know if that is truly vanity but it certainly seems so to me.

Everyone at church was very supportive of Mama. Each in turn offered their suggestions for safe makeup removal without the use of chemicals; some were very good suggestions. Not one of the women that spoke with Mama offered the real solution; don’t wear makeup. In our present society, I suppose that is not an option any longer.

She is recovering but the constant exposure to the wind and cold are slowing the healing process. Unfortunately, there is no escaping the chores of the farm that keep her out of doors; not that she would neglect any of her very needy animals. The calves bawl at the sound of her voice. The horse must have a sixth sense of when she is near the building that her hay is stored in because no matter where Misty in her lot she comes bounding to the feeder nickering the whole way. ( I think the cows give it all away.)

Any time the chickens see her with any type of container in her hands they flock to her hoping to catch some of her “handfuls of purpose” cast out for them. Last night we took some stale biscuits and crumbled them up for the chickens. As we went out of the mobile home they were gathered fairly close to the fence nearby so Mama began scattering the crumbs for them.

The rooster called the hens over to the feast and that alerted the big dogs. They are not the least interested in chicken feed but this was table food – and they really know the difference. They scattered the chickens as they vacuumed up the scraps while Mama scolded them for their greediness. The chickens got the leftovers of pieces the dogs thought too small to matter. Mama loves it. It reminds me of “Patch of Heaven” farm.

Tomorrow is Victoria’s birthday and this weekend is Trade Days. I will not get much done on the farm because of the time we will spend shopping and going to lunch with Victoria, but I am looking forward to a good weekend none the less. Mama is a little disappointed that we do not have any spare money to support Trade Days, but she is fully on board with the tight budget we have had to settle on in order to get all the bills paid while we support the farm needs.

Spring is coming and it is typically the most expensive time of the year for the farm. I am not ready but I have confidence that God is able to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I am still amazed at how all of that works out, but it always does.

Pray for Becky. She has accepted a job that will require her to drive 90 miles round trip and she does not have the money in hand for the gas required for that commute. I am not able to help her very much at this time, but God surely can.

I am just not sure she will ask.